Kategorie

The FBI has seized the LeakBase cybercrime forum, a major online forum used by cybercriminals buy and sell hacking tools and stolen data. [...]

Apple’s big week of Mac, iPhone, and iPad introductions continued Wednesday with the launch of a brand-new $599 Apple laptop. The speculation that I think began with Ming-Chi Kuo last year was correct: the MacBook Neo is a 13-in. Mac laptop powered by an A18 Pro chip. It’s the very first Mac with a mobile processor, a graphic illustration, if needed, of the technological achievement of Apple Silicon. 

“We’re incredibly excited to introduce MacBook Neo, which delivers the magic of the Mac at a breakthrough price,” said John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, in announcing the new hardware. “Built from the ground up to be more affordable for even more people, MacBook Neo is a laptop only Apple could create. There is simply no other laptop like it.”

It’s also the best laptop you can get for education, where it costs just $499.

The Mac is a perfect Windows upgrade

The company is openly targeting customers who want to shift from Windows to a better operating system with the hardware to match. A visit to the product pages on the Apple website offers a “Switch from PC to Mac” section where you’ll find help and answers to decide if the time is right to upgrade to Mac. 

“A watershed event,” said Asymco analyst Horace Dediu. “First Mac with a mobile processor and the end of the disruptive arc of mobile computing. From Motorola to Intel to Apple silicon M, now personal computing is an accessory to mobile computing. A sharp punctuation point.”

“We’re so excited to bring the magic of Mac to even more people around the world,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook.

What about the processor?

Why a mobile chip? In part, because the company wanted to target a larger chunk of the PC market in hopes of convincing Windows users, reluctant to move to Windows 11, to upgrade. But it’s also because the company can. Apple’s silicon design teams have done such a fantastic job of processor design that the M-series chips inside most Macs now sit so far ahead of the industry that Apple has quite literally created a fresh space in which it can compete.  

This really is a Mac that strikes at the heart of the core part of the Windows OEM market and should be a red flag warning to Microsoft, Dell, Lenovo and everyone else in that part of the market. All should have seen this coming as they watched the evolution of Apple Silicon, which fundamentally enables the release.

Here’s some of the early reactions from across the industry:

• “Not an overstatement: smartest thing Apple has done in years,” MG Siegler.
• “MacBook Neo being $599 really is the nightmare scenario for Windows OEM’s,” Zac Bowden, Windows Central. 
• “Every kid is going to want this to replace their Chromebook at school,” Ernest Wong, Head of Research Baskin Wealth.
• “It’s easily the best value for students, hands down,” Creative Strategies, Max Weinbach.
• “I can’t believe they finally do an on-stage keynote and don’t stream,” Parker Ortolani, 9to5Mac.

The decision to deploy a mobile chip inside these devices does not compromise performance for most users, as these systems are perfectly able to handle most everyday tasks. Apple claims the Neo is up to 50% faster for web browsing and can run on-device AI workloads 3x faster than the bestselling PC with the latest Intel Core Ultra 5 with 8GB RAM. 

The chip provides a 6-core CPU with two performance and four efficiency cores, a 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine, and no fan, making these systems silent to use. The mobile processor also means they’re energy efficient and are just half an inch thick with the lid closed. 

Apple The Neo’s other specifications

Apple actually rolled out two versions of the new 2.7-pound Mac, one with and one, without, Touch ID. The $599 model has 256GB of storage and no Touch ID on the keyboard; the $699 model provides twice the storage (512GB) and Touch ID. 

• MacBook Neo is available in silver, indigo, blush, and citrus (or silver, blue, pink, and bright yellow as most people outside Apple will describe them). 
• You get a 13-in. 2,408×1,506-pixel resolution Liquid Retina display with support for a billion colors and one external monitor. The anti-reflective display is brighter with a higher resolution than most PC laptops in this price range, Apple says.
• The Neo delivers 16-hour battery life, two USB-C ports (one of which supports USB 3), Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 6, a headphone jack, and stereo speakers. 
• There’s a Magic Keyboard and large Multi-Touch trackpad.
• And the systems include a 1080p FaceTime camera, dual mics, and macOS 26 Tahoe installed. The latter means they support Apple Intelligence and everything else you can expect from any Mac. 

One thing you won’t find is a range of build-to-order options for these systems; these are very much sold on the basis that one size fits all and you can’t pour additional memory into them. (Apple would likely argue that if you want more memory, a higher-end model such as MacBook Air or MacBook Pro might be more appropriate.

One more thing

As the world’s first Apple laptop in this price range, it’s reasonable to think these systems will be popular — so what are the environmental consequences? The company says these systems are its lowest-carbon notebooks and are built to use 60% recycled content, including 90% recycled aluminium and 100% recycled cobalt in the battery. And the MacBook Neo is manufactured with 45% renewable electricity, such as wind and solar, across the supply chain. 

The new MacBook Neo is available to pre-order now and will be in Apple stores beginning March 11. I think Apple will sell millions, particularly as this, along with the iPhone 17e and M4 iPad Air Apple introduced this week, means you can now take a position somewhere in the Apple ecosystem for just $599. The upcoming iPad upgrade should widen that reach even more.

You can follow me on social media! Join me on BlueSky,  LinkedIn, and Mastodon.

Cybersecurity researchers have warned of a surge in retaliatory hacktivist activity following the U.S.-Israel coordinated military campaign against Iran, codenamed Epic Fury and Roaring Lion. "The hacktivist threat in the Middle East is highly lopsided, with two groups, Keymous+ and DieNet, driving nearly 70% of all attack activity between February 28 and March 2," Radware said in a Tuesday Ravie Lakshmananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/[email protected]

An international law enforcement operation coordinated by Europol has disrupted Tycoon2FA, a major phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) platform linked to tens of millions of phishing messages each month. [...]

The University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) says it has resumed normal operations, nine days after a ransomware attack blocked access to electronic medical records and took down many of its IT systems. [...]

A routine RDP brute-force alert led to unusual credential hunting and a geo-distributed VPN-linked infrastructure. Huntress Labs explains how one compromised login unraveled a suspected ransomware-as-a-service ecosystem tied to initial access brokers. [...]

Five days into US and Israel’s war with Iran, the worst predictions for cyber-retaliation have yet to materialize. But Iran has built one of the world’s most active cyber operations, which means this is likely a temporary reprieve, experts warn.

At the weekend, both the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS) issued general warnings of the threat posed by Iranian cyber campaigns. The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), meanwhile, has yet to update its last warning, from October.

“There is almost certainly a heightened risk of indirect cyber threat for those organizations and entities who have a presence, or supply chains, in the Middle East,” said the NCSC, stating the obvious.

Canada’s CCCS was at least willing to set out some of the possibilities: “Iran will very likely use its cyber program to respond to the joint US and Israel combat operations against Iran,” it said. The agency urged organizations to look beyond the background noise of opportunistic DDoS attacks and other low-level cyber-activity for more sinister threats such as ransomware and destructive wiper attacks.

The general nature of the warnings underlines the problem of alert fatigue: If attacks are an ever-present threat, what should organizations pay attention to? Does the arrival of kinetic war change this, or simply alter its timescale?

APTs and wiper malware

Security companies are rarely shy about advertising Iranian threats. Despite this, the consensus is that Iranian cyber-retaliation has so far been surprisingly mild. This might simply be a period of adjustment caused by disruption to Iran’s energy and Internet infrastructure, they caution.

To date, active groups divide into three overlapping categories; those primarily targeting Middle-Eastern infrastructure, those oriented towards targets in the West — which includes specialized advanced persistent threat (APT) groups — and smaller proxies based outside of Iran whose targeting is unpredictable.

On March 2, Palo Alto’s Unit 42 said, “State-aligned cyber units may be acting in operational isolation, which could result in deviations from previously established patterns. Additionally, Iranian command and control degradation may also lead to tactical autonomy for cells outside of Iran.”

DDoS represents the biggest immediate threat. So far, this has not come to pass on any scale, with Cloudflare CEO Mathew Prince tweeting on X on Sunday that Iranian-linked DDoS attacks were actually down. This was despite CrowdStrike reports that the Hydro Kitten group had issued DDoS threats against the US banking sector, which led to short-term disruption.

Security company Radware detected 149 DDoS attacks that appeared to be connected to Iran between February 28 and March 2, the majority targeting government entities in the Middle East. All but a tiny percentage were driven by just three hacktivist groups, Keymous+, DieNet, and Conquerors Electronic Army, the company said.

Destructive ‘wiper’ attacks are a more pressing worry. The precedent for this is the Infamous Iranian Shamoon malware of 2012 that wiped 30,000 workstations at oil company Saudi Aramco. While attempted follow-up attacks have also targeted the energy sector the danger is that in a time of war any target will do, in the US or elsewhere.

Security vendor Anomali warned, “Iran’s wiper arsenal includes 15+ families (ZeroCleare, Meteor, Dustman, DEADWOOD, Apostle, BFG Agonizer, MultiLayer, PartialWasher).”

The biggest concerns are high-profile APT groups associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) which have a proven track record of attacks. This includes APT35/APT42 (Charming Kitten, Phosphorous), and APT 33 (Elfin Team). Curiously, one of the most active Iranian APTs, APT34 (OilRig), appear to have gone silent, having not been detected for a week. “This likely indicates covert pre-positioning, not inactivity,” said Anomali.

