Forecast = Cloudy with a chance of zero-days-watch for Spellbinder storms and scattered Git leaks!
On this episode of Storm⚡️Watch, the crew dives into the fast-moving world of vulnerability tracking and threat intelligence, spotlighting how defenders are moving beyond the traditional CVE system to keep pace with real-world attacks. The show kicks off with a look at the latest listener poll, always a source of lively debate, before jumping into some of the most pressing cybersecurity stories of the week.
A major focus of this episode is the recent revelation that a China-aligned APT group, dubbed TheWizards, is using a tool called Spellbinder to abuse IPv6 SLAAC for adversary-in-the-middle attacks. This technique lets attackers move laterally through networks by hijacking software update mechanisms-specifically targeting popular Chinese applications like Sogou Pinyin and Tencent QQ-to deliver malicious payloads such as the modular WizardNet backdoor. The crew unpacks how this approach leverages IPv6’s stateless address autoconfiguration to intercept and redirect legitimate traffic, underscoring the evolving sophistication of lateral movement techniques in targeted campaigns.
The episode then turns to Google’s 2024 zero-day exploitation analysis, which reports a drop in the total number of zero-days exploited compared to last year but highlights a worrying shift: attackers are increasingly targeting enterprise products and infrastructure. Microsoft, Ivanti, Palo Alto Networks, and Cisco are among the most targeted vendors, with nearly half of all zero-day exploits now aimed at enterprise systems and network appliances. The discussion covers how attackers are chaining vulnerabilities for more impactful breaches and why defenders need to be vigilant as threat actors pivot to harder-to-monitor enterprise environments.
Censys is in the spotlight for its recent research and tooling, including a new Ports & Protocols Dashboard that gives organizations granular visibility into their attack surface across all ports and protocols. This helps teams quickly spot risky exposures and misconfigurations, making it easier to prioritize remediation efforts and automate alerting for high-risk assets. The crew also highlights Censys’s collaborative work on botnet hunting and their ongoing push to retire stale threat indicators, all of which are reshaping proactive defense strategies.
runZero’s latest insights emphasize the importance of prioritizing risks at the asset stack level, not just by CVE. The crew explains how misconfigurations, outdated software, and weak network segmentation can create stacked risks that traditional scanners might miss, urging listeners to adopt a more holistic approach to asset management and vulnerability prioritization.
Rounding out the episode, GreyNoise shares new research on a dramatic spike in scanning for Ivanti Connect Secure VPNs and a surge in crawling activity targeting Git configuration files. These trends highlight the persistent risk of codebase exposure and the critical need to secure developer infrastructure, as exposed Git configs can lead to the leak of sensitive credentials and even entire codebases.
As always, the show wraps up with some final thoughts and goodbyes, leaving listeners with actionable insights and a reminder to stay vigilant in the face of rapidly evolving cyber threats. If you have questions or want to hear more about any of these topics, let us know-what’s on your mind this week?
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