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Microsoft and CrowdStrike have announced a new strategic collaboration aimed at bringing clarity to the often-confusing landscape of cyber threat actor naming. The partnership seeks to align their respective threat actor taxonomies to help security professionals connect insights faster and more efficiently. By mapping threat actor aliases and aligning adversary attribution across platforms, the collaboration aims to minimize confusion caused by different naming systems used across the industry. In cybersecurity, every second counts, and the goal is to reduce the wasted time defenders spend deciphering which hacking group is being referenced, allowing them to focus on stopping attacks.

The core of this collaboration is a shared mapping system, described as a "Rosetta Stone" for cyber threat intelligence, that links adversary identifiers across vendor ecosystems without mandating a single naming standard. According to the joint statement, the alliance will help the industry better correlate threat actor aliases, and will grow in the future to include other organizations that also practice the art of attribution. Microsoft has updated its threat actor reference guide with a list of common hacking groups tracked by both CrowdStrike and Redmond, all mapped using each company's naming systems. While they will not switch to a single threat actor taxonomy, Microsoft and CrowdStrike analysts have already linked more than 80 overlapping threat groups.

Industry experts have largely lauded the partnership, recognizing the long-standing issue of inconsistent threat actor naming. Kip Boyle, vCISO, Cyber Risk Opportunities LLC noted that this has been a problem for years, adding that as ransomware gangs blur into state-backed actors, knowing who you're up against matters more than ever. The move is not about creating one universal naming system, but rather a decoder ring to translate between naming conventions. Google's Mandiant team and Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42 are expected to join the project soon, potentially bringing even more clarity to the threat landscape.

ImgSrc: www.microsoft.c

References :

• bsky.app: While they will not switch to a single threat actor taxonomy, Microsoft and CrowdStrike analysts have already linked more than 80 overlapping threat groups.
• BetaNews: In cybersecurity, every second counts. But when the same hacking group goes by half a dozen different names depending on which company you ask, defenders are left wasting time instead of stopping attacks.
• @VMblog: CrowdStrike and Microsoft announced a collaboration to bring clarity and coordination to how cyber threat actors are identified and tracked across...
• BleepingComputer: Microsoft and CrowdStrike announced today that they've partnered to connect the aliases used for specific threat groups without actually using a single naming standard.
• SecureWorld News: CrowdStrike and Microsoft Join Forces on Naming Threat Actors
• www.cybersecuritydive.com: Microsoft, CrowdStrike, other cyber firms collaborate on threat actor taxonomy
• Source: Microsoft and CrowdStrike are teaming up to create alignment across our individual threat actor taxonomies to help security professionals connect insights faster. The post appeared first on .
• MSSP feed for Latest: Microsoft and CrowdStrike Align on Threat Actor Mapping to Support Faster, Unified Defense
• Catalin Cimpanu: Microsoft and CrowdStrike are teaming up to create alignment across our individual threat actor taxonomies
• betanews.com: In cybersecurity, every second counts. But when the same hacking group goes by half a dozen different names depending on which company you ask, defenders are left wasting time instead of stopping attacks. Now, Microsoft and CrowdStrike are teaming up to clean up the mess they helped create. The two companies just announced a joint effort to map their threat actor naming systems to each other.
• www.crowdstrike.com: Cybersecurity writers, rejoice! The alliance will help the industry better correlate threat actor aliases without imposing a single naming standard. It will grow in the future to include other organizations that also practice the art of attribution.
• www.microsoft.com: Announcing a new strategic collaboration to bring clarity to threat actor naming
• www.scworld.com: Microsoft, CrowdStrike pitch giving threat groups the same name
• www.cxoinsightme.com: CrowdStrike and Microsoft collaborate to harmonise cyber threat attribution
• CIO Dive - Latest News: Microsoft, CrowdStrike, other cyber firms collaborate on threat actor taxonomy
• The Hacker News: Microsoft and CrowdStrike are teaming up to align their individual threat actor taxonomies by publishing a new joint threat actor mapping.
• www.csoonline.com: The partnership creates a shared mapping system that aligns threat actor attribution across both companies’ intelligence ecosystems.

Classification:

• HashTags: #Cybersecurity #ThreatIntel #Microsoft
• Company: Microsoft
• Target: Security Teams
• Product: Entra
• Feature: Threat Actor Attribution
• Type: News
• Severity: Informative