Catching the big fish: Analyzing a large-scale phishing-as-a-service operation

In researching phishing attacks, we came across a campaign that used a rather high volume of newly created and unique subdomains—over 300,000 in a single run. This investigation led us down a rabbit hole as we unearthed one of the operations that enabled the campaign: a large-scale...

The evolution of a matrix: How ATT&CK for Containers was built

Note: The content of this post is being released jointly with the Center for Threat-Informed Defense. It is co-authored with Chris Ante and Matthew Bajzek. The Center post can be found here. As containers become a major part of many organizations’ IT workloads, it becomes crucial to consider the...

CISA Releases Analysis of FY20 Risk and Vulnerability Assessments

CISA has released an analysis and infographic detailing the findings from the Risk and Vulnerability Assessments RVAs conducted in Fiscal Year FY 2020 across multiple sectors. The analysis details a sample attack path a cyber threat actor could take to compromise an organization with weaknesses...

CISA’s CSET Tool Sets Sights on Ransomware Threat

CISA has released a new module in its Cyber Security Evaluation Tool CSET: the Ransomware Readiness Assessment RRA. CSET is a desktop software tool that guides network defenders through a step-by-step process to evaluate their cybersecurity practices on their networks. CSET—applicable to both...

The Future of Machine Learning and Cybersecurity

The Center for Security and Emerging Technology has a new report: "Machine Learning and Cybersecurity: Hype and Reality." Heres the bottom line: The report offers four conclusions: Machine learning can help defenders more accurately detect and triage potential attacks. However, in many cases thes...

Re-Checking Your Pulse: Updates on Chinese APT Actors Compromising Pulse Secure VPN Devices

On April 20, 2021, Mandiant published detailed results of our investigations into compromised Pulse Secure devices by suspected Chinese espionage operators. This blog post is intended to provide an update on our findings, give additional recommendations to network defenders, and discuss potential...

Update to CISA-FBI Joint Cybersecurity Advisory on DarkSide Ransomware

CISA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI have updated Joint Cybersecurity Advisory AA21-131A: DarkSide Ransomware: Best Practices for Preventing Disruption from Ransomware Attacks, originally released May 11, 2021. This update provides a downloadable STIX file of indicators of compromise...

Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Cyber Operations: Trends and Best Practices for Network Defenders

Summary The Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI, Department of Homeland Security DHS, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA assess Russian Foreign Intelligence Service SVR cyber actors—also known as Advanced Persistent Threat 29 APT 29, the Dukes, CozyBear, and Yttrium—will...

FBI-DHS-CISA Joint Advisory on Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Cyber Operations

The Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and CISA have released a Joint Cybersecurity Advisory CSA addressing Russian Foreign Intelligence Service SVR cyber actors—also known as Advanced Persistent Threat 29 APT 29, the Dukes, CozyBear, and Yttrium—continued...

Gamifying machine learning for stronger security and AI models

To stay ahead of adversaries, who show no restraint in adopting tools and techniques that can help them attain their goals, Microsoft continues to harness AI and machine learning to solve security challenges. One area we’ve been experimenting on is autonomous systems. In a simulated enterprise...

TTP Table for Detecting APT Activity Related to SolarWinds and Active Directory/M365 Compromise

CISA has released a table of tactics, techniques, and procedures TTPs used by the advanced persistent threat APT actor involved with the recent SolarWinds and Active Directory/M365 compromise. The table uses the MITRE ATT&CK framework to identify APT TTPs and includes detection recommendations...

International Women’s Day: How to support and grow women in cybersecurity

Today, March 8, we are proud to celebrate International Women’s Day. The United Nations announced this year’s theme as “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.” As a woman, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend, and a leader at Microsoft, this is an important time t...

Talos Takes Ep. #40: Takeaways from interviewing a ransomware operator

The latest episode of Talos Takes is available now. Download this episode and subscribe to Talos Takes using the buttons below, or visit the Talos Takes page. This week, we have two guests on a Talos Takes first! to discuss our recent research paper on the LockBit ransomware. Two of the authors,...

Umbrella_android - Digital And Physical Security Advice App

Umbrella is an Android mobile app developed by Security First that provides human rights defenders with the information on what to do in any given security situation and the tools to do it. It allows the user to choose what they want to do, such as: protect data; securely make a call/email;...

Insider Report: Healthcare Security Woes Balloon in COVID-Era

In 2020, the healthcare industry began a massive shift, as legacy cybersecurity issues merged with new security challenges spurred on by the spread of COVID-19. Even before the pandemic, the medical arena wrestled with major cybersecurity challenges, including insecure medical devices, protecting...

Cybersecurity Awareness Month: 2020 in Retrospect

For cyber defenders worldwide, 2020 has been unprecedented year. CISOs and their security teams have battled increased attack volumes and data breaches as malicious actors seized the opportunity to exploit the disruption caused by the global pandemic. Cybercriminals are now deploying a wide range...

CISO Spotlight: How diversity of data (and people) defeats today’s cyber threats

This year, we have seen five significant security paradigm shifts in our industry. This includes the acknowledgment that the greater the diversity of our data sets, the better the AI and machine learning outcomes. This diversity gives us an advantage over our cyber adversaries and improves our...

Bridging the gaps between Red and Blue teaming

Red Team, Blue Team, Purple Team, Black Team… Rainbow team? What are all of these things and what do they all mean? Is this a new case of a new found buzzword bingo or do they have a place and a purpose? The coloured teams are something that is thrown around a lot and while some of them are bette...

Guidance on the North Korean Cyber Threat

Summary The U.S. Departments of State, the Treasury, and Homeland Security, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are issuing this advisory as a comprehensive resource on the North Korean cyber threat for the international community, network defenders, and the public. The advisory highlights th...

Fighting Cyber Attacks With Game Theory

The role of cybersecurity defenders is usually unfair. They have disadvantages — as they have to continuously build up perimeters that protect their networks and prevent intrusions. An attacker only needs to discover a single flaw, a small hole in the wall, and breach entire complex defenses. How...