Beware, some phishing emails are making it past Microsoft Defender

Phishing attacks are so common these days that we are becoming more accustomed to the crazy ways scammers are trying to trick potential victims into clicking their scam links and downloading their infected files. However, one fact that remains true throughout it all is that it is you who are you are your own last and best form of defense, a fact that is backed u by today’s news that Microsoft Defender allows almost a fifth of all phishing emails through its security scanners. Here is what you need to know.

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Cybersecurity firm Avanan has published a report based on a study it did of Microsoft and Check Point security software. The study looked at just under three million emails that were scanned by the different security packages and found that Microsoft Defender missed 18.8% of all phishing emails. The results were based on sample sizes of between 500 and 20,000 users located in the United States.

Interestingly, the Avanan report claims that the number of phishing emails breaking through Microsoft Defender’s security scanners has almost doubled over the last two years, jumping from 10.8% in 2020. However, despite this news, the Avanan report does not single out Microsoft Defender as being a bad product or being any worse than any other security product out there. What the report points out is that it is the scammers and hackers who have been upping their game rather than the security apps letting their guard down:

“It’s important to note that this does not mean that Microsoft’s security got worse. It means that the hackers got better, faster, and learned more methods to obfuscate and bypass the default security.”

This backs up the point we opened this article with and which we reiterate every time we cover a story like this: you are the most important part of your cybersecurity defense shield. You need to take responsibility for what gets onto your devices and be vigilant against potential threats. If you are unsure about how to do that, check out our anti-phishing infographic to bring yourself up to speed.