Security company Tenable has published a useful summary of the most important Iranian threat groups which discusses the tools, techniques and procedures of each.

Targeting and response

According to Adrian Cheek, a senior cybercrime researcher at Canadian threat intelligence company Flare, the most at-risk sectors are critical infrastructure, including the defense and government supply chain, financial services, energy, and healthcare.

“Water, energy, and healthcare sectors are currently the most exposed. These sectors combine high targeting priority with weak baseline security, particularly in operational technology environments. Financial services face high targeting priorities but generally have stronger defenses,” said Cheek.

Iranian groups will first look for known weaknesses in operational technology and industrial control systems. “Every US multinational with Gulf region operations should brief regional personnel on heightened physical and cyber threats. Implement phishing-resistant MFA (FIDO2/WebAuthn) where possible. Remove unmanaged Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) tools,” he said.

Organizations should also urgently monitor for wiper malware whilst ensuring endpoint systems are primed to detect Shamoon variants while patching the VPN and other edge devices, another favored Iranian target, Cheek said.

A big unknown is the effect AI might have on this type of conflict, suggested Dean Valentine, CEO of application security company ZeroPath. “The advent of frontier models with strong cybersecurity capabilities lowers the floor for participation in destructive cyberattacks. Before this year there were only a few countries that were heavily active in cyberspace. Now any country or criminal organization can get a team of 5 to 10 not-particularly-skilled engineers together and do major damage,” he said.

While Iran’s offensive cyber-capability had been greatly reduced by US and Israeli attacks, AI was quietly putting potent disruption into the hands of more geographically distributed groups, he warned.

“All of this means that in the near future poor countries like Iran are probably going to be much more capable of lashing out, by taking down large fractions of our internet infrastructure.”

This article first appeared on CSO.

Google said it identified a "new and powerful" exploit kit dubbed Coruna (aka CryptoWaters) targeting Apple iPhone models running iOS versions between 13.0 and 17.2.1. The exploit kit featured five full iOS exploit chains and a total of 23 exploits, Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) said. It's not effective against the latest version of iOS. The findings were first reported by WIRED. "The Ravie Lakshmananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/[email protected]

Once upon a time, Microsoft Office ruled the business world. By the late ’90s and early 2000s, Microsoft’s office suite had brushed aside rivals such as WordPerfect Office and Lotus SmartSuite, and there was no competition on the horizon.

Then in 2006 Google came along with Google Docs & Spreadsheets, a collaborative online word processing and spreadsheet duo that was combined with other business services to form the Google Apps suite, later rebranded as G Suite and now as Google Workspace. Although Google’s productivity suite didn’t immediately take the business world by storm, over time it has gained both in features and in popularity, boasting 10 million paying customers, according to the company’s figures from 2023.

Microsoft, meanwhile, has shifted its emphasis away from its traditionally licensed Office software to Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), a subscription-based version that’s treated like a service, with frequent updates and new features. Microsoft 365 is what we’ve focused on in this story.

Nowadays, choosing an office suite for your business isn’t as simple as it once was. We’re here to help.

In this article:

• Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: The basics
• Pricing: Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 subscriptions compared
• Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: App by app
• Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: AI tools
• Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: Other apps and extras
• Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: Security and management tools
• Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: Service and support
• Can Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace work together?
• Who should use Google Workspace
• Who should use Microsoft 365

Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: The basics

Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 have much in common. Both are subscription-based, charging businesses per-person fees every month, in varying tiers, depending on the capabilities their customers are looking for. Although Google Workspace is web-based, it has the capability to work offline as well. And while Microsoft 365 is based on installed desktop software, it also provides (less powerful) web-based versions of its applications.

Both suites work well with a range of devices. Because it’s web-based, Google Workspace works in most browsers on any operating system, and Google also offers mobile apps for Android and iOS. Microsoft provides Office client apps for Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, and its web-based apps work across browsers.

The suites also offer the same basic core applications. Each has word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, email, calendar, and contacts programs, along with videoconferencing, messaging, and note-taking software. Each has cloud storage associated with it.

Both offer powerful generative AI tools. A Google Workspace subscription includes Gemini, Google’s genAI tool, for free. Microsoft includes a basic version of its genAI chatbot, Copilot, with all Microsoft 365 subscriptions, but advanced features require an add-on subscription. (More details later in the story.)  

The individual applications are quite different from one suite to the other, as are the management tools for taking care of them in a business environment. And both suites offer scads of additional tools as well. So it can be exceedingly difficult to decide which suite is better for your business.

That’s where this piece comes in. We offer a detailed look at every aspect of the office suites, from an application-by-application comparison to how well each suite handles collaboration, how well their apps integrate, their AI capabilities, pricing, support, and more. Our focus here is on how the suites work for businesses, rather than individual use.

Pricing: Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 subscriptions compared

“Follow the money” is the hallowed refrain of investigators everywhere, and when you’re starting to decide which office suite is better for you, it’s a good place to start as well. Individuals can use several of the online apps from both suites — including Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides as well as Microsoft Word Online, Excel Online, and PowerPoint Online — for free, but businesses should look to the paid Workspace and Microsoft 365 subscriptions for necessary security and management features.

Check out the following tables, first for Google Workspace, and then for Microsoft 365, to compare plans and pricing.

Google Workspace pricing options for business

Google Workspace comes in five main commercial versions: Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise, and Enterprise Plus. Ranging from $7 per user per month to $22 per user per month, the Business plans are for companies with up to 300 users. Google doesn’t publish pricing for its Enterprise plans, which don’t limit the number of users.

There is also a free Workspace Essentials Starter plan for individuals or small businesses. With this plan, you use your existing Gmail account, and it doesn’t include storage, support, admin tools or Gemini. Two other Essentials packages, Enterprise Essentials and Enterprise Essentials Plus, are similar to the other Workspace enterprise-level plans but don’t include Gmail.  

You’ll find details about what’s included in each plan in the tables below, but in general, stepping up to a more expensive plan gets you more storage, more sophisticated security and management tools, and more participants allowed simultaneously in video and voice conferencing. The Business Starter plan offers only very limited access to Gemini. Higher-level plans may also unlock additional features and capabilities in the Workspace apps.

For instance, with a Business Starter plan you can have up to 100 participants in a Meet video meeting. That steps up to 150 participants with the Business Standard plan, which also adds advanced features like noise cancellation, content moderation, and breakout rooms. With a Business Plus or Enterprise plan you can have 500 participants in a Meet meeting, and the Enterprise Plus plan supports up to 1,000 participants. Be sure to read the fine print so you know you’re getting the right plan for your needs.

The tables below outline what you get with each version. The plans in the first table are for small businesses with up to 300 employees; the ones in the second table are meant for larger organizations.

Google Workspace small business plans  Google Workspace Business StarterGoogle Workspace Business StandardGoogle Workspace Business PlusGoogle Workspace Essentials StarterPrice*$7/user/mo.$14/user/mo.$22/user/mo.FreeUser limit300300300100GmailYesYesYesNoCore apps: Docs, Sheets, SlidesYesYesYesYesMobile apps** for Docs, Sheets, Slides, GmailYesYesYesYesGoogle Drive storage30GB per user2TB per user; shared drives for teams; search across all co. content in Google services5TB per user; shared drives for teams; search across all co. content in Google services15GB per userGemini AI featuresGemini app w/ basic access & enterprise security; Gemini in Gmail and Vids; NotebookLM basic accessEverything in Business Starter plus expanded access in Gemini app; Gemini in most Workspace apps; NotebookLM expanded accessEverything in Business StandardAdditional apps and servicesMeet (100 meeting participants), Calendar, Chat, Forms, Sites, Vids, Tasks, Keep, Colab, AppSheet Core, Groups for Business, Google Workspace StudioEverything in Business Starter with 150 Meet participants, advanced Meet features, moreEverything in Business Standard plus with 500 Meet participants, more Meet features, other advanced featuresCalendar, Meet, Chat, Forms, Sites, KeepSecurity and management toolsStandard tools incl. group policy controls, MFA, endpoint managementEverything in Business Basic plus more powerful tools incl. data regions and Google Workspace Migrate ToolEverything in Business Standard plus more powerful tools incl. secure LDAP, advanced endpoint mgmt, and Google Vault for retaining, archiving and searching dataNo support and only basic admin tools including usage and activity reportsAdd-ons***Google Voice, AppSheet Enterprise Plus, Colab Pro, AI Ultra Access, moreGoogle Voice, AppSheet Enterprise Plus, Colab Pro, AI Ultra Access, moreGoogle Voice, AppSheet Enterprise Plus, Colab Pro, AI Ultra Access, more  * Paid annually
** Mobile apps available for Android and iOS
*** Require additional subscriptions Google Workspace enterprise plans  Google Workspace Enterprise StandardGoogle Workspace Enterprise PlusGoogle Workspace Enterprise EssentialsGoogle Workspace Enterprise Essentials PlusPriceContact Google SalesContact Google SalesContact Google SalesContact Google SalesUser limitNo limitNo limitNo limitNo limitGmailYesYesNoNoCore apps: Docs, Sheets, SlidesYesYesYesYesMobile apps* for Docs, Sheets, Slides, GmailYesYesYesYesGoogle Drive storage5TB per user**; shared drives for teams; search across all co. content in Google services5TB per user**;  shared drives for teams; search across all co. content in Google and third-party services1TB per user; shared drives for teams; search across all co. content in Google services5TB per user; shared drives for teams; search across all co. content in Google servicesGemini AI featuresGemini app w/ expanded access, enterprise-grade security; Gemini in most Workspace apps; NotebookLM expanded accessEverything in Enterprise Standard plus AI classification in DriveGemini app w/ limited access, no enterprise-grade security; no Gemini access in Workspace apps; NotebookLM basic accessGemini app w/ limited access, no enterprise-grade security; no Gemini access in Workspace apps; NotebookLM basic accessAdditional apps and servicesMeet (500 meeting participants), Calendar, Chat, Forms, Sites, Vids, Tasks, Keep, AppSheet Core, Colab, Groups for Business, Google Workspace StudioEverything in Enterprise Standard w/ advanced Meet features and 1,000-participant limit, other featuresMeet (150 participants), Calendar, Chat, Forms, Sites, Vids, Tasks, Keep, AppSheet Core, Colab, Groups for Business, Google Workspace StudioEverything in Enterprise Essentials w/ more advanced Meet features and 1,000-participant limit, other featuresSecurity and management toolsEnhanced support and tools incl. group policy controls, MFA, enterprise endpoint mgmt, secure LDAP, Google Vault, DLP, context-aware access, Google Workspace Migrate ToolEverything in Enterprise Standard plus more powerful tools incl. client-side encryption, advanced data regions, S/MIME encryption, advanced security reportingEnhanced support and tools incl. group policy controls, MFA, enterprise endpoint mgmt, Google VaultEverything in Enterprise Essentials plus more powerful tools incl. advanced data regions, secure LDAP, DLP, context-aware access, advanced security reportingAdd-ons***Google Voice, AppSheet Enterprise Plus, Colab Pro, AI Ultra Access, Chrome Enterprise Premium, moreGoogle Voice, AppSheet Enterprise Plus, Colab Pro, AI Ultra Access, Chrome Enterprise Premium, moreGoogle Voice, AppSheet Enterprise Plus, Colab Pro, AI Ultra Access, Chrome Enterprise Premium, moreGoogle Voice, AppSheet Enterprise Plus, Colab Pro, AI Ultra Access, Chrome Enterprise Premium, more * Mobile apps available for Android and iOS
** Contact Google for more storage
*** Require additional subscriptions

