Talos Takes

Everyone had jokes when it came to the vulnerabilities we recently disclosed in a WiFi-connected air fryer. But there are actually some lessons to take away from this, such as: “Not everything needs to be connected to the internet.” Joe Marshall joins the show this week to discuss all things “smart” appliances, how to protect your network and the repercussions of these specific air fryer vulnerabilities.

Chris Neal from Talos Outreach has followed LodaRAT for years now. It’s gone from a fairly small threat to a full-on malware with several features that target all sorts of Android devices. Chris joins the show this week to discuss his history of researching LodaRAT and updates us on its latest TTPs. Find out how this trojan tries to trick users into downloading it on their phones and how it hunts for your banking information.

After researching and writing about ObliqueRAT for several months now, Asheer Malhotra joins Talos Takes for the first time to discuss this trojan. We’ve seen this malware evolve over the past year or so to ad new evasion techniques and find ways to avoid email filters and usual antivirus protections. Asheer talks about his history researching this malware and provides some advice on how to avoid email spam and the other maldocs these actors try to spread.

Welcome to the first-ever XL edition of Talos Takes. This one is a little longer than usual, but we promise you it’s worth it. We recently brought together researchers from all corners of Talos to talk about what we know about SolarWinds so far, and what’s still to be discovered. Our various teams have spent the past several months diving deep into the SolarWinds supply chain attack, and this is a collection of Talos’ knowledge on the current situation. Talking points include whether it’s fair to refer to this campaign as “SolarWinds,” what other initial infection vectors there may be, the breadth of the attack and more boots-on-the-ground intelligence. If you want to watch the video version, head to our YouTube page.

When Pierre Cadieux steps into a Cisco Talos Incident Response engagement, the first thing he wants to do is check out the customer’s logs. But if there are no logs to be found, he’ll be pretty limited in the kinds of insights he can provide.This has come up several times during the SolarWinds era, when customers are wanting to know if they were targeted in the widespread supply chain attack. So in this episode of Talos Takes, Pierre joins the show to discuss why it’s so important to keep logs for everything — log-ins, events, applications and more.

For the first time in Talos Takes history, we have a whopping TWO guests on to talk about Talos’ latest research paper. In this episode, Dmytro Korzhevin and Azim Khodjibaev discuss their work interviewing a LockBit ransomware operator. They spent multiple weeks speaking to this actor over social media, and eventually turned their conversations into a paper that lays out what we learned about the ransomware landscape. Dmytro and Azim talked about lessons learned, what surprised them about the threat actor, and how actors choose their targets.

The major SolarWinds campaign has been generating headlines for weeks now. And while its specific targets make this attack unique, this is far from the first-ever supply chain attack. So what is a supply chain attack? And should your organization be prepared for them? In this episode of Talos Takes, Nick Biasini talks about the history of supply chain attacks, and how they can even be traced back to the 1970s.

Everything was on fire this year, and the internet was no different. Ransomware was the leading cause of headaches and late night for defenders and IT experts this year. On the latest Talos Takes episode (and last of 2020), Azim Khodjibaev joins us to talk about ransomware’s big year. We talk about why adversaries wanted to go big-game hunting, and what this could mean for trends in 2021.

More shoppers are expected to buy online this year than ever. Everyone’s encouraged to stay home and avoid lines and crowds due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has left retailers offering deals earlier in November than ever before. So how can you stay safe while doing all your holiday shopping online? In this episode of Talos Takes, we’ll talk through some of the common schemes we’re seeing and talk about what makes this year unique when it comes to spam campaigns.

Talos intakes a ridiculous amount of information every day. So how do we parse what is and isn’t important enough to share? In this episode of Talos Takes, Amy Henderson from our Threat Intelligence and Interdiction team talks about our information-sharing partnerships with both private and public entities. How do we disseminate important information to our friends in the field? And why are security organizations like the Cyber Threat Alliance so important?

There are so many options now for basic web browsing. There are ad-blocking plugins, privacy browsers, incognito mode, password managers — but for the average user, this can be a lot to keep up with. In this episode of Talos Takes, we dissect all these options and talk about what your best options are to keep your information safe while doing some everyday web browsing.

Honeypots are an important part of threat research and detection. In this episode of Talos Takes, we talk to Christopher Evans, who is our resident honeypot expert at Talos. Chris talks about how he uses them every day, why they’re important to Talos’ overall mission and balancing the use of them with the potential for making attackers smarter.

This week’s episode is actually an excerpt from our recently released roundtable on disinformation and American election security. This is a small part of our larger discussion on fake news, state-sponsored actors using fake social media accounts, and what can be done to combat the spread of disinformation. To see the whole thing, click here.

The dark web sounds scary — and it is. But what exactly does this dark web consist of? Despite what the name may suggest, it’s actually not people selling organs or stolen video games that happened to fall off the back of a truck. But what is actually on these forums? Azim Khodjibaev joins Jon Munshaw this week to discuss his experience with the dark web.

We use the term “APT” in cyber security a lot. But what does it mean, exactly? Does a group have to break a certain threshold to become an APT? Does the term refer to a specific malware family or a group of actors? On this week’s Talos Takes, Jon Munshaw talks to Azim from Talos’ Threat Intelligence team about this very topic.

The value of cryptocurrencies is nowhere near where it was just two years ago. So does that mean cryptominers have gone away as a threat? Jon Munshaw and Nick Biasini sit down in this episode of Talos Takes to discuss where cryptominers stand in 2020. Why aren’t we reading about them as much? And why is being hit with one a sign of worse things to come?

Threat researchers like to throw around the acronym “FUD” a lot. But is FUD, exactly? Why should you look out for it? And why do attackers win when they sow FUD? Joe Marshall and Jon Munshaw walk you through fear, uncertainty and doubt and discuss why panic and misinformation play right into attackers’ hands.

We published our findings on a ransomware family known as MedusaLocker last week. On its surface, it’s just like any other ransomware family — steals your stuff, encrypts it, and asks for some money to get it back. But there are some secret tricks hidden beneath the surface, and Edmund Brumaghin is here to talk about them.

Don’t attackers know we need a break right now? Alas, they’re doing everything they can to capitalize on the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt with fake news, malicious advertisements and misleading information. In this Talos Takes episode, former journalist Jon Munshaw and researcher Nick Biasini discuss best practices for fact-checking, avoiding fake news and intaking the correct information during this trying time.

Yes, adversaries are always looking for new ways to make money. But what’s their No. 2 priority? Information. In this episode of Talos Takes, Nick Biasini and Earl Carter break down the basics of information-stealers and why they’re so important to keep out.

Talos Takes is finally back with its own feed and a new episode. Nick Biasini and Earl Carter discuss the best password practices. Should you use a password manager? What are some best practices? And what does all of this have to do with Disney Plus?

2019 was a huge year for ransomware. Cities across the U.S. had their government services attacked, and adversaries changed up their techniques in the hopes of making a larger profit and infecting more users. What other changes do we see coming to the ransomware space? Are adversaries’ motivations changing at all? And will defense techniques change along with them?

The holidays have come and gone, and so have the sales. Maybe you got a new drone, or a home AI assistant. So what should you do to make sure those new toys don’t turn against you? Nick Biasini and Earl Carter have some tips for you.

We first brought you this episode in the Beers with Talos feedback in December. We’re uploading this to the Talos Takes feed for posterity now, and let’s face it, these holiday shopping reminders can apply to any time you’re shopping online.

This week’s episode of Talos Takes is a special extra large edition. We’ve got the audio version of our recent Cisco Talos Incident Response On Air stream where some of our responders got together to discuss the past threats of the top quarter. Liz Waddell and other team members covered everything from recent ransomware actor drama, to the importance of saving logs and other tips they picked up over the past few months.

Nate Pors joins the show this week to recap the recently released Cisco Talos Incident Response Quarterly Report. He and Jon recap the top attacker trends from the past quarter, including highlighting which types of attacks CTIR saw in the field and what new techniques adversaries are using. Topics discussed include the increased targeting of telecommunications companies, a decline in ransomware attacks and more business email compromise.

Chris Neal from Talos Outreach recently dove into a recent AvosLocker ransomware attack in the wild. This week, he joins the show to recap his major takeaways from this attack that other potential targets can learn from. He and Jon talk about the current ransomware-as-a-service landscape, the use of living-off-the-land binaries and other calling cards from this actor to keep an eye out for.

Jon reports live from the floor of Cisco Live U.S. this week. He interviewed several Talos speakers about their talks at Cisco Live and some of the major takeaways from conversations with users and customers this week.

Get ready for Cisco Live next week in Vegas with a quick primer on everything Talos has going on at the conference. We’re excited to be back in person interacting with customers and users. Jon has a complete rundown of the Talos space at the conference, some talk highlights and other things you should know before you go. For a complete agenda, check out the Cisco Live Session Catalog.

