Microsoft Security Response Center Blog Archived: 2026-04-10 02:38:47 UTC Strengthening secure software at global scale: How MSRC is evolving with AI Tuesday, April 7, 2026 Cybersecurity has always been a race between defenders and attackers, constrained by human time, attention, and scale. What is changing now is the level of capability available to apply security fundamentals with far greater reach and speed. At Read More Congratulations to the top MSRC 2026 Q1 security researchers! Monday, April 6, 2026 Congratulations to all the researchers recognized in this quarter’s Microsoft Researcher Recognition Program leaderboard! Thank you to everyone for your hard work and continued partnership to secure customers. The top three researchers of the 2026 Q1 Read More The research never stops: Zhiniang Peng’s security research story Wednesday, March 4, 2026 Some security researchers discover hacking early. Others discover it accidentally. For Zhiniang Peng, it started with curiosity and cybersecurity magazines. Growing up in China, computers and the internet were already part of daily life by the time Read More From arcades to Azure: Felix’s security research journey Friday, February 20, 2026 When you talk with Felix, you quickly get the sense that he has always been propelled by curiosity and by a need for something that truly challenges him. Today, he is a successful independent security researcher who uncovers vulnerabilities across Read More Submit your research: BlueHat 2026 Call for Papers is open https://msrc.microsoft.com/blog/2022/10/hunting-for-cobalt-strike-mining-and-plotting-for-fun-and-profit/ Page 1 of 3 Friday, February 13, 2026 The next BlueHat Conference will take place May 5 - 6, 2026, on Microsoft’s Redmond campus in Washington State, USA. The Call for Papers (CFP) is now open and closes February 28, 2026. The BlueHat community brings together security researchers and Read More Fixing the script: Journey to reduce XSS exposure Monday, February 9, 2026 Cross‑site scripting (XSS) remains one of the most frequently reported web vulnerabilities—not because developers are unaware of it, but because many deployed mitigations address symptoms rather than root causes. Across vulnerability reports and Read More How Asem Eleraky went from a shared family PC to finding critical vulnerabilities Monday, February 9, 2026 In the world of vulnerability research, origin stories are rarely linear. For Asem Eleraky, the path to becoming a Microsoft MVR began not in a SOC lab or a university classroom, but with a single family PC and a short daily window to explore his Read More From points to payouts: The evolution of the Microsoft security researcher leaderboard Friday, February 6, 2026 The global security research community plays a critical role in helping Microsoft protect customers. Through their deep technical expertise, coordinated disclosure, and collaboration, researchers help identify and remediate vulnerabilities, and shape Read More “The bugs pick you”: Inside Wouter’s security research journey Thursday, January 29, 2026 If you ask Wouter when his security journey began, he’ll take you back to a childhood in the Netherlands, tinkering with the 8086 PC his parents brought home when he was five or six. That early curiosity, fueled by racing games, trial-and-error https://msrc.microsoft.com/blog/2022/10/hunting-for-cobalt-strike-mining-and-plotting-for-fun-and-profit/ Page 2 of 3 Read More Congratulations to the top MSRC 2025 Q4 security researchers! Monday, January 5, 2026 Congratulations to all the researchers recognized in this quarter’s Microsoft Researcher Recognition Program leaderboard! Thank you to everyone for your hard work and continued partnership to secure customers. The top three researchers of the 2025 Q4 Read More Source: https://msrc.microsoft.com/blog/2022/10/hunting-for-cobalt-strike-mining-and-plotting-for-fun-and-profit/ https://msrc.microsoft.com/blog/2022/10/hunting-for-cobalt-strike-mining-and-plotting-for-fun-and-profit/ Page 3 of 3