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Microsoft wants AI ‘agents’ to work together and retain information

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Microsoft envisions AI agents collaborating across companies and improving memory retention using structured retrieval augmentation. At its Build conference, it plans to promote open standards like the Model Context Protocol to foster an interconnected “agentic web.” Microsoft’s top technologist said Sunday, ahead of the company’s annual software development conference, that the company envisions a future when its AI agents may work together with agents from other companies and remember past contacts more clearly. At its Build conference in Seattle on May 19, analysts expect Microsoft to unveil its latest tools for developers building AI systems. Microsoft is dedicated to encouraging the adoption of industry-wide standards that will allow agents from different manufacturers to collaborate, Chief Technology Officer Kevin Scott told reporters and analysts at the company’s Redmond, Washington, headquarters before to the conference.  Agents are AI systems that are able to do specific activities, like fixing a software defect, on their own. Scott claims that Microsoft is backing the open-source Model Context Protocol (MCP) technology, which was first introduced by Google-backed Anthropic. According to Scott, MCP could lead to the development of an “agentic web” in a manner akin to how hypertext protocols facilitated the internet’s growth in the 1990s. “It means that your imagination gets to drive what the agentic web becomes, not just a handful of companies that happen to see some of these problems first,” Scott stated. According to Scott, Microsoft is working to improve AI agents’ recall of tasks that customers have requested of them, but as of right now, “most of what we’re building feels very transactional.” However, because it requires more computing power, enhancing an AI agent’s memory is costly.  Microsoft is focusing on a new approach called structured retrieval augmentation, where an agent provides a roadmap of the subjects discussed by summarising each turn in a user discussion. “This is a core part of how you train a biological brain – you don’t brute force everything in your head every time you need to solve a particular problem,” Scott stated.

Microsoft discloses how AI techniques have increased the risk of tech support fraud, employment fraud, and e-commerce fraud

Microsoft

Microsoft’s latest Cyber Signals report reveals that AI is fueling sophisticated fraud schemes in e-commerce, job recruitment, and tech support by enabling realistic fake websites, job offers, and social engineering attacks. The company has blocked billions in fraud attempts and urges users to stay vigilant and verify sources. According to the latest Cyber Signals study from Microsoft, artificial intelligence has significantly lowered barriers for hackers, enabling more intricate and believable fraud schemes.  Microsoft rejected 49,000 phoney partnership enrollments, halted $4 billion in fraud attempts, and stopped over 1.6 million bot signup attempts per hour between April 2024 and April 2025. E-commerce fraud: AI can quickly produce realistic-looking phoney stores Thanks to AI algorithms, scammers can now create believable e-commerce websites in a matter of minutes rather than days or weeks.  With artificial intelligence (AI)-generated product descriptions, images, and phoney customer evaluations, these websites mimic actual businesses. Another degree of dishonesty is introduced by AI-powered chatbots for customer support, which engage with consumers and postpone complaints using prewritten justifications to postpone chargebacks. Microsoft claims that the primary origins of this AI-powered fraud are China and Germany, with the latter being singled out due to its status as one of the largest e-commerce markets in the EU.  In order to combat these assaults, Microsoft has incorporated fraud detection features into a number of its products, including Microsoft Defender for Cloud and Microsoft Edge, which provide deep learning-based domain impersonation detection and typo protection for websites. Employment fraud includes phoney interviews and employment offers enabled by AI Generative AI has increased employment theft by allowing scammers to create phoney job postings, credentials that have been stolen, and AI-powered email campaigns that are directed at job searchers.  These scams might appear authentic through automated correspondence and AI-powered interviews, making it more difficult to identify fraudulent offers. Warning signs include unsolicited job offers that seem too good to be true, requests for personal information, such as bank account details, and offers that make large compensation promises for minimal qualifications.  Microsoft cautions job seekers to verify the credibility of employers by cross-referencing corporate information and to be wary of communications from free domains rather than official company email addresses. On official websites and platforms like LinkedIn. Tech support fraud: AI strengthens social engineering attacks Even if other tech support schemes do not yet use AI, Microsoft has witnessed financially motivated gangs like Storm-1811 use voice phishing to imitate IT support to gain victims’ devices through legitimate features like Windows Quick Assist. To produce more convincing social engineering lures, AI techniques can speed up the gathering and organisation of data on the intended victims.

Microsoft Unveils Six New Agentic AI Solutions to Boost Cybersecurity

Microsoft

Microsoft launched six new Agentic AI solutions to enhance cybersecurity, focusing on phishing, data security, and identity management. These AI agents aim to automate tasks and strengthen defences against complex cyber threats. Software major Microsoft announced on March 25 its six new Agentic Artificial intelligence (AI) agents designed to autonomously assist with critical areas such as phishing, data security, and identity management. This is important as the company now processes 84 trillion signals daily, including 7,000 password attacks per second. Scaling cyber defences through AI agents is now imperative to keep pace with this threat landscape. “We are expanding Security Copilot with six security agents built by Microsoft and five security agents built by our partners—available for preview in April 2025. The relentless pace and complexity of cyberattacks have surpassed human capacity and establishing AI agents is a necessity for modern security,” the company said in a release. Microsoft launched its earlier version of Security Copilot a year ago to empower defenders to detect, investigate, and respond to security incidents swiftly and accurately. Between January and December 2024, the company detected over 30 billion phishing emails targeting customers. The volume of these cyberattacks overwhelms security teams relying on manual processes and fragmented defences, making it difficult to both triage malicious messages promptly and leverage data-driven insights for broader cyber risk management. To solve this, the latest version unveiled can handle routine phishing alerts and cyberattacks, freeing up human defenders to focus on more complex cyber threats and proactive security measures. The six Copilot agents enable teams to autonomously handle high-volume security and IT tasks while seamlessly integrating with Microsoft Security solutions. Purpose-built for security, agents learn from feedback, adapt to workflows, and operate securely—aligned to Microsoft’s Zero Trust framework. With security teams fully in control, agents accelerate responses, prioritise risks, and drive efficiency to enable proactive protection and strengthen an organization’s security posture. Moreover, as organisations rapidly adopt generative AI, there is a growing urgency to secure and govern the creation, adoption, and use of AI in the workplace. According to Microsoft’s new report, 57 per cent of organizations report an increase in security incidents from AI usage. While most firms recognise the need for AI controls, 60 per cent have not yet started.