Have you ever read the Talos IR Quarterly Trends report and wondered, “How did that phishing or ransomware campaign actually play out? When was Talos IR contacted, how did they contain it, and how did they remediate the environment?" You’re in luck. Next Tuesday, August 11, Cisco Talos Incident Responders will be hosting an exclusive, unrecorded 30-minute webinar to review the most high-impact incidents our customers faced in Q2 2026. This isn’t a rehashing of the report itself, but a candid dis
Have you ever read the Talos IR Quarterly Trends report and wondered, “How did that phishing or ransomware campaign actually play out? When was Talos IR contacted, how did they contain it, and how did they remediate the environment?"
You’re in luck. Next Tuesday, August 11, Cisco Talos Incident Responders will be hosting an exclusive, unrecorded 30-minute webinar to review the most high-impact incidents our customers faced in Q2 2026. This isn’t a rehashing of the report itself, but a candid discussion of what happened, how we handled it, and what it means for your organization.
The session is designed for security professionals of all levels, from analysts and incident responders to managers and senior leaders. We'll focus on strategic takeaways and business impact, with just enough technical depth to provide context and spark meaningful conversations.
Registration is required to attend. Don’t miss this chance to hear real-world stories from the frontlines of cyber defense, directly from the team who lived them.
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Threat Source newsletter. For my fianceé’s 30th birthday, I took her on a weekend trip to Shenandoah National Park – a favorite of ours since we went to a wedding there several years back. We’ve done several incredible hikes over the years, but one in particular had always loomed over my head: Old Rag, a 9.3 mile circuit hike that’s largely considered the most difficult in Virginia. I've always been warned that at the beginning and end, you hate Old Rag. For
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Threat Source newsletter.
For my fianceé’s 30th birthday, I took her on a weekend trip to Shenandoah National Park – a favorite of ours since we went to a wedding there several years back. We’ve done several incredible hikes over the years, but one in particular had always loomed over my head: Old Rag, a 9.3 mile circuit hike that’s largely considered the most difficult in Virginia.
I've always been warned that at the beginning and end, you hate Old Rag. For the first 2.6 miles, you’re hiking a steep climb on a dirt road, with lots of switchbacks, and plenty of places where you turn a corner and groan, because there’s an even steeper section ahead. This part was pretty torturous, because 1) I felt like my heart was going to explode out of my chest, 2) I couldn’t breathe, and 3) several times, there was a family we passed as they were taking a break, then WE took a break and THEY passed US, and so on and so forth. So awkward.
Finally, we reached the fun part: a mile-long rock scramble, where you're squeezing through (and down) narrow rock crevices, cramming your boots to desperately find any leverage to propel yourself upward, and using all your upper body strength to control your descent. This was definitely the most fun part, although my hands and knees were sore by the end.
After hiking for hours, you reach the top and realize it was all worth it, because the summit has a a spectacular vie—
... That’s what we get for being excited to hike in overcast weather. Well, at least the way back down is fun— oh wait, four miles downward on a fire trail, crushing your toes in the front of your hiking boots? Yike.
It may sound like I’m complaining a lot about this hike, but it was genuinely the most fun one that I’ve done to date. By the time I was freshly showered and drinking an iced coffee in Culpeper, I was gushing about when we’d go back.
There’s a really good tie-in to cybersecurity somewhere here. Ah, got it.
Everyone has had those uphill hike phases with the endless documentation, patching, and alerts that keep you up at night. You’re waiting for the misery to end and hoping that around the next corner, you’ll see a sign that you’re almost out of the woods. Bruised and out of breath, you finally arrive at the exciting parts: a complex project that finally comes together, the thrill of stopping an attack, or a feeling of pride when someone you're mentoring gets a new certification. Maybe the payoff is something completely unexpected.
Those moments definitely don’t erase the exhaustion — you're still sore and bruised, and will be for days — but they do remind you why you started in the first place.
The one big thing
Talos released our Q2 2026 Incident Response Trends report, which showed a massive spike in authentication abuse and sophisticated phishing tactics. Phishing drove over half of all engagements, with attackers leveraging QR codes and advanced platforms like ARToken to bypass multi-factor authentication (MFA). Additionally, ransomware operators are increasingly weaponizing legitimate remote management tools like MeshAgent and Zoho Assist to establish stealthy, persistent access.
