All news with #microsoft copilot tag

🛡️ Microsoft is including Security Copilot agents in Microsoft 365 E5, embedding AI-driven assistants across Defender, Entra, Intune, and Purview to accelerate investigations and automate routine tasks. The rollout begins today for existing Security Copilot customers on E5 and will expand to all E5 tenants in the coming months with a 30-day notification. The announcement adds 12 Microsoft-built preview agents, 30+ partner agents, and support for customer-built agents to tailor workflows.

🖥️ Windows 11 Build 26220.7051 introduces a taskbar-based Ask Copilot, allowing testers to query the web, local files, and AI using text or voice. The feature is optional and can be enabled under Settings > Personalization > Taskbar; Microsoft says it may eventually replace the existing Windows Search UI. The update also rolls out a full-screen Xbox handheld experience, a Bluetooth LE-based "Shared audio" preview to stream audio to two devices, and improved x64 emulation support to boost ARM PC performance.

🗞️ Windows 11 Build 26220.7051 is rolling out to Insiders and introduces three headline features: a taskbar-based Ask Copilot, a new full-screen Xbox experience for handhelds, and Bluetooth Shared audio. Ask Copilot lets users search the internet, local files, and AI using text or voice and can be enabled via Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Ask Copilot. The new full-screen experience (FSE) aims to prioritize gaming on compatible handheld devices and can be set under Settings > Gaming > Full screen experience. Additionally, Windows now supports sharing audio to two Bluetooth devices and improves ARM PC performance by expanding x64 emulation support.

🤖 Microsoft is extending Copilot functionality across its Microsoft 365 companion apps, with People and Files already supported and Calendar due in the coming weeks. These taskbar mini-apps—available only to enterprise and business Microsoft 365 customers—surface contextual info like contact details, org-wide search and OneDrive file results. Microsoft says Copilot now offers instant suggestions such as recaps, flagged comments, and updates from top collaborators, and supports seamless handoff to the full Microsoft 365 Copilot app for deeper inquiries. There is no indication that Copilot can be disabled within these companion apps.

🤖 Microsoft introduced two new Microsoft 365 Copilot agents, App Builder and Workflows, to help employees create apps and automate tasks using their Microsoft 365 data. Users can describe requirements in natural language and Copilot will generate interactive elements or automated flows across Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Planner and other services. Outputs are integrated with the Copilot experience and protected by enterprise-grade security and role-based access controls. App Builder will be added to the Agent Store this week, while Workflows is already available to customers enrolled in the Frontier program.

📝 The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has sued Microsoft, alleging it misled 2.7 million Australian Microsoft 365 subscribers when integrating Copilot by obscuring the option to remain on existing plans at the same price. The ACCC says renewal communications presented the AI‑enabled tiers as the apparent way to keep service active while the choice to stay was only visible via the cancellation flow. The complaint alleges breaches of multiple Australian Consumer Law provisions and seeks civil penalties, injunctions, and consumer compensation. Microsoft says it is reviewing the ACCC's claim and will cooperate with the regulator.

🔐 Microsoft has patched an indirect prompt injection vulnerability in Microsoft 365 Copilot that could have been exploited to exfiltrate recent enterprise emails via clickable Mermaid diagrams. Researcher Adam Logue demonstrated a multi-stage attack using Office documents containing hidden white-text instructions that caused Copilot to invoke an internal search-enterprise_emails tool. The assistant encoded retrieved emails into hex, embedded them in Mermaid output styled as a login button, and added an attacker-controlled hyperlink. Microsoft mitigated the risk by disabling interactive hyperlinks in Mermaid diagrams within Copilot chats.

🔐 Datadog Security Labs has described a new phishing technique called CoPhish that abuses Copilot Studio agents to present fraudulent OAuth consent requests on legitimate Microsoft-hosted demo pages. Attackers can configure an agent’s Login topic to deliver a malicious sign-in button that redirects to a hostile application and exfiltrates session tokens. Microsoft confirmed it will address the underlying causes in a future update and recommends governance and consent hardening to reduce exposure.

🤖 Microsoft today introduced Mico, a new avatar for its AI-powered Copilot designed to feel more personal, supportive, and empathetic. The optional visual presence listens, adapts its expressions and color to interactions, and will respectfully push back when presented with incorrect information. The Copilot Fall Release also adds features such as Copilot Groups for up to 32 collaborators, long-term memory, Deep Research Proactive Actions, and a Learn Live voice-enabled tutor. These updates begin rolling out in the United States with broader regional availability planned.

