Microsoft Teams Adds Policy to Block External Bots from Meetings

Microsoft has announced a new policy for Microsoft Teams that allows administrators to automatically block all identified external bots from joining Teams meetings. The feature, reported by BleepingComputer on August 24, 2026, is part of Microsoft's ongoing efforts to enhance meeting security and give admins more granular control over who can participate in meetings.

The policy is designed to prevent potentially malicious bots from entering meetings, thereby reducing risks such as data leakage, phishing, and other bot-related attacks. By enabling this policy, admins can ensure that only approved participants join meetings, minimizing the attack surface for social engineering and unauthorized access.

According to the report, the policy is being rolled out gradually, and Microsoft has provided guidance for administrators on how to enable and configure it. No specific bot threats or incidents that prompted this feature were detailed in the report, and no active exploitation has been observed. The feature is purely a defensive measure.

Organizations using Microsoft Teams should review their meeting security settings and consider enabling this policy to strengthen their defenses against bot-based threats. As with any new feature, admins should test the policy in a controlled environment before full deployment to ensure it does not disrupt legitimate meeting workflows.