Why do I care?
Standard email gateways and basic MFA are no longer enough to stop adversaries from bypassing traditional defenses. By abusing legitimate administrative tools and trusted cloud infrastructure, threat actors can easily blend malicious traffic with normal network activity to remain undetected before deploying ransomware. Furthermore, the continued targeting of health care and public administration highlights a deliberate focus on organizations with zero tolerance for downtime.
So now what?
Organizations must transition from push- and SMS-based MFA to phishing-resistant methods like FIDO2 or hardware security keys. Defenders should also shift to behavior-based monitoring, specifically hunting for unauthorized instances of administrative tools. Finally, configure centralized logging with at least 90 days of retention, enforce strict outbound email thresholds, and prioritize patching internet-exposed infrastructure.
Read the full report for a deeper dive into this quarter's trends and observed MITRE ATT&CK techniques.
Top security headlines of the week
Authorities investigating a coordinated cyber attack against Minnesota water systems Federal and state authorities are investigating what they call a coordinated cyberattack over two days against operational technology at more than 30 community water systems in Minnesota. (Cybersecurity Dive)
Hacked public Wi-Fi gateways used to harvest corporate credentials As part of the attacks, the hackers modified the DNS configurations of the compromised small office/home office (SOHO) routers to redirect users to attacker-controlled infrastructure for credential theft. (SecurityWeek)
Default Azure Automation setting enables cross-tenant identity takeover Microsoft addressed a public-by-default configuration and chain of code flaws in Azure Automation that could have let attackers seize another tenant's identity and access others' data, credentials, and cloud workloads. (DarkReading)
Public proof-of-concept released for exploited Check Point SmartConsole authentication bypass The vulnerability is an authentication bypass in the SmartConsole login process that allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to obtain an application login token and use it to authenticate with full administrative privileges. (The Hacker News)
Can’t get enough Talos?
The TTP: Built for IT. Used by attackers In this episode of The Talos Threat Perspective, Hazel, Craig and Joe explore how attackers are abusing legitimate Remote Monitoring and Management software, trusted services and compromised identities to evade detection. Based on trends revealed in the latest Talos Incident Response Quarterly Trends report, the discussion covers ransomware groups using remote tools to maintain access, phishing platforms that have evolved into complete attack ecosystems, and an ongoing QR code phishing campaign targeting Microsoft 365 accounts.
Talos Takes: Q2 Talos IR Trends: Phishing and authentication abuse In this episode, Amy and analyst Lexi DiScola unpack the trends Talos IR saw on the frontlines in Q2 2026. From creative phishing lures that slip past email gateways to the weaponization of legitimate remote management tools, we explore why traditional defenses are falling short and the practical things you can do to reclaim the advantage.
Preview: Cisco Talos at Black Hat USA 2026 We have a presence within the Cisco and Splunk booth (2633) during Black Hat where you can chat to us about our latest threat research, incident response, and how Talos powers the Cisco portfolio with our intelligence. Or, feel free to pretend to want to talk to us about those things while grabbing a new multicolored Snorty. That’s fine, too.
Chaos ransomware's msaRAT: Living off the browser to build a covert C2 channel The Chaos ransomware group uses new malware "msaRAT" that hijacks browsers. The malware doesn't communicate directly with C2 but connects through the browser. It enables arbitrary command execution while hiding the attacker's IP from victims via WebRTC over TURN.
Cybersecurity is rarely a straight line. In this special Black Hat edition of Humans of Talos, Amy looks back at the incredible journeys that brought past guests to the world of threat intelligence. From forensic labs and newsrooms to the kitchen line, we’re revisiting the stories and lessons that define the people behind the threat intelligence.Heading to Black Hat? We have a presence within the Cisco and Splunk booth (2633) during Black Hat where you can chat to us about our latest threat rese
Cybersecurity is rarely a straight line. In this special Black Hat edition of Humans of Talos, Amy looks back at the incredible journeys that brought past guests to the world of threat intelligence. From forensic labs and newsrooms to the kitchen line, we’re revisiting the stories and lessons that define the people behind the threat intelligence.
Heading to Black Hat? We have a presence within the Cisco and Splunk booth (2633) during Black Hat where you can chat to us about our latest threat research and incident response, and grab the newest Snorty. Check out our schedule here.
