Black Basta Ransomware Pivots to Microsoft Teams Social Engineering

Wednesday, March 18, 2026 at 11:00 AM UTC·Source: Microsoft Threat Intelligence

Updated: Thursday, March 19, 2026 at 08:00 AM UTC

Executive Summary

Black Basta affiliates using Microsoft Teams messages and Quick Assist for initial access, bypassing email security controls entirely.

Analysis

Black Basta affiliates are impersonating IT help desk staff via Microsoft Teams, contacting employees about fake security issues and requesting Quick Assist remote sessions. Once connected, they deploy Cobalt Strike and ransomware payloads. Technique bypasses email-based security controls completely. Over 50 organizations targeted in March.

Timeline

Discovered

Mar 10, 2026

Exploitation Detected

Mar 10, 2026

Published

Mar 18, 2026

Source Attribution

Originally published by Microsoft Threat Intelligence on Mar 18, 2026. Verified by: Microsoft, CISA.

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