Vulnerability and exposure management (VM) teams need critical metadata and context that clearly show which issues pose an immediate risk to their organization. While traditional VM frameworks tell defenders how severe a vulnerability may be, they do not provide visibility into how likely threat actors are to exploit it. This leaves security teams overwhelmed in patch backlogs without a clear strategy for prioritization.

Nowhere is this prioritization gap more dangerous than with ransomware. Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) groups no longer choose targets at random. They look for specific technical conditions that make vulnerability exploitation easy, fast, and repeatable. With RaaS attacks rising by 45% period-over-period in H1 2026, organizations need a way to identify the specific traits that make a vulnerability attractive to ransomware operators before an attack occurs.

Flashpoint built the Ransomware Risk score into Flashpoint Vulnerability Intelligence to solve exactly this problem. Since 2022, it has rated newly discovered vulnerabilities based on how closely they resemble those known to be used in ransomware attacks. With the grant of the U.S. Patent No. 12,705,360 on August 11, 2026, the methodology behind the score is now formally patented. This milestone formalizes Flashpoint’s ability to cut through the noise with a proven, threat-informed signal that gives defenders the clarity they need to act on Day Zero.

“As vulnerability disclosures surge, prioritization is more important than ever for security teams. A severity score alone can’t tell you which vulnerabilities pose the greatest real-world risk of exploitation by ransomware actors.

Our patented Ransomware Risk model applies years of threat intelligence to that problem, giving customers an earlier signal and helping them prioritize based on how attackers actually operate.”

josh lefkowitz, co-founder and ceo at flashpoint

Under the Hood: How Flashpoint’s Patented Ransomware Vulnerability Model Works

The patented system evaluates newly disclosed vulnerabilities against the patterns shared by vulnerabilities ransomware groups have exploited. Rather than trying to predict what threat actors will do next, the model learns what past ransomware-exploited vulnerabilities have in common and compares each new flaw against those patterns.

The Four Step Process

Multi-Factor Fingerprinting

Every vulnerability ingested into Flashpoint Vulnerability Intelligence is profiled against more than 60 distinct technical factors. This “fingerprinting” links the vulnerability to key inputs including whether the flaw is remotely exploitable without authentication, whether it affects SCADA or Operational Technology (OT) systems, and its potential impact on data availability, which is central to extortion schemes.

Coordinate Mapping

The model turns each multi-factor fingerprint into a set of values that place it as a single point on a map, so vulnerabilities with similar profiles land close together.

Identifying the Ransomware Neighborhood (Cluster Check)

Flashpoint overlays historical threat data onto the map to establish neighborhoods where vulnerabilities previously exploited in real-world ransomware attacks aggregate.

Similarity and Likelihood Rating

When a new vulnerability is ingested, its coordinates are checked against these neighborhoods. The scoring system calculates its spatial proximity to known ransomware vectors and assigns a clear rating: Low, Medium, High, or Critical.

This four-step method, developed by Flashpoint’s Ben Haynes and Jacob Kouns, is the basis of U.S. Patent No. 12,705,360.

What It Means for Vulnerability Management Teams

By translating complex structural attributes into a single risk score, the patented model delivers four key operational advantages:

1. Prioritize Beyond CVSS: Leveraging the Ransomware Risk model, security teams can confidently prioritize 1.0 to 6.9 CVSS issues if its structural profile lands it in a “High” or “Critical” ransomware cluster.
2. Act on Day Zero: Because the Flashpoint model rates all vulnerabilities on disclosure, security teams gain actionable guidance immediately, eliminating the need to wait weeks for external exploitation reports.
3. Effectively Communicate Risk: CISOs can present clear, business-centric risk statements rather than abstract numerical scores.
4. Adaptive Ratings: Scores update in near real time as vulnerability details change, and the model keeps adjusting as new vulnerabilities join the set it compares against.

Comprehensive Vulnerability Intelligence Integration

Flashpoint’s Ransomware Risk model is built to enhance, not replace the vulnerability management frameworks organizations already rely on. In fact, it provides even greater value for security teams as our Ransomware Risk model provides clarity for every vulnerability detailed by Flashpoint Vulnerability Intelligence, including over 105,000 issues missed by CVE and NVD.

Within Flashpoint Ignite, security teams have a complete view of vulnerability risk, seeing the score alongside CVSS (v3 and v4), EPSS, Social Risk, and exploit maturity.

Protect Against Vulnerability and Ransomware Risk Using Flashpoint

Vulnerability management requires more than cataloging. It demands threat-informed prioritization that aligns security operations with real-world business risk. Flashpoint’s patented Ransomware Risk model eliminates guesswork by surfacing the flaws that match the profile of known ransomware targets, allowing security teams to patch what matters most, first. 

By combining proprietary knowledge of vulnerability architecture and ransomware attacks, Flashpoint bridges the gap between theoretical and active exposure. Request a demo today to see how our Ransomware Risk model provides the definitive signal needed to stay ahead of extortion groups.

Ransomware Risk FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

What is the Ransomware Risk score? 

