🚨 2025 Phishing Threat Trends Report: AI, Ransomware & Hiring Exploit by Knowbe4

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2025 Phishing Threat Trends Report 🚨 2025 Phishing Threat Trends Report: AI, Ransomware & Hiring Exploits By Admin | Sourced from KnowBe4 Threat Intelligence – March 2025 📈 17.3% rise in phishing emails in just six months 🔐 57.9% of phishing attacks used compromised accounts 🤖 82.6% of phishing emails were powered by AI 1. AI-Powered Polymorphic Phishing Attackers now use AI to create near-unique phishing messages that evade filters. These emails alter sender names, metadata, subjects, and logos to trick both systems and humans. Month (2024) % Emails with Polymorphic Features March 42.2% July 56.8% October 65.5% December 74.3% 2. Ransomware Surge via Obfuscated Payloads Ransomware-as-a-service and HTML smuggling lead to more encrypted payloads slipping past detection. Obfuscation Method Impact ...
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How To Bypass Microsoft Defender Cloud Apps 2025

Bypass Microsoft Defender Cloud Apps Blocking with SSH & FoxyProxy

Bypassing Microsoft Defender Cloud Apps Blocking with SSH Tunneling and FoxyProxy

With Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (E5 license) and Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps, organizations can block access to unsanctioned web apps using native integration (see official documentation). However, it is possible to bypass this control by tunneling web traffic through an SSH server and using a proxy add-on like FoxyProxy in the browser.

Before Bypass – Blocked by Defender Cloud Apps

Blocked Access by Microsoft Defender Cloud Apps

The Bypass Technique: Step-by-Step

  1. Set up a VPS or VM you control (e.g., on DigitalOcean, AWS, etc.) with SSH access.
  2. Start an SSH SOCKS5 Tunnel on your machine with the following command: 
    ssh -D 8123 -q -C -N username@your-vps-ip
    For Windows users, you can use PuTTY to set up a dynamic tunnel under SSH > Tunnels.
  3. Install FoxyProxy on your browser (Firefox/Chrome).
  4. Configure the proxy:
      Example Image Connecting SSH using Putty for Bypass the Cloud Apps MDE Example Image Connecting SSH using Putty for Bypass the Cloud Apps MDE
    • Type: SOCKS5
    • Hostname: 127.0.0.1
    • Port: 8123
    • Enable Proxy DNS
    • Pattern: *://*/* (to tunnel all traffic)
  5. Activate the proxy profile in FoxyProxy.
    6. Example Image FoxyProxy Configuration for Bypass The MDE CloudApps
  6. Test access to previously blocked sites — they will now be accessible through the SSH tunnel.

After Bypass – Successful Access via SSH Tunnel

Bypassed using FoxyProxy over SSH tunnel

Why This Works

Microsoft Defender’s network protection and Cloud App control features work based on traffic visibility. When a user routes all traffic through a SOCKS5 tunnel over SSH, it encrypts and hides the destination traffic from the endpoint’s network visibility. This effectively bypasses controls set by the administrator.

Mitigation Recommendations

  • Block outbound SSH (port 22) traffic to untrusted IPs.
  • Monitor for usage of SSH clients (PuTTY, MobaXterm, etc.).
  • Detect and block browser extensions like FoxyProxy.
  • Use Endpoint DLP and App Control to prevent tunneling tools.

Security controls are effective only when users cannot bypass them. Always monitor, restrict, and enforce based on behavior, not just access points.

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