Forescout Research –
Vedere Labs
“Vedere” is the Italian word meaning “to see,” which epitomizes the mission of Forescout Vedere Labs, the cybersecurity research arm of Forescout. Our team of global experts focuses on increasing visibility of cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities for all connected asset types and providing mitigation steps organizations can use to protect themselves.
Our research is fed into the Forescout Platform and shared with the cybersecurity community, including CISA and other cybersecurity agencies, CERTs, ISACs, open-source projects, device manufacturers, universities and other researchers.
What We Do
Vulnerability Research
- Focus on vulnerabilities against managed and unmanaged devices (IT/IoT/IoMT/OT)
- 200+ vulnerabilities discovered in last 5 years
- 100+ known exploited vulnerabilities on unmanaged devices
Threat Reports
- Manual and automatic analysis of malware samples collected via customer telemetry and other sources
Threat Intelligence & Detection
- Daily context-rich, machine-consumable threat feeds
- Detection rules to keep our Threat Detection & Response solution on top of emerging threats
- Live dashboards
How We Do It
Forescout Vedere Labs studies what attackers are working towards by observing actual attacks in our sandboxes, on the Darknet and in our Adversary Engagement Environment. We analyze significant attacks and generate vulnerability and threat intelligence that is consumed by the Forescout Platform. We also create corresponding detection rules that are added to Forescout Threat Detection & Response to help ensure customers can protect their IT, OT, IoT and IoMT environments.
Firsthand Observations in Our Research Laboratory
Located in Eindhoven, Netherlands, our research laboratory is where we observe firsthand the vulnerabilities being exploited and attacks in progress. The information we collect is analyzed to generate threat intelligence, calculate multifactor risk scores and create detection rules.
How Vedere Labs Uses Artificial Intelligence
VL threat intelligence is integrated on generative AI products, such as Microsoft Copilot for Security, allowing security analysts to query OT and IoT-specific threat intelligence directly from Forescout Research.
We also have integrated generative AI within our TDR solution, which summarizes proprietary intelligence that can be gathered about IP addresses and other indicators of compromises observed during an incident.
VL KEV: Our Proprietary List of Vulnerabilities
Our KEV list is compiled from real attacks we observe within our OT and IoT-specific honeypots, customer data and third-party intelligence. The list is complementary to industry-standard sources, such as CISA KEV. It is updated in tandem with other threat intelligence for Forescout eyeInspect and REM solutions. This type of intelligence allows users to prioritize vulnerability management actions based on what is currently being exploited by threat actors.
Partnerships and Threat Intelligence Sharing Groups
Vedere Labs is a proud member and contributor to threat intelligence sharing groups, including CERTs, cyber threat alliances and ISACs — where new intelligence and best practices are shared. Member organizations include industry, academia and governments where we share machine-readable intelligence and human-readable reports.
European Energy ISAC
Forescout is a founding member and actively participates in the threat intelligence task force.
ETHOS
Forescout is a founding member and part of the board of directors in this industry partnership dedicated to OT-centric, open-source sharing of anonymous early-warning threat information.
OT-ISAC
Forescout is a partner that shares reports, answers questions about emerging threats and presents at conferences and threat briefing meetings.
CISA JCDC and AIS
Forescout shares indicators of compromise and reports distributed to other members of the JCDC and IAS initiatives.
ACSC CTIS
Forescout shares indicators of compromise and reports distributed to other members of the CTIS initiative.
Data. Lots of Data.
The threat intelligence data we analyze comes from millions of connected devices that we monitor that give us billions of data points about device configuration and network behavior. It also comes from attacks we observe and dissect and other sources that we monitor.
Devices
- 19 million monitored devices
- 39 billion unique data points
- 1,500 global sites
- 6,500+ unique vendors
- 2,300+ unique OS versions
Threats
- 750+ threat actors
- 100+ ransomware group leak sites
- 20+ C2 types monitored on the Internet
- Third-party intel
Forescout Research - Vedere Labs Featured In...
Researchers uncover software flaws leaving medical devices vulnerable to hackers
Researchers say they have found more than a dozen vulnerabilities in software used in medical devices and machinery used in other industries that, if exploited by a hacker, could cause critical equipment such as patient monitors to crash…
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Critical Bugs Expose Hundreds of Thousands of Medical Devices and ATMs
“You can imagine the type of impact an attacker could have when they can either exfiltrate data from medical equipment or other sensitive devices, potentially tamper with lab results, make critical devices unavailable, or take them over entirely…”
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Government cyber workers increasingly concerned hackers will strike during shutdown
The government’s cybersecurity professionals are increasingly concerned that hackers will take advantage of the partial shutdown to tamper with sensitive government data or steal citizens’ information — and that the bare-bones staff won’t be able to fend them off…
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OT:ICEFALL FINALE
Forescout Vedere Labs is wrapping up its yearlong project looking at design vulnerabilities in operational technology with a closing report today that blames many of the issues they’ve encountered on vendors of the technology not implementing designs that would build security into the systems…
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Dray:Break
In 2024, routers are a primary target for cybercriminals and state-sponsored attackers – and are the riskiest device category on networks. We investigated one hardware vendor, DrayTek, with a history of security flaws to help it address its issues and prevent new attacks — especially when ransomware and denial of service attacks are so high today.