For more detailed information, check out Google’s page comparing popular plans and its in-depth features list for all plans. Also note that some features available in higher-level Google Workspace plans are available for purchase as standalone services. Additionally, Google offers specialized versions of Workspace Enterprise for healthcare and life sciences, retail, manufacturing, government, professional services, and technology organizations, and there are a range of free and paid Workspace versions for nonprofits and educational institutions.

Microsoft 365 pricing options for business

Microsoft 365 business subscriptions are more complicated and range from $6 per user per month for Microsoft 365 Business Basic, the entry-level version for small businesses, to $57 per user per month for Microsoft 365 E5, the most feature-packed version for enterprises. Note, however, that prices for most M365 plans are set to rise on July 1, 2026.

All small-business plans are labeled “Microsoft 365,” but at the enterprise level there are both “Microsoft 365” and “Office 365” plans. The major difference between the two is that Microsoft 365 plans include Windows, while Office 365 plans don’t. But it’s also worth noting that Office 365 plans don’t include all the apps or advanced security and management tools that the comparable M365 plans do.

The tables below outline current pricing and what you get with each version. The plans in the first table are for small businesses with up to 300 employees; the ones in the second table are meant for larger organizations.

Microsoft 365 small business plans

Note: Most plans listed here include Microsoft Teams; they are also available in lower-cost versions without Teams.

 Microsoft 365 Business BasicMicrosoft 365 Business StandardMicrosoft 365 Business PremiumMicrosoft 365 Apps for BusinessPrice*$6/user/mo.$12.50/user/mo.$22/user/mo.$8.25/user/mo.User limit300300300300Core apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OutlookYesYesYesYesDesktop / mobile apps** for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OutlookNo / YesYes / YesYes / YesYes / YesWindows includedNoNoYesNoExchange email hosting, custom domains, shared calendarsYesYesYesNoOneDrive storage1TB per user1TB per user1TB per user1TB per userCopilot AI featuresCopilot Chat in M365 apps, Copilot Studio for Teams, Power Virtual Agents for Teams, Microsoft Graph APIEverything in Business BasicEverything in Business StandardAdditional apps and servicesTeams, OneNote, SharePoint, Forms, Lists, Planner, To Do, Delve, Shifts, Bookings, Visio for web, Sway, Power Apps, Power Automate, Dataverse for TeamsEverything in Business Basic plus Access***, Loop, Clipchamp, Viva, EditorEverything in Business StandardOneNote, Access***, Forms, Visio for web, SwaySecurity and management toolsBasic mgmt and security tools incl. anti-phishing, anti-spam, anti-malware protectionEverything in Business Basic plus advanced endpoint & app mgmtEverything in Business Standard plus advanced threat protection and identity & access mgmtBasic mgmt and security tools incl. anti-phishing, anti-spam, anti-malware protectionAdd-ons****M365 Copilot Business, Teams Premium, Teams Phone, Windows 365, Power BI, Viva Suite, Clipchamp, Defender for Business, Intune, other security & management optionsM365 Copilot Business, Teams Premium, Teams Phone, Windows 365, Power BI, Viva Suite, Defender for Business, Intune, other security & management optionsM365 Copilot Business, Teams Premium, Teams Phone, Windows 365, Power BI, Viva Suite, Defender for Business, Intune, other security & management optionsM365 Copilot Business, Teams Essentials * Paid annually
** Desktop apps available for Windows and macOS; mobile apps available for Android and iOS
*** Windows app only
**** Require additional subscriptions Microsoft 365 and Office 365 enterprise plans

Scroll or drag right to see the rightmost columns.

Note: Most plans listed here include Microsoft Teams; they are also available in lower-cost versions without Teams.

 Microsoft 365 E3Microsoft 365 E5Office 365 E1Office 365 E3Office 365 E5Microsoft 365 Apps for EnterprisePrice*$36/user/mo.$57/user/mo.$10/user/mo.$23/user/mo.$38/user/mo.$12/user/mo.User limitNo limitNo limitNo limitNo limitNo limitNo limitCore apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OutlookYesYesYesYesYesYesDesktop / mobile apps** for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OutlookYes / YesYes / YesNo / YesYes / YesYes / YesYes / YesWindows includedYesYesNoNoNoNoExchange email hosting, custom domains, shared calendarsYesYesYesYesYesNoOneDrive storage5TB per user; more on request (if < 5 users, 1TB per user)5TB per user; more on request (if < 5 users, 1TB per user)1TB per user5TB per user; more on request (if < 5 users, 1TB per user)5TB per user; more on request (if < 5 users, 1TB per user)1TB per userCopilot AI featuresCopilot Chat in M365 apps, Copilot Studio for Teams, Microsoft Graph APIEverything in M365 E3Copilot Chat in M365 apps, Copilot Studio for Teams, Microsoft Graph APIEverything in O365 E1Everything in O365 E3 plus Power BI ProAdditional apps and servicesTeams, OneNote, SharePoint, Access***, Clipchamp, Loop, Forms, Lists, Planner, To-Do, Visio for web, Sway, Editor, Delve, Bookings, Shifts, Viva, Power Apps, Power Automate, Dataverse for TeamsEverything in M365 E3 plus Teams Phone, Power BI ProTeams, OneNote, SharePoint, Loop, Forms, Planner, To-Do, Visio for web, Sway, Editor, Delve, Bookings, Shifts, Viva, Power Apps, Power Automate, Dataverse for TeamsEverything in O365 E1 plus Clipchamp, Editor, Access***Everything in O365 E3 plus Teams Phone, Power BI ProOneNote, Access***, Forms, Visio for web, SwaySecurity and management toolsEnterprise-grade tools incl. Intune, Defender for Endpoint, group policy support, SSO with Entra ID, Windows Hello for Business, advanced threat analytics, eDiscovery and auditingEverything in M365 E3 plus advanced Defender threat protection, advanced Purview information protection, insider risk mgmtStandard tools incl. user provisioning, mobile device mgmt, M365 groups, MFA, SSO with Entra IDEverything in O365 E1 plus group policy support, shared computer activations, DLP, basic eDiscovery and auditing, basic message encryptionEverything in O365 E3 plus advanced Purview compliance features, advanced message encryption, O365 Cloud App Security, Defender for O365, insider risk managementStandard tools incl. SSO with Entra ID, group policy supportAdd-ons****Teams Enterprise, M365 Copilot, Windows 365 Enterprise, Viva Suite, various security, compliance, and Power Platform add-onsTeams Enterprise, M365 Copilot, Windows 365 Enterprise, Viva Suite, various security, compliance, and Power Platform add-onsTeams Enterprise, M365 Copilot, Clipchamp, Windows 365 Enterprise, Viva Suite, various security, compliance, and Power Platform add-onsTeams Enterprise, M365 Copilot, Windows 365 Enterprise, Viva Suite, various security, compliance, and Power Platform add-onsTeams Enterprise, M365 Copilot, Windows 365 Enterprise, Viva Suite, various access, security, compliance, and Power Platform add-onsTeams Enterprise, M365 Copilot, Windows 365 Enterprise, various security and compliance add-ons * Paid annually
** Desktop apps available for Windows and macOS; mobile apps available for Android and iOS
*** Windows app only
**** Require additional subscriptions

Find out more about Microsoft 365 small business plans, as well as the Microsoft 365 enterprise plans and Office 365 enterprise plans. Microsoft also offers an array of Microsoft 365 plans for organizations that employ frontline workers, as well as educational, government, and nonprofit institutions.

