A message from Bruce the mechanical shark

A message from Bruce the mechanical shark

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A message from Bruce the mechanical shark

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Threat Source newsletter. 

Hi, I’m Bruce, the 25-foot mechanical star of “Jaws.”  

This summer marks 50 years since my 4 minutes of screentime kept people out of the water for decades. Maybe this Fourth of July weekend you’re planning to sea-shanty your way to a special screening? If you do, here’s a little behind-the-scenes story on how my endless malfunctions almost made Spielberg hang up his director hat before you could say “phone home.” 

I was built for a studio tank — a predictable and safe environment. But Spielberg, in pursuit of realism, had other plans. He threw me into the Atlantic, where the salt water, rolling waves and unruly weather conditions caused more chaos than anybody had bargained for. 

Each day, my hydraulics jammed, my pneumatics corroded and my paint peeled like a sunburned tourist on Amity Beach.

There were days when the crew could only capture one or two shots before either I broke, the weather broke, or one of the actors’ egos broke. Every night they’d patch me up and whisper an assortment of four-letter words into my rusty gills.

My saving grace became Verna Fields, aka “Mother Cutter.” Spielberg’s editor was the one to suggest they only use fleeting moments of footage starring yours truly. While I bobbed around like a skydancer on a windless day, Verna worked her magic: stitching reactions, cutting away at just the right moment and building tension with empty water. She turned me from a potential failure to a legend. 

And thus, I became a lesson in what happens when you build for a predictable environment but deploy in the wild. Sound familiar? 

I’ve been told that readers of Talos’ Threat Source Newsletter are security folks, and I’ve been asked to write something just for you. Here it goes… 

  • “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” Overprepare. Expect things to go wrong.  
  • “It’s only an island if you look at it from the water.” Perspective matters. Make sure your alerts are honed to spot the things that really matter. 
  • “Smile, you son of a…” Sometimes, your last line of defense is your defining moment. Should everything else fail, make sure you have something left in the tank. 

In cybersecurity, your green ticked audit checklists mean nothing if you haven’t pressure-tested your environment against real red teamers. Incident response plans need ocean trials, not just bullet points. 

If I have a legacy beyond people sticking their noggin in my teeth for “the gram,” it’s this: Build your defenses for salt water, not studio tanks. And remember, the mayor always wants to keep the network open… 

Editor’s note: I’d like to thank Bruce for his time and perspective, and I hope he found our studio a relaxing place to write. I’m also sorry that I only had two barrels and not the requested three for him to play with. 

Bruce’s story is why Cisco Talos Incident Response exists: to help you prepare for the effects of salt water before they wreak havoc on your system. With Talos IR, you can stress test your defenses using real world scenarios and incident responders who’ve experienced just about everything there is to see. 

Enjoy the Fourth of July weekend, and remember to listen out for the duh dun.

The one big thing 

Cisco Talos has enhanced its email threat detection engine to address brand impersonation tactics using PDF payloads in phishing attacks. These attacks often exploit popular brands to steal sensitive information, employing methods like QR code phishing and telephone-oriented attack delivery (TOAD), where victims are tricked into calling adversary-controlled phone numbers. Adobe’s e-signature service and PDF annotations have also been abused to bypass detection systems. 

Why do I care? 

Phishing attacks are getting sneakier, using PDFs and trusted brands to trick people into giving up personal info or downloading malicious software. If you’re not careful, you could fall for one of these scams, especially since attackers are using clever tactics like fake phone numbers or QR codes to seem legitimate. 

So now what? 

Be extra cautious with emails containing PDFs, even if they look legit. Avoid scanning QR codes or calling phone numbers from unsolicited emails. Cisco’s detection tools are updated often, but staying vigilant and double-checking anything suspicious is your best defense.

