‘Safe Links’ feature added to Microsoft Teams for increased phishing protection

Microsoft has introduced the "Safe Links" feature originally found in Defender for Office 365 into Microsoft Teams for general use, providing another layer of protection against phishing attempts for users of the platform, according to ZDNet. The feature was previewed for Teams users last April. Microsoft reported that Teams users around the world raised the time spent in meetings 2.5 times between February 2020 and February 2021 because of the pandemic, increasing the platform's appeal to phishing-based cybercriminals. "Safe Links in Defender for Office 365 scans URLs at the time of click to ensure that users are protected with the latest intelligence from Microsoft Defender," the company said in a blog post. The feature can scan URLs posted in Teams conversations, channels and group chats in real time at the moment a user clicks the link. This is because attackers now send safe links to avoid detection that redirect to malicious sites after clicking, Microsoft said.