● Covered by 1 source · 1 reportMedium impact1 neutral
Microsoft Teams Admins Can Now Block External Bots from Meetings
Key points
- New policy blocks external bots from Teams meetings automatically.
- Builds on a June policy requiring organizer approval for bots.
- Available in Teams admin center, off by default, requires activation.
- Aims to reduce risk from malicious apps and unauthorized access.
New Policy for Blocking External Bots
Microsoft is implementing a new protection policy for Teams meetings, enabling administrators to automatically block all identified external bots from joining. This feature expands upon a previous Teams policy introduced in June, which tagged detected bots in the lobby and required organizer approval for their admission.
Enhanced Security Controls
The new policy eliminates the need for explicit organizer confirmation, automatically preventing external bots from joining. Microsoft stated that this update allows organizations to strengthen meeting security by configuring Teams policies to automatically block detected external meeting bots, providing administrators with more control and helping to reduce organizational risk.
Rollout and Configuration
This administrative policy is currently in a targeted release phase until the end of August, with general availability expected worldwide by late September. It will be accessible under the "Manage bots" meeting protection settings within the Teams admin center. The feature will be off by default, requiring administrators to activate and evaluate it before deployment. Once enabled, the policy can be assigned to specific users or groups through existing Teams meeting policy management.
Addressing Security Concerns
The change ensures that third-party bots, which can range from note-taking and transcription tools to other automated tasks, as well as malicious applications controlled by threat actors, cannot join Teams meetings without the awareness of attendees and organizers. This addresses a growing concern, as Microsoft reported in April a surge in attacks abusing Teams for access and lateral movement on enterprise networks, with threat actors impersonating IT staff to gain remote access and steal data. Since December, administrators have also been able to block external Teams users via the Defender portal to counter cybercrime groups using Teams for social engineering attacks.
✨ This summary was generated by AI from the outlets' reporting listed below. It is not independently verified and may contain errors — check the original sources. How BrevFeed works →
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Reporting from
Microsoft Teams is rolling out a new policy that allows administrators to automatically block external bots from joining meetings. This update enhances meeting security by preventing unauthorized third-party bots and malicious applications from accessing Teams meetings, addressing a rise in Teams-based social engineering attacks.