Subvolts take Strengthen basic security to defend against AI-powered cyberattacks. Sep 18, 2026 - Developers
- Understand how AI agents can test boundaries and exploit vulnerabilities in development environments.
- Business
- Prioritize foundational security fixes to reduce risk as your organization adopts AI tools.
This update provides practical guidance for businesses to manage AI's impact on cybersecurity risks.
Why the basics still matter for cybersecurity in the AI era
AI has already made fundamental changes to the operating environment for cybersecurity. Cyberattackers are testing more paths, adapting their techniques, and moving across digital environments with greater speed and persistence. The weaknesses they exploit remain familiar: excessive permissions, unprotected authentication flows, unpatched systems, exposed execution paths, and gaps between controls. What has changed is how quickly these weaknesses can combine into attack paths that cross identities, endpoints, applications, networks, and AI systems. A single foothold can become a broader compromise, making it increasingly difficult for security teams to determine which risks matter most and where to act first as their organizations adopt AI.
We introduced Secure Now within Microsoft Security Exposure Management in May 2026 to help practitioners prioritize the action they need to take to be prepared for this shift. It provides actionable guidance for strengthening the foundational security needed for AI adoption, with recommendations focused on areas where autonomous attacks can create outsized exposure.…
Opening of the original on Microsoft Source From Subvolts
Summary and analysis by Subvolts editorial, AI-assisted.
Microsoft Copilot's "Secure Now" feature addresses AI's acceleration of cyber threats. Attackers exploit familiar weaknesses like excessive permissions and unpatched systems faster than ever. Secure Now offers guidance to strengthen foundational security for AI adoption, focusing on areas where autonomous attacks create significant exposure. The tool helps organizations prioritize actions to reduce risk as they integrate AI.
AI makes it easier for hackers to find and exploit common computer weaknesses very quickly. Microsoft Copilot's new tool helps companies fix these basic problems first, so they are better protected when using AI.
AI empowers cyberattackers to exploit basic security flaws with unprecedented speed and scale. Microsoft Copilot's "Secure Now" aims to help organizations manage this by prioritizing foundational security fixes. This affects businesses adopting AI, forcing them to re-evaluate traditional security measures against faster, more persistent threats. Competitors like Google Gemini and Anthropic are also grappling with AI-driven security challenges, though specific comparable tools are not detailed here. Future focus will be on how effectively these platforms can provide real-time, actionable defense against agentic AI threats.
- Tool Name: Secure Now
- Feature Location: Microsoft Security Exposure Management
- Introduction Date: May 2026
While competitors like Google Gemini and Anthropic also face AI-driven security challenges, Microsoft Copilot's "Secure Now" offers specific guidance for foundational security in the AI era.
- agentic security
- Security vulnerabilities or incidents involving autonomous AI agents that can act independently.
- Security problems caused by AI programs that can make decisions and act on their own.
- Zero Trust principles
- A security model based on the principle of 'never trust, always verify,' requiring strict identity verification for every person and device trying to access resources.
- A security approach that assumes no one is automatically trusted and requires constant checks for access.
The Playbook: reusable how-tos, prompts, configs and tips pulled out of the news. From the Playbook, matched to the product and topics of this item.
- Model pickUse Claude Opus 5 for complex multi-step work in Microsoft 365 CopilotClaude Opus 5 is now available in Microsoft 365 Copilot for complex, multi-step tasks. · 5 min
- Anti-patternRelying solely on chat for complex agentic workflowsChat becomes a long scroll of buried instructions, logs, and corrections, making work hard to track and audit. · 5 min
- Setting tipEnable agentic autofix for code scanning alertsTurn on Copilot's automated code fix suggestions for security alerts. · 5 min
- ToolGitHub Agentic autofix for code scanning alertsAutomated AI-powered remediation of code scanning security alerts. · 10 min
Questions people ask
- What are common cybersecurity weaknesses AI attackers exploit?
- Attackers exploit excessive permissions, unprotected authentication, unpatched systems, exposed execution paths, and gaps between security controls.
- How does AI change the cybersecurity landscape?
- AI allows attackers to test more paths, adapt techniques faster, and move across digital environments with greater speed and persistence, combining weaknesses into attack paths more rapidly.
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Page generated Oct 19, 2026. Summaries are Subvolts' own; the story belongs to Microsoft Source.