ReVault! When your SoC turns against you…

  • Talos reported 5 vulnerabilities to Broadcom and Dell affecting both the ControlVault3 Firmware and its associated Windows APIs that we are calling “ReVault”. 
  • 100+ models of Dell Laptops are affected by this vulnerability if left unpatched. 
  • The ReVault attack can be used as a post-compromise persistence technique that can remain even across Windows reinstalls.  
  • The ReVault attack can also be used as a physical compromise to bypass Windows Login and/or for any local user to gain Admin/System privileges. 

Dell ControlVault overview 

ReVault! When your SoC turns against you…

Dell ControlVault is “a hardware-based security solution that provides a secure bank that stores your passwords, biometric templates, and security codes within the firmware.” A daughter board provides this functionality and performs these security features in firmware. Dell refers to the daughter board as a Unified Security Hub (USH), as it is used as a hub to run ControlVault (CV), connecting various security peripherals such as a fingerprint reader, smart card reader and NFC reader. 

Here is a photographic example of a USH board:  ​​​​

ReVault! When your SoC turns against you…
Picture of a USH Board running CV. 

This is the board in its natural environment:  

ReVault! When your SoC turns against you…
USH board (highlighted in orange) inside a Dell Latitude laptop. 

The current iterations of the product are called ControlVault3 and ControlVault3+. and can be found in more than 100 different models of actively-supported Dell laptops (see DSA-2025-053), mostly from the business-centric Lattitude and Precision series. These laptop models are widely used in the cybersecurity industry, government settings and challenging environments in their Rugged version. Sensitive industries that require heightened security when logging in (via smartcard or NFC) are more likely to find ControlVault devices in their environment, as they are necessary to enable these security features. 

Findings 

Today, Talos is publishing five CVEs and their associated reports. The vulnerabilities include multiple out-of-bounds vulnerabilities (CVE-2025-24311, CVE-2025-25050) an arbitrary free (CVE-2025-25215) and a stack-overflow (CVE-2025-24922), all affecting the CV firmware. We also reported an unsafe-deserialization (CVE-2025-24919) that affects ControlVault’s Windows APIs. 

Impact 

With a lack of common security mitigations and the combination of some of the vulnerabilities mentioned above, the impact of these findings is significant. Let’s highlight two of the most critical attack scenarios we have uncovered. 

ReVault! When your SoC turns against you…

Post-compromise pivot 

On the Windows side, a non-administrative user can interact with the CV  firmware using its associated APIs and trigger an Arbitrary Code Execution on the CV firmware. From this vantage point, it becomes possible to leak key material essential to the security of the device, thus gaining the ability to permanently modify its firmware. This creates the risk of a so-called implant that could stay unnoticed in a laptop’s CV firmware and eventually be used as a pivot back onto the system in the case of a Threat Actor’s post-compromise strategy. The following video shows how a tampered CV firmware can be used to “hack Windows” by leveraging the unsafe deserialization bug mentioned previously. 



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Physical attack 

A local attacker with physical access to a user’s laptop can pry it open and directly access the USH board over USB with a custom connector. From there, all the vulnerabilities described previously become in-scope for the attacker without requiring the ability to log-in into the system or knowing a full-disk encryption password. While chassis-intrusion can be detected, this is a feature that needs to be enabled beforehand to be effective at warning of a potential tampering. 

Another interesting consequence of this scenario is that if a system is configured to be unlocked with the user’s fingerprint, it is also possible to tamper with the CV firmware to accept any fingerprint rather than only allowing a legitimate user’s.   



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Remediation 

Mitigation 

To mitigate these attacks, Talos recommends the following: 

  • Keep your system up to date to ensure the latest firmware is installed. CV firmware can be automatically deployed via Windows Update, but new firmware usually gets released on the Dell website a few weeks prior. 
  • If not using any of the security peripherals (fingerprint reader, smart card reader and NFC reader) it is possible to disable the CV services (using the Service Manager) and/or the CV device (via the Device Manager).  
  • It is also worth considering disabling fingerprint login when risks are heightened (e.g., leaving one’s laptop unattended in a hotel room). Windows also provides Enhanced Sign-in Security (ESS), which may help mitigate some of the physical attacks and detect inappropriate CV firmware. 

Detection 

To detect an attack, consider the following: 

  • Depending on your laptop model, chassis intrusion detection can be enabled in the computer’s BIOS. This would flag physical tampering and may require entering a password to clear the alert and restart the computer. 
  • In the Windows logs, unexpected crashes of the Windows Biometric Service or the various Credential Vault services could be a sign of compromise. 
  • Cisco customers using Cisco Secure Endpoint can be made aware of potential risks with the signature definition “bcmbipdll.dll Loaded by Abnormal Process”. 

Conclusion 

These findings highlight the importance of evaluating the security posture of all hardware components within your devices, not just the operating system or software. As Talos demonstrated, vulnerabilities in widely-used firmware such as Dell ControlVault can have far-reaching implications, potentially compromising even advanced security features like biometric authentication. Staying vigilant, patching your systems and proactively assessing risk are essential to safeguard your systems against evolving threats. 

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ANY.RUN & Microsoft Sentinel: Catch Emerging Threats with Real-Time Threat Intelligence

ANY.RUN now delivers Threat Intelligence (TI) Feeds directly to Microsoft Sentinel via the built-in STIX/TAXII connector. No complicated setups. No custom scripts. Only high-quality indicators of compromise (IOCs) to fortify your SOC and catch attacks early, keeping your business secure. 

About the TI Feeds Connector for Microsoft Sentinel  

ANY.RUN’s TI Feeds support a seamless, out-of-the-box connection to Microsoft Sentinel that delivers real-time threat intelligence directly into your workspace. 

  • Effortless Setup: Connect TI Feeds to Sentinel using the STIX/TAXII connector with your custom API key. 
  • Enhanced Automation: Sentinel’s playbooks, powered by Azure Logic Apps, automatically correlate IOCs with your logs, triggering alerts or actions like blocking IPs. This cuts manual work and speeds up response times. 
  • Cost Efficiency: Leverage your existing Sentinel setup without extra infrastructure costs. Fewer missed threats, thanks to high-fidelity IOCs, reduce the financial impact of breaches. 

The IOCs enriched with links to sandbox sessions can be used in Sentinel’s analytics, letting you build custom rules, visualize threats, and prioritize incidents effectively. 

Get access to malicious IOCs from attacks on 15K SOCs
Expand threat coverage. Slash MTTR. Identify incidents early 



Contact us for TI Feeds trial


What Makes ANY.RUN’s Threat Intelligence Feeds Unique 

TI Feeds from ANY.RUN are extracted from the latest threat samples

ANY.RUN’s TI Feeds deliver malicious IPs, domains, URLs that have been active for just hours, not days. We extract them from live sandbox analyses of the latest threats hitting 15,000+ organizations worldwide. Unlike post-incident reports that lag behind, our feeds update every two hours, sending active attack indicators straight to clients. This lets MSSPs and SOCs detect today’s threats early and effectively, keeping systems secure. 

  • Rich Context: Each IOC links to sandbox sessions with full TTPs for deeper investigations. 
  • Low Noise: Pre-processing by expert analysts ensure near-zero false positives, saving your team time. 
  • Flexible Integration: Thanks to API, SDK, STIX/TAXII support, TI Feeds work seamlessly with SIEM/XDR/firewalls and other solutions. 

How TI Feeds Help SOCs and MSSPs Spot Attacks in Time 

Threats move fast. Malware and phishing can slip through if you’re not ready. ANY.RUN TI Feeds give SOCs and MSSPs the edge to detect and stop attacks before they impact. Our high-fidelity IOCs — IPs, domains, URLs — come enriched with context from ANY.RUN’s Interactive Sandbox, ensuring you act with precision. 