As noted in the tables above, many Microsoft 365 apps and services are available on an à la carte basis. Some companies prefer to pay for a lower-level plan and then pay for one or two of these items as add-ons rather than paying for a higher-level comprehensive plan.

Note: If you really want to dig into the fine print, Microsoft publishes incredibly detailed PDFs showing what you get with the enterprise and small-business plans and what add-ons are available for each.

Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: App by app

Every business has different needs, and yours may place greater value on certain apps than others. For some companies, word processing and email might be the most important apps in an office suite, while others might need a powerful spreadsheet program above everything else.

To help, we’ve compared the major office apps in Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 so you can zero in on the apps that are most important to your business and let their strengths and weaknesses guide your overall decision. We also compare each suite’s AI tools.

Document editing: Google Docs vs. Microsoft Word

Deciding on whether your business would be better off with Google Docs or Microsoft Word is fairly straightforward. Which is more important to your users: easy-to-use collaboration or the greatest range of document creation and editing features? For collaboration, Google Docs is better. For as fully featured a word processor as you’ll find anywhere, you’ll want Word.

By saying Word has superior features, I don’t mean a bunch of tools that your business may never use. I mean great capabilities that make your workflow easier and more productive.

For example, if you’re creating a report, brochure, resume, or almost any other kind of document, Word offers an excellent set of pre-built templates so you can get writing fast, knowing that your document will have a solid, useful design. Word has more than 200 different business templates alone (and that doesn’t include its more than 200 resumes and cover letters), while Google Docs has less than 60 total templates of all kinds, including personal, business, and educational ones. (Microsoft claims Word has thousands of templates, but we couldn’t count them all.) Word also offers more chart types and styles for embedding into documents.

Microsoft Word has more powerful features than Google Docs, including many pre-built templates for creating a new document.

Preston Gralla / Foundry

But Google Docs outshines Word when it comes to live collaboration. Collaborating is seamless and has been built into the app from the ground up, while in Word it’s more difficult to use, not as comprehensive, and feels tacked-on rather than an integral part of the program. Collaborating in Word has gotten more seamless over time, but it still hasn’t caught up to Docs.

When it comes to document sharing and live collaboration, Google Docs outshines Microsoft Word by a wide margin.

Preston Gralla / Foundry

For non-live collaboration — editing and marking up documents for review by others — Word has always been the gold standard, but Google Docs has come a long way and now is nearly as good as Word. Word’s editing tools have slightly finer-grained controls, but apart from that, they’re about even.

Spreadsheets: Google Sheets vs. Microsoft Excel

Do users in your company mostly work alone on spreadsheets, or do they frequently collaborate with others? The answer to that will determine whether Excel or Google Sheets is better for your business.

For those who primarily work by themselves, Excel is the clear winner. As with Word, its wide selection of templates offers an embarrassment of riches. For example, there are more than 100 templates just for different types of budgets. Whether it’s a business budget or a special-purpose budget, such as for a marketing event, you’ll likely find one that fits your needs and that can be easily edited. By contrast, Google Sheets has only three different budget templates, and two of them are different versions of an annual budget. And it only offers 31 templates in all categories, compared to hundreds in Excel.

Excel also offers far more chart types than Google Sheets — 19 in all — including popular ones such as column, line, pie, bar, and area; more complex ones such as radar, surface, and histogram; and some that are known mainly to data professionals, like box & whisker. And many chart types have multiple subtypes — for example, among the bar charts you’ll find clustered bar, stacked bar, and so on, and each of those has two variations. Google Sheets has only seven main types of charts and a handful of individual charts that can’t be categorized. It’s also simpler to create charts with Excel than it is in Google Sheets.

Excel has far more sophisticated features than Google Sheets, including many more chart types.

Preston Gralla / Foundry

Google Sheets far outpaces Excel in real-time collaboration, though. As with Docs, collaboration is baked directly into Sheets. Not only does it have more powerful tools, but they’re naturally integrated and easy to access. The same holds true for editing and commenting on spreadsheets. As with Word, Excel has improved its collaboration over time but still hasn’t caught up to Sheets.

Google Sheets’ collaboration tools are powerful and easy to use.

Preston Gralla / Foundry

Presentations: Google Slides vs. Microsoft PowerPoint

As with word processing and spreadsheet apps, whether Google Slides or PowerPoint is best for your business comes down to a single point: Do you prize collaboration or powerful features in a presentation program? If collaboration is king in your company, Google Slides is better. For every other reason, PowerPoint is.

With PowerPoint, it’s easier to add graphics, transitions, animations, and multimedia. It has more chart and table types as well. And it offers sophisticated options when it comes to giving the presentation itself, with innovative capabilities such as Rehearse Timings, which times how long you take on each individual slide as you rehearse a presentation. That way, you won’t get bogged down on any individual slide, and you can practice giving each slide its just due. Google Slides has nothing like it.

PowerPoint has more powerful features than Google Slides, including ways to customize animations between slides.

Preston Gralla / Foundry

However, Google Slides rules when it comes to collaboration, which far outstrips the capabilities built into PowerPoint. And because Slides offers fewer capabilities than PowerPoint, it’s slightly easier to create slides in it, because it doesn’t pack as many features into the interface.

Slides isn’t as powerful as PowerPoint, but its interface is less cluttered and confusing.

Preston Gralla / Foundry

Note that in the latest version of PowerPoint, Microsoft killed one of its most useful features: QuickStarter, which made it exceptionally easy to get a leg up on building a presentation, including creating an outline, starter slides, templates, and themes. Microsoft now recommends using its Copilot AI to do that, but Copilot isn’t as simple to use as QuickStarter was. And Google’s Gemini AI can help you build presentations in a similar way to Copilot. (For more on that, see “Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: AI tools” later in the article.)

Email: Gmail vs. Microsoft Outlook

If you prize simplicity, you’ll favor Gmail over Outlook. Gmail has a cleaner and less cluttered interface than Outlook’s, offering the best balance between ease of use and powerful features. However, Outlook has made some headway towards being more straightforward to use with a simplified Ribbon that puts your most used features within easy reach.

Whether it’s creating, responding to, or managing email, Gmail offers an intuitive interface with easy-to-use tools for getting your work done fast. My favorites include an AI-driven option that suggests words and phrases as you type, a “nudge” feature for surfacing forgotten messages, and a handy snooze button for delaying incoming messages. Its ability to automatically handle messages by filtering to specific folders is a snap to use as well.

Gmail offers a streamlined interface and intuitive ways to accomplish your most important email tasks.

Preston Gralla / Foundry

When it comes to power features, however, Outlook rules. For example, Outlook offers a number of tools including Quick Steps and customizations that automate mail handing in sophisticated ways that aren’t possible in Gmail. And because the contacts and calendar functions are part of Outlook itself, they’re well integrated with email. Gmail relies on the separate Google Contacts and Calendar apps, which can be a bit more cumbersome to navigate.

In addition, Outlook has a left-hand pane that links directly to all the Microsoft 365 apps, and it lets you link to a Gmail account so you can read and manage all your mail accounts directly inside Outlook.  Gmail has links to the rest of its Workspace suite, but they’re not within as easy reach — you’ll have to click the Google apps button to the right of your account icon at the top right of the screen, and then hunt for the app you want. And you can’t see all your other email accounts on a single screen. You’ll have to open them on separate tabs.

Outlook is well known for its confusing interface that bristles with too many features and options. However, the latest version has been simplified, and although Gmail is still far easier and more straightforward to use, you won’t find yourself as easily lost in Outlook as you were in the past. Outlook’s web interface now mimics its desktop app, so there’s no more confusion when you switch between one and the other.

Outlook isn’t as simple to use as Gmail, but its newest look is cleaner than in the past. Pictured here is the web interface, which mimics the desktop app.

Preston Gralla / Foundry

If your users want every bell and whistle possible, Outlook provides them all. For getting things done quickly, Gmail is a better choice.

Collaboration: Google Meet, Chat, and Spaces vs. Microsoft Teams

As I’ve noted multiple times in this article, when it comes to collaborating on documents, Google Workspace is far superior to Microsoft 365 — it’s baked right into the interface, rather than feeling like an afterthought as it does in the Office apps. Everything is in front of you to invite people to collaborate, set their collaboration rights, and chat with them while you do the work together. There’s a deeper learning curve for using collaboration in Office, and even when you learn how to do it, it’s not nearly as seamless as in the Google apps.

Working together on individual documents is only one part of the equation, though. When it comes to more complex, enterprise-wide collaboration features, Microsoft 365 includes tools that beat anything Google Workspace offers. Microsoft Teams, for example, combines group chat, online meetings, videoconferencing, customized workspaces, calendars, and shared team file repositories in a way that’s more sophisticated and useful than anything Google has. And Teams has deep ties to the rest of the Office platform, offering effortless integration with Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive for Business, and more.

