Hornetsecurity launches AI cyber assistant for Microsoft 365

Hornetsecurity has launched a new AI Cyber Assistant to support its 365 Total Protection Plan 4, featuring tools designed to aid IT security teams and protect Microsoft Teams users from cyber threats.

The new solution includes the Email Security Analyst, which automates the handling of reported suspicious emails, and Teams Protection, which is intended to detect and block malicious messages and impersonation attacks within the Microsoft Teams platform. Hornetsecurity has also confirmed updates to its AI Recipient Validation, aimed at preventing email misdirection and data leaks, now integrated into the 365 Total Protection Plan 4 suite.

The AI Cyber Assistant is designed to ease workloads for security personnel while equipping end users with information to make informed decisions about potential threats. According to Hornetsecurity, the assistant continually evolves by deploying machine learning technology to support both end users and IT teams within their daily operations.

Daniel Hofmann, Chief Executive Officer of Hornetsecurity, said: "To continue enhancing the next-gen security we provide, our new AI-powered Email Security Analyst automates responses to user queries about potential threats, alleviating the workload on SOC and service desk teams, while educating end users on the nature of attacks. IT security personnel benefit by gaining more time to focus on other pressing issues, while end users receive instant feedback, which also encourages them to continue reporting suspicious emails and contribute to the organisation's overall security."

Email response automation

The Email Security Analyst leverages a large language model to provide automated analysis and response to user-reported emails, reducing the manual review burden on Security Operations Centre (SOC) and IT Admin teams. This automation is intended to improve efficiency in handling suspicious emails flagged by users.

As Hofmann explained: "Thanks to growing media attention, end users are becoming more suspicious about incoming emails. While this a welcome and positive development, each email they flag increases the burden on SOC and Service Desk teams to analyse and verify them on a case-by-case basis. Email Security Analyst replaces this traditional manual analysis and significantly reduces the time SOC teams spend on false-positive and negative reports."

Providing AI-driven insights for each reported email, the tool assists in training employees to better discern malicious activity, while guiding them on necessary precautions to help strengthen organisational cybersecurity.

Hofmann stated further: "Organisations have to strengthen their 'human firewall' by empowering employees to become active participants in their organisation's cybersecurity strategy. Cyber-attacks are constantly increasing, so CISOs and security teams need to strategically allocate resources that strengthen organisational security while upskilling end users to cover any blind spots."

Microsoft Teams threat detection

The Teams Protection feature aims to provide continuous monitoring and analysis of messages within Microsoft Teams, identifying and alerting users to potential threats using AI-driven detection methods. The technology analyses URLs and pictures within messages, employing supervised and unsupervised machine learning algorithms as well as computer vision models. These models scan for indicators of phishing such as brand logos, QR codes, and suspect text embedded in images.

Administrators can remove conversations found to contain malicious messages and block compromised users from accessing Teams, helping to manage threats across Microsoft 365 tenants.

Hofmann said: "Instant messaging platforms like Microsoft Teams are increasingly used as a main channel of business communications, and yet they tend to be overlooked as a potential attack vector. However, attackers are sending malicious links and malware both through Teams that are open externally and also via compromised internal Teams accounts. We have therefore developed Teams Protection to address this growing cybersecurity threat."

User experience updates

The release also brings a redesigned, multitenant control panel for 365 Total Protection, offering a streamlined interface intended to facilitate easier access to security, backup, and compliance features for Microsoft 365 users. The aim is to make administration more efficient while bringing multiple security functions together in a single platform.

Hornetsecurity reports that it delivers its products and services through a global partner network, with organisations using the platform for a range of needs including email protection, backup, governance, risk and compliance, and security awareness training.