  • Catch Threats Early: Real-time IOCs enable preventive actions and rapid response to minimize damage. 
  • Boost Detection Rate: Near-zero false positives and pre-processing help ensure that your SOC never misses a threat. 
  • Lower Costs and Risks: Fewer undetected threats mean reduced financial and operational fallout. Fresh, reliable IOCs help you avoid costly breaches. 
  • Cut MTTR: Faster alert triage and a complete threat visibility thanks to linked sandbox analyses informs responders’ actions, helping them prevent threat spread and reduce damage. 
  • Improve SOC Performance: Automate threat processing, cutting manual tasks for SOC specialists and letting them prioritize top risks. 

Receive Threat Intelligence Feeds in Microsoft Sentinel 

Here is a detailed manual to guide your TI Feeds setup in Microsoft Sentinel. Should you need any assistance or have any questions, feel free to contact us

Connecting to the STIX/TAXII server 

  1. Open MS Sentinel and go to the Data connectors tab in the Configuration section. 
Start setup in your Sentinel workspace 

2. Search for the Threat Intelligence STIX/TAXII connector and click Open connector page

Use Search in Data connectors tab to find ANY.RUN’s STIX/TAXII one 

3. You will see the list of prerequisites for the connector to work. If you lack any of them, view this documentation by Microsoft.  

Check the prerequisites for the connection 

4. Fill out the Configuration form: 

  • Name the server via the Friendly name field 
  • Insert API root URL
https://api.any.run/v1/feeds/taxii2
  • Choose a Collection ID
Name Description ID
All indicators Contains IOCs of all formats (IPs, Domains, URLs) 3dce855a-c044-5d49-9334-533c24678c5a
IPs collection Contains only IPs 55cda200-e261-5908-b910-f0e18909ef3d
Domains collection Contains only Domains 2e0aa90a-5526-5a43-84ad-3db6f4549a09
URLs collection Contains only URLs 05bfa343-e79f-57ec-8677-3122ca33d352
  • Enter your Username and Password. 

If you don’t have these credentials, contact your account manager at ANY.RUN or fill out this form.  

You can also choose to import all available indicators or those that are one day, week, or month old via the field Import indicators. Another optional setting is Polling frequency that determines how often you’d like to connect to the STIX/TAXII server to retrieve new feeds: once a minute, once an hour, or once a day. 

Configure your STIX/TAXII server setting up mandatory and optional parameters 

Finally, click Add, and you’re all set up. 

If you need more information, see STIX/TAXII documentation by ANY.RUN

Browsing indicators 

To access the indicators you’ve retrieved, go to the Threat intelligence tab. 

You’ll find a table with fields describing each indicator: 

  • Values – indicator itself; 
  • Names – name of an indicator; 
  • Types – type of an indicator (IP, URL, or Domain); 
  • Sources – source of an indicator; 
  • Confidence – this rate determines our level of certainty on whether an indicator is malicious (50 – suspicious, 75 – likely malicious, 100 – malicious); 
  • Alerts – number of alerts related to an indicator; 
  • Tags – descriptors of an indicator; 
  • Valid from and Valid until – time period during which an indicator is considered valid. 
Indicators with key parameters accessible for browsing 

Real-World Application Scenario

Here’s a typical flow your security operations can adopt: 

1. Feed Setup: Your security team configures IOC ingestion from ANY.RUN into Microsoft Sentinel, where data is indexed and becomes searchable. 

2. Automated Correlation: Sentinel continuously analyzes incoming logs from EDR systems, network equipment, proxies, email security, and other sources, automatically correlating them with ANY.RUN’s IOCs. 

3. Alert Generation: When matches are detected (IP addresses, domains, file hashes), Sentinel creates security events and alerts. 

4. Streamlined Triage: Alerts are routed to analysts for manual or semi-automated incident analysis, including log review, event correlation, and behavioral analysis. 

5. Rapid Response: Depending on your configuration, the system can execute manual or automated responses including isolation, blocking, or escalation procedures. 

How TI Feeds in MS Sentinel Boost SOC & MSSP Performance 

Plug ANY.RUN’s feeds into Microsoft Sentinel with minimal setup, leveraging existing infrastructure, and benefit from: 

  • Faster Threat Detection: Fresh IOCs flow into your system quickly, accelerating identification of threats. 
  • Seamless Interoperability: No need to overhaul processes or tools — TI feeds work within your Sentinel environment. 
  • Enhanced Monitoring and Triage Capabilities: Expand your threat detection coverage with high-confidence indicators that improve both monitoring effectiveness and incident triage accuracy. 
  • Access to Unique Data: Gain insights from real-time analysis of attacks on 15,000 organizations, powered by ANY.RUN’s Interactive Sandbox. 
  • Cost Efficiency: Reduce setup costs by using a seamless STIX/TAXII connector. 
  • Process Continuity: Maintain existing workflows without disruption. 
  • Automation and Reduced Workload: Automate actions based on IOCs (e.g., flagging logs, isolating endpoints), freeing up SOC resources. 
  • Competitive Edge for MSSPs: Stand out with exclusive IOCs derived from cutting-edge research, enhancing your service offerings. 

About ANY.RUN 

ANY.RUN is trusted by more than 500,000 cybersecurity professionals and 15,000+ organizations across finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and other critical industries. Our platform helps security teams investigate threats faster and with more clarity.  

Speed up incident response with our Interactive Sandbox: analyze suspicious files in real time, observe behavior as it unfolds, and make faster, more informed decisions.  

Strengthen detection with Threat Intelligence Lookup and TI Feeds: give your team the context they need to stay ahead of today’s most advanced threats.  

Want to see it in action? Start your 14-day trial of ANY.RUN today → 

The post ANY.RUN & Microsoft Sentinel: Catch Emerging Threats with Real-Time Threat Intelligence appeared first on ANY.RUN’s Cybersecurity Blog.

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Backdoors & Breaches: How Talos is helping humanitarian aid NGOs prepare for cyber attacks

  • In 2023, Talos collaborated with NetHope and Cisco Crisis Response to create a customized Backdoors & Breaches expansion deck for international humanitarian organizations, addressing their unique cybersecurity challenges. 
  • The new expansion deck helps NGOs with constrained budgets improve proactive security and incident response skills through engaging tabletop exercises that are specific to their technical, political, and logistical challenges. 
  • Hundreds of expansion decks have been distributed to international NGOs, and Talos has received positive feedback for their practicality and relevance. 
  • Building on this success, we partnered with NGO-ISAC to develop a United States-specific deck for domestic NGOs, enhancing their cybersecurity preparedness.

Humanitarian organizations and the cybersecurity landscape

Backdoors & Breaches: How Talos is helping humanitarian aid NGOs prepare for cyber attacks

Hello friends! My name is Joe Marshall and I work at Cisco Talos as a cyber threat researcher and security strategist. Throughout my travels with Talos, I’ve met extraordinary individuals and organizations who fight injustices in a variety of ways: caring for children, feeding the unhoused, promoting democracy, protecting the environment, or resettling refugees who are fleeing from war. 

In moments of unimaginable crisis and pain, the international non-governmental organization (NGO) folks I met are on the front lines distributing aid, documenting human rights abuses, assisting first responders, and offering comfort to people who have had their worlds upended. I unabashedly admire and respect them. 

Unfortunately, international NGOs have historically struggled in cybersecurity. No matter an NGO’s size, limited donor and grant dollars mean that sustaining the organization competes with delivering aid, leaving little (if any) funding for cybersecurity. As a result, public sector offensive actors, mercenary spyware organizations, and state-sponsored actors take advantage of this to target or financially exploit these NGOs, even though they are assisting some of the most vulnerable people in the world. No one gets a pass in this modern era of cybercrime!

