Microsoft announces new security features to boost Teams defenses

• Microsoft is automatically enabling security features for enterprise users
• The updates include blocking malicious URLs and phishing detection
• Any users who would prefer these disabled can do so in Settings

Microsoft is strengthening its security posture for enterprises, and from January 12 2026, Microsoft Teams will automatically enable critical messaging safety features - aiming to protect users who rely solely on standard safety configurations.

The new administrative update is part of Microsoft’s move towards a ‘secure-by-default’ culture, protecting organizations, reducing the attack surface, and raising the standard across the board.

"We're improving messaging security in Microsoft Teams by enabling key safety protections by default," Microsoft informed administrators in a Microsoft 365 message center update. "This update helps safeguard users from malicious content and provides options to report incorrect detections."

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Secure by default

The update will mean changes for any tenants that have the default messaging safety settings, with three protections set to be automatically activated.

The first of these is ‘Weaponizable File Type Protection’ - a feature which blocks messages that contain dangerous file types or malicious URLS in Teams channels and chats, particularly those which are high-risk vectors for malware execution.

Another improved security provision includes malicious URL detection for real-time scanning of links to flag suspicious sites and domains - an extra protection against phishing attacks. The advent of AI has led to a huge increase in the frequency and severity of phishing attacks, so extra protections will look to mitigate these.

The final added feature is a feedback mechanism which reports incorrect security detections, encouraging end-users to detail false positives so that Microsoft can calibrate threat detection algorithms.

Any administrators who would prefer to keep the more basic security provisions should review the settings before January 12, which they can do by going to the Teams admin center, then into Messaging > Messaging settings > Messaging safety.

Via: BleepingComputer

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