A compromised cloud identity can be far more valuable than a stolen password.
Microsoft's 2026 threat research describes attack chains in which compromised identities were followed by authentication persistence, Microsoft Graph reconnaissance and high-volume access to SharePoint, OneDrive and email.
The danger comes from the permissions already attached to the account.
A normal employee account may have access to documents, conversations, customer information and internal applications. An attacker who controls that identity can potentially access the same resources.
This is why cloud security increasingly depends on identity security.
Users should protect accounts with phishing-resistant authentication where available and report unexpected authentication activity immediately.
Organisations should monitor unusual sign-ins, new authentication-method registrations, large-scale file access and unusual API activity.
The lesson for everyone is that “the account works” is not proof that the account is secure. A legitimate account can become an attacker's doorway into an organisation.