🤖 Microsoft has added the "Hey Copilot" wake word to Windows 11, letting users initiate conversations with the AI-powered Copilot assistant hands-free. The feature is opt-in and must be enabled in the Copilot app's Settings under Voice mode; when active a chime sounds and a microphone icon appears above the taskbar. Wake word detection uses an on-device 10-second audio buffer stored locally and never recorded, while request processing requires internet access. Copilot Vision can analyze screen content for troubleshooting and guidance, and optional connectors let Copilot generate Office documents and access third-party accounts.

🖥️ Microsoft has updated Copilot on Windows to let users link Outlook and Gmail accounts, plus Google Drive, Calendar, and Contacts, and to generate and export Office files directly from prompts. The change is rolling out to Windows Insiders via the Microsoft Store for devices running Copilot version 1.25095.161.0 or later and must be enabled manually in the app's Connectors settings. Responses longer than 600 characters now include an export button to save content as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, or PDF files. Microsoft asked testers to provide feedback from within the Copilot app.

🔧 Microsoft is investigating a bug that prevents the Copilot pane and other WebView2-dependent features from launching when multiple Office applications (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, Publisher, Access) run concurrently. The issue occurs when one app initializes a WebView2 instance and a second app attempts to start another; closing the first app allows the pane to open normally. The Office team is working on a resolution and will provide updates when available.

📌 Microsoft will automatically install the Microsoft 365 companion apps on Windows 11 devices that have the Microsoft 365 desktop apps, beginning in late October 2025 and completing by the end of December 2025. The suite — People, Files, and Calendar — integrates Copilot for contextual AI assistance from the taskbar. IT admins can opt out via the Microsoft 365 Apps admin center or disable app auto‑launch in each app's Settings.

🔒 Microsoft announced the general availability of the Sentinel data lake and public previews of Sentinel Graph and the Sentinel Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. The release broadens Sentinel from a traditional SIEM into a unified, agentic security platform designed to ingest and correlate structured and semi-structured signals at scale. It is intended to give AI agents such as Security Copilot and developer tools in VS Code with GitHub Copilot richer contextual access for detection, retroactive hunting, and automated response while integrating with Defender and Purview.

🛡️ Microsoft announced expanded agentic security capabilities in Microsoft Sentinel, including the general availability of the Sentinel data lake and public preview of Sentinel Graph and the Model Context Protocol (MCP) server to enable AI agents to reason over unified security data. Sentinel ingests structured and semi-structured signals, builds vectorized, graph-based context, and integrates with Microsoft Defender and Microsoft Purview. Security Copilot now offers a no-code agent builder and developer workflows via VS Code/GitHub Copilot, while enhanced governance controls (Entra Agent ID, PII guardrails, prompt shields) aim to secure agent lifecycles.

🎮 Microsoft has begun a beta rollout of Gaming Copilot to Windows 11 PCs for users aged 18 and older outside mainland China. Integrated into the Game Bar via the Xbox PC app (Win+G), the assistant offers a Voice Mode for in‑game help, game recommendations, achievement checks and play‑history insights. Microsoft plans to push the feature to the Xbox mobile app on iOS and Android in October. Users can remove the widget from the Game Bar via Settings if they prefer.

📝 Microsoft is adding free AI-powered text features to Notepad on Copilot+ PCs running Windows 11, rolling out now to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev channels on Notepad version 11.2508.28.0. The new Summarize, Write, and Rewrite tools were previously part of Microsoft 365 subscriptions but are available without an extra subscription on Copilot+ devices. Features support English only; subscribers can switch between local and cloud models while unsigned users use the local model. Users may disable the AI options in settings or uninstall the updated Notepad to use classic notepad.exe. Paint and Snipping Tool also received recent updates.

💬 Microsoft is rolling out Copilot Chat to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote for eligible Microsoft 365 business customers. Unlike Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Chat is web-grounded and uses only web data by default, though it is content-aware and tailors responses to the file you have open. Microsoft says the feature is included at no additional cost for qualifying licenses, and admins can opt out of automatic installs; organizations can purchase a Microsoft 365 Copilot license to unlock full access to organizational data.

⚠️ In episode 65 of The AI Fix, Graham Cluley warns that Microsoft Excel’s new COPILOT function can produce unpredictable, non-reproducible formula results and should not be used for important numeric work. The hosts also discuss a research experiment that created a 500‑AI social network and the arXiv paper Can We Fix Social Media?. The episode blends technical analysis with lighter AI culture stories and offers subscription and support notes.

⚠️ EchoLink is a newly identified zero-click vulnerability in Microsoft 365 Copilot that enables silent exfiltration of enterprise data without any user interaction. This class of attack bypasses traditional click- or download-based defenses and moves laterally at machine speed, making detection and containment difficult. Organizations relying solely on native tools or fragmented point solutions should urgently reassess their exposure and incident response readiness.