2020 | Digital Shadows

Top Three SearchLight Updates in 2020

December 28, 2020 | 3 Min Read

For threat intelligence to really work for organizations, it must… Be easy to use Be easy to integrate Have dependable...

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A Christmas 2020 Review: Confronting and controlling insider threats

December 21, 2020 | 6 Min Read

As the holidays rapidly approach, our halls are decked with images of Santa Claus. Kids are told stories of his...

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QUO, QUO, QUO! Merry Christmas…..

December 21, 2020 | 7 Min Read

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me an index of the dark web for free….....

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How Bizarre: Joker’s Stash .bazar site allegedly seized by law enforcement

December 17, 2020 | 6 Min Read

What happened to Joker’s Stash? In a very recent event, the Blockchain domains of Joker’s Stash, an automated vending cart...

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Top Five ShadowTalk Episodes of the Year

December 17, 2020 | 4 Min Read

Despite everything else happening in the world, 2020 has been an amazing year for ShadowTalk, our weekly threat intelligence podcast...

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Holiday Cybercrime: Krampus is in Town

December 15, 2020 | 7 Min Read

For the average consumer, Black Friday and holiday shopping look different in 2020. In previous years, we would physically make our...

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SolarWinds Compromise: What security teams need to know

December 14, 2020 | 5 Min Read

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recently released an Emergency Directive reporting on a long-running supply-chain attack actively exploiting...

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Digital Shadows’ Top Five Blogs of 2020

December 10, 2020 | 6 Min Read

Rumour has it that one day I’ll stop being nostalgic around December time and live this month just like any...

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Impersonator Syndrome: Supply chain lures and COVID-19 cures

December 9, 2020 | 3 Min Read

It’s been a tough few months for the healthcare industry (and for all of us in general). While we’ve reported...

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How Cybercriminals Answer “What do you do for a living?”

December 3, 2020 | 8 Min Read

Have you ever wondered how cybercriminals explain their mysterious means of income to others? While not all threat actors’ illicit...

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The Top 3 Cybersecurity Threats In The Middle East

December 2, 2020 | 7 Min Read

SECURITY CONCERNS ARE HEATING UP IN THE MIDDLE EAST Rising rates of cybercriminal activities occur as threat actors observe the...

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2021 Forecasts: Six Trends And Predictions For The New Year

December 1, 2020 | 18 Min Read

This year has been a real doozy, y’all: Ransomware capitalizing on extortion, operators compromising thousands of organizations, the COVID-19 pandemic...

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ShadowTalk Update: Egregor Ransomware, IoT Regulations, Black Friday Threats and More!

November 30, 2020 | 2 Min Read

ShadowTalk hosts Stefano, Adam and Dylan bring you the latest in threat intelligence. This week they cover: QBot drops Prolock...

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Egregor: The New Ransomware Variant to Watch

November 24, 2020 | 9 Min Read

INTRODUCING EGREGOR RANSOMWARE GROUP First observed on September 25th, 2020, the Egregor ransomware variant has been making considerable strides in...

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SearchLight’s Exposed Document Alerts: Uncover the Critical, Faster

November 23, 2020 | 5 Min Read

BACKING UP…INTO A DITCH I am a terrible driver. While I’ve sat through Driver’s Ed courses, studied physics and trigonometry,...

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Holiday Cybercrime: Retail Risks and Dark Web Kicks

November 19, 2020 | 7 Min Read

The holidays are right around the corner, and you know what that means – more calories and significant price drops...

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ShadowTalk Update: RegretLocker, OceanLotus, Millions Seized in Cryptocurrency, and more!

November 16, 2020 | 2 Min Read

ShadowTalk hosts Stefano, Kim, Dylan, and Adam bring you the latest in threat intelligence. This week they cover: RegretLocker’s approach...

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To Code or Not to Code? Cybercriminals and the world of programming

November 12, 2020 | 9 Min Read

If you keep a pulse on the technology sector or have take note of billboard ads in any urban area...

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Work Smarter, Not Harder: The Evolution of DDoS Activity in 2020

November 10, 2020 | 10 Min Read

Ransomware operations have undoubtedly dominated the 2020 cyber threat landscape thanks to multi-million-dollar heists and new malware variants popping up...

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A Eulogy for Maze: The end of a ransomware era?

