Identity Abuse Through Trusted Communication Channels

Threat actors are increasingly leveraging trusted collaboration platforms – like Microsoft Teams and Slack – to conduct sophisticated identity phishing attacks. Instead of relying solely on traditional email phishing, attackers now impersonate legitimate users and organizations within these platforms to steal credentials, deploy malware, and maintain access to enterprise systems. These campaigns often involve staged environments, convincing impersonations, and exploiting familiar workflows to build trust and bypass security controls. The attacks demonstrate a shift towards post-compromise operations, utilizing built-in appliance features and trusted communication channels to maintain access and exfiltrate data. Collaboration platforms are now a critical part of the enterprise attack surface, requiring enhanced visibility and proactive defenses.