The Teams group-chat platform integrates closely with the rest of Microsoft 365.

Howard Wen

Teams used to be included with all M365 business and enterprise plans, but after facing antitrust scrutiny in the European Union, Microsoft partially unbundled Teams from its M365 enterprise plans, first in the EU and then globally. Enterprise and small business customers can now buy M365 versions either with or without Teams.

For its part, Workspace offers Google Meet for videoconferencing and Google Chat for messaging. There’s also Spaces, a workflow integration and collaboration tool that’s available as part of Google Chat and integrated with Google Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, and Tasks. Spaces lets you create shared workspaces where you can chat, share files, and assign tasks.

Creating a new shared workspace in Google Spaces.

Preston Gralla / Foundry

These tools are useful and straightforward, although switching among them is not as seamless as having all these functions in the Teams app.

Storage and file sharing: Google Drive vs. Microsoft OneDrive for Business and SharePoint

Both suites come with substantial amounts of storage, aside from the cheapest Google Workspace version, Starter, which offers only 30GB per person. The Standard plan includes 2TB per person, the Plus plan has 5TB per person, and the Enterprise and Enterprise+ versions essentially offer unlimited storage per person.

Microsoft 365’s small business and lower-tier enterprise plans include 1TB of storage per user, while its E3 and E5 plans include 5TB of storage per user. Customers with E3 and E5 plans can request additional storage from Microsoft. (Subscriptions with fewer than five users get only 1TB of storage, which can’t be expanded.)

There’s little to differentiate Google Workspace’s and Microsoft 365’s storage-and-shared-documents features from one another. Both Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive for Business integrate directly with their own office suites, and both allow you to access the files on any device. In Workspace, the files live in the cloud by default rather than on the devices themselves, although you can also store them locally. In Microsoft 365 they typically live on each device and also in the cloud, and it all syncs together, although you have the option of keeping specific files and folders cloud-only.

If you’re worried about offline access for the cloud-first Google Workspace, it offers management tools that allow administrators to set whether users can access their documents and use Docs, Sheets, and Slides when their computers aren’t connected to the internet. The tools allow admins to install a policy on each computer allowing that access, or else let each user decide whether to allow offline access.

OneDrive has a nice feature called OneDrive Files on Demand that lets users decide, on a file-by-file and folder-by-folder basis, which files to store on individual devices and which to leave in the cloud, although the files and folders in the cloud are still available for download when you want them on a device.

Almost all Microsoft 365 business and enterprise plans also include a free version of Microsoft’s SharePoint service, called SharePoint Online. SharePoint Online adds substantial features to storage and sharing. It manages and organizes documents, workflows, and other shared information, typically via a series of mini-sites.

SharePoint Online is delivered as a service and is hosted by Microsoft, so businesses do not need to purchase and manage their own servers and infrastructure for it. However, they may need admins to handle a number of SharePoint Online tasks, such as content management and portal design.

There’s also a for-pay version of SharePoint, called SharePoint Server, that is available under a separate license and isn’t included as part of Microsoft 365. With SharePoint Server, your business hosts and manages the physical and software infrastructure required for SharePoint. That means performing tasks such as racking servers; applying security patches and feature updates; and monitoring uptime, reliability, and security. With SharePoint Online, those tasks are handled by Microsoft.

Google doesn’t offer a true equivalent to SharePoint Online in Google Workspace. All versions of Workspace except Business Starter can use a feature called Shared Drives, which are Google Drive folders that can be accessed and managed by more than one person. They can be used as handy repositories for members of a team to store and share documents, images, and other files, but Shared Drives are not integrated intranet sites like those offered by SharePoint.

One final note: Google’s search tools for finding documents in Google Drive are far better than Microsoft’s search tools in OneDrive, and its Cloud Search function extends Google’s search power across all of a company’s content. That being said, it’s generally easier to browse OneDrive using File Explorer than it is to browse Google Drive on the web.

Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: AI tools

Suites like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 are tremendous productivity boosters; it’s almost unimaginable for any business not to use them or something like them. Many people believe the same thing will eventually be said of AI — both traditional AI and newer generative AI tools like Microsoft 365 Copilot and Gemini.

Both suites have included built-in AI features for years. Microsoft 365’s Power Automate (previously called Microsoft Flow) uses AI to help people build workflows using natural language prompts. Microsoft Power BI is a data visualization app connects to Excel and other data sources. And Microsoft Editor works in Word and Outlook for text prediction and spelling and grammar checking.

Built-in AI tools in Google Workspace include Smart Compose for creating documents and Smart Reply for responding to comments. Workspace also has Smart Cleanup, which identifies errors in Sheets and corrects them, and Smart Fill, which automates adding data to Sheets.  

But most of the buzz is around more recently released genAI tools, Microsoft 365 Copilot and Gemini. GenAI can be particularly effective when combined with the productivity suites, and adding new genAI features is clearly a top priority for both companies. There are those who believe that genAI tools have already become a must-have addition to office suites.

Google Workspace includes Gemini in its apps for free. As for Copilot, it’s complicated. Copilot Chat, a basic version of Microsoft’s chatbot, is now available in Office apps for free under any M365 subscription for business. Access to more advanced features requires a Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on subscription, which costs $30 per user per month for large businesses or $21 per user per month for small businesses. That said, additional functionality is planned for Copilot Chat this year, along with price increases for most M365 plans in July 2026.

Microsoft 365 Copilot has been available longer than Gemini in Google Workspace. It integrates with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams.

In Word, it can create documents based on your prompts, or by being given an existing document and asked to create a new one from that — for example, creating a new sales pitch based on an existing marketing document. In PowerPoint, it works similarly and can create presentations based on prompts or existing documents. In Excel, it can analyze data, generate formulas, automate repetitive tasks, and use Python for advanced analysis.

Copilot created this first draft of a presentation in PowerPoint based on a one-paragraph description.

Preston Gralla / Foundry

In Outlook, it can write emails based on prompts or documents, answer emails and summarize email threads, and prioritize your inbox so you can quickly see which emails are most important. In Teams, it can summarize primary discussion points of meetings and suggest action items, among other capabilities.

It also can provide a big-picture view of projects and then let you drill down to get more granular information — for example, finding a specific spreadsheet with revenue projections for the next five years for new lines of business.

Beyond that, there are capabilities outside the core Microsoft 365 apps, such as Copilot Pages, designed for AI-driven collaboration. Unlike the typical ephemeral genAI output, this shared canvas provides a persistent environment where users can interact with the AI and each other, with everything saved to be built on in the future.

Other features include Researcher and Analyst agents, which show in real time how they reach their conclusions when you interact with Copilot, and Copilot Notebooks, which can search and summarize data across Microsoft 365 and third-party apps.

Also new is Agent Mode, which can build and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations from chats, and can also run multi-step tasks such analyzing an Excel spreadsheet and drafting a summary of its findings.

In Google Workspace, Gemini offers features similar to M365 Copilot’s, with some of its own unique twists. Gemini can write new documents and emails based on prompts. In Docs, Sheets, and Slides it can summarize, analyze, and generate new content from scratch or based on your existing files and emails. Gemini can also scan people’s calendars and propose meeting times where everyone is free, and take meeting notes in Google Meet.

srcset="https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/workspace-vs-m365-12-gemini-docs.jpg?quality=50&strip=all 1261w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/workspace-vs-m365-12-gemini-docs.jpg?resize=300%2C200&quality=50&strip=all 300w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/workspace-vs-m365-12-gemini-docs.jpg?resize=768%2C511&quality=50&strip=all 768w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/workspace-vs-m365-12-gemini-docs.jpg?resize=1024%2C681&quality=50&strip=all 1024w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/workspace-vs-m365-12-gemini-docs.jpg?resize=1240%2C826&quality=50&strip=all 1240w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/workspace-vs-m365-12-gemini-docs.jpg?resize=150%2C100&quality=50&strip=all 150w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/workspace-vs-m365-12-gemini-docs.jpg?resize=1048%2C697&quality=50&strip=all 1048w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/workspace-vs-m365-12-gemini-docs.jpg?resize=253%2C168&quality=50&strip=all 253w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/workspace-vs-m365-12-gemini-docs.jpg?resize=126%2C84&quality=50&strip=all 126w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/workspace-vs-m365-12-gemini-docs.jpg?resize=721%2C480&quality=50&strip=all 721w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/workspace-vs-m365-12-gemini-docs.jpg?resize=541%2C360&quality=50&strip=all 541w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/workspace-vs-m365-12-gemini-docs.jpg?resize=376%2C250&quality=50&strip=all 376w" width="1024" height="681" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px">

A launch plan for starting a small business created by Gemini in Google Docs.

Preston Gralla / Foundry

Gemini also has Workspace Flows, which can automate work across Workspace apps, such as a stream of jobs required for document reviews, customer support requests, or product analysis. Gemini’s Gems custom AI agent builder serves as a kind of front end to Flows so that people with no coding experience can use it.

Gemini’s NotebookLM lets you perform research based on your own documents, notes, audio, websites and other resources. It can then answer questions, generate summaries, and help you brainstorm. NotebookLM is available to anyone with a Google account, but more advanced features are included with a Workspace subscription.