Want more episodes? Watch the full episode, and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for the next Humans of Talos.
Ever wonder how someone goes from studying human viruses to leading cybersecurity teams? In this Humans of Talos, we’re joined by Martin Lee, EMEA Lead, to talk about his journey into the industry. Martin takes us back to the early days of the internet, explaining how he made the leap from academia to the front lines of threat research. He also gives us a fascinating look at his current work, where he’s applying a sociological lens to cybersecurity to better understand what makes certain organiz
Ever wonder how someone goes from studying human viruses to leading cybersecurity teams? In this Humans of Talos, we’re joined by Martin Lee, EMEA Lead, to talk about his journey into the industry. Martin takes us back to the early days of the internet, explaining how he made the leap from academia to the front lines of threat research. He also gives us a fascinating look at his current work, where he’s applying a sociological lens to cybersecurity to better understand what makes certain organizations more resilient than others.
Whether you’re just starting your career in security or looking for a fresh perspective, you won't want to miss Martin’s advice on staying visible, being curious, and "flavoring your life with many spices."
Amy Ciminnisi: Martin, welcome! Can you describe what you do here at Talos for people who might not know you?
Martin Lee: My job is really ambassadorial. I still research the threat landscape, although I spend less time doing that now. Certainly understanding what are the changes that are happening in the threat landscape. But mostly my job is to externalize that — both to write about the threat landscape, but also discuss what we're seeing, what's important, and what's different with our customers and partners.
AC: I had no idea that you started your career in researching the genetics of human viruses. That’s one hell of a career change. Can you tell us about how you ended up where you are today?
ML: Yeah, "I discovered the internet," is basically the short answer. I discovered the internet very, very early on and just thought this is going to be the biggest invention in my life. I thought if I didn't jump there and then because I could see it was going to explode and go everywhere, and if I didn't jump then, I wouldn't be able to keep up with it. So, I left behind a career in academia to jump on board in the early internet and start building it and building websites.
AC: I actually wrote about this in my most recent newsletter — I'm one of the younger members of Talos, so I was born well after all of this started. It is so fascinating to me to hear about people who were out of college when the internet really started booming.
ML: Yeah, it was growing massively through the mid to late 90s, which was awesome. And then there was the .com crash, which was pretty rubbish. So, I found myself with a young family and less work than I wanted. This job came up, writing spam filters. This was before spam filters and certainly before spam was a big problem. So I thought, "Okay, that sounds fun, let's do that." And then we started detecting all of these weird and wonderful attacks. What we didn't know is we were detecting the first APT attacks. In trying to work out what was happening and what we were seeing, that kind of launched the career. So here we are over 23 years later, and cybersecurity has just grown massively. But it was entirely by accident that I ended up here.
Want to see more? Watch the full interview, and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for future episodes of Humans of Talos.
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Threat Source newsletter. To the surprise of absolutely no one who has seen my face, I’m one of the younger employees at Talos. As my industry veteran colleagues were buying the first iPods, navigating the switch from dial-up to broadband, saying goodbye to floppy disks, and making Myspace accounts, I was playing with my Password Journal and Friend Chips. It’s a funny contrast, but I still experienced the beginning of the “always-on” era. Ah, those were the
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Threat Source newsletter.
To the surprise of absolutely no one who has seen my face, I’m one of the younger employees at Talos. As my industry veteran colleagues were buying the first iPods, navigating the switch from dial-up to broadband, saying goodbye to floppy disks, and making Myspace accounts, I was playing with my Password Journal and Friend Chips. It’s a funny contrast, but I still experienced the beginning of the “always-on” era.
Ah, those were the days. One of my most vivid tech memories is begging my dad to play games on his Handspring Visor — a classic personal digital assistant (PDA) launched in late 1999 by Handspring, a company formed by the original creators of the PalmPilot. Handspring stopped producing the Visor line in 2002 and it eventually became obsolete, mostly because its desktop sync feature couldn't keep up with modern OS updates. Despite the tech debt, I spent hours playing Asteroid, Centipede, and Hardball (aka Breakout) on that thing. My dad, meanwhile, mostly used the Memo function to store his passwords... which he still does today. (Yeah, I’m still working on getting him to see the wonders of 1Password.)