November 9, 2020 | 6 Min Read

Maze— a high profile ransomware gang in the cybercriminal world— now claims they’ve ceased to exist. The hacker group famed...

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Simplifying Cybercriminal Jargon: A Glossary of Cybercriminal Access Offerings

November 2, 2020 | 15 Min Read

With advertisements for access to compromised victim networks becoming increasingly prevalent across cybercriminal platforms, Digital Shadows has compiled the following...

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Ransomware operators targeting healthcare organizations: Monitoring the situation

October 29, 2020 | 9 Min Read

On 28 Oct 2020, in response to large-scale and coordinated attacks by ransomware operators targeting United States-based healthcare services, the...

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Mapping MITRE ATT&CK to SandWorm APT’s Global Campaign

October 28, 2020 | 7 Min Read

On Thursday, October 15th, the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) indicted six Russian military officers connected to the SandWorm...

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Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Week 4 – The Future of Connected Devices

October 28, 2020 | 8 Min Read

This year’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month has served as a refreshing installment of security considerations that are often at risk of...

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Foreign cyber threats to the 2020 US presidential election

October 27, 2020 | 12 Min Read

In 2016, Russian nation-state-linked threat actors infamously compromised the Democratic National Convention (DNC), wedging a divide in the political party...

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Marcus Carey Joins ShadowTalk

October 23, 2020 | 3 Min Read

We recently had mentor, author, founder, US Navy veteran, and Texan, Marcus Carey join ShadowTalk. For those who don’t know...

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Dark pathways into cybercrime: Minding the threat actor talent gap

October 21, 2020 | 11 Min Read

Digital Shadows recently published two blogs looking at how threat actors express their personality on cybercriminal forums — either inadvertently...

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Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Week 3 – Securing Internet- Connected Devices in Healthcare

October 21, 2020 | 9 Min Read

The healthcare industry is increasingly relying upon internet-connected devices and solutions to improve patient care, organizational efficiency, crisis response speed,...

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Quarterly Update: Ransomware Trends in Q3

October 19, 2020 | 8 Min Read

As we embark on the final months of 2020, ransomware has been the main topic of conversation once again. Throughout...

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Digital Shadows Analysis of Europol’s Cybercrime Report

October 14, 2020 | 12 Min Read

In early October 2020, Europol released their Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA) 2020, detailing the latest trends and impacts...

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Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Week 2 – Security Devices at Home and Work

October 14, 2020 | 7 Min Read

This week, National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) focuses on accountability and responsibility behind securing your devices at home and...

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Clickbait to Checkmate: SMS-based scam targets US smartphones and accesses victim locations

October 13, 2020 | 11 Min Read

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Digital Shadows has observed a significant increase in the number of SMS-based phishing...

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Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Week 1 – If you Connect It, Protect It

October 8, 2020 | 6 Min Read

This week marks the opening week of the annual National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). While focusing on cybersecurity is...

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Help your development teams keep their keys safe

October 7, 2020 | 3 Min Read

Modern development practices are a blessing and a curse for organizations. Efficiency gains delivered by distributed workforces, and blended in...

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Let’s get ready to tumble! Bitcoin vs Monero

October 6, 2020 | 13 Min Read

Over the past ten years, cryptocurrencies have become the go-to form of payment for the less law-abiding citizens of the...

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Recent arrests and high-profile convictions: What does it mean for the cyber threat landscape?

September 30, 2020 | 13 Min Read

In the wonderful world of cyber threat intelligence and research, we often analyze the impact that cybercrime or nation-state activity...

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Four Ways to Validate Credentials in SearchLight

September 29, 2020 | 3 Min Read

Amid the billions of credentials that are breached each year, security teams are focused on one core question: do any...

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Cybercriminals Targeting SAP RECON

September 29, 2020 | 5 Min Read

Key takeaways From the discussions that rapidly emerged following the publication of CVE-2020-6287, we can learn the following: There is...

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Unpicking Cybercriminals’ Personalities – Part 2: Morality and Forum Dynamics

September 28, 2020 | 7 Min Read

In the first part of this blog series, we looked at numerous examples of ways cybercriminals have expressed their gender...

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ShadowTalk Update – Law Enforcement Cracks Down On Cybercriminals, Fancy Bear Goes Phishing, And More

September 28, 2020 | 2 Min Read

ShadowTalk hosts Kacey, Charles, Alec and Digital Shadows CISO Rick bring you the latest in threat intelligence. This week they...

