talos · Crawled Nov 12, 2026
IR trends Q3 2026: Actors impersonate IT help desks in vishing attacks as ransomware activity increases
5 IoCs 1 Actors 1 Malware
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AI Summary
In Q3 2026, Cisco Talos observed increased ransomware activity, accounting for 27% of incident response engagements, with threat actors leveraging vishing attacks and IT help desk impersonation to gain initial access. A new ransomware variant, VYPR, was identified, showing operational immaturity and reliance on leaked Conti source code. Threat actors exploited public-facing applications, particularly targeting edge devices, and used CVE-2023-20198 to gain access in cyber espionage campaigns. Living-off-the-land tactics were prevalent, with adversaries creating privileged accounts, disabling logging, and manipulating configurations to maintain stealthy persistence. The financial and public administration sectors were most targeted, while healthcare dropped to third place.
AI-extracted · verify before operational use
Extracted Entities 2 found
Indicators of Compromise 5 extracted
MITRE ATT&CK TTPs 128 techniques
T1003 OS Credential Dumping · Credential Access T1003.008 /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow · Credential Access T1005 Data from Local System · Collection T1012 Query Registry · Discovery T1016 System Network Configuration Discovery · Discovery T1018 Remote System Discovery · Discovery T1021 Remote Services · Lateral Movement T1021.001 Remote Desktop Protocol · Lateral Movement T1021.002 SMB/Windows Admin Shares · Lateral Movement T1021.003 Distributed Component Object Model · Lateral Movement T1021.004 SSH · Lateral Movement T1027 Obfuscated Files or Information · Defense Evasion T1033 System Owner/User Discovery · Discovery T1036 Masquerading · Defense Evasion T1039 Data from Network Shared Drive · Collection T1040 Network Sniffing · Credential Access T1041 Exfiltration Over C2 Channel · Exfiltration T1046 Network Service Discovery · Discovery T1047 Windows Management Instrumentation · Execution T1048 Exfiltration Over Alternative Protocol · Exfiltration T1053 Scheduled Task/Job · Execution T1053.005 Scheduled Task · Execution T1055 Process Injection · Defense Evasion T1056.001 Keylogging · Collection T1057 Process Discovery · Discovery T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter · Execution T1059.001 PowerShell · Execution T1059.004 Unix Shell · Execution T1070 Indicator Removal · Defense Evasion T1070.001 Clear Windows Event Logs · Defense Evasion T1070.004 File Deletion · Defense Evasion T1071 Application Layer Protocol · Command And Control T1071.001 Web Protocols · Command And Control T1071.004 DNS · Command And Control T1074 Data Staged · Collection T1075 T1075 T1078 Valid Accounts · Defense Evasion T1078.004 Cloud Accounts · Defense Evasion T1081 T1081 T1082 System Information Discovery · Discovery T1083 File and Directory Discovery · Discovery T1086 T1086 T1087 Account Discovery · Discovery T1087.002 Domain Account · Discovery T1089 T1089 T1090 Proxy · Command And Control T1095 Non-Application Layer Protocol · Command And Control T1098 Account Manipulation · Persistence T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer · Command And Control T1110 Brute Force · Credential Access T1110.003 Password Spraying · Credential Access T1112 Modify Registry · Defense Evasion T1120 Peripheral Device Discovery · Discovery T1129 Shared Modules · Execution T1133 External Remote Services · Persistence T1136.001 Local Account · Persistence T1176 Browser Extensions · Persistence T1189 Drive-by Compromise · Initial Access T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application · Initial Access T1202 Indirect Command Execution · Defense Evasion T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution · Execution T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services · Lateral Movement T1211 Exploitation for Defense Evasion · Defense Evasion T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access · Credential Access T1218 System Binary Proxy Execution · Defense Evasion T1218.011 Rundll32 · Defense Evasion T1219 Remote Access Software · Command And Control T1222 File and Directory Permissions Modification · Defense Evasion T1222.001 Windows File and Directory Permissions Modification · Defense Evasion T1482 Domain Trust Discovery · Discovery T1484.001 Group Policy Modification · Defense Evasion T1485 Data Destruction · Impact T1486 Data Encrypted for Impact · Impact T1489 Service Stop · Impact T1490 Inhibit System Recovery · Impact T1491 Defacement · Impact T1495 Firmware Corruption · Impact T1505.003 Web Shell · Persistence T1518.001 Security Software Discovery · Discovery T1530 Data from Cloud Storage · Collection T1534 Internal Spearphishing · Lateral Movement T1537 Transfer Data to Cloud Account · Exfiltration T1542.001 System Firmware · Persistence T1543 Create or Modify System Process · Persistence T1543.003 Windows Service · Persistence T1547.001 Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder · Persistence T1548.002 Bypass User Account Control · Privilege Escalation T1550 Use Alternate Authentication Material · Defense Evasion T1552.001 Credentials In Files · Credential Access T1552.004 Private Keys · Credential Access T1556 Modify Authentication Process · Credential Access T1557 Adversary-in-the-Middle · Credential Access T1558 Steal or Forge Kerberos Tickets · Credential Access T1560.001 Archive via Utility · Collection T1562.001 Disable or Modify Tools · Defense Evasion T1566 Phishing · Initial Access T1566.002 Spearphishing Link · Initial Access T1567.002 Exfiltration to Cloud Storage · Exfiltration T1569 System Services · Execution T1570 Lateral Tool Transfer · Lateral Movement T1572 Protocol Tunneling · Command And Control T1573 Encrypted Channel · Command And Control T1574.002 DLL Side-Loading · Persistence T1583 Acquire Infrastructure · Resource Development T1584 Compromise Infrastructure · Resource Development T1588 Obtain Capabilities · Resource Development T1588.001 Malware · Resource Development T1589 Gather Victim Identity Information · Reconnaissance T1589.001 Credentials · Reconnaissance T1595 Active Scanning · Reconnaissance T1595.002 Vulnerability Scanning · Reconnaissance T1599 Network Boundary Bridging · Defense Evasion T1610 Deploy Container · Defense Evasion T1649 Steal or Forge Authentication Certificates · Credential Access T1650 Acquire Access · Resource Development T1003.001 LSASS Memory · Credential Access T1013 T1013 T1055.001 Dynamic-link Library Injection · Defense Evasion T1078.002 Domain Accounts · Defense Evasion T1098.002 Additional Email Delegate Permissions · Persistence T1110.001 Password Guessing · Credential Access T1499 Endpoint Denial of Service · Impact T1543.001 Launch Agent · Persistence T1548 Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism · Privilege Escalation T1556.004 Network Device Authentication · Credential Access T1571 Non-Standard Port · Command And Control T1574.001 DLL Search Order Hijacking · Persistence T1665 Hide Infrastructure · Command And Control