You might be wondering what made me reminisce on childhood toys. A few weeks back, my fiancée and I drove a few hours to visit my family. Even if we get in at 9:00 p.m., it’s tradition for us to stay up late eating pizza and talking about random stuff.
We got on the topic of phones because my parents still have a landline, and I mentioned that walkie talkies were my first introduction to having my own personal device. My dad dug some old ones out, set them on the table, and put them on scan while we chatted.
At some point, the conversation petered out just when the walkie talkie captured a channel. Radio static, and then a kid’s voice broke our silence: “Your butt crack is out.”
My dad got an impish grin and brought the talkie up to his mouth. My mom pleaded, “No. Honey, no. Don’t.” The rest of us were already wheezing and crying.
He pressed the talk button and, in his best crotchety old man voice, bellowed, “Hey, you kids. Get off my lawn!”
Imagine being those poor kids. It’s a funny story, but if you don’t want people like my dad intercepting your comms, maybe stick to encrypted channels.
The one big thing
Talos' Yuri Kramarz published a blog highlighting how AI-driven vulnerability discovery has completely outpaced human patching capabilities. With frontier AI models autonomously discovering and exploiting zero-days in minutes, the traditional vulnerability lifecycle has completely collapsed. To survive this hyper-accelerated threat environment, organizations must abandon patch-reliant strategies and embrace a three-stage fallback model built on foundational security principles.
Why do I care?
Speed is the new, terrifying multiplier in the traditional risk equation. When an AI can uncover a decades-old zero-day and write an exploit for it in minutes, relying solely on vulnerability management is a losing game. Defenders must accept that some exploitation will inevitably slip through the cracks. The true measure of security is no longer just prevention, but how well your environment can absorb, detect, and survive the initial blow.
So now what?
Stop treating security basics like optional compliance checkboxes. Enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) everywhere, harden devices using CIS benchmarks, and implement strict network segmentation to limit an attacker's blast radius. Since hardened systems only slow attackers down, deploy behavioral-based EDR, NDR, and XDR to catch the post-exploitation activity that signatures miss. Finally, validate these controls through penetration testing and purple team exercises so your incident response playbooks become muscle memory, not just wishful thinking. Read the full blog for more.
Top security headlines of the week
CISA gives U.S. federal agencies three days to fix a VPN bug under attack byQilin Check Point Software said the bug affects several of its remote access tools, firewalls, and VPNs, which act as digital gatekeepers to protect company networks from unauthorized access. (TechCrunch)
Anthropic launches Claude Fable 5: Mythos-class AI with cybersecurity guardrails The AI giant says this marks the first time a model of this capability class has been deemed safe enough for widespread public and developer access. (SecurityWeek)
Microsoft fixestwohigh-severity zero-days disclosed by researcher The vulnerability is a local privilege escalation, meaning it can be chained to a separate vulnerability to give users or processes with low-level privileges the ability to defeat OS protections and gain full SYSTEM rights needed to install malware. (Ars Technica)
WhatsApp catches spyware firm NSO defying no-hacking court order According to WhatsApp, the spyware maker has violated the permanent injunction. The messaging app reported on Monday that it had recently learned of a social engineering attack that attempted to trick users into clicking on malicious links. (SecurityWeek)
High-severity vulnerability in Linux caused by a single faulty character The presence of a single mis-issued exclamation point in code implementing nf_tables introduced a use-after-free, a class of vulnerability that corrupts memory by placing malicious code at memory addresses that haven’t been properly freed of their previous contents. (Ars Technica)
Winning the cyber marathon with Tony Giandomenico In the high-speed world of cybersecurity, the difference between a breach and a breakthrough often comes down to endurance. Tony Giandomenico, Senior Director of Product Management with Cisco Talos, joins me to discuss Talos Threat Hunting, the challenges of leading major product launches, and the grueling discipline of Ironman triathlons.
When synthetic logs don’t lie: Generating coherent attack stories for better detection Are your detection rules failing because your test data lacks the nuance of a real-world network? In this episode of Talos Takes, Amy sits down with David Bianco to discuss why traditional synthetic data often falls short and how his new open-source project, EvidenceForge, is changing the game.
In the high-speed world of cybersecurity, the difference between a breach and a breakthrough often comes down to endurance. Tony Giandomenico, Senior Director of Product Management with Cisco Talos, joins me to discuss how he balances the intensity of leading major product launches with the grueling discipline of Ironman triathlons. Beyond the technical specs and new threat hunting features, this conversation dives deep into the human side of leadership. Tony shares his hard-won lessons on the p
In the high-speed world of cybersecurity, the difference between a breach and a breakthrough often comes down to endurance. Tony Giandomenico, Senior Director of Product Management with Cisco Talos, joins me to discuss how he balances the intensity of leading major product launches with the grueling discipline of Ironman triathlons.
Beyond the technical specs and new threat hunting features, this conversation dives deep into the human side of leadership. Tony shares his hard-won lessons on the power of communication, the importance of knowing your "why," and how to navigate the complexities of a 30-year career without losing your focus.
Amy Ciminnisi: You have been in the thick of the cyber security world for a while now, and a lot of things have shifted in this field. So what has been the biggest surprise for you, and what keeps you excited about leading the charge on the product side?
Tony Giandomenico: Well, I would probably say that the biggest shift over the last six months has been the increase rate of the capabilities of these frontier models. I'm the first one not to jump on the bandwagon of this stuff, because I've been doing this for about 30 plus years or so, but I think this feels a little different. The capabilities are increasing, and I think what that means to cybersecurity is a big shift. How do we deal with all that? From the adversary side, they're actually breaking in the networks like they typically do. They're moving laterally within the environment. They're evading different types of security controls. Finding vulnerabilities, exploiting those vulnerabilities, all of that stuff.
It's also going to be supercharged on the defensive side. Of course, you don't bring a knife to a gun fight, right? You're going to use the same AI technology — you know, the same frontier models — to speed things up there as well. From the product management side, I think we're going to see the things that we would have previously seen five years down the road a lot sooner. And that's kind of that's what kind of excites me about everything — that opportunity to explore the art of possibility is a lot more at your fingertips where it wasn't necessarily before.
AC: We specifically lined this episode up with the Cisco Talos Threat Hunting launch, which you played a major role in. For people who aren't familiar, can you explain what it is?
TG: Threat hunting is where we're looking for different types of threats that are circumventing our existing security control alerts, detection mechanisms, and so on. When defenders invest in these different types of technologies that are automatically detecting alerts or threats in your environment, the challenge that they have is the sensitivity meter. If they set it to be too high, the team might get inundated with false positives, and then that particular product isn't really worth that investment because you're constantly have to investigate those. So the sensitivity meter has to find some place in the middle. That's where it gives these stealthy threat actors a place to live. So you have a combination of AI and human-in-the-loop services, where we build hypotheses to identify actors that may have actually already circumvented your security controls.
Currently, we're hunting in the endpoint telemetry side (e.g., Secure Endpoint) that we offer our customers today. With this expansion, we're expanding it out to our flagship firewall product. So we'll be hunting within Secure Firewall as well as identity, which actually includes Duo and CII, which is Cisco Identity Intelligence.
AC: How do you keep your cool and stay focused on the why behind the work when you're dealing with the intensity of a major launch?
TG: Before coming to Cisco, I had a small cybersecurity consulting company for about 10 years or so out in the Hawaiian Islands. I had the domain expertise, but I had to learn financial aspects, sales, and marketing. I also had to understand what makes people tick. I wasn't able to talk to every individual the same way to get them on board with things. So the biggest thing that I took away when I went from running my business to working in a larger organization was that when folks are in different departments, there are competing priorities and I have to influence them. I have to get them to understand and believe in the vision. So if you go in there with that mindset, knowing that it's not going to flow exactly how you envisioned, things just work out.
Want to see more? Watch the full interview, and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for future episodes of Humans of Talos.
In the latest Humans of Talos, Amy sits down with Senior Vulnerability Researcher Philippe Laulheret to demystify the world of ethical hacking. Philippe shares his unique journey from French engineering school to the front lines of cybersecurity, explaining how his lifelong love for solving puzzles helps him uncover critical security flaws before they can be exploited.From his memorable experiment using a green onion to bypass a biometric fingerprint reader to his perspective on the reality of c
In the latest Humans of Talos, Amy sits down with Senior Vulnerability Researcher Philippe Laulheret to demystify the world of ethical hacking. Philippe shares his unique journey from French engineering school to the front lines of cybersecurity, explaining how his lifelong love for solving puzzles helps him uncover critical security flaws before they can be exploited.
