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Beware of Microsoft Pop-Up “Permissions Requested” for Apps

by | Mar 2, 2023 | 0 comments

Microsoft, like most tech companies, is constantly improving its offerings. Their significant investment in cloud computing required the development of a new, overarching technology called Enterprise Applications. The technology is powerful, pervasive, and easy to exploit. It’s important to carefully read any kind of Microsoft pop-up window requesting you to grant a specific app permission to your email or other apps to ensure its validity.

What to Know About The Microsoft “Permissions Requested” Pop-Up For Apps

We receive countless emails and browser or app pop-up windows in our daily work, some legitimate and some not. It is becoming more challenging to discern the difference. The bad actors are getting better at matching the fonts and logos of real companies with whom we do business, spoofing email addresses, and generally appearing legitimate. Being on guard is essential.

This new “Permissions requested” app pop-up is pretty simple to recognize, at least for now. If you see the screen (shown here to the right on desktop screens) in your daily work, stop and review it carefully. Unless you have been specifically directed, it is most certainly not legitimate.

Microsoft Permissions Requested Authorize Prompt
This pop-up example allows a “Forms Printer” app to send emails automatically without any other approval or authorization. In this context, “Forms Printer” has full access to my mailbox. Good or bad, this software can read all my private emails, send emails as if it were me, and generally ruin my month if it gets out of control.

The bad actors are crafting these requests to seem necessary for basic tasks. Unfortunately, clicking “Accept” ultimately grants access to your emails, calendars, files, and other things stored in Microsoft’s cloud.

A single click could grant the bad actor full access to your data.

User Education is Key

Gartner states that 85% of data breaches involve a human element, sometimes called social engineering. That means end users are the biggest risk to a company’s data. That makes user education critical.

If you are a user and see a prompt like this, contact your technical support group. They might be aggravated with you; they might not even know what you are talking about, but do it anyway. The stakes are too high to take a shortcut on this one. If you are in the middle of something, click “Cancel” and move on. Whatever you do, do not click “Accept” out of frustration.

Countless services use Microsoft’s Enterprise Applications. The power and flexibility they enable can provide amazing solutions for modern businesses, but not without potential risk. A quick review of Telmar’s current enterprise apps includes our Office 365 backup solution, a custom application for emailing invoices, and a tie into Exchange from our leave tracking software, among others. The key is to educate users on the potential risks and what steps to take if they see a prompt like this “Permissions requested” pop-up example.

If your organization is struggling with technology challenges related to your ERP system, please Contact Us. Telmar has decades of experience dealing with these types of issues. We love to help our clients in whatever way we can.

Did You Know

Removing access to an enterprise application for an individual user can currently only be done via PowerShell. The Azure AD management tool will guide you through the process.

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Telmar Computer Solutions, Inc. is providing the information in this publication as a courtesy, free of charge, to share information with the general public. Nothing in this publication is intended to be, nor should be, interpreted as advice or consultation on any matter, including taxes, accounting, business management, system configuration or operation, or any other similar topic. Please engage the services of an appropriate professional for assistance in these areas. Telmar Computer Solutions, Inc. is not responsible for any loss, including downtime, lost files/data, rework, or other expenses sustained by you, your company, or any person who relies on this publication.

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