Helping the helpers

In 2023, the Cisco Crisis Response (CCR) team — a group that helps local agencies and communities prepare for, respond to, and sustainably rebuild from crises — approached my team at Talos with a rare opportunity to help incorporate cybersecurity into their work alongside their partner, NetHope.

NetHope is a humanitarian assistance organization that “helps our nonprofit Members effectively address the world’s most pressing challenges through collaboration, collective action and the smarter use of technology.” They also host the NetHope Global Summit, a yearly gathering of international NGOs to discuss technical issues and solutions to enable their member NGOs’ missions.

Before this project, I was not well-versed in the challenges of the NGO cybersecurity landscape or operating realities. Every business vertical is unique, and my first few meetings with NetHope forced me to confront the stark realities of the cybersecurity poverty line. With NGOs’ limited cybersecurity budgets, expertise, and resources, I knew our project had to have a low barrier to entry.

After much brainstorming, I suggested that we create an NGO-centric version of the popular cybersecurity tabletop exercise, “Backdoors & Breaches,” to keep workers’ incident response skills sharp.

What is a tabletop exercise? 

A tabletop exercise (TTX) is a group thought experiment. The “Game Master” presents various scenarios and variables to their players, who are usually team leaders in their business, to see how they respond as a group. At a high level, TTXs are a way to help your team prepare for worst-case scenarios and cost-effectively develop plans and responses to a variety of incidents. As they say, “Fortune favors the prepared.”

For example, a hospital might want to conduct a TTX to develop and test incident response and data recovery if hackers were to attack their electronic health records. An electric utility company might conduct a TTX to test critical infrastructure restoration and coordination with emergency responders. And, of course, a humanitarian assistance organization may need to protect itself against cyber attacks to keep their life-saving work going!

An introduction to Backdoors & Breaches

Backdoors & Breaches is a card-based TTX developed and published under a GNU license by Black Hills Information Security. It’s a novel game designed to teach both technical and non-technical players cybersecurity incident response in a format similar to the popular Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. Here’s an example of gameplay at the RSA Conference, with the digital version of the game:

If you want to accommodate a specific technical aspect of security, like industrial control systems, the cloud, or threat hunting, you can modify Backdoors & Breaches with expansion decks. Customizing cards to reflect your team’s unique circumstances can result in better buy-in and even a higher level of preparedness when a breach occurs.

Talos and NetHope create a new expansion

It was this potential customization that attracted me to making a new expansion deck for the international humanitarian community. The concept of Talos and NetHope adapting a cost-effective, portable, and easy-to-understand TTX to fit the limited cybersecurity budgets of typical NGOs was irresistible. To bring this vision to life, I assembled a diverse team of seasoned cybersecurity NGO professionals, technologists, and crisis response specialists who recognized the value in developing new cards.

The result was a new deck that seamlessly merged into the original Backdoors & Breaches game. These unique cards are modeled from real events and speak to the unique technical, political, and logistical challenges that humanitarian assistance organizations may face during cyber attacks. Here are some examples:

We presented this new expansion at the NetHope Global Summit in 2023, where participants widely enjoyed it. We found that this expansion pack brought them together in ways the generic deck on its own likely wouldn’t have. Many people shared first-hand experiences with the stressful situations these cards presented, which led to authentic and open conversations on the best responses to the scenarios.

Over the course of several summits, Talos and NetHope have given away hundreds of physical copies of the expansion, and we’ve received a lot of positive reception from the international NGO community. If you’re curious, you can also find the cards online here.

The U.S. domestic NGO edition

In a country as large as the United States, there are hundreds of domestic NGOs that operate solely within the country and local communities. The NGO Information Sharing and Analysis Center (NGO-ISAC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that focuses on domestic civil society organizations.

Backdoors & Breaches: How Talos is helping humanitarian aid NGOs prepare for cyber attacks

Using the momentum of our Backdoors & Breaches international humanitarian expansion pack, Talos partnered with NGO-ISAC to create a new deck that reflects U.S.-specific NGO security situations.

Backdoors & Breaches: How Talos is helping humanitarian aid NGOs prepare for cyber attacks
On-stage demonstration at the Ford Foundation for the NGO-ISAC Conference.

If the NGO’s team is spread across the country and wants to play, that’s not a problem! Using this GitHub link you can instantiate and connect to a mini web server on your local computer. With a web sharing tool, you can stream it to any size audience and folks can play along virtually. You can easily use Python for this.

Conclusion

International and domestic NGOs are critical to aid delivery and civil society, but they’re heavily targeted by threat actors who seek to disrupt or exploit their missions. TTXs like Backdoors & Breaches lower the barrier to entry for organizations to have serious conversations about security posture and response, and NetHope and Talos’ custom expansions provide industry-specific scenarios to enrich the experience.

I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to volunteer and donate my time to help NGO workers and volunteers fight the good fight. Whether you’re a threat intelligence organization, an international NGO providing medical care to refugees, or a domestic food bank fighting hunger, Talos is with you.

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How users are losing money to deepfake ads on Instagram | Kaspersky official blog

X (formerly Twitter) has long had a solid reputation as a primary source of crypto scams, which are often promoted on the social network by compromised or fake accounts of celebrities or major companies. Meanwhile, Meta’s ubiquitous platforms — Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp — are earning a similar reputation in a different category: investment fraud involving deepfakes.

Criminals are eagerly exploiting AI tools to create fake videos of prominent figures in the financial sector — from famous economists and TV hosts to heads of government. Attackers then promote these videos by placing ads on social media. In this post, we explain how these schemes work, how victims are duped after watching these videos, the role WhatsApp plays in the schemes, and how you can avoid falling for them.

Instagram, deepfakes, and WhatsApp: investment scams in Canada

To understand how these scams work, we’ll start with a recent campaign that targeted customers of Canadian banks. Attackers began by running Instagram ads in the name of BMO Belski.

The abbreviation BMO was a deliberate choice; Canadian users consistently associate it with the country’s oldest bank, the Bank of Montreal. The mention of the Belski surname was no accident either: Brian Belski is BMO’s chief investment strategist and head of the bank’s investment strategy team.

The BMO Belski ads showed AI-generated deepfake videos of Belski himself promising users the chance to join a private investment group on WhatsApp. The criminals’ strategy was to dupe unsuspecting Canadian users into believing they’re getting trustworthy financial and investment advice from a recognized expert. The users would then rush to chat with the scammers through WhatsApp.

Instagram ads with deepfakes lead to fake investment chats on WhatsApp

This is what an Instagram ad for a fraudulent investment club with a deepfake Brian Belski looks like: users are encouraged to join a private group on WhatsApp. Source

A curious detail: the BMO Belski account that ran these ads on Instagram had no profile on that social media platform at all. The ads ran through BMO Belski’s Facebook page. Meta, the company that owns both social networks, lets advertisers run Instagram ads from a Facebook business page, thus eliminating the need to create a separate Instagram account.

It’s also interesting that the Facebook page used to promote the fraudulent ads had existed since October 27, 2023, and was previously titled “Brentlinger Matt Blumm” — whatever or whoever that may be. The scammers likely used a pre-made or previously stolen account that was “marinated” for a few years to avoid suspicion and bypass moderation.

Ads from a non-existent account: how deepfakes get onto Instagram via Facebook

The ad with the Brian Belski deepfake was launched on Instagram, but on behalf of a Facebook page. Meta allows promoting ads on Instagram even if the advertiser doesn’t have an account there. Source

Researchers don’t know exactly what went on in the WhatsApp private investment chats promoted by the deepfake. There’s also no information about victims of the ad featuring the fake banker, or the amount of their losses. However, other cases involving similar schemes, which we discuss later in this post, give us an idea of how this could’ve looked.

