Cybersecurity leaders CrowdStrike and Microsoft have announced a strategic collaboration to harmonize the naming and tracking of cyber threat actors across platforms. The move addresses long-standing confusion caused by inconsistent adversary naming conventions used by different security vendors.
The new partnership introduces a shared mapping framework—a cross-referenced system linking threat actor aliases across both companies’ intelligence platforms. This initiative, described as a “Rosetta Stone for cyber threat intelligence,” aims to reduce ambiguity and accelerate response times by making it easier for cybersecurity teams to correlate data and identify threat actors accurately.
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Over 80 threat actor aliases already aligned across platforms
As part of the initial phase, the two companies have already reconciled over 80 threat actor identifiers. For instance, Microsoft’s “Volt Typhoon” and CrowdStrike’s “VANGUARD PANDA” have been validated as the same Chinese state-sponsored group. Similarly, Microsoft’s “Secret Blizzard” and CrowdStrike’s “VENOMOUS BEAR” are now recognized as aliases for the same Russian-linked adversary.
This shared taxonomy will help analysts understand attacker behavior more effectively, improve incident response strategies, and reduce the delays often caused by terminology discrepancies between platforms.
Industry-wide collaboration expected to follow
The companies emphasized that this collaboration does not replace individual naming systems but instead provides a bridge between them. The initiative begins with a joint analyst-led effort and is expected to expand into a shared resource open to other cybersecurity partners.
CrowdStrike and Microsoft stated that by streamlining threat actor attribution, they are equipping defenders with tools to act faster and with greater confidence. The collaboration underscores the need for unity in the cybersecurity community as threats grow in complexity and scale.
This partnership marks a significant step forward in threat intelligence interoperability, reinforcing the view that security is most effective when treated as a collaborative effort across the industry.
