In a world where most corporate communications run through Microsoft Teams, it was only a matter of time before the platform became fertile ground for phishing campaigns, malware distribution, and “weaponized” files. Microsoft’s response arrived in the form of two new features in public preview: Malicious URL Protection and Weaponizable File Protection.
These aren’t mere technical updates, but a shift in paradigm. Microsoft is moving the center of gravity of security from the infrastructure to where users actually work: chat, meetings, collaborative channels. That’s where human error happens and that’s where protective barriers are now being introduced.
With
Malicious URL Protection
, links shared in Teams are no longer “blind”: they’re evaluated in real time at the moment of interaction and accompanied by a native warning that highlights the risk before opening. It’s an in-context control that slots directly into everyday conversation and gives users clear signals. It’s a step forward from email-only filtering, because it brings protection to where users actually click—chats, channels, and meetings—a space that has so far been perceived as “trusted by default.”
Even more decisive is the shift with
Weaponizable File Protection
. Blocking at the source the sending of files with risky extensions—not just .exe but dozens of formats used in real attacks—means redefining the rules of the game. It’s not up to the user to tell whether a file is safe or not: the platform prevents the mistake. Granted, blocking entire messages may seem drastic, and the inability to customize the list of extensions leaves some room for debate among administrators. But the message is clear: the era of “anything-goes” collaboration is over.
From a strategic standpoint, these developments tell us two things. First: Microsoft is investing to make Teams not only a productive environment but also secure by design. Second: responsibility for protection can no longer be delegated solely to external layers or to user awareness. Security must be embedded, invisible, and automatic.
How real is the danger? The statistics speak for themselves.
These aren’t just hypotheses: recent reports confirm that attacks leveraging Teams are on the rise, and that phishing and the malicious sharing of files have become increasingly common vectors for attackers. Some figures:
- In a recent study, a phishing campaign via Microsoft Teams is estimated to have hit up to 50,000 users. (Compliancy Group)
- According to industry analysts, phishing attacks leveraging Teams have been on the rise since April 2024, with tactics that include sending malicious URLs via internal chats, bogus meeting invitations, and impersonation of IT help desks. (teckpath.com)
- A general report on phishing indicates that over 90% of cyberattacks today begin with phishing, making it the most common vector for security breaches. (Huntress)
- In Q4 2024, nearly 1 million phishing attacks were recorded across Europe. (Secureframe)
These figures underscore that the threat isn’t confined to email: tools like Teams—once perceived as relatively safe—are now in the crosshairs, partly because users tend to trust content more in internal chat or direct collaboration settings.
There is, of course, the other side of the coin
Since these features are still in preview, they aren’t free of limitations. Differences in behavior across client versions, the lack of policy granularity, and reliance on admin-side activation could create friction. But that’s the price of innovation: security is never a finished feature—it’s an iterative journey.
For CISOs and IT managers, the question isn’t whether to enable these features, but how to embed them in a broader multilayer defense strategy. Teams thus becomes a critical piece of the company’s security posture, on par with endpoints and email. Failing to adopt these protections amounts to leaving exposed a pivotal point where much of today’s corporate collaboration takes place.
Ultimately, the introduction of Malicious URL Protection and Weaponizable File Protection marks a step change: security is no longer “layered on top of” the work experience, but becomes an integral part of it. It’s a direction we’ll likely see extend to other areas of the Microsoft 365 suite, because the future of digital collaboration will inevitably also be the future of cybersecurity.