The Ransomware Risk score is a rating in Flashpoint Vulnerability Intelligence that shows how closely a vulnerability resembles those known to be used in ransomware attacks. Each vulnerability is rated Low, Medium, High, or Critical, so security teams can see which ones to patch first to reduce their ransomware exposure.

How is Ransomware Risk different from CVSS and EPSS?

CVSS measures how severe a vulnerability could be, and EPSS estimates how likely it is to be exploited in general. Ransomware Risk adds a ransomware-specific signal that works alongside both, showing how closely a vulnerability matches those ransomware groups have used. In Flashpoint Ignite, all three scores appear together.

What does Flashpoint’s ransomware patent cover?

U.S. Patent No. 12,705,360, granted August 11, 2026, covers Flashpoint’s method for rating how likely a vulnerability is to be used in a ransomware event. Each vulnerability is profiled on more than 60 factors, compared with vulnerabilities used in past ransomware attacks, and rated by similarity. The patent formalizes the model behind the Ransomware Risk score, live since 2022.

How often are Ransomware Risk scores updated?

Ransomware Risk scores update in near real time, so new vulnerabilities are rated as soon as they’re disclosed. The model also keeps adjusting as new vulnerabilities join the body it compares against, so ratings reflect the ransomware landscape as it stands today.

Blogs

Blog

Process Parameter Poisoning: Inside a Novel EDR Evasion Technique

In this post, Flashpoint analysts examine Process Parameter Poisoning—a novel EDR evasion technique we validated in Rust—and detail how abusing undocumented process parameters allows attackers to inject code and bypass standard security products.

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Flashpoint Intel Team

September 22, 2026

Modern Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) platforms have made traditional malware injection techniques significantly harder to execute. In most cases, if a threat actor attempts to write malicious code into a process, an alert will fire. However, that sense of security is being actively challenged as cybercriminals and red teams find new ways to blend malicious payloads into standard operating system routines.

Flashpoint’s Intelligence team built and tested a proof-of-concept for a newly disclosed technique known as Process Parameter Poisoning. By compiling a custom payload and layering evasion mechanics, our analysts demonstrated how easily traditional API hooks can be rendered blind in a laboratory environment—achieving zero alerts across tested EDR/XDR controls.

What is Process Parameter Poisoning?

Process Parameter Poisoning is a novel endpoint detection and response (EDR) evasion technique that combines process parameter spoofing and thread execution hijacking to inject code into foreign processes without triggering standard security detection mechanisms.

Discovered by researchers Max Hirschberger and Ogulcan Ugur, Process Parameter Poisoning is designed to inject code in foreign processes without relying on the conventional memory-manipulation workflows that modern security tooling monitors.

To execute process injection, historically security tools and threat actors alike have focused on a small set of well-known Windows application programming interfaces (APIs). Process Parameter Poisoning shifts away from these heavily watched routines entirely. Instead of calling memory-accessing APIs to allocate and write into a target process, the technique hides the malicious payload directly inside standard process initialization structures during the initial creation of a process. The result is a fundamental shift in defense evasion that effectively blinds traditional, API-hooking EDR agents during the initial stages of code execution.

How Does Process Parameter Poisoning Work?

Process Parameter Poisoning allows attackers to bypass suspicious memory-accessing Windows APIs, such as VirtualAllocEx(), WriteProcessMemory(), and MapViewOfFile2(). Security products heavily monitor these specific APIs due to their high rate of abuse in traditional process injection techniques. However, by avoiding these calls, an attacker effectively bypasses the initial primary triggers used by endpoint agents to flag malicious cross-process memory activity.

When using the Windows application programming interface (API), CreateProcessA/W(), the developer can specify parameters such as the command-line to be executed by the new process, environment variables for the new process, current working directory for the process, window title if it is a console application, create a hidden window, create the process in a suspended state, etc. Many of these parameters are passed into CreateProcessA/W() via the STARTUPINFOA/W structure.

Some entries are undocumented and labeled “reserved” by Microsoft. The discovering researchers found that data stored in STARTUPINFO->lpReserved ends up in the Process Environment Block once the new process is initialized in an entry called “ShellInfo.” Below is an example of placing data into the STARTUPINFOW->lpReserved entry in a test application and the data stored in ShellInfo while debugging the newly created process.

†

Validating Process Parameter Poisoning in Rust

Flashpoint analysts created a proof-of-concept (POC) in Rust to test this technique based on the POC C++ source code provided by the researchers:

1. First the necessary data structures are initialized and the shellcode is passed into the STARTUPINFO->lpReserved field.
2. The target process is created with the infected STARTUPINFO and then a short wait to let the program initialize.
3. NtQueryInformationProcess() is used to acquire PROCESS_BASIC_INFORMATION about the newly created process.
4. The PROCESS_BASIC_INFORMATION structure has an entry called PebBaseAddress that provides the location of the process’s Process Environment Block.
5. NtReadVirtualMemory() is used to read the memory address provided by PebBaseAddress to get the PEB for that process.
6. The PