Blog
August 20, 2026 06:00

UAT-10147 deploys SPECTRE: A cross-platform implant with Linux rootkit and BYOVD capabilities

The newly identified SPECTRE implant represents an evolution in commodity intrusion tooling, integrating cross-platform C2 operations, process injection, credential theft, anti-analysis protections, and kernel-level endpoint detection and response (EDR) bypass functionality.

August 20, 2026 06:00

UAT-10147: Chinese-speaking adversary integrates agentic AI into post-compromise operations

Cisco Talos discovered a Chinese-speaking cybercrime group, tracked as UAT-10147, that targets a wide range of vulnerable web servers. This is an overview of the campaign, examining the countries affected, potential impact of BadIIS infections, the attack chain, and post-compromise tactics.

May 19, 2026 06:00

From PDB strings to MaaS: Tracking a commodity BadIIS ecosystem used by Chinese-speaking threat

Cisco Talos has uncovered a BadIIS variant — identifiable by its embedded "demo.pdb" strings — that functions as commodity malware, likely sold or shared among multiple Chinese-speaking cyber crime groups operating under a malware-as-a-service (MaaS) model for continuous monetization.

January 29, 2026 06:00

Dissecting UAT-8099: New persistence mechanisms and regional focus

Cisco Talos has identified a new, regionally targeted campaign by UAT-8099 that leverages advanced persistence techniques and custom BadIIS malware variants to compromise IIS servers, particularly in Thailand and Vietnam.

December 9, 2025 18:29

Microsoft Patch Tuesday for December 2025 — Snort rules and prominent vulnerabilities

The Patch Tuesday for December of 2025 includes 57 vulnerabilities, including two that Microsoft marked as “critical.” The remaining vulnerabilities listed are classified as “important.” Microsoft assessed that exploitation of the two “critical” vulnerabilities is “less likely.”

October 2, 2025 06:00

UAT-8099: Chinese-speaking cybercrime group targets high-value IIS for SEO fraud

Cisco Talos is disclosing details on UAT-8099, a Chinese-speaking cybercrime group mainly involved in SEO fraud and theft of high-value credentials, configuration files, and certificate data.

September 23, 2025 14:00

How RainyDay, Turian and a new PlugX variant abuse DLL search order hijacking

Talos discovered that a new PlugX variant’s features overlap with both the RainyDay and Turian backdoors

April 23, 2025 06:00

Introducing ToyMaker, an initial access broker working in cahoots with double extortion gangs

Cisco Talos discovered a sophisticated attack on critical infrastructure by ToyMaker and Cactus, using the LAGTOY backdoor to orchestrate a relentless double extortion scheme.

April 17, 2025 06:00

Unmasking the new XorDDoS controller and infrastructure

Cisco Talos observed the ongoing global spread of the XorDDoS malware, predominantly targeting the United States, with evidence suggesting Chinese-speaking operators are using sophisticated tools to orchestrate widespread attacks.