In Gmail, Gemini can summarize email threads, find info from previous emails, and suggest reply options. In January 2026 it was publicly testing new Gemini Gmail features, including letting it create to-do lists based on recent emails. In Slides it can create images, remove backgrounds from images, and generate new slides. In Sheets it can create tables and formulas, as well as create templates for project schedules, budgets, charts, and other purposes.

In Docs, Gemini can be used to collaboratively create documents with co-workers — multiple people, for example, can work on the same document, and each person can use prompts to generate ideas that everyone can work on together. And in Meet, it can take meeting notes and share them with your team, create translated captions in multiple languages, and create custom background images. It can also suggest questions to ask during a meeting and provide key takeaways from meetings.

It’s worth noting that with generative AI a top priority for both companies, both Copilot and Gemini will rapidly gain more features and more integrations with their respective app suites and with third-party software. As this article was being prepared, both companies introduced several new features in their genAI tools, and we’ve no doubt that they’ll continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: Other apps and extras

Microsoft 365 goes well beyond suite basics, with plenty of extra applications and smaller apps. Among them is Access, which can be used to build business applications, either based on templates or completely from scratch. It’s designed for non-developers, although it does require some coding smarts. Access is available for Windows only, and it’s only included with certain subscriptions: Business Standard and Premium, M365 Apps for Business, Office 365 E3 and E5, and M365 E3 and E5.

Access for Windows is among the tools included with some M365 subscriptions.

Preston Gralla / IDG

The OneNote note-taking app, available with most M365 subscriptions, is a very useful yet underutilized part of the Office suite. Enterprise-level plans also come with Microsoft Forms, an app that lets you create surveys, quizzes and polls, and Microsoft Planner, which, as its name implies, helps teams create plans, and assign tasks, share files, chat about what you’re working on, and keep track of updates. It can work by itself or integrate with Microsoft Teams.

Another application included with some Microsoft 365 enterprise plans is Power Automate (previously called Microsoft Flow), which allows businesses to automate repetitive tasks and integrate them into workflows — for example, automatically sending an alert when a new item is added to SharePoint. Microsoft Clipchamp offers video editing and design tools, and Microsoft Loop is a collaborative tool that lets you build workspaces that integrate all the parts of a project.

Other apps and services included with some plans include PowerApps, a low-code app development tool; Viva Insights, a productivity analysis tool; Sway, a tool for creating web-based presentations; To Do, a to-do list app that integrates with other M365 apps; Visio, a diagramming app; and Bookings, an appointment scheduling app.

Google Workspace has extras as well. Google Forms, which works hand-in-hand with Sheets, is particularly useful. As the name implies, it lets you create forms for a wide variety of purposes, such as an order form, a work request, a time-off request, or getting feedback about an event.

Google Forms lets you quickly and easily create customized forms to get feedback.

Preston Gralla / Foundry

Google Sites is another useful one. It lets you create team and company websites for individual projects, events, and other similar purposes. There’s also the Google Keep note-taking app, which is straightforward, bare-bones, and not nearly as sophisticated as Microsoft’s OneNote. AppSheet provides a low-code app development environment.

And if you want to create drawings, particularly diagrams, you’ll appreciate Google Drawings, which is not included with Google Workspace but works in concert with it (and is free). If you create a drawing with Drawings and embed it into a Google Doc, and then make a change in the drawing file itself, the drawing in Google Docs gets updated as well.

None of these extras offers knock-your-socks-off capabilities, aside from Microsoft’s Access and Clipchamp and Google’s AppSheet, which can allow those with limited programming experience to create truly useful applications. So they may not affect your decision on which suite is best for your business. For many companies, they’re nice-to-have tools, not must-have ones.

Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: Security and management tools

Choosing the productivity suite with the best features for your business is one thing, but often overlooked is how easy or difficult it is to manage the suite and protect your data. Even the best user-facing features can’t make up for poor or insufficient security and management tools.

Both suites are managed from a web interface, and in both instances, the interface leaves something to be desired, with somewhat confusing options and layouts. However, the simplified view in the Microsoft 365 admin center beats anything in Google Workspace because of how easily it lets you accomplish the most common tasks, including and editing new and existing users, changing licenses, paying bills, and installing Office on devices.

Interfaces aside, Microsoft 365 offers better admin account security, superior mobile administration, and more management controls. Both suites protect your data with enterprise-grade security and offer a central security center for managing user permissions and protections.

For an in-depth comparison, check out “Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: Which has better management tools?”

Google Workspace vs. Microsoft 365: Service and support

In an ideal world, nothing goes wrong with an office suite, and no one ever needs technical support. But we don’t live in that ideal world. So you’ll want to know the kind of support and updates that Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 offer.

Google Workspace offers 24/7 tech support via phone, email, and chat, but for Workspace administrators only. There’s also a searchable help center for administrators and a blog covering release information for Google Workspace updates. Also useful is the Google Workspace Community, which includes forums as well as YouTube videos to help administrators accomplish common tasks. Non-administrators will have to visit Google’s general help area, which covers many Google products such as YouTube, Google Maps, and Google Photos in addition to the individual components of Google Workspace. There’s also a Google Workspace Learning Center for user training.

Google releases Google Workspace updates multiple times a month, and publishes a schedule of all current and planned updates.

Microsoft also has 24/7 tech support via phone, an online support site, and chat for Microsoft 365 administrators. The Microsoft 365 admin center help site includes help targeted at small businesses as well as enterprises. There’s a sizable number of forums devoted to Microsoft 365. And the Microsoft Office Help & Training area has a wide variety of help, down to the application level and including troubleshooting for both consumers and admins.

As for updates, Microsoft generally releases Microsoft 365 updates one or more times a month and publishes information online about every update.

Can Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace work together?

As you’ve seen throughout this piece, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace have their own strengths and weaknesses, so you might be tempted to use both of them — for example, Microsoft 365 for document creation and Google Workspace for collaboration.

Theoretically, it’s possible. In practice, it’s a bad idea. In part that’s because Google Workspace’s documents aren’t saved as local documents with their own file formats. Instead, they live on Google’s servers. You can save them in various file formats, including Microsoft 365’s .docx, .xlsx and .pptx, and you can import files from those and other formats as well. There’s even a way to natively edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files in their original formats on Google’s servers. But I’ve found that formatting and layouts are often lost in translation between Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, embedded videos don’t work, not all comments are shown, resolved comments don’t appear, comments you make in Google aren’t brought back into Office, and so on.

In addition, the workflow is a nightmare if you’re transferring files back and forth between the two suites. The idea behind editing online is to have a single location where everyone can collaborate on the latest version of each file, but if you use both Workspace and Microsoft 365, various versions of the file may be stored in Google Drive, OneDrive for Business, or both.

But what about using one suite for content creation, collaboration, and storage and the other for communications like email, shared calendars, group chat, and videoconferencing? Again, it’s theoretically possible, but I don’t see the point. It makes everything much more difficult because of convoluted workflows, and you’d lose the integrations built into each suite. And there’s also the issue of businesses having to pay for, manage, and maintain two office suites, not one, when there are no obvious benefits to be gained by it.

As for integrating with other enterprise software such as Salesforce, Shopify, HubSpot, and others, there are plenty of tools for doing that with both suites. If any particular piece of enterprise software is particularly important to your business, you’d do well to test out the integrations with both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 before deciding on a suite.

Who should use Google Workspace

Based on all this, what kind of company should use Google Workspace? It’s pretty straightforward: If collaborating on documents is baked into your company’s DNA — or you want to bake it in — Google Workspace is for you. Its live collaboration features far outstrip anything Microsoft 365 has to offer. They’re such an integral part of the suite’s design and so simple to use, it requires practically no time at all to get up and running with them.

Google Workspace is also a good bet if your company doesn’t need all the sophisticated features of Microsoft 365’s individual apps. Each individual application in Google Workspace is simpler to use than Microsoft 365’s, with Gmail in particular more straightforward than Outlook. And if your users do a lot of searching for documents, Google’s search capabilities for Google Drive easily outstrip what Microsoft 365 has to offer.

All of Gemini’s capabilities are included for free as part of most Google Workspace plans, while Copilot’s most powerful features require an expensive add-on subscription to Microsoft 365. So if you want a fully powered AI assistant as part of your business’s productivity suite, Google Workspace is a compelling option.

Who should use Microsoft 365

If powerful and sophisticated features are more important to you than the best in collaboration, then Microsoft 365 is for you. Every one of its applications beats out its Google Workspace equivalent. And it’s not as if you can’t do live collaboration in Microsoft 365. It’s just a bit more of a chore and not as straightforward as in Google Workspace. And Microsoft 365’s markup features are exemplary, so it’s a good bet when people need to review each other’s work.

Until recently, the biggest argument in favor of Workspace over Microsoft 365 was the former’s inclusion of Gemini tools at no additional cost. With Copilot Chat now embedded in M365 apps for free, much of that argument has been removed — although the most powerful features still require a separate M365 Copilot subscription.

There are other reasons for a business to use Microsoft 365 as well. Although Google Workspace’s shared drives are useful for sharing documents and materials, they are no match for the fully collaborative environments that SharePoint offers. If you want to manage your mail server, rather than use hosted email, you’ll also want Microsoft 365. And Microsoft Teams provides a great way for teams to share work with one another.