From his memorable experiment using a green onion to bypass a biometric fingerprint reader to his perspective on the reality of cybersecurity versus what we see in the movies, Philippe provides a fascinating look at the work that keeps our digital world safe.
Amy Ciminnisi: So, can you talk to me a little bit about what you do in vulnerability research?
Philippe Laulheret: I work in vulnerability research. Basically, my job is to find vulnerabilities in software, hardware, or things physically. It’s an interesting position because I usually get to choose which target I want to look at, which confuses people usually, because usually it’s a consulting role, or someone asks you to do that. But for us, we find vulnerabilities in things that we think are important. And then this way, people in different teams can write detection rules, and our customers are protected.
AC: I love that you get to kind of pick a niche and explore. How did you get into this?
PL: My deepest interest was more in reverse engineering, which is understanding how things work, software in particular. Throughout my whole life, I was really curious and really wanted to understand stuff. I guess research is an extension of that where you need to understand how the system works, and then it’s a puzzle where you need to find a way to break it. In my teenage years, I was really interested in that. I started playing Capture The Flag, which are challenges where people design exercises where there is a bug to find and exploit. It was really fun. I was doing that to stay sharp with my skills, and eventually, I was able to transition from regular development work to actual research. All those years of playing CTF really helped, even if it wasn't professional.
AC: Did you go to school initially for development work? What kind of career path led you here?
PL: Originally, as you can hear, I have a French accent. In France, we have engineering schools, which are fancy grad schools. The process is first you study very hard in math and physics, and then you go to grad school. At that time, I was convinced I wanted to do security, and I joined an electrical and computer engineering school. Somehow, in that school, I discovered an interest for different aspects of software development. I was getting interested in computer vision and other things. When I moved to the U.S. for development work instead of security work, I worked in a design studio for four years, which was really fun. I was making interactive installations. But as I said, I was playing CTF on the side to keep security pretty high in my head. Eventually, I moved to New York and joined a cybersecurity startup, and finally, I moved back to the Pacific Northwest, where I’m currently living, and I was finally able to do vulnerability research the way I wanted to.
Want to see more? Watch the full interview, and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for future episodes of Humans of Talos.
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Threat Source newsletter.Hey, you. Yeah, you! The person endlessly scrolling or typing away at their computer. Did you touch grass today? It's just an expression, but if nature’s your thing, that works just fine.What I do mean is that due to the nature of the field, cybersecurity is incredibly intangible. You can’t reach out and touch your logs, or the packets traversing your network, or the concept of DNS exfiltration... and if you tried, you’d just feel th
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Threat Source newsletter.
Hey, you. Yeah, you! The person endlessly scrolling or typing away at their computer. Did you touch grass today? It's just an expression, but if nature’s your thing, that works just fine.
What I do mean is that due to the nature of the field, cybersecurity is incredibly intangible. You can’t reach out and touch your logs, or the packets traversing your network, or the concept of DNS exfiltration... and if you tried, you’d just feel the smooth surface of your computer screen. (What a boring texture.) Spending all our time in the abstract can create some serious mental fatigue.
My point is that there’s something powerful to be said about engaging with the physical world. When we engage in a tactile hobby, we give our brains a hard reset. By moving from the abstract to the physical, our brains get the time and space to process the complex problems we’ve been staring at, often leading to the “aha!” moment that never comes when you're trying to force it.
The other week, I was working in the Talos office with the Creative team. It was a quiet afternoon, people’s energy sapped by stomachs full of Mediterranean food. That was swiftly interrupted (in the best way) when Joe Marshall came over into our work area with his miniature painting kit, broke it open, and started teaching us how to drybrush 3D-printed figurines. Everyone immediately came alive. While I didn’t partake (I know, “Do as I say, not as I do”), it reminded me of how revitalized I feel when I get outside for a walk during lunch or spend 10 minutes knitting in silence between meetings. There’s nothing to focus on but the feel of the yarn between your fingers, the clacking of the needles, and the repetitive motions that result in a physical object you can wear and fish for compliments about.
Speaking of, do you think the vest I knit is cool? All compliments can be sent to me on LinkedIn, and I refuse to accept any negative comments. (Critiques are fine.)
Ahem... anyway. Go on a walk without your earbuds, listen to the wind through the leaves, ask a stranger to pet their dog, watch a pigeon bop its head around, and reach out to touch a cool-looking rock or the lichen on a tree. I hear you saying, "That’s some tree-hugging bullshit,” and counter you with, “Just humor me, okay? What’s the worst that could happen?”
If you’re more of an inside person, the goal might be to find a physical anchor for your technical interest. Maybe it’s building a mechanical keyboard from scratch — feeling the weight of the switches and hearing the click of the keycaps. Maybe it’s a complicated LEGO set. Even something as simple as making espresso or organizing your bookshelf can provide that sensory feedback your brain is craving.
If you're not currently facing a life-altering deadline, take 10 minutes and try it now. The rest of the newsletter isn’t going anywhere, I promise.
When you pay attention to the noises you hear, the colors you see, and the textures under your fingertips, you might come back to your laptop refreshed, focused, and ready to solve the next problem.
The one big thing
Cisco Talos has recently expanded our threat intelligence capabilities to track phone numbers as critical indicators of compromise (IOCs) in scam emails. Our latest research reveals that attackers heavily favor API-driven VoIP numbers to execute high-volume, cost-effective Telephone-Oriented Attack Delivery (TOAD) campaigns. To evade detection, these threat actors rotate through sequential blocks of numbers, use strategic cool-down periods, and recycle the exact same digits across completely unrelated lures and impersonated brands.
Why do I care?
Tracking ephemeral sender email addresses is a losing game, but phone numbers are the true operational anchors for these organized scam call centers. Because attackers reuse these numbers across multiple document types and brand impersonations, defenders who cluster this telephony infrastructure can expose the broader network of malicious activity. Understanding these reuse patterns gives defenders a much-needed edge in mapping out and dismantling these operations before users are manipulated into handing over sensitive data.
So now what?
Security teams should shift their focus toward clustering scam lures based on shared phone numbers and prioritize real-time reputation monitoring to flag high-risk infrastructure. Deploying an AI-powered email security solution like Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense can also help evaluate different portions of incoming emails to catch these targeted threats. A full list of indicators of compromise (IOCs) associated with these campaigns can be found in the blog.
Top security headlines of the week
DigiCertrevokescertificatesaftersupportportalhack The attack, the company said in a detailed report, occurred on April 2, when a threat actor targeted DigiCert’s support team with a malicious payload delivered via a customer chat channel, disguised as a screenshot. (SecurityWeek)
Ubuntu services hit by outages after DDoS attack The DDoS-for-hire service in this case claims to power attacks in excess of 3.5 Tbps, which is about half of the bandwidth of a cyberattack that Cloudflare last year called the “largest DDoS attack ever recorded.” (TechCrunch)
Canvas maker Instructure reveals data breach Instructure said the actors accessed “certain identifying information of users” at affected institutions, including names, email addresses, student ID numbers, and user communications. (Tech Radar)
Exploitation of “Copy Fail” Linux vulnerability begins Threat actors are exploiting a recently disclosed Linux kernel vulnerability leading to root shell access, the US cybersecurity agency CISA warns. Dubbed Copy Fail, the security defect impacts all Linux distributions since 2017. (SecurityWeek)
Student hacked Taiwan high-speed rail to trigger emergency brakes According to local reports, the student halted four trains for 48 minutes by using software-defined radio (SDR) communications and handheld radios to transmit a high-priority “General Alarm” signal, triggering emergency braking procedures. (BleepingComputer)
Can’t get enough Talos?
Talesfrom the Frontlines In this briefing, we’ll share behind-the-scenes insights from the most critical and high-impact incidents we responded to in the last quarter. This isn't a report walkthrough; it's a look at what really happened, how we handled it, and what it means for your organization.
UAT-8302 and its box full of malware Cisco Talos is disclosing UAT-8302, a sophisticated, China-nexus APT group targeting government entities in South America since at least late 2024 and government agencies in southeastern Europe in 2025.
CloudZ RAT potentially steals OTP messages using Pheno plugin Cisco Talos discovered an intrusion, active since at least January 2026, where an unknown attacker implanted a CloudZ remote access tool (RAT) and a previously undocumented plugin called “Pheno.”
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