Scammers impersonate Financial Times’ chief economics commentator

Several months ago in the UK, scammers employed a similar scheme, which featured a deepfake of Martin Wolf, the chief economics commentator for the Financial Times. Similarly to the Canadian bank scam, the fraudsters disseminated ads on Instagram that showed a fake Martin Wolf inviting people to join his WhatsApp group for investment advice.

A former colleague of Wolf’s first alerted the journalist to the ad in March 2025. Once alerted, Wolf started pushing Meta to block the ads because they violated several of the platform’s own advertising policies. After some back-and-forth with Meta, the journalist managed to get one of the fraudulent ads taken down. However, Wolf soon began receiving links to other similar videos.

Example of a deepfake video of the Financial Times journalist

An example of an investment deepfake video of the Financial Times journalist, which scammers advertised on Instagram. Source

A subsequent investigation by the journalist’s colleagues at the Financial Times showed that the scam campaign included at least three different deepfake videos and several digitally manipulated images of Martin Wolf. These materials appeared in more than 1700 ads across Facebook and Instagram.

According to data from the Meta Ad Library, these ads reached more than 970 000 users in EU countries alone (excluding the UK), where legislation requires platforms to disclose such information. At least ten accounts ran the campaign, with new profiles joining the game as soon as the previous ones were blocked.

The reach of one of the scam ad-campaigns

In just six weeks, a fraudulent advertising campaign featuring a deepfake of a Financial Times journalist reached nearly a million users in the EU alone. Source

The most shocking part? All of this occurred even though Martin Wolf was enrolled in Meta’s new face recognition system, which is specifically designed to automatically detect and remove this kind of content. The journalist himself questions why an organization as large as Meta, with plenty of resources and AI-powered tools, is unable to detect and block such schemes — if not fully automatically, then at least after direct notifications. Is it really that difficult?

What goes on inside WhatsApp scam chats: a British victim’s story

A British office manager named Sarah shared what happens inside “exclusive communities” on WhatsApp after she became a victim of scammers. She joined a WhatsApp group after watching an Instagram ad that featured Peter Hargreaves, the co-founder of the UK’s largest investment platform, Hargreaves Lansdown. You guessed it: the video was also a deepfake.

After Sarah gave the scammers her number, they contacted her and sent her an invitation to the WhatsApp group. Following that, they sent a link to download a supposed investment app to her smartphone. Sarah was told a “mentor” would assist her by telling her when and at what price to buy and sell assets to lock in a profit.

Initially, Sarah invested £50, but she soon began putting more and more of her savings into assets recommended in the WhatsApp group. Sarah believed she was investing in small, growing companies and quickly earning a profit. In just two weeks, her account showed about £300 in profits on a total investment of about £2 000.

Problems only began several weeks later when Sarah wanted to transfer the profit to her bank account. She started receiving requests to pay taxes, withdrawal fees, and regulatory fees. She continued to pay, convinced that she’d soon get her money back with a large profit.

When Sarah suspected a scam, it was already too late: all the money was gone. The WhatsApp group disappeared, her “mentor” stopped responding, and the investment app quit working. Along with the app, the £4000 she had invested and all of her supposed profits vanished.

More than 600 advertisements featuring deepfakes of Peter Hargreaves were found on the Meta platform. One of these ads led Sarah into the hands of scammers. Twenty-two fraudulent accounts placed the ads, and Hargreaves Lansdown had them removed in May of this year after filing a trademark infringement complaint.

To lure victims, the scammers also deployed deepfakes of other British financial celebrities besides Peter Hargreaves and Martin Wolf. These included Anthony Bolton, a former Fidelity International fund manager, and Stephanie Flanders, a former JP Morgan Asset Management economist.

From The Wolf of Wall Street to WhatsApp groups: how deepfake pump-and-dump schemes work

Malicious actors also employ deepfake videos in Facebook and Instagram ads to carry out another type of investment scam known as pump and dump. This scheme involves genuine financial assets — not fictional tokens in a fake application. The catch is that criminals buy up cheap, unattractive stocks to inflate their price. They then launch an aggressive advertising campaign on social media urging users to invest and promising rapid returns.

Due to the heightened interest, the stock price continues to rise for a time, and more people invest with hopes of easy profit. Once the value peaks, the scammers quickly sell off their shares and disappear with the earnings. After that, the price plummets, and everyone else is left with almost worthless stock.

A similar scheme existed long before the widespread adoption of deepfakes. One of the most famous examples of its execution was the work of Jordan Belfort, the inspiration for the main character in the movie The Wolf of Wall Street. In the early 1990s, his brokerage firm sold cheap, little-known stocks to clients, artificially inflating demand for them before dumping them at an inflated price.

Whereas stock market scammers in the past relied on their own asserted authority to convince victims to purchase dubious stocks, deepfake technology now allows them to exploit the reputations of experts and well-known figures.

For example, a scheme was recently uncovered in Israel where bad actors artificially inflated the stock price of Ostin Technology Group Co. Ltd. (OST). To do this, they circulated deepfake videos featuring business journalist Guy Rolnik, entrepreneur Eyal Waldman, and businesswoman Shari Arison. The scammers also impersonated reputable financial institutions, including the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, the Israel Securities Authority, Bank Hapoalim, and Israel Discount Bank.

The fraudsters distributed fake promotional videos on Facebook and Instagram and, as in the previous scheme, invited users to join WhatsApp groups, where they provided them with advice on how to purchase OST stock. It didn’t take much persuading; a quick Google search confirmed that OST stock was, in fact, on the rise.

How scammers inflated and then collapsed OST

Rise and fall: Ostin Technology Group stock grew multiple times over, and then collapsed by 95% — after a scam campaign with deepfakes and investment chats in Israel. Source

Over several weeks, the company’s stock rose multiple times, reaching US$9.02 at its peak, after which it collapsed by 93%, with the stock price falling to 13 cents. In the two most serious cases, two victims lost 250 000 and 150 000 shekels (about US$75 000 and US$45 000), respectively.

Meta can’t protect users from deepfakes: a story from Australia

Scam ads that targeted Australian Facebook and Instagram audiences employed deepfake videos of several well-known personalities to promote fraudulent investment schemes. These videos featured TV host and financial journalist David Koch, billionaire Gina Rinehart, conservationist and TV host Robert Irwin, and even Australia’s current prime minister, Anthony Albanese.

Fake Australian prime minister advertises investment opportunities

In a fraudulent ad on Facebook, a deepfake of the Australian prime minister advertises investments Source

In a deepfake video, Anthony Albanese enthusiastically advertised an investment program that promised significant returns for minimal outlay. The links within the deepfake videos of him and the other personalities directed viewers to a fake news story. The article included what appeared to be quotes from famous Australian public figures to support investments in cryptocurrencies, or other get-rich-quick schemes. Facebook users were asked to sign up for the program, after which scammers would contact them to convince them to deposit money.

In response to user complaints about fraudulent ads, Facebook sent out the following boilerplate message:

“We didn’t remove the ad. Thanks again for your report. This information helps us improve the integrity and relevance of advertising on Facebook. […]

We understand this might be frustrating, so we recommend influencing the ads you see by hiding ads and changing your ad preferences”.

The boilerplate message from Facebook

The message suggests that Meta isn’t particularly eager to combat fraudulent advertising — even when users try to assist the company. Source

In short, Meta’s efforts to fight deepfakes and investment scams on its platforms remain inadequate. Even with its plentiful resources and AI-powered tools, the company is unable to quickly detect and block obviously fake videos that exploit the likeness of public figures.

These ads appear daily in users’ feeds as paid promotions from fake yet seemingly legitimate accounts. This means that Facebook and Instagram ultimately profit from their being spread.

