Microsoft Defender bug flags Google search links as malicious

Microsoft said its Defender for Office 365 product is wrongly classifying some Google search links as malicious and blocking users from opening them. The company confirmed the issue, tracked internally as "MO1465962," and warned that users may see a "this site may be unsafe" warning when trying to access the URLs. According to Microsoft, the problem stems from an error in the security classification mechanism, and copying and pasting the link directly into a browser does not bypass the warning. The company noted that IT administrators may receive related alerts in the Microsoft Sentinel and Defender portals. Microsoft said its "Safe Links" feature rewrites URLs in email, Teams and other Office 365 applications and checks them when users click through. The company said it was working to fix the misclassification and stop its impact on users. Microsoft also acknowledged that similar misclassification issues have occurred in the past, when some legitimate content was mistakenly quarantined. No further details on a timeline for the fix were immediately available.