Hands-on help:

• Google Workspace tips and tutorials
• Microsoft cheat sheets: Dive into Windows and Office apps

This story was originally published in February 2020 and most recently updated in March 2026.

For years, Linux security has triggered two very different arguments. One side sees the problem as largely solved. The operating system has a strong permissions model, and open source transparency allows vulnerabilities to be inspected and fixed quickly. The other side sees a growing crisis, pointing to the constant stream of CVEs and the increasing sophistication of modern attacks. In reality, the situation falls somewhere between those views. The more useful question is: who targets Linux systems, and why?

As AI becomes the central engine for enterprise productivity, security leaders are finally getting the green light — and the budget — to secure it. But there’s a quiet crisis unfolding in the boardroom: many organizations know they need "AI Governance," but they have no idea what they are actually looking for. The CISO’s Dilemma: You Have the AI Budget, but Do You Have the Requirements? As AI [email protected]

BRRRRRRRRRREAKING NEWS, y’all: Despite what the internet’s many misleading headlines may lead you to believe, Android security (gasp!) isn’t actually all that scary.

You know that by now, right? Any reasonably recent Android device has layers upon layers of built-in protection. You’ve got mountains of Android security settings standing by and waiting to protect you — along with some optional extreme protection power-ups, if you really want to keep your gates guarded.

More than anything, though, no naughty Android app can just magically plop itself onto your phone and then access private info. Apps only appear if you explicitly install ’em — and even then, they’re only able to access sensitive data and areas of your device if you approve the permissions to permit that.

That’s some critical 101-level knowledge to keep in mind at the start of any Android security discussion — especially one from a source that’s either incentivized to generate a persistent sense of fear (hiya, security software vendors!) or written by someone who doesn’t understand Android enough to separate sensationalism from reality.

I bring all of that up now to tell you that this isn’t another one of those “sky is falling!”/”new Android malware monster is out to getcha!” narratives. Nope — no one is digging for your data, hacking into your hackles, or pouncing on your pantry to purloin all of your peanut butter, even. (Well, that last part might actually be happening, but that’s just the work of your friendly neighborhood marmot, with no digital security connection.)

Rather, as often does occur, Google’s given us a handful of powerful new tools to further strengthen our Android security setups and bring even more layers of protection into our lives. They’re slowly but surely starting to show up as options on devices worldwide — and, in many cases, it’s up to you to find ’em and activate ’em.

Here’s what’s available and how you can get it going.

[Get level-headed knowledge in your inbox with my free Android Intelligence newsletter — three new things to try every Friday and my Android Notification Power-Pack as a special welcome bonus.]

Android theft protection addition #1: Failed Authentication Lock

First things first: The foundation for our first Android security addition first appeared as a part of Android 15 — so your phone will need to be running that Android version or higher in order for it to be present.

More recently, though, the feature gained a dedicated user-control toggle within the Android system settings — and that’s just beginning to appear on Android gizmos near and far.

The easiest way to get to the appropriate section is to search your settings for the phrase theft protection. Tap the associated option that appears, then see if an option for “Failed Authentication Lock” appears anywhere on the screen that comes up next.

Failed Authentication Lock is a recently added option that’s well worth activating.

JR Raphael, Foundry

This one may or may not be available for you yet, depending on your device’s manufacturer and how often they issue under-the-hood updates, but it’s well worth checking. If you don’t see it now, make yourself a mental note to keep revisiting this every month or two, until it arrives.

And if you do see it, make sure the toggle next to it is in the on and active position. There’s no reason not to activate this and every reason to do so.

Android theft protection addition #2: Identity Check

Our next Android security step-up came into the mix initially last year, for a limited range of devices, and started appearing more broadly across the ecosystem over more recent weeks and months.

It’s called Identity Check, and it leans on your device’s biometric security systems — a fancy way of saying the fingerprint sensor and facial recognition abilities — to require an extra slice of authentication before any especially sensitive action can be performed.

That means if you try to change something with your Google account, change the device’s PIN, disable a theft protection feature, or mess with other high-level system settings, you’ll first have to prove it’s actually you and not someone else who got their greasy mitts on your gizmo and got past its lock screen.

In an extra intelligent twist, you can also specify certain known and trusted places — like your home or other preferred hidey hole — where the extra protection won’t apply, to save you the trouble when you’re sure the phone is safe.

Again, this is a “why not?!” level of added protection. But it’s up to you to opt in and activate it.

So once more, search your system settings for theft protection, then tap the associated option — and this time, look for “Identity Check” as an option on the screen that follows.

Tap it, then follow the steps that show up to both activate the system and — if you’re so inclined — to set up and specify certain trusted places where those extra measures won’t be required.

Android’s Identity Check protection offers a nice mix of added security and convenience.

JR Raphael, Foundry

And, once again, if your device doesn’t yet have this option, set yourself a reminder to check back periodically and keep an eye out for its arrival.

Android theft protection addition #3: Remote Lock protection

Our final feature is one that’s also in the midst of getting an important update and expansion — and that’s Android’s Remote Lock option.

When active, Remote Lock gives you the power to quickly lock your phone from any other device simply by going to android.com/lock and putting in your phone number.

You can lock your device in seconds from any web-connected device — once it’s opted into Remote Lock.

JR Raphael, Foundry

You can find and activate the option it in that same “Theft protection” Android settings area — and, once you do, be sure to tap its line and scroll down to look for the new added “Security question” addition.

The Remote Lock security question is a smart extra step to enable.

JR Raphael, Foundry

That’ll let you create your own security question that’s then presented as an extra step at android.com/lock before any remote locking can occur — a smart and worthwhile addition, if you ask me.

Now, before we call it a day…

2 more recent additions worth checking

In addition to the recently added and expanded options we just went over, now’s a fine time to revisit the general section of Android theft protection features that were added into the platform relatively recently — because, as I discovered for myself whilst looking into these newer expansions, some of ’em might not necessarily carry over on their own and remain active by default when you move into a new device.

That means you won’t have the added measures of protection they offer unless you take the time to swim into your system settings and activate ’em again.

So once more search your settings for theft protection — and, on the screen with all the related options:

• See if “Theft Detection Lock” is enabled. That’ll rely on your device’s sensors to detect the type of motion typically associated with someone snatching your phone and running off with it and then automatically lock the thing down if that ever happens.
• And double-check the status of “Offline Device Lock.” As its name suggests, that one automatically locks your phone if it goes offline, as another data-protecting safeguard.

Remember: Android security shouldn’t be scary. And the more proactive steps you take now, the less you’ll need to worry whenever that next inevitable over-the-top headline arrives.

Treat yourself to more non-alarmist Android knowledge with my free Android Intelligence newsletter. You’ll get three new things to try every Friday and an endless array of interesting life upgrades.

Starting from the third quarter of 2025, we have updated our statistical methodology based on the Kaspersky Security Network. These changes affect all sections of the report except for the installation package statistics, which remain unchanged.

To illustrate trends between reporting periods, we have recalculated the previous year’s data; consequently, these figures may differ significantly from previously published numbers. All subsequent reports will be generated using this new methodology, ensuring accurate data comparisons with the findings presented in this article.

Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) is a global network for analyzing anonymized threat intelligence, voluntarily shared by Kaspersky users. The statistics in this report are based on KSN data unless explicitly stated otherwise.

The year in figures

According to Kaspersky Security Network, in 2025:

• Over 14 million attacks involving malware, adware or unwanted mobile software were blocked.
• Adware remained the most prevalent mobile threat, accounting for 62% of all detections.
• Over 815 thousand malicious installation packages were detected, including 255 thousand mobile banking Trojans.

The year’s highlights

In 2025, cybercriminals launched an average of approximately 1.17 million attacks per month against mobile devices using malicious, advertising, or unwanted software. In total, Kaspersky solutions blocked 14,059,465 attacks throughout the year.

Attacks on Kaspersky mobile users in 2025 (download)

Beyond the malware mentioned in previous quarterly reports, 2025 saw the discovery of several other notable Trojans. Among these, in Q4 we uncovered the Keenadu preinstalled backdoor. This malware is integrated into device firmware during the manufacturing stage. The malicious code is injected into libandroid_runtime.so – a core library for the Android Java runtime environment – allowing a copy of the backdoor to enter the address space of every app running on the device. Depending on the specific app, the malware can then perform actions such as inflating ad views, displaying banners on behalf of other apps, or hijacking search queries. The functionality of Keenadu is virtually unlimited, as its malicious modules are downloaded dynamically and can be updated remotely.

Cybersecurity researchers also identified the Kimwolf IoT botnet, which specifically targets Android TV boxes. Infected devices are capable of launching DDoS attacks, operating as reverse proxies, and executing malicious commands via a reverse shell. Subsequent analysis revealed that Kimwolf’s reverse proxy functionality was being leveraged by proxy providers to use compromised home devices as residential proxies.

Another notable discovery in 2025 was the LunaSpy Trojan.

LunaSpy Trojan, distributed under the guise of an antivirus app

Disguised as antivirus software, this spyware exfiltrates browser passwords, messaging app credentials, SMS messages, and call logs. Furthermore, it is capable of recording audio via the device’s microphone and capturing video through the camera. This threat primarily targeted users in Russia.