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RECAP: Discussing deception with Chris Sanders

September 24, 2020 | 3 Min Read

When I was a Forrester Research analyst, I had some strong opinions on deception technology. Approximately five years ago, I...

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Unpicking Cybercriminals’ Personalities – Part 1: Gender and Nationality

September 23, 2020 | 9 Min Read

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking about cybercriminal forums as purely transactional platforms; environments in which cut-throat...

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DarkSide: The new ransomware group behind highly targeted attacks

September 22, 2020 | 8 Min Read

We’ve recently observed the emergence of a new ransomware operation named DarkSide. The nuance of the operation includes corporate-like methods...

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ShadowTalk Update – Ed Merrett Joins To Talk HackableYou And The Latest In Threat Intel

September 21, 2020 | 2 Min Read

This week’s host Kacey is joined by Charles and Alec to bring you the latest in threat intelligence. In this...

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With the Empire falling, who will take over the throne?

September 16, 2020 | 10 Min Read

With the Empire falling, who will take over the throne? Empire Market’s exit scam has dealt a significant blow to...

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Access Keys Exposed: More Than 40% Are For Database Stores

September 14, 2020 | 6 Min Read

By now, we’ve all heard news about AWS keys leaked by a developer on GitHub. While this can cause damaging...

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ShadowTalk Update – The Team Talks Baka, Epic Manchego, and Smaug, Plus Emotet Rides Again

September 14, 2020 | 2 Min Read

This week’s host Kacey is joined by Charles and Alec to bring you the latest in threat intelligence. In this...

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Recruitment fraud: Don’t spook your dream candidates this halloween

September 10, 2020 | 4 Min Read

Everyone wants their dream job. Some people get it, others think they’ve found it online… the job post looks appealing:...

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Not another ransomware blog: Initial access brokers and their role

September 9, 2020 | 5 Min Read

It’s hard to get very far in cyber threat intelligence without discussing ransomware. Actually, it’s almost impossible. Keeping with the...

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Cyber espionage: How to not get spooked by nation-state actors

September 8, 2020 | 8 Min Read

In all the years I’ve worked in the cybersecurity field (nine if anyone’s counting), I haven’t seen as much reporting...

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ShadowTalk Update – New Zealand Stock Exchange faces DDoS, Tesla avoids cyberattack, and Pioneer Kitten updates

September 7, 2020 | 2 Min Read

Adam, Kim, Demelza and Stefano discuss the latest threat intel updates. On this episode, they cover: New Zealand Stock Exchange...

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Revisiting Typosquatting and the 2020 US Presidential Election

September 2, 2020 | 11 Min Read

In October 2019, Digital Shadows’ Photon Research Team embarked on an adventure involving election typosquats that could potentially affect the...

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What is DevSecOps and Why Do We Need It?

August 12, 2020 | 4 Min Read

DevSecOps, SecDevOps, and any variation of those words are massively trending topics in tech companies today. People love to talk...

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Dread takes on the spammers – who will come out on top?

August 28, 2020 | 9 Min Read

Spamming is an irritating and sometimes damaging issue that affects all of us, whether it’s constant emails about dubious products...

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Fall of the behemoth: Cybercriminal underground rocked by Empire’s apparent exit scam

August 27, 2020 | 10 Min Read

Summer is generally a relatively quiet time in the cybercriminal underground. It seems that, just like the rest of us,...

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“ALEXA, WHO IS THE NUMBER ONE CYBERCRIMINAL FORUM TO RULE THEM ALL?”

August 26, 2020 | 12 Min Read

In June 2020, the administrator of the English-language cybercriminal carding forum Altenen announced a “big victory” for the site in...

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RECAP: Discussing the evolution and trends of cybercrime with Geoff White

August 25, 2020 | 8 Min Read

In late July 2020, Digital Shadows had the fantastic opportunity to speak with Geoff White on ShadowTalk, Digital Shadows’ threat...

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Validate Exposed Credentials with Okta to Save Even More Time

August 24, 2020 | 3 Min Read

SearchLight customers can now automatically validate credential alerts via an integration with Okta, drastically reducing the time required to triage. ...

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ShadowTalk Update – Emotet Gets a Vaccine, NSA Drovorub Advisory, and North Korean Activity plus Bureau 121

August 24, 2020 | 3 Min Read

ShadowTalk hosts Viktoria, Adam, Dylan, and Stefano bring you the latest in threat intel. In this week’s episode they cover: ...

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Dark Web Forums: The new kid on the block

August 18, 2020 | 12 Min Read

There’s a new kid on the block, and their name is Dark Web Forums (DWF). Have they come to stay?...

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Optiv CTIE 2020: COVID-19, cybercrime, and third-party risk

August 17, 2020 | 10 Min Read

Optiv recently released their 2020 Cyber Threat Intelligence Estimate report, which gives organizations a detailed view into the current cyber...

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ShadowTalk Update – Defaced Subreddits, Intel Leak Drama on Twitter, and HIBP Goes Open-Source

August 17, 2020 | 2 Min Read

Listen below 👇👇 ShadowTalk Threat Intelligence Podcast · Weekly: Defaced Subreddits, Intel Leak Drama on Twitter, and HIBP Goes Open-Source...

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It’s even easier to initiate takedowns in SearchLight

August 12, 2020 | 3 Min Read

When faced with infringing content, phishing domain or an impersonation of the brand, security teams want to take down content...

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Escrow systems on cybercriminal forums: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

August 11, 2020 | 15 Min Read

Just a few short months ago, the Russian-language cybercriminal scene was rocked by the news of an arbitration case involving...

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ShadowTalk Update – CWT pays ransom, data leaked for 900+ Pulse Secure Servers, EU issues first cyber sanctions

August 10, 2020 | 2 Min Read

Listen below 👇👇 ShadowTalk Threat Intelligence Podcast · Weekly: CWT pays ransom, data leaked for 900+ Pulse Secure Servers, EU...

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Saving the SOC from overload by operationalizing digital risk protection

August 5, 2020 | 4 Min Read

As you may have seen last week, the latest research from our Photon Research team explores the increasing phenomenon of...

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The story of Nulled: Old dog, new tricks

August 4, 2020 | 9 Min Read

It is often said that old dogs have a hard time learning new tricks, yet researchers have claimed that because...

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BitBazaar Market and The Rise of Neptune Market: The End of the Saga spells hope for another

August 3, 2020 | 8 Min Read

Those running dark web marketplaces will do almost anything to achieve their desire to make a lot of money or...

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ShadowTalk Update – Garmin ransomware attack, QSnatch malware, and ShinyHunters Stage 2

August 3, 2020 | 3 Min Read

This week it’s a full house with ShadowTalk hosts Alex, Kacey, Charles, Alec and Rick. During this episode they cover:...

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Dark Web Travel Agencies Revisited: The Impact of Coronavirus on the Shadow Travel Industry

July 29, 2020 | 10 Min Read

Back in February, Digital Shadows published a blog looking at the dark web travel industry. We described how cybercriminals active...

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Account takeover: Expanding on impact

July 27, 2020 | 7 Min Read

Digital Shadows has collected over 15 billion credentials across the open, deep, and dark web. In our recent research piece,...

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ShadowTalk Update – Trickbot trojan mishaps, Emotet resurgence, Twitter takeovers, and APT group updates

July 27, 2020 | 2 Min Read

This week’s ShadowTalk hosts Adam, Demi, Stefano and Kim discuss the latest threat intelligence stories. In this episode they cover: ...

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Ransomware Trends in Q2: How Threat Intelligence Helps

July 22, 2020 | 8 Min Read

If you’re anything like me, it can be a struggle to keep up with the latest ransomware news. Last quarter,...

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Jira Atlassian SearchLight Integration

July 21, 2020 | 2 Min Read

On average, it’s estimated that security teams deploy around 47 cybersecurity solutions and technologies. That’s more solutions than hours in...

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The Rise of OpenBullet: A Deep Dive in the Attacker’s ATO toolkit

July 20, 2020 | 9 Min Read

Account takeover (ATO) has become a serious issue for many organizations. Digital Shadows has identified over 15 billion credentials circulating...

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Abracadabra! – CryptBB demystifying the illusion of the private forum

July 15, 2020 | 8 Min Read

You wouldn’t usually associate cybercriminal forums with the mysterious “Magic Circle,” (for non-Brits less familiar with the subject, the Magic...