We’re doing something a bit different this week — it’s just Jon for a few minutes talking about Talos’ plans at the RSA Conference coming up next week. Catch up on our plans for the week and here about some special events we have planned. To stay up-to-date on the latest, follow us on Twitter. And if you prefer a written preview, read this week’s Threat Source newsletter.

Kendall McKay joins Jon this week to discuss the Hive and Conti ransomware chats she and her colleagues recently reviewed. We obtained some leaked chats between these ransomware groups and some of their victims, showing us what communicating with an attacker is really like. Jon and Kendall discuss the negotiation process over a ransom payment and what else we learned from these chat logs.

On this week’s episode of Talos Takes, we’re bringing you the recording of last week’s live stream with Cisco Talos Incident Response. Beers with Talos’ own Liz Waddell hosted the first in our new “On Air” series with CTIR, where she and her fellow Talosians recapped the previous quarter’s top threats. They run through the malware families CTIR saw most in the field and discussed other trends that threat actors are starting to adapt.

It’s tax season! You know what that means — sadness, frustration and scams. Host Jon Munshaw sat down with Nick Biasini from the Talos Outreach team to talk about common tactics adversaries use around this “holiday” to try and spread malware, steal personal information and take users’ money. We talk about free security tools you can deploy to block these types of threats, common spam tactics to keep an eye out for and other services that can help you prepare for a worst-case scenario.

Cisco Talos threat intelligence team and Cisco ThousandEyes went live on Talos’ social media platforms Friday to provide guidance on current cyberattacks and insight into internet activity in Ukraine. Both teams are actively monitoring the digital landscape and openly sharing essential findings to contribute to the safety of our customers globally.Many of our teams have set aside normal tasks, now spending their time watching over Ukrainian networks. Other teams have focused on protecting refugees, physically and digitally. Still, others have volunteered their free time contributing critical components to our open-source intelligence work. The audio version of this briefing will share what we have seen and how you can protect your data, network and teams.

Jon Munshaw and Nick Biasini sit down for a few minutes to discuss the latest on the ongoing cyber attacks and security concerns in Ukraine. They discuss how a recent set of attacks against government-run websites compares to past attacks like NotPetya, and provide guidance for any companies who may be based in, or do business in, Ukraine. For more of Talos’ insight on this, please continue to check back on our blog post here.

We thought it was usually all about “New year, new me,” heading into 2022, but turns out it’s the same cybersecurity problems. Join host Jon Munshaw as he welcomes on threat researcher JJ Cummings to discuss how the Log4j vulnerability event evolved over the holiday break. JJ, who you may recognized from our recent live Beers with Talos episode, discusses the new CVE that popped up the week after Christmas, and then discusses what things he and his team will be looking into regarding Log4shell in 2022.

This is a special XL edition of Talos Takes that is a replay of a live stream our amazing researchers put on earlier this week. You’ll hear Matt Olney, Amy Henderson and Vitor Ventura, all from Talos, talk about the Log4J vulnerability that is ruining the internet for everyone right now. They discussed the latest news around the vulnerability, provided advice to users who may be affected (i.e., pretty much everyone) and looked at where we go from here. If you’d like to hear more from us, you can join us LIVE on all of our social media platforms at noon ET on Friday, Dec. 17 for a special episode of Beers with Talos, where we’ll have more updates on Log4J.

Emotet was about a month late for Halloween, because it’s got its zombie costume on. The long-known botnet is showing some signs of life in late 2021 after an international law enforcement takedown earlier this year. Nick Biasini joins Talos Takes this week to discuss what signs we’re seeing to indicate Emotet’s return, and provides some advice as to what we should look out for as we head into 2022.

We know, we know. We do one of these every year. But people still falling for scams, so we still have to keep reminding people how to shop safely online! This year is a bit different than past Black Fridays and Cyber Mondays because of the issues around the supply chain. Attackers are sure to try to convince you that the big gift you want this year won’t arrive on time so you have to “ACT NOW!” Plus, there’s the continued frenzy to find PlayStation 5s and XBOX Series X/S’s. Jon and Nick talk about scams you’re likely to see while shopping online over the long weekend and provide some helpful tips that anyone can use.

For the first time in Talos Takes’ history, we have a formal crossover with Beers with Talos. Mitch Neff, the host of BWT, joins the show to talk about his horror stories using public WiFi networks. He and Jon discuss the safest ways to interact with large, public network in places like libraries, parks and airports, and potential alternatives to public hotspots.