January 9, 2026

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CybersecurityHQ issues and preserves dated, bounded external cyber judgment.
Not news reaction. Not advisory opinion. Not consensus analysis.

Pressure Source Microsoft Threat Intelligence disclosed active domain spoofing attacks exploiting complex email routing configurations where MX records do not point directly to Microsoft 365. Authentication enforcement dissolved as mail traversed intermediary gateways and on-premises relays, allowing phishing emails to appear as internal traffic.

Assumption Under Stress Authentication guarantees persist across mail routing and third-party connectors once configured at the boundary.

Constraint Logged Email authentication controls cannot be asserted end-to-end once mail flow traverses intermediary gateways or connectors that do not explicitly enforce authentication.

Unresolved Tension How many organizations can enumerate every mail flow path and prove authentication enforcement at each hop without relying on assumed propagation?

Coverage spans ongoing CISO intelligence and versioned decision artifacts, depending on use context.