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Search: “Microsoft Execution Containers”
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Protecting organizations from AI-assisted executive impersonation and invoice fraud
Microsoft tracked a campaign of over one million AI-crafted CEO-impersonation emails seeking ~$50,000 ACH payments with fabricated ServiceNow invoices.
Between August 3 and 5, Microsoft detected a campaign of more than one million fraud emails, 87.7% of them targeting US enterprise users, sent through multiple third-party email delivery service accounts. The actor impersonated CEOs, CFOs, and presidents of targeted companies, urging accounts payable staff to process an ACH payment of nearly $50,000. Lures layered executive impersonation, lookalike domains, a fabricated ServiceNow 'Annual Subscription' invoice personalized to the recipient, and forged forwarded email threads; Microsoft found no evidence ServiceNow or the referenced executives were compromised. Microsoft observed indicators consistent with generative AI-assisted template creation, while leftover inconsistencies such as missing forwarding headers and mismatched display names gave defenders detection cues.
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Hackers Use AI-Assisted CEO Emails to Trick Finance Teams Into Sending $50,000 Payments.
Microsoft tracked a million-message AI-assisted BEC campaign impersonating executives with fake ServiceNow invoices to steal ~$50,000 ACH payments.
Microsoft detected over one million messages in a BEC campaign running August 3-5, using AI-assisted phishing templates, executive impersonation, and fabricated ServiceNow subscription invoices to trick finance teams into authorizing fraudulent ACH payments of roughly $50,000. The US received 87.7% of volume. Attackers used lookalike domains like service-nowinc[.]com registered just days before delivery, with no compromise of ServiceNow itself. Telltale signs included verbose HTML comments, uniform formatting, and inconsistent forwarded-message headers.
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Hackers Impersonate IT Support on Microsoft Teams to Take Control of Employee PCs
Microsoft warns of a human-operated campaign where attackers pose as IT support in Teams to gain remote PC control and reach domain controllers.
Microsoft Threat Intelligence observed attackers abusing Microsoft Teams external collaboration to impersonate IT/helpdesk staff, persuading employees to grant screen control via Quick Assist or RMM tools. Operators deploy malicious MSI packages via silent msiexec, run encrypted JavaScript implants through portable Node.js, and persist via EdgeUpdate Run keys or Startup folder entries. The Node.js backdoor uses HTTPS long-polling C2, captures screenshots, enumerates Active Directory, and moves laterally over WinRM (TCP 5985) to domain controllers and certificate authorities. Initial access maps to MITRE ATT&CK T1566.003 (Spearphishing via Service); no Teams vulnerability is exploited.
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Attackers Use Passkey Phishing to Hijack Microsoft Cloud Accounts and Exfiltrate Data
Microsoft details two campaigns: million-email CEO impersonation ACH fraud and passkey-themed vishing that hijacks Microsoft cloud accounts for data theft and extortion.
Microsoft disclosed a campaign that sent over one million CEO-impersonation scam emails between August 3-5, 2026, targeting U.S. accounts payable departments with fake ServiceNow subscription invoices to induce ACH transfers, using generative AI to tailor templates. A second campaign detected since May 2026 uses passkey/MFA-themed voice phishing posing as the IT help desk, redirecting victims via SMS to counterfeit Microsoft sign-in pages and adversary-in-the-middle or device-code flows to hijack accounts. Post-compromise activity includes adding attacker-controlled authentication methods, high-volume Microsoft Graph activity, SharePoint and OneDrive downloads, and mailbox collection via REST APIs. Microsoft attributes initial access to Storm-3121 (linked to ShinyHunters and Falcon extortion) and Storm-3032 (UNC6671, a BlackFile splinter operating the Helix extortion brand).
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Cortex XDR™ Detects New Phishing Campaign Installing NetSupport Manager RAT
Cortex XDR threat hunters uncovered a phishing campaign delivering the NetSupport Manager RAT via a fake password-protected NortonLifelock Word document.
Unit 42 identified a January 2020 phishing campaign using a Microsoft Word document disguised as a password-protected NortonLifelock file. Enabling macros triggered an obfuscated command that built alpaca.bat in the temp directory, which used msiexec to download an MSI payload from quickwaysignstx.com, filtered on the Windows Installer user-agent string. The payload installed a PowerShell script and the campaign, which has delivered NetSupport Manager RAT since at least 2018, showed related activity dating back to early November 2019.
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New Phishing Campaign Abuses Windows Mshta.exe to Steal Credentials and Secrets
Fortra researchers track an active phishing campaign targeting Spanish speakers that abuses mshta.exe to run HTA payloads for reconnaissance and credential theft.
Fortra's FIRE team says a phishing campaign active since June 2026 targets Spanish-speaking users with invoice ('Facturación') and judicial ('Aviso Judicial') lures, many sent via libero.it/italiaonline.it infrastructure with SCL:-1 markings to bypass anti-spam. Clicking embedded links delivers an HTA launcher executed via mshta.exe, which hides its window off-screen, builds dynamic C2 URLs, and performs reconnaissance using WMI, PowerShell, and environment-variable inspection. A second-stage JavaScript dropper uses HTML smuggling to reconstruct a Base64-encoded ZIP in the browser, delivering a 7-Zip self-extracting executable disguised as a Firefox installer; staged design allows later delivery of credential stealers or ransomware. Defenders are urged to block archivogratuito[.]online and shortener domains goo[.]su, abrir[.]link, and abre[.]ai, and to restrict mshta.exe execution via AppLocker or ASR rules.
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TerminalFix Uses Fake Cloudflare CAPTCHAs to Deploy Reverse
Microsoft details TerminalFix, a ClickFix variant using fake Cloudflare CAPTCHAs to make users run PowerShell payloads with reverse-tunnel implants.
Microsoft disclosed TerminalFix campaigns that direct users to run commands in Windows Terminal or PowerShell instead of the Run dialog, increasing the chance multi-line scripts execute. Compromised websites serve fake Cloudflare CAPTCHA verifications; the resulting PowerShell command downloads a ZIP with legitimate LockScreenContentServer.exe and rogue dui70.dll for DLL sideloading, retrieves payloads hidden in PNG images from attacker domains, persists via Registry Run keys and scheduled tasks, and performs domain trust and Active Directory reconnaissance. A Python-based reverse-tunnel implant (client.py) tunnels arbitrary TCP traffic over an encrypted WebSocket to gitnow[.]dev:443, giving attackers network-level proxy access that could enable privilege escalation, security-tool tampering, data theft or ransomware. Microsoft recommends AppLocker restrictions, PowerShell script block logging and ClickFix awareness training.
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ThreatsDay Bulletin: Claude Security Plugin, Azure Priv-Esc, Kali365 MFA Bypass, FIFA Scams +15 More
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TrickBot Campaign Uses Fake Payroll Emails to Conduct Phishing Attacks
TrickBot phishing campaign used SendGrid, fake Google Docs, and Drive-hosted downloaders disguised as Word files to deliver a credential-stealing payload.
Unit 42 identified a TrickBot distribution campaign on November 7-8, 2019, using payroll and annual bonus-themed emails sent from likely compromised .edu addresses through the legitimate SendGrid email delivery service. Emails contained links to Google Docs documents linking to downloader executables hosted on Google Drive, further masked behind SendGrid click-tracking URLs. The downloaders, signed by PERISMOUNT LIMITED and displayed with Microsoft Word icons, show a decoy pop-up and retrieve TrickBot payloads from compromised legitimate domains such as savute[.]in and lindaspryinteriordesign[.]com. The newer TrickBot variant stores its files and configuration under %APPDATA%\cashcore.
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