How to avoid falling victim to deepfake ads on Instagram and Facebook

To avoid suffering from questionable and outright fraudulent investment advice, our primary recommendation is not to make financial decisions based on information from Instagram or Facebook. In addition to that:

  • Approach ads on social media with caution. As the stories in this post clearly show, ad moderation on Facebook and Instagram (and X, too) is less than ideal.
  • Don’t forget about deepfakes. For several years now, we’ve been living in a reality where videos of any famous person can be easily, quickly, and cheaply faked. You should keep this in mind and verify any information you receive from dubious sources.
  • Remember the universal rule of investing: the higher the potential return, the greater the risk involved. Therefore, you shouldn’t invest money you aren’t prepared to lose in schemes with supposedly high profits (which actually have a high risk).
  • Be especially careful with offers that promise quick profits with minimal outlay. This is one of the most obvious signs of a scam — you know what they say about free lunch.
  • Use only reliable investment apps from vetted brokers downloaded from official app stores. You shouldn’t trust download links sent by strangers in messaging apps.
  • Tell your family and friends about deepfake video scams. This will help protect them from losing money and the emotional distress that can follow.

Learn more about deepfakes:

Kaspersky official blog – ​Read More

Release Notes: QRadar SOAR App, TI Lookup Free Access, and 2,900+ New Detection Rules

July brought powerful new updates to help your SOC catch threats faster, reduce manual effort, and make more confident decisions, right inside your existing workflows. From fresh integrations to better detection coverage, these changes are built to support your team every step of the way. 

In this update: 

  • New IBM QRadar SOAR integration to automate investigations and speed up response 
  • Launch of a free TI Lookup plan, giving all users access to live attack data from 15K SOCs 
  • New Debian ARM VM for analyzing malware targeting IoT and embedded systems 
  • Expanded detection with 163 new behavior signatures13 YARA rules, and 2,772 Suricata rules 

Keep reading to explore what’s new and how these updates can improve your daily workflows and threat visibility. 

Product Updates 

IBM QRadar SOAR Integration: Faster, Smarter Incident Response 

We’ve officially launched the ANY.RUN app for IBM QRadar SOAR, helping SOC teams move faster, reduce manual effort, and make smarter decisions without leaving their existing workflows. 

ANY.RUN app for IBM QRadar SOAR 

With this integration, analysts can detonate suspicious files and URLs in ANY.RUN’s interactive sandbox directly from QRadar SOAR, and get verdicts, behavioral logs, and IOCs pushed back into the incident automatically. This not only speeds up triage, but also cuts Mean Time to Respond (MTTR) and reduces the risk of missing stealthy threats. 

You can also enrich key indicators using ANY.RUN’s Threat Intelligence Lookup, pulling in fresh, real-world threat context from live malware samples observed across 15,000+ organizations. 

ANY.RUN playbook library  

What Your Team Gains: Business and Operational Impact 

The new IBM QRadar SOAR integration delivers real performance and value across your SOC. By combining automated sandbox detonation with live threat intelligence enrichment, ANY.RUN helps security teams reduce alert fatigue, move faster, and make better-informed decisions. 

  • Lower workload and faster response: Automation cuts down manual triage and enrichment, letting analysts focus on critical threats, not routine tasks. 
  • Improved efficiency across tiers: Tier 1 and Tier 2 analysts benefit from streamlined investigation and escalation, while senior staff gain the bandwidth to focus on strategy and tuning. 
  • Smarter decisions, better processes: Sandbox reports and TI Lookup insights feed directly into playbooks and detection rules, driving continuous improvement. 
  • Early visibility into stealthy threats: Real-time behavioral data exposes multi-stage and evasive attacks that traditional tools often miss. 
  • Stronger ROI from existing tools: The integration adds powerful behavioral context to your SOAR workflows, without requiring new infrastructure or steep learning curves. 

How to Get Started 

Getting started is easy, just install the ANY.RUN app from IBM App Exchange and connect your account using an API key. You can enable sandbox analysis, Threat Intelligence Lookup, or both, depending on your workflow.  

Threat Intelligence Lookup Gets a Free Plan and More Power for Premium 

This July, we made accessing high-quality threat intelligence easier than ever. ANY.RUN’s Threat Intelligence Lookup (TI Lookup) now includes a Free plan, giving every analyst and SOC team access to real-time, actionable data from millions of sandboxed malware sessions. 

“Threat Intelligence in ANY.RUN continues to evolve — not only by adding more features, but by making the right ones easier to use.” 
— Aleksey Lapshin, CEO at ANY.RUN 

TI Lookup provides access to an extensive database of the latest IOCs, IOBs, and IOAs 

We’ve simplified access to ANY.RUN’s threat intelligence ecosystem with a cleaner, faster entry point. With the Free plan, you can now explore Public SamplesTTPsSuricata rules, and malware trends without cost or complexity. 

Users can perform unlimited searches using core indicators like file hashes, URLs, domains, IPs, Suricata IDs, and MITRE ATT&CK techniques, and combine them using the AND operator for refined threat queries. 

What You Can Achieve with TI Lookup Free 

The essential features in the free tier help SOC teams address real-world challenges: 

  • Enrich threat investigations: Gain extensive context by linking existing artifacts to real-world attacks observed in the wild. 
  • Reduce response time (MTTR): Analyze threat behavior, objectives, and targets directly from sandbox sessions to support fast, informed decisions. 
  • Strengthen proactive defense: Gather intel on emerging threats early, before they escalate, using real-time data. 
  • Grow your team’s expertise: Help SOC analysts learn from real-world malware by exploring TTPs through the interactive MITRE ATT&CK matrix. 
  • Develop SIEM, IDS/IPS, or EDR rules: Use collected intelligence to fine-tune detection rules and boost your organization’s overall defense. 

You can view up to 20 recent sandbox sessions per query, giving you insight into how threats evolve and behave across multiple industries and regions. 

All you need to do to get started is sign up or log into your ANY.RUN account, and you’re in. 

Get instant threat context with TI Lookup
Act faster. Slash MTTR. Stop breaches early 



Try now. It’s free!


Go Beyond the Basics with TI Lookup Premium 

The Free plan gives your team a powerful starting point, but with TI Lookup Premium, you gain the scale, depth, and automation needed for enterprise-grade investigations. Premium unlocks three times more threat data, advanced search capabilities, and access to exclusive features like private search, YARA rule matching, alert subscriptions, and API integration

  Free  Premium 
Requests  Unlimited number of basic requests   Advanced requests (100/500/5K/25K) 
Search operators  AND  AND, OR, NOT 
Search parameters  11   44 
Links to analysis sessions  Up to 20 most recent  All available 
Interface  Limited (only analyses)  Full (all threat data + analyses) 
Integration  –  API and SDK (Python package) 
YARA Search  – 
Private search  – 
TI Reports  – 
Search Updates  – 

Whether you’re triaging alerts, threat hunting, or building detection rules, Premium gives you full control over your threat intelligence workflows, so your SOC stays ahead of threats, not just reacts to them. 

Reach out to us for trial access to TI Lookup Premium for your SOC team.

Debian Sandbox for ARM Malware Detection and Analysis 

To help SOC teams stay ahead of evolving threats, ANY.RUN now supports Linux Debian 12.2 64-bit (ARM) in our Interactive Sandbox. This new environment enables deep analysis of malware targeting ARM-based systems, commonly found in IoT devices, embedded infrastructure, and lightweight servers. 

Select Debian (ARM) from the available OS options 

ARM-based malware is becoming a serious concern across industries. These attacks often target underprotected systems to establish botnets, steal resources, or maintain unauthorized access, making early detection critical. 