Mobile threat statistics

815,735 new unique installation packages were observed in 2025, showing a decrease compared to the previous year. While the decline in 2024 was less pronounced, this past year saw the figure drop by nearly one-third.

Detected Android-specific malware and unwanted software installation packages in 2022–2025 (download)

The overall decrease in detected packages is primarily due to a reduction in apps categorized as not-a-virus. Conversely, the number of Trojans has increased significantly, a trend clearly reflected in the distribution data below.

Detected packages by type

Distribution* of detected mobile software by type, 2024–2025 (download)

* The data for the previous year may differ from previously published data due to some verdicts being retrospectively revised.

A significant increase in Trojan-Banker and Trojan-Spy apps was accompanied by a decline in AdWare and RiskTool files. The most prevalent banking Trojans were Mamont (accounting for 49.8% of apps) and Creduz (22.5%). Leading the persistent adware category were MobiDash (39%), Adlo (27%), and HiddenAd (20%).

Share* of users attacked by each type of malware or unwanted software out of all users of Kaspersky mobile solutions attacked in 2024–2025 (download)

* The total may exceed 100% if the same users encountered multiple attack types.

Trojan-Banker malware saw a significant surge in 2025, not only in terms of unique file counts but also in the total number of attacks. Nevertheless, this category ranked fourth overall, trailing far behind the Trojan file category, which was dominated by various modifications of Triada and Fakemoney.

TOP 20 types of mobile malware

Note that the malware rankings below exclude riskware and potentially unwanted apps, such as RiskTool and adware.

Verdict % 2024* % 2025* Difference in p.p. Change in ranking Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.fe 0.04 9.84 +9.80 Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.gn 2.94 8.14 +5.21 +6 Trojan.AndroidOS.Fakemoney.v 7.46 7.97 +0.51 +1 DangerousObject.Multi.Generic 7.73 5.83 –1.91 –2 Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.ii 0.00 5.25 +5.25 Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.da 0.10 4.12 +4.02 Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.ga 10.56 3.75 –6.81 –6 Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.db 0.01 3.53 +3.51 Backdoor.AndroidOS.Triada.z 0.00 2.79 +2.79 Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Coper.c 0.81 2.54 +1.72 +35 Trojan-Clicker.AndroidOS.Agent.bh 0.34 2.48 +2.14 +74 Trojan-Dropper.Linux.Agent.gen 1.82 2.37 +0.55 +4 Trojan.AndroidOS.Boogr.gsh 5.41 2.06 –3.35 –8 DangerousObject.AndroidOS.GenericML 2.42 1.97 –0.45 –3 Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.gs 3.69 1.93 –1.76 –9 Trojan-Downloader.AndroidOS.Agent.no 0.00 1.87 +1.87 Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.hf 0.00 1.75 +1.75 Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.bc 1.13 1.65 +0.51 +8 Trojan.AndroidOS.Generic. 2.13 1.47 –0.66 –6 Trojan.AndroidOS.Triada.hy 0.00 1.44 +1.44

* Unique users who encountered this malware as a percentage of all attacked users of Kaspersky mobile solutions.

The list is largely dominated by the Triada family, which is distributed via malicious modifications of popular messaging apps. Another infection vector involves tricking victims into installing an official messaging app within a “customized virtual environment” that supposedly offers enhanced configuration options. Fakemoney scam applications, which promise fraudulent investment opportunities or fake payouts, continue to target users frequently, ranking third in our statistics. Meanwhile, the Mamont banking Trojan variants occupy the 6th, 8th, and 18th positions by number of attacks. The Triada backdoor preinstalled in the firmware of certain devices reached the 9th spot.

Region-specific malware

This section describes malware families whose attack campaigns are concentrated within specific countries.

Verdict Country* %** Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Coper.a Türkiye 95.74 Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Hqwar.bj Türkiye 94.96 Trojan.AndroidOS.Thamera.bb India 94.71 Trojan-Proxy.AndroidOS.Agent.q Germany 93.70 Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Coper.c Türkiye 93.42 Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Rewardsteal.lv India 92.44 Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Rewardsteal.jp India 92.31 Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Rewardsteal.ib India 91.91 Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Rewardsteal.h India 91.45 Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Rewardsteal.nk India 90.98 Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Agent.sm Türkiye 90.34 Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Rewardsteal.ac India 89.38 Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Rewardsteal.oa India 89.18 Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Rewardsteal.ma India 88.58 Trojan-Spy.AndroidOS.SmForw.ko India 88.48 Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Pylcasa.c Brazil 88.25 Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Hqwar.bf Türkiye 88.15 Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Agent.pp India 87.85

* Country where the malware was most active.
** Unique users who encountered the malware in the indicated country as a percentage of all users of Kaspersky mobile solutions who were attacked by the same malware.

Türkiye saw the highest concentration of attacks from Coper banking Trojans and their associated Hqwar droppers. In India, Rewardsteal Trojans continued to proliferate, exfiltrating victims’ payment data under the guise of monetary giveaways. Additionally, India saw a resurgence of the Thamera Trojan, which we previously observed frequently attacking users in 2023. This malware hijacks the victim’s device to illicitly register social media accounts.

The Trojan-Proxy.AndroidOS.Agent.q campaign, concentrated in Germany, utilized a compromised third-party application designed for tracking discounts at a major German retail chain. Attackers monetized these infections through unauthorized use of the victims’ devices as residential proxies.

In Brazil, 2025 saw a concentration of Pylcasa Trojan attacks. This malware is primarily used to redirect users to phishing pages or illicit online casino sites.

Mobile banking Trojans

The number of new banking Trojan installation packages surged to 255,090, representing a several-fold increase over previous years.

Mobile banking Trojan installation packages detected by Kaspersky in 2022–2025 (download)

Notably, the total number of attacks involving bankers grew by 1.5 times, maintaining the same growth rate seen in the previous year. Given the sharp spike in the number of unique malicious packages, we can conclude that these attacks yield significant profit for cybercriminals. This is further evidenced by the fact that threat actors continue to diversify their delivery channels and accelerate the production of new variants in an effort to evade detection by security solutions.

TOP 10 mobile bankers Verdict % 2024* % 2025* Difference in p.p. Change in ranking Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.da 0.86 15.65 +14.79 +28 Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.db 0.12 13.41 +13.29 Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Coper.c 7.19 9.65 +2.46 +2 Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.bc 10.03 6.26 –3.77 –3 Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.ev 0.00 4.10 +4.10 Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Coper.a 9.04 4.00 –5.04 –4 Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.ek 0.00 3.73 +3.73 Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.cb 0.64 3.04 +2.40 +26 Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Faketoken.pac 2.17 2.95 +0.77 +5 Trojan-Banker.AndroidOS.Mamont.hi 0.00 2.75 +2.75

* Unique users who encountered this malware as a percentage of all users of Kaspersky mobile solutions who encountered banking threats.

In 2025, we observed a massive surge in activity from Mamont banking Trojans. They accounted for approximately half of all new apps in their category and also were utilized in half of all banking Trojan attacks.

Conclusion

The year 2025 saw a continuing trend toward a decline in total unique unwanted software installation packages. However, we noted a significant year-over-year increase in specific threats – most notably mobile banking Trojans and spyware – even though adware remained the most frequently detected threat overall.

Among the mobile threats detected, we have seen an increased prevalence of preinstalled backdoors, such as Triada and Keenadu. Consistent with last year’s findings, certain mobile malware families continue to proliferate via official app stores. Finally, we have observed a growing interest among threat actors in leveraging compromised devices as proxies.

Cybersecurity researchers have flagged malicious Packagist PHP packages masquerading as Laravel utilities that act as a conduit for a cross-platform remote access trojan (RAT) that's functional on Windows, macOS, and Linux systems. The names of the packages are listed below - nhattuanbl/lara-helper (37 Downloads) nhattuanbl/simple-queue (29 Downloads) nhattuanbl/lara-swagger (49 Downloads) Ravie Lakshmananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/[email protected]

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of an advanced persistent threat (APT) group dubbed Silver Dragon that has been linked to cyber attacks targeting entities in Europe and Southeast Asia since at least mid-2024. "Silver Dragon gains its initial access by exploiting public-facing internet servers and by delivering phishing emails that contain malicious attachments," Check Point saidRavie Lakshmananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/[email protected]

Cybersecurity researchers have disclosed details of an advanced persistent threat (APT) group dubbed Silver Dragon that has been linked to cyber attacks targeting entities in Europe and Southeast Asia since at least mid-2024. "Silver Dragon gains its initial access by exploiting public-facing internet servers and by delivering phishing emails that contain malicious attachments," Check Point said

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Tuesday added a recently disclosed security flaw impacting Broadcom VMware Aria Operations to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, citing active exploitation in the wild. The high-severity vulnerability, CVE-2026-22719 (CVSS score: 8.1), has been described as a case of command injection that could allow an

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Tuesday added a recently disclosed security flaw impacting Broadcom VMware Aria Operations to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, citing active exploitation in the wild. The high-severity vulnerability, CVE-2026-22719 (CVSS score: 8.1), has been described as a case of command injection that could allow an Ravie Lakshmananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/[email protected]

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added a VMware Aria Operations vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-22719 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, flagging the flaw as exploited in attacks. [...]

The multinational Dutch paint company AkzoNobel has confirmed to BleepingComputer that hackers breached the network of one of its U.S. sites. [...]