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SearchLight’s Credential Validation: Only Focus on What Matters

July 14, 2020 | 4 Min Read

Of the many use cases associated with threat intelligence and digital risk protection, monitoring for exposed credentials is always one...

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Tax Fraud in 2020: Down But Not Out

July 13, 2020 | 4 Min Read

After a three month extension, tomorrow marks tax deadline day for the United States. While it may seem that tax...

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ShadowTalk Update – PAN-OS Vulnerability, Lazarus Group, BEC scammer “Hushpuppi”, and New Photon ATO Research

July 13, 2020 | 2 Min Read

This week, Digital Shadows team Viktoria, Demelza, Adam and Stefano cover: PAN-OS Vulnerability (CVE-2020-2021): Impact & Mitigation Magecart Developments: Lazarus...

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From Exposure to Takeover: Part 1. Beg, borrow, and steal your way in

July 7, 2020 | 9 Min Read

Account Takeover: Why criminals can’t resist We rely on passwords to safeguard those precious accounts that allow us to conduct...

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Digital Risk Reporting Best Practices: Top 10 Ways to Build Killer Reports in SearchLight

June 30, 2020 | 4 Min Read

We all have those days or that time of the quarter where management demands a nice glossy report with the...

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Multiple vs. Exclusive Sales on the Dark Web: What’s in a sale?

June 29, 2020 | 9 Min Read

When going out on a shopping spree, you would naturally have different expectations of price, accessibility, quality, and exclusivity of...

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ShadowTalk Update – Torigon, Nulledflix, and BlueLeaks, Plus DevSecOps Insights From DS CISO Rick

June 29, 2020 | 2 Min Read

Alex, Kacey, Charles and Rick host this week’s ShadowTalk to bring you the latest threat intelligence stories. This week they...

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Introducing Nulledflix – Nulled forum’s own streaming service

June 23, 2020 | 8 Min Read

Lockdowns implemented during the COVID-19 (aka coronavirus) pandemic have forced people around the world to spend a large part of...

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Torigon Forum: A sad case of all show and no go

June 23, 2020 | 11 Min Read

When we review the ideal template for a successful cybercriminal forum, we are on the lookout for several key factors:...

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Modern Software Development and DevSecOps: Despite security controls, data leaks persist

June 22, 2020 | 15 Min Read

Quick Synopsis No matter how many software developers you employ, development processes or cultures (such as DevOps or DevSecOps) that...

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ShadowTalk Update – Lookback Operators Deploy New Malware Against US Utilities Sector And Honda Cyber Attack

June 22, 2020 | 2 Min Read

Demelza, Viktoria, Adam, and Stefano host this week’s ShadowTalk to bring you the latest threat intelligence stories from the week....

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Ensuring order in the underground: Recruiting moderators on cybercriminal forums

June 18, 2020 | 10 Min Read

While there have been many predictable consequences of the ongoing global COVID-19 (aka coronavirus) pandemic, few would have foreseen significant...

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Reducing technical leakage: Detecting software exposure from the outside-in

June 16, 2020 | 6 Min Read

Modern Development Practices Leads to Increased Exposure As customers, we can be a bit demanding when it comes to technology...

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ShadowTalk Update – Maze Ransomware Alliance, EndGame DDoS Protection Tool, And Ransomware Disguises

June 15, 2020 | 2 Min Read

Alex is joined by Kacey and Charles this week to chat through the top threat intel stories of the week....

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Security Threat Intel Products and Services: Mapping SearchLight

June 10, 2020 | 6 Min Read

For those of you who have not yet seen, Gartner has recently updated its Market Guide for Security Threat Intelligence...

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CISA and FBI alert: Top vulnerabilities exploited from 2016-2019 and trends from 2020

June 9, 2020 | 7 Min Read

A couple of weeks ago, the United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation...

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New DDoS protection tool advertised on the dark web

June 9, 2020 | 7 Min Read

This blog examines a newly launched DDoS protection filter mechanism dubbed EndGame advertised last week on the dark web community...

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SHADOWTALK UPDATE – HACKTIVIST CHOOSES DESTRUCTION OVER PROFIT W/ RANSOMWARE AND COLLECTION 1 HACKER IDENTIFIED

June 1, 2020 | 2 Min Read

Pietro, Viktoria, Adam, and Demelza cover this week’s top threat intelligence stories, including a Hacktivist group choosing destruction over profit...