Microsoft Teams to Introduce Automatic Tagging for Third-Party Bots in Meeting Lobbies

Microsoft has announced a new feature for Teams that will allow organizers to have better control over third-party bots attempting to join meetings. This upcoming capability is currently in development and is expected to be rolled out in May 2026. Once released, it will be accessible on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS platforms for global standard multi-tenant and GCC cloud environments.

External third-party bots trying to join a Teams meeting will soon be clearly identified in the lobby, distinguishing them from human participants. Organizers will then have the authority to decide whether to allow the bot to join the meeting, ensuring that accidental acceptance is avoided.

According to Microsoft, “During Teams meetings, if there is an external 3P bot trying to join the meeting, organizers will be able to see a clear representation of the bots while they wait in the lobby. Organizers will be required to explicitly and separately admit these bots into the meeting, if really required.” This approach aims to give organizers complete control over the presence of these bots and prevent inadvertent acceptance.

This change is crucial in preventing malicious apps controlled by threat actors or third-party bots used for various automated tasks from infiltrating Teams meetings without the attendees’ knowledge.

Enhanced Security Features in Microsoft Teams

In addition to the automatic tagging feature for third-party bots, Microsoft Teams has introduced other security enhancements. Users can now report suspicious or unwanted calls as potential scams or phishing attempts. There are also new fraud-protection features that warn users about external callers impersonating trusted organizations in social-engineering attacks.

Furthermore, administrators can now block external Teams users via the Defender portal to combat cybercrime groups, including ransomware gangs, who may try to exploit the platform for social engineering attacks targeting employees.

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