With the new Debian (ARM) VM, analysts can: 

  • Engage directly with ARM-based malware in a live, isolated environment to trigger and observe hidden behaviors 
  • Uncover advanced tactics like persistence, evasion, and privilege escalation with process-level visibility 
  • Trace execution paths in real time, from dropped files to command-line activity 
  • Correlate behaviors with known TTPs using integrated MITRE ATT&CK mapping for threat classification 

The new ARM VM is available to Enterprise users. Simply open a new analysis and select Linux Debian 12.2 (ARM, 64-bit) from the OS list to get started. 

What this update brings to your SOC: 

  • Faster analysis: Accelerate triage, incident response, and threat hunting with a dedicated ARM environment that delivers instant behavioral insights. 
  • Reduced platform costs: Analyze ARM-based threats alongside Windows, Android, and Linux samples, all within the same sandbox platform. 
  • Smarter incident escalation: Collect rich, actionable data during Tier 1 analysis to support better handoffs to Tier 2 teams. 
  • Stronger analyst expertise: Empower your team to investigate real-world ARM malware, improving skillsets through hands-on, safe analysis. 

Integrate ANY.RUN’s Interactive Sandbox in your SOC
Automate threat analysis, cut MTTD, & boost detection rate 



Contact us


Threat Coverage Update 

In July, our team expanded detection capabilities significantly to help SOCs stay ahead of evolving threats: 

  • 163 new signatures were added to strengthen detection across malware families and techniques. 
  • 13 new YARA rules went live in production, boosting accuracy and enabling deeper hunting capabilities. 
  • 2,772 new Suricata rules were deployed, ensuring better coverage for network-based attacks. 

These updates mean analysts get faster, more confident verdicts in the sandbox and can enrich SIEM, SOAR, and IDS workflows with fresh, actionable IOCs. 

New Behavior Signatures 

In July, we added a new set of behavior signatures to help SOC teams detect stealthy, obfuscated, and persistent techniques earlier in the attack chain. These signatures are triggered by actions, not static indicators, giving your analysts deeper visibility and faster context during investigations. 

Malware Families 

Obfuscation & Evasion Techniques 

Persistence Techniques 

Recon & Credential Access 

File/Registry/OS Abuse 

Payload Delivery 

Other 

  • BART: Loader activity observed in stealthy malware campaigns 
  • susp-lnk: Flags suspicious .lnk shortcut behavior often used for initial access 
  • susp-clipboard: Detects suspicious clipboard manipulation commonly used in credential theft or staged payload delivery 

YARA Rule Updates 

In July, we released 13 new YARA rules into production to help analysts detect threats faster, improve hunting accuracy, and cover a wider range of malware families and evasion tactics. 

Some key additions: 

  • BLACKMATTER: Detects ransomware operations linked to critical infrastructure attacks. 
  • LOCKBIT4: Tracks the latest variant of this widely distributed ransomware family. 
  • nightspire:Identifies this stealthy stealer observed in recent targeted campaigns. 
  • sinobi: Detects an infostealer family using Telegram for data exfiltration. 
  • cryptolocker: Covers one of the earliest forms of ransomware still resurfacing in modified campaigns. 

New Suricata Rules 

We’ve also added 2772 targeted Suricata rules to help SOC teams catch stealthy data exfiltration attempts and phishing campaigns more reliably. Here are a few hihglights: 

These new rules enhance detection for modern phishing and exfiltration tactics and are automatically applied in your ANY.RUN sessions. 

About ANY.RUN 

ANY.RUN supports over 15,000 organizations across banking, manufacturing, telecom, healthcare, retail, and tech, helping them build faster, smarter, and more resilient cybersecurity operations. 

Our cloud-based Interactive Sandbox enables teams to safely analyze threats targeting Windows, Linux, and Android systems in under 40 seconds; no complex infrastructure required. Paired with TI LookupYARA Search, and Threat Feeds, ANY.RUN empowers security teams to accelerate investigations, reduce risk, and boost SOC efficiency. 

Start your 14-day trial and take full control of threat analysis 

The post Release Notes: QRadar SOAR App, TI Lookup Free Access, and 2,900+ New Detection Rules appeared first on ANY.RUN’s Cybersecurity Blog.

ANY.RUN’s Cybersecurity Blog – ​Read More

Why the tech industry needs to stand firm on preserving end-to-end encryption

Restricting end-to-end encryption on a single-country basis would not only be absurdly difficult to enforce, but it would also fail to deter criminal activity

WeLiveSecurity – ​Read More

Is your phone spying on you? | Unlocked 403 cybersecurity podcast (S2E5)

Here’s what you need to know about the inner workings of modern spyware and how to stay away from apps that know too much

WeLiveSecurity – ​Read More

The Booker Prize Longlist and Hacker Summer Camp

The Booker Prize Longlist and Hacker Summer Camp

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

This week the Booker Prize Longlist was released and it featured several books I’ve read this year a couple that are on my TBR (To Be Read), a couple that I had not heard of, and a couple that make me scratch my head and question why they would be included at all. It’s always exciting for me to see the Booker Longlist as it gives me an idea of how I’ve tapped into the literary fiction zeitgeist in first half of the year and what I may be tapping into in the back half of the year. That got me thinking about the cycle of staying up to date with the current threat landscape and the evolution of the threat actor behaviors and techniques and how Black Hat and DEF CON reside in a similar space for all of us in the cyber security space. Some of the new or interesting things that will come out will provide actionable insights, others will be a heaping serving of more of the same and while not trivial they will be super interesting and important, and finally some information will simply be all name and sizzle, but in the end full of sound and fury and signifying nothing.  

As a reader I’ve to understand that these lists, and the authors and books included in them, are there for various reasons and not all of them are on the merit of the narrative and the craft of writing. Early in my career it was hard to separate the things that came out of Summer Camp because I was so desperate to learn and so excited that I often couldn’t leverage my own experiences and separate the actionable from the detritus. Now I find that I don’t even have to expend much energy to move the firehose of information into the proper channels in my mind and then dive in and take what I’ve learned and apply it. Also trusting that if something that seems like empty sizzle is important – that I have team members that will keep me clued in and finding the needles in the never-ending field of haystacks.  

I hope you all have a tremendous time at Summer Camp, see a lot of old friends and make new ones and most importantly that you shower and use deodorant. Conference season is a marathon, it’s long, it’s arduous, it’s sweaty – be the hygienic change you want to see in the world.  

The one big thing 

The Cisco Talos Incident Response Trends Q2 2025 report is out today, and as always it is packed with in-depth insights into recent attacker behavior. Phishing remains the top initial access vector, but interestingly, the objective of the majority of observed phishing attacks appeared to be credential harvesting, suggesting cybercriminals may consider brokering compromised credentials as simpler and more reliably profitable than other post-exploitation activities. Ransomware and pre-ransomware incidents made up half of all engagements this quarter, similar to last quarter. Talos IR observed Qilin and Medusa ransomware for the first time, while also responding to previously seen Chaos ransomware. Education was the most targeted industry vertical this quarter.

Why do I care? 

The report contains details of how attackers are exploiting vulnerabilities and circumventing security tools. Examples include MFA installations with self-service options that allow attackers to register their own devices. We also saw stealthy tactics in ransomware attacks such as the use of PowerShell 1.0 (yes the original version from 2006) in what we’re calling “bring your own binary”.

So now what? 

The report outlines actionable advice based on observed incidents,
such as:

  • Proper configuration and monitoring of multi-factor authentication (MFA).
  • Importance of centralized logging
  • Steps to harden endpoint detection and response (EDR) systems.

These insights help prioritize mitigations that directly address real-world attack techniques. Download the report today.

Top security headlines of the week 

Journalist Discovers Google Vulnerability That Allowed People to Disappear Specific Pages From Search

By accident, journalist Jack Poulson discovered Google had completely de-listed two of his articles from its search results. “We only found it by complete coincidence,” Poulson told 404 Media. “I happened to be Googling for one of the articles, and even when I typed in the exact title in quotes it wouldn’t show up in search results anymore.” (404 media)

ChatGPT, GenAI Tools Open to ‘Man in the Prompt’ Browser Attack

A brand-new cyberattack vector allows threat actors to use a poisoned browser extension to inject malicious prompts into all of the top generative AI tools on the market, including ChatGPT, Gemini, and others. (DarkReading)

Phishers Target Aviation Execs to Scam Customers

KrebsOnSecurity recently heard from a reader whose boss’s email account got phished and was used to trick one of the company’s customers into sending a large payment to scammers. An investigation into the attacker’s infrastructure points to a long-running Nigerian cybercrime ring that is actively targeting established companies in the transportation and aviation industries (Krebs)

Can’t get enough Talos? 

We have lots of videos to share, so queue them up and let’s get learning!

Tales from the Frontlines

Join the Cisco Talos Incident Response team to hear real-world stories from the frontlines of cyber defense. Reserve your spot.

IR Trends Q2 2025

Phishing attacks persist as actors leverage compromised valid accounts to enhance legitimacy. Read more.

Beers with Talos

So You Wanna Be an Incident Commander? Meet Alex Ryan. Bill, Joe and Hazel chat with Alex about what it really takes to lead through the chaos of a cybersecurity incident, from coordinating stressed-out teams, fielding exec questions, and making sure people eat. Listen here.

Upcoming events where you can find Talos 

The Booker Prize Longlist and Hacker Summer Camp

Join us at hacker summer camp! Read our Black Hat preview here.

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: 83748e8d6f6765881f81c36efacad93c20f3296be3ff4a56f48c6aa2dcd3ac08
MD5: 906282640ae3088481d19561c55025e4
VirusTotal: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/83748e8d6f6765881f81c36efacad93c20f3296be3ff4a56f48c6aa2dcd3ac08/details
Typical Filename: AAct_x64.exe
Claimed Product: N/A
Detection Name: PUA.Win.Tool.Winactivator::1201  

SHA 256: 0581bd9f0e1a6979eb2b0e2fd93ed6c034036dadaee863ff2e46c168813fe442
MD5: 7854b00a94921b108f0aed00f77c7833
VirusTotal: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/0581bd9f0e1a6979eb2b0e2fd93ed6c034036dadaee863ff2e46c168813fe442/details
Typical Filename: winword.exe
Claimed Product: Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, Visio, OneNote
Detection Name: W32.0581BD9F0E.in12.Talos 

SHA256: 2462569cf24a5a1e313390fa3c52ed05c7f36ef759c4c8f5194348deca022277
MD5: 42c016ce22ab7360fb7bc7def3a17b04 
VirusTotal: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/2462569cf24a5a1e313390fa3c52ed05c7f36ef759c4c8f5194348deca022277
Typical Filename: Rainmeter-4.5.22.exe
Detection Name: Artemis!Trojan    

SHA 256:7b3ec2365a64d9a9b2452c22e82e6d6ce2bb6dbc06c6720951c9570a5cd46fe5
MD5: ff1b6bb151cf9f671c929a4cbdb64d86
VirusTotal : https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/7b3ec2365a64d9a9b2452c22e82e6d6ce2bb6dbc06c6720951c9570a5cd46fe5
Typical Filename: endpoint.query 
Detection Name: W32.File.MalParent    

SHA256: 9f1f11a708d393e0a4109ae189bc64f1f3e312653dcf317a2bd406f18ffcc507
MD5: 2915b3f8b703eb744fc54c81f4a9c67f
VirusTotal: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/9f1f11a708d393e0a4109ae189bc64f1f3e312653dcf317a2bd406f18ffcc507
Typical Filename: VID001.exe 
Detection Name: Win.Worm.Bitmin-9847045-0  

Cisco Talos Blog – ​Read More

Zoomers at work: how scammers target this demographic | Kaspersky official blog

The stereotype of Gen Z as lazy, uncommitted employees averse to hard work, and prone to job-hopping is quite common. But the statistics tell a different story. Nearly half of Zoomers juggle multiple gigs: a full-time job, freelancing, and various side hustles. And cybercriminals have identified these polyworking young professionals as convenient targets.

Our experts dug into this trend and uncovered some non-obvious threats. This article explores how Gen Z can navigate their multi-job lifestyles without putting their cybersecurity at risk.

More apps, more problems

The core issue stems from the sheer number of corporate apps and accounts Gen Z has to juggle. Think about it: Zoom for one job, Slack for another, and Notion for tasks across the board. And the more applications they use, the larger the attack surface for cybercriminals. Scammers constantly send phishing emails that convincingly impersonate employers, and distribute malware disguised as business software. They can even send fake assignments, pretending to be your boss.

From mid-2024 to mid-2025, Kaspersky experts recorded six million attacks involving fake collaboration platforms. Most often, attackers imitated the “golden trio” of corporate applications: Zoom, and Microsoft Excel and Outlook.

Here’s how it might play out: an attacker sends an email seemingly from Zoom asking you to update the app. The email contains a link that leads to a phishing site mimicking the real Zoom page. This fake site then immediately downloads a bogus application to your device. The imposter app could then steal your contacts’ data or even gain access to your entire work environment — the potential scenarios are numerous.

Phishing site urging the user to install a "Zoom update"

Phishing site urging the user to install a “Zoom update”

How scammers are deceiving job-seeking Gen Z

If you’ve ever seen a message in a neighborhood chat like, “URGENT: remote work, $60 an hour!” — it’s likely a scam. But these days scammers have grown much more sophisticated. They’re posting what look like legitimate job openings on popular job platforms, detailing the terms so thoroughly that the positions appear genuine. In reality, even the most well-crafted job posting can turn out to be completely fake.

Fake SMM job posting

Fake SMM job posting

Cybercriminals may even conduct fake interviews to make their schemes appear more convincing. One common form of extortion targets Gen Z through fake “interviews”, where victims are told to log out of their personal Apple ID and access a purported “company” account. If the victim complies, the scammers activate Lost Mode, effectively bricking the applicant’s iPhone. Naturally, they then demand a hefty sum to unlock it.

Freelance opportunities also deserve a close look. The search for freelance work is often less formal than traditional job hunting: all communication happens through messaging apps, and payments might even come from a client’s personal account. It’s incredibly easy to imitate this casual communication style, and scammers exploit this. In a worst-case scenario, instead of landing a new gig, you could end up with a bricked phone, malware infection, compromised personal accounts, or even losing all your money to the “client”.

It’s impossible to list every single red flag when you’re looking for a new job, but here are the main things to watch out for.

  • If someone wants something done yesterday and is promising a ton of cash for it, you’re likely dealing with scammers.
  • Third-party payments. Stick to payment methods you trust.
  • Sign-in/sign-out requests. Be extremely wary if someone asks you to sign in or out of any accounts — especially your personal Apple ID.
  • Paid training. If they’re asking you to pay for training upfront with the promise of reimbursement later — simply ignore them.
  • Excessive personal data. Applying to be a dog walker, but they’re asking for copies of every page of your passport? No way, José.

Why Gen Z is being targeted, and how to fight back

Some companies have adopted BYOD policies, asking employees to use their personal tech for work. The problem is, these are often the same devices used for everything else: gaming, downloading files from the internet, and chatting with friends. Do we even need to say that downloading torrents on the laptop used for work is a dubious idea?

