Security Roundup: Microsoft Zero-Day, Google Proxy Takedown

Microsoft Patches Actively Exploited Office Zero-Day

Microsoft released a patch for an Office zero-day that attackers were already exploiting in the wild. The company didn't share specifics about how the vulnerability was being used, but zero-days in Office are particularly nasty because they can spread through email attachments that look completely normal.

In our penetration testing work at Electronic Arts, we saw how quickly Office exploits could move through corporate networks. One malicious document could compromise an entire department before IT teams knew what hit them. If you're running Office in your organization, this patch should be priority one.

Fortinet Fixes FortiCloud SSO Vulnerability

Fortinet patched a vulnerability in their FortiCloud single sign-on system. SSO vulnerabilities are especially problematic because they can give attackers access to multiple systems at once, break the authentication, break everything.

We've helped clients migrate from on-premise authentication to cloud SSO solutions, and the security model is completely different. With traditional setups, you had multiple barriers. With SSO, you have one very important barrier. When that barrier has a hole, the blast radius is enormous.

Google Takes Down Massive Proxy Network

Google disrupted Ipidea, a residential proxy network that over 550 threat groups were using as their final hop before attacking targets. Residential proxies are particularly clever because they route traffic through real home internet connections, making the attacks look like they're coming from regular people.

This is why we always recommend looking beyond just IP blocking in DDoS protection setups. At TUI, we learned that sophisticated attackers don't announce themselves with obvious bot traffic from data centers. They blend in with legitimate users until the very last second.

Android Data Settlement

Google agreed to pay $135 million to settle claims that Android devices were transmitting cellular data without proper authorization. The technical details aren't public, but unauthorized data transmission usually means the OS was sending information to Google's servers without clear user consent.

This highlights why we focus on native mobile development rather than cross-platform frameworks. When you're building with Swift or Kotlin directly, you have much more control over what data gets sent where. You can see exactly what permissions your app requests and when.

WhatsApp Rolls Out Strict Account Settings

WhatsApp introduced "Strict Account Settings" to protect against sophisticated cyberattacks. The feature likely adds extra verification steps for account changes and login attempts from new devices.

Sophisticated attacks on messaging apps usually target account takeover rather than message interception. Once an attacker controls your account, end-to-end encryption becomes irrelevant because they're receiving messages legitimately. The security model has to protect the account itself, not just the messages.

OPNsense Firewall Updates

The open-source OPNsense firewall released version 26.1 with improvements to management interfaces, traffic visibility, and automation capabilities. For teams managing their own network security, better visibility tools make a huge difference in spotting unusual patterns before they become problems.

Microsoft Entra Changes Coming

Microsoft announced changes to how Conditional Access policies work in Entra, taking effect March 27, 2026. Conditional Access is how enterprises control who can access what resources based on factors like device compliance, location, and risk level.

Policy changes like this can break existing authentication workflows if you're not prepared. We've seen clients get locked out of their own systems when Microsoft updates authentication requirements without proper testing in staging environments.

If your team is dealing with enterprise authentication challenges or need help securing cloud infrastructure, let's talk. These kinds of security updates happen constantly, and having someone who understands the implications can save you from nasty surprises.