Forescout Research. In Your Inbox. Every Month
With 13 cyber attacks every second, it’s hard to keep up.
To help, Vedere Labs now has its own newsletter. Curated by our research leaders, you’ll receive the most crucial information you need to stay ahead of attackers.
It’s loaded with useful context, links and spotlights on threat actors, newly exploited vulnerabilities and other must-know asset intelligence. Once a month. Nice and easy.
Meet Our Leader
Daniel dos Santos
Daniel dos Santos is the Head of Research at Forescout Vedere Labs, where he leads a team of researchers that identifies new vulnerabilities and monitors active threats. He holds a PhD in computer science, has published over 35 peer-reviewed papers, has found or disclosed hundreds of CVEs — and is a frequent speaker at security conferences.
Explore Vedere Labs Blogs
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Night Sky: A Short-Lived Threat from a Long-Lived Threat Actor
In a new threat briefing report, Vedere Labs analyzes the behavior of the Night Sky malware on two samples, presents a list of IoCs extracted from the analysis and discusses mitigation. The Night Sky ransomware was first reported on January 1, 2022. Victims were asked to contact the attackers to pay for the ransom. If […]
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Zero Trust Architecture for Healthcare – 7 Common Pitfalls to Avoid
The wealth of sensitive personal and financial data managed by hospitals and health systems, coupled with known cybersecurity vulnerabilities, makes the healthcare sector an inviting target for cyberattacks. In the last three years, 93% of healthcare organizations have experienced a data breach, and 57% have had more than five breaches. Digital transformation has led to […]
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The No-Cost Way to Level Up Your Cybersecurity Posture
In recent weeks President Biden issued a statement encouraging organizations to level up their cyber defenses in what he called “a critical moment to improve domestic cybersecurity and bolster national resilience.” The following week, the federal budget proposal for FY2023 was released with a nearly $11 billion line item for cybersecurity measures. These announcements speak […]
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New Supply Chain Vulnerabilities Impact Medical and IoT Devices
Forescout’s Vedere Labs, in partnership with CyberMDX, have discovered a set of seven new vulnerabilities affecting PTC’s Axeda agent, which we are collectively calling Access:7. Three of the vulnerabilities were rated critical by CISA, as they could enable hackers to remotely execute malicious code and take full control of devices, access sensitive data or alter […]
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Monitoring Cyber Threats Tied to the Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Beyond the disturbing images of the invasion of Ukraine that began February 24 are the invisible cyberattacks that preceded it and continue to be waged on Ukraine by Russian state-sponsored and other threat actors, which also threaten the West. Vedere Labs, Forescout’s threat intelligence and research team, is closely monitoring the evolution of cyber activities […]
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Cybersecurity Asset Management: Know What’s on Your Network
Guessing how many marbles are in a jar is either a fun carnival game (pick the average based on the wisdom of the crowd) or a math problem involving orb volume, cylinder volume and the estimated space between marbles. You can also just count the marbles. Unfortunately, when it comes to identifying the number of […]
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In High-profile OT Cyberattacks, the Culprit May Be the IT Network
Almost a year since the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack on critical infrastructure occurred, the question still looms large: not whether such an incident could happen again, but when? Now a string of ransomware attacks has affected at least 17 oil port terminals in Western Europe that caused tankers to be re-routed and supply chains disrupted. […]
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BlackByte Ransomware Breach: Can’t Forget Compliance Basics
On Sunday, Feb. 13, the NFL’s San Francisco 49er organization issued a statement confirming they experienced a network security incident. Shortly after the incident, BlackByte ransomware gang listed the 49ers as one of their alleged victims. The 49ers franchise didn’t confirm if ransomware was involved, but it did state that only the corporate IT network […]
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How to meet OMB’s Zero Trust Strategy goals for IT, IoT and OT Devices
On Jan. 26, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published its widely anticipated final version of its zero trust architecture strategy, identifying top cybersecurity priorities for the federal government. This achievement raises the country’s cyber defense strategy to a level commensurate with the “increasingly sophisticated and persistent threat campaigns” it faces. Equally important, it […]
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