USU InfoSec Team Warns of Phishing Attempts Tied to Microsoft 365 Outage - Utah State University
Following yesterday's Microsoft 365 outage, Utah State University's InfoSec Team has identified phishing emails attempting to exploit the disruption.
The phishing emails, which began circulating Friday morning, claim messages were "held after the outage" and include a "Restore Messages" button. While USU's email filter has removed the initial wave, similar messages are expected to continue over the next few days.
Warning Signs
The InfoSec Team has identified several red flags: non-official sender addresses (even if display names appear legitimate), claims about affected messages needing restoration, urgency tactics threatening deletion within 24 hours, and buttons requesting login credentials.
Neither USU IT nor Microsoft will email, text, or call you unprompted to "restore" your account or messages.
Recommended Actions
Recipients should not click any suspicious links and instead report phishing attempts using the shield icon in Outlook before deleting the message. Those who may have entered credentials should immediately change passwords and contact the Service Desk.
The university reminds users to never share passwords or MFA codes and to verify unexpected requests directly through official channels rather than message-provided contact information. Current phishing examples are available on the USU InfoSec website.
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