Microsoft has issued a serious warning about a surge in ransomware attacks targeting on premises SharePoint servers. According to reporting on MSN covering Microsoft’s alert, Chinese linked threat actors are exploiting vulnerabilities in SharePoint Server and turning those intrusions into full scale ransomware attacks.
This development should concern every business running on premises collaboration platforms. It reinforces a hard truth about cybersecurity in 2026. Attackers are moving faster than traditional security models can keep up.
What Microsoft Is Warning About
In the source article, Microsoft describes a wave of attacks exploiting SharePoint Server vulnerabilities, including zero day style flaws that allow remote access to unpatched systems. Once attackers gain access, they escalate privileges, move laterally, and deploy ransomware payloads.
The campaign has been linked to Chinese state aligned threat actors. After initial exploitation, attackers have deployed ransomware such as Warlock, encrypting data and demanding cryptocurrency payments.
This is not opportunistic spam. These are coordinated, targeted attacks against known weaknesses in widely deployed enterprise infrastructure.
Why SharePoint Is a High Value Target
Microsoft SharePoint is deeply embedded in many organizations. It stores sensitive documents, internal communications, contracts, financial data, and intellectual property. When SharePoint goes down, operations stall.
For many businesses, SharePoint is integrated into authentication systems and internal workflows. Compromise can quickly extend beyond a single server and impact the broader network.
Attackers understand this. That is why exploitation of server side vulnerabilities is often followed by credential harvesting, privilege escalation, and ransomware deployment.
The Real Problem: Detect and Respond Is Too Slow
Most organizations still rely on a detect and respond model.
This model assumes that:
- Malicious behavior will be detected quickly.
- Security teams will have time to investigate alerts.
- Response actions will occur before serious damage is done.
But in cases like the SharePoint ransomware surge, exploitation happens first. Encryption happens next. Alerts often come after the attacker already has administrative control.
Detection tools generate alerts. They do not inherently prevent execution.
When ransomware is launched from a trusted process or through a legitimate administrative channel, traditional defenses can be bypassed or delayed. Meanwhile, files are encrypted and business operations grind to a halt.
That is why detect and respond is no longer sufficient on its own.
Moving to Isolation and Containment
Businesses must rethink endpoint protection and server security with a different priority.
Instead of asking, “How fast can we detect this?” the better question is:
“How do we prevent unauthorized code from executing in the first place?”
Isolation and containment flips the model.
- Untrusted processes are restricted automatically.
- High risk applications are isolated from sensitive resources.
- Even if a vulnerability is exploited, the attacker’s ability to execute, persist, and spread is constrained.
This approach dramatically reduces the blast radius of an incident.
How AppGuard Changes the Equation
AppGuard was built around isolation and containment, not detection and alert fatigue.
With more than 10 years of proven performance, AppGuard prevents unauthorized code execution at the endpoint level. It does not rely on signatures, constant cloud lookups, or waiting for suspicious behavior to appear.
Instead, it enforces strict policy controls that:
- Block ransomware payload execution.
- Restrict lateral movement.
- Prevent privilege abuse.
- Contain exploit driven attacks before they spread.
In a SharePoint exploitation scenario, even if a vulnerability is used to gain initial access, AppGuard limits what can run and what system resources can be accessed. That containment can mean the difference between a contained security event and a company wide ransomware crisis.
The Business Impact Is Real
Ransomware attacks are not just IT problems. They are business continuity events.
Downtime leads to:
- Lost revenue
- Operational disruption
- Reputational damage
- Regulatory exposure
When attackers leverage widely used platforms like SharePoint, the risk multiplies.
The Microsoft warning should serve as a wake up call. Patch management is critical, but patches alone are not enough. Zero day vulnerabilities and sophisticated threat actors ensure that gaps will always exist.
Your security strategy must assume exploitation will happen and be designed to contain it.
Talk With CHIPS About Preventing the Next Incident
If your organization relies on on premises infrastructure such as SharePoint Server, now is the time to reassess your endpoint protection strategy.
It is time to move from Detect and Respond to Isolation and Containment.
Talk with us at CHIPS about how AppGuard can prevent this type of incident. We will show you how a prevention first approach can stop ransomware at the execution layer and dramatically reduce your exposure to advanced threats.
Do not wait for an alert telling you encryption has already begun. Let us help you contain the threat before it becomes a crisis.
Like this article? Please share it with others!
Comments