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DoNot’s Firestarter abuses Google Firebase Cloud Messaging to spread

The newly discovered Firestarter malware uses Google Firebase Cloud Messaging to notify its authors of the final payload location. Even if the command and control (C2) is taken down, the DoNot team can still redirect the malware to another C2 using Google infrastructure. The approach in the final payload upload denotes a highly personalized targeting […]

October 29, 2020 • 1 min read
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Threat Roundup for October 16 to October 23

Today, Talos is publishing a glimpse into the most prevalent threats we’ve observed between October 16 and October 23. As with previous roundups, this post isn’t meant to be an in-depth analysis. Instead, this post will summarize the threats we’ve observed by highlighting key behavioral characteristics, indicators of compromise, and discussing how our customers are […]

October 23, 2020 • 1 min read
Blog post

Threat Roundup for October 9 to October 16

Today, Talos is publishing a glimpse into the most prevalent threats we’ve observed between October 9 and October 16. As with previous roundups, this post isn’t meant to be an in-depth analysis. Instead, this post will summarize the threats we’ve observed by highlighting key behavioral characteristics, indicators of compromise, and discussing how our customers are […]

October 16, 2020 • 1 min read
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Threat Roundup for October 2 to October 9

Today, Talos is publishing a glimpse into the most prevalent threats we’ve observed between September 25 and October 2. As with previous roundups, this post isn’t meant to be an in-depth analysis. Instead, this post will summarize the threats we’ve observed by highlighting key behavioral characteristics, indicators of compromise, and discussing how our customers are […]

October 9, 2020 • 1 min read
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90 days, 16 bugs, and an Azure Sphere Challenge

Cisco Talos reports 16 vulnerabilities in Microsoft Azure Sphere’s sponsored research challenge. By Claudio Bozzato and Lilith [-_-]; and Dave McDaniel.   On May 15, 2020, Microsoft kicked off the Azure Sphere Security Research Challenge, a three-month initiative aimed at finding bugs in Azure Sphere. Among the teams and individuals selected, Cisco Talos conducted a […]

October 6, 2020 • 1 min read
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PoetRAT: Malware targeting public and private sector in Azerbaijan evolves

Cisco Talos discovered PoetRAT earlier this year. We have continued to monitor this actor and their behavior over the preceding months. We have observed multiple new campaigns indicating a change in the actor’s capabilities and showing their maturity toward better operational security. We assess with medium confidence this actor continues to use spear-phishing attacks to […]

October 6, 2020 • 1 min read
Blog post

Lemon Duck brings cryptocurrency miners back into the spotlight

Attackers are constantly reinventing ways of monetizing their tools. Cisco Talos recently discovered a complex campaign employing a multi-modular botnet with multiple ways to spread. This threat, known as “Lemon Duck,” has a cryptocurrency mining payload that steals computer resources to mine the Monero virtual currency. The actor employs various methods to spread across the […]

October 13, 2020 • 1 min read
Blog post

Threat Roundup for September 25 to October 2

Today, Talos is publishing a glimpse into the most prevalent threats we’ve observed between September 25 and October 2. As with previous roundups, this post isn’t meant to be an in-depth analysis. Instead, this post will summarize the threats we’ve observed by highlighting key behavioral characteristics, indicators of compromise, and discussing how our customers are […]

October 2, 2020 • 1 min read