All news with #exchange server tag

Hardening Microsoft Exchange SE for 2026 and Beyond

🔒 The article by Stan Kaminsky summarizes practical hardening steps for on-premises Microsoft Exchange, emphasizing that Exchange Server Subscription Edition (Exchange SE) will be the only supported on-premises option in 2026 following the end of support for Exchange Server 2019. It outlines common attacker techniques — from password spraying and web shells to mail-flow rule abuse — and highlights immediate actions like migrating to Exchange SE or obtaining Extended Security Updates, applying regular Cumulative Updates, and enabling the Emergency Mitigation service. Recommendations also cover baseline configuration, EDR/EPP deployment, modern authentication, Kerberos adoption, TLS and HSTS, administrative access controls, PowerShell stream signing and protections for forged mail headers.

Agencies Publish Best Practices to Secure Exchange Server

🔒 Cybersecurity agencies in the United States, Australia and Canada have issued coordinated best-practice guidance to help organizations harden on-premises Microsoft Exchange Server installations against ongoing attacks and misconfiguration risks. The advisory emphasizes keeping servers fully patched and on the supported Subscription Edition, enabling Microsoft’s Emergency Mitigation Service, and establishing security baselines. It also urges stronger authentication and encryption, dedicated administrative workstations, and built-in protections such as Microsoft Defender Antivirus and App Control to reduce attack surfaces.

CISA Releases Microsoft Exchange Server Security Guide

🔐 Today, CISA, in collaboration with the National Security Agency and international partners, published Microsoft Exchange Server Security Best Practices to help defenders harden on-premises Exchange servers against ongoing exploitation. The guidance emphasizes strengthening user authentication and access controls, enforcing robust network encryption, and reducing application attack surfaces through configuration and feature management. CISA also urges organizations to decommission end-of-life or hybrid 'last Exchange' servers after migrating to Microsoft 365 to reduce exposure to continued exploitation.