Many Gen Zers also make a costly mistake when using a large number of applications: they use one password for everything. Just a single data breach (and they happen all the time!), and cybercriminals can gain access to all your messaging apps, calendars, email clients, and other work-specific applications. Of course, coming up with and remembering complex passwords every time is a challenge. That’s why we recommend using a password manager that can generate strong, unique passwords, and securely store them for you.

What else you can do to avoid falling victim to cybercriminals while you’re job searching?

  • Boost your cybersecurity knowledge by playing Case 404.
  • Always enable two-factor authentication wherever possible. By the way, you can store your 2FA tokens in our password manager.
  • Avoid downloading apps or updates from suspicious websites.
  • Install Kaspersky Premium on your personal devices. This application can prevent you from opening phishing links, and significantly improve your personal security.

Cybersecurity cheat-sheet for polyworkers:

Kaspersky official blog – ​Read More

Detect ARM Malware in Seconds with Debian Sandbox for Stronger Enterprise Security 

ANY.RUN’s Interactive Sandbox provides SOC teams with the fastest solution for analyzing and detecting cyber threats targeting Windows, Linux, and Android systems. Now, our selection of VMs has been expanded to include Linux Debian 12.2 64-bit (ARM).  

With the rapid rise of ARM-based malware, the sandbox helps businesses tackle this threat through proactive analysis and early detection. 

Why ARM-based Malware is a Serious Threat to Your Company 

ARM processors are widely used in resource-constrained IoT devices, embedded systems, and even low-power servers, often deployed with weak security. These devices become prime targets for attackers looking to build massive botnets, steal resources, or gain unauthorized access. The three most popular types of ARM-based malware include: 

  • Botnets: Turning devices into “zombies” for DDoS attacks. 
  • Backdoors: Maintaining persistent unauthorized system access. 

By expanding the capabilities to identify these threats, companies can prevent large-scale incidents in their infrastructure and reduce costs associated with downtime, recovery, and incident response. 

Integrate ANY.RUN’s Interactive Sandbox in your SOC
Automate threat analysis, cut MTTD, & boost detection rate 



Contact us


Launch Your First Malware Analysis in Linux Debian (ARM) VM 

The new OS is now available to all Enterprise users, unlocking deeper analysis capabilities for ARM-based threats.  

To select the Linux Debian VM, follow these simple steps:  

  1. Open ANY.RUN’s Interactive sandbox
Click on the Operating system dropdown menu 
  1. Navigate to the New analysis window.  
  1. Open the Operating system menu 
Select Debian (ARM) from the available OS options
  1. Click on Linux Debian 12.2 (ARM, 64 bit)  
  1. Upload a file/URL you want to analyze, configure the rest of your settings, and run your analysis.  

The update further empowers your security team to detect malware and phishing early with ANY.RUN’s Interactive Sandbox: 

  • Ensure fast analysis: Accelerate triage, incident response, and threat hunting with a dedicated ARM environment for instant insights into any threat’s behavior. 
  • Cut costs: Analyze ARM-based malware along with Windows, Android, Linux x86 threats directly in ANY.RUN’s sandbox, eliminating the need for multiple platforms. 
  • Improve incident escalation: Gather rich, actionable data during Tier 1 analysis to enhance informed handoffs to Tier 2 to mitigate active attacks more effectively. 
  • Grow team’s expertise: Help your SOC analysts enhance their skills by analyzing real-world ARM threats, building confidence and knowledge through hands-on investigations. 

Real-World Use Case: Kaiji Botnet 

To demonstrate how ANY.RUN’s Linux Debian 12.2 (ARM, 64-bit) Sandbox operates, we analyzed a real-world sample of the Kaiji botnet, malware specifically compiled for the ARM architecture. 

Kaiji is a botnet that targets Linux-based servers and IoT devices. Once executed, it performs system reconnaissance, masks its presence, disables security mechanisms like SELinux, and ensures persistence through systemd services and cron jobs. It replaces core system utilities and hides malicious activity by filtering command output, all of which are captured inside the sandbox. 

Let’s take a closer look at how Kaiji behaves from the moment it lands on the sandbox: 

View real case inside sandbox 

Kaji botnet analyzed inside ANY.RUN sandbox 

Fast Detection with Instant Verdict 

In this real-world case, ANY.RUN’s Debian 12.2 ARM sandbox detected the Kaiji botnet in just 25 seconds, as shown in the top-right corner of the sandbox interface. The threat was flagged as malicious activity and accurately labeled kaiji and botnet

25 seconds for the detection of Kaiji botnet inside ANY.RUN’s Debian sandbox

This kind of speed delivers real value for security teams: 

  • Respond faster: A near-instant verdict means teams can act before the threat spreads. 
  • Reduce manual work: Quick detection cuts down time spent digging through logs or unclear alerts. 
  • Improve SOC efficiency: Faster detection supports lower MTTR and smarter alert triage. 
  • Stay ahead of evolving threats: With ARM-based malware on the rise, fast, reliable detection is key to staying protected. 

Full Visibility with Process Tree 

Beyond fast detection, ANY.RUN’s sandbox gives complete visibility into the attack’s behavior. On the right side of the screen, the process tree lays out every action taken by the malware. Clicking on each process reveals detailed information, from execution paths to commands and TTPs used. 

Malicious process with all the relevant TTPs displayed inside the interactive sandbox

In this Kaiji case, for example, we can see how the malware attempts to maintain persistence by modifying /etc/crontab to run the /.mod script every minute. This script keeps the malicious process running in the background, even if one of the persistence methods fails; a tactic clearly visible and traceable through the sandbox’s behavioral logs. 

Kaji botnet maintains persistence by modifying /etc/crontab 

This level of insight helps SOC teams not only detect threats quickly, but understand them deeply, supporting better response, reporting, and threat hunting. 

Track Network and File Activity in Real Time 

Just below the VM window, ANY.RUN displays all network connections and file modifications made by the malware, offering analysts a complete picture of how the threat operates. 

In this case, Kaiji’s behavior is clearly visible: the malware replaces key system utilities and intercepts user commands, passing them to the original tools while filtering the output to hide signs of infection. This is handled via the /etc/profile.d/gateway.sh script, which uses sed to remove specific keywords like 32676, dns-tcp4, and the names of hidden files from command output; a stealthy evasion technique that can be easily overlooked without deep behavioral analysis. 

Kaji replaces core system utilities via the /etc/profile.d/gateway.sh script 

With this visibility, security teams can trace every move, catch hidden modifications, and build accurate IOCs for future detection and response. 

Complete Results, Ready to Investigate or Share 

Once the analysis is complete, ANY.RUN’s sandbox gives you everything you need to take the next step. The IOCs tab gathers all critical indicators, including IPs, domains, file hashes, and more, in one place, so there’s no need to jump between views or dig through raw logs. 

IOCs neatly organized inside ANY.RUN’s sandbox 

You’ll also get a clear, structured report that maps out the full attack chain from start to finish. Whether you’re documenting a case, sharing findings with your team, or enriching threat intelligence feeds, the report is built to support fast, confident action. 

Exportable sandbox report with complete attack chain overview 

This end-to-end visibility makes every investigation smoother, and every response stronger. 

About ANY.RUN 

Trusted by over 500,000 security professionals and 15,000+ organizations across finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and beyond, ANY.RUN helps teams investigate malware and phishing threats faster and with greater precision. 

Accelerate investigation and response: Use ANY.RUN’s Interactive Sandbox to safely detonate suspicious files and URLs, observe real-time behavior, and extract critical insights, cutting triage and decision time dramatically. 

Enhance detection with threat intelligence: Leverage Threat Intelligence Lookup and TI Feeds to uncover IOCs, tactics, and behavior patterns tied to active threats, 6empowering your SOC to stay ahead of attacks as they emerge. 

Request a trial of ANY.RUN’s services to see how they can boost your SOC workflows. 

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