Top security headlines of the week 

Europol Dismantles $540 Million Cryptocurrency Fraud Network, Arrests Five Suspects 
The international effort, codenamed Operation Borrelli was carried out by the Spanish Guardia Civil, along with support from law enforcement authorities from Estonia, France, and the United States. (The Hacker News) 

International Criminal Court hit by new ‘sophisticated’ cyberattack 
In a statement yesterday, the ICC revealed that it had contained a “sophisticated and targeted” cybersecurity incident, which was discovered by systems in place to detect cyberattacks targeting its systems. (Bleeping Computer) 

Windows’ Infamous ‘Blue Screen of Death’ Will Soon Turn Black 
After more than 40 years of being set against a very recognizable blue, the updated error message will soon be displayed across a black background. (SecurityWeek) 

Ahold Delhaize Data Breach Impacts 2.2 Million People 
The incident impacted Giant Food pharmacies, Food Lion and Stop & Shop, among others. Stolen information may include names, contact info, date of birth, SSN, passport number, financial account information and more. (SecurityWeek) 

Germany asks Google, Apple remove DeepSeek AI from app stores 
The Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection has formally requested Google and Apple to remove the DeepSeek AI application from the application stores due to GDPR violations. (Bleeping Computer)

Can’t get enough Talos? 

Decrement by one to rule them all: AsIO3.sys driver exploitation 
Learn how our researcher, Marcin Noga, found two critical vulnerabilities in ASUS’ Armory Crate and AI Suite drivers.

Talos Takes: Teaching LLMs to spot malicious PowerShell scripts 
Hazel chats with Ryan Fetterman from the SURGe team to explore his new research on how LLMs can assist security operations centers in identifying malicious PowerShell scripts.

Beers with Talos: Terms and conceptions may apply
In this episode, the crew reassembles after a totally intentional and not-at-all accidental hiatus. They cover AI-assisted IVF, a possible underground war against dairy, and the real heroes: conference dogs.

Upcoming events where you can find Talos 

Most prevalent malware files from Talos telemetry over the past week 

SHA 256: 9f1f11a708d393e0a4109ae189bc64f1f3e312653dcf317a2bd406f18ffcc507 
MD5: 2915b3f8b703eb744fc54c81f4a9c67f 
VirusTotal: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/9f1f11a708d393e0a4109ae189bc64f1f3e312653dcf317a2bd406f18ffcc507 
Typical Filename: VID001.exe 
Claimed Product: N/A 
Detection Name: Win.Worm.Coinminer::1201 

SHA 256: cd697cc93851d0b1939a7557b9ee9b3c0f56aab4336dd00ff6531f94f7e0e836 
MD5: c94c094513f02d63be5ae3415bba8031 
VirusTotal: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/cd697cc93851d0b1939a7557b9ee9b3c0f56aab4336dd00ff6531f94f7e0e836/details  
Typical Filename: setup 
Claimed Product: N/A 
Detection Name: W32.Variant:Gen.28iv.1201 

SHA 256: 57a6d1bdbdac7614f588ec9c7e4e99c4544df8638af77781147a3d6daa5af536 
MD5: 79b075dc4fce7321f3be049719f3ce27 
VirusTotal: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/57a6d1bdbdac7614f588ec9c7e4e99c4544df8638af77781147a3d6daa5af536/details 
Typical Filename: RemCom.exe 
Claimed Product: N/A 
Detection Name: W32.57A6D1BDBD-100.SBX.VIOC 

SHA 256: a31f222fc283227f5e7988d1ad9c0aecd66d58bb7b4d8518ae23e110308dbf91   
MD5: 7bdbd180c081fa63ca94f9c22c457376   
VirusTotal: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/a31f222fc283227f5e7988d1ad9c0aecd66d58bb7b4d8518ae23e110308dbf91/details
Typical Filename: IMG001.exe  
Claimed Product: N/A 
Detection Name: Simple_Custom_Detection   

SHA 256: 061e13a4fc9f1d4da0671082d5e4666f316bb251f13eded93f9cdb4a584d0bc0 
MD5: 8d74e04c022cadad5b05888d1cafedd0 
VirusTotal: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/061e13a4fc9f1d4da0671082d5e4666f316bb251f13eded93f9cdb4a584d0bc0/details  
Typical Filename: smhost.exe 
Claimed Product: N/A 
Detection Name: Artemis:Lazy.27fx.in14.Talos

SHA 256: 2eb95ef4c4c24f1e38a5c8b556d78b71c8a8fb2589ed8c5b95e9d18659bde293
MD5: N/A
VirusTotal: N/A, use https://talosintelligence.com/sha_searches
Typical Filename: N/A
Claimed Product: N/A
Detection Name: W32.2EB95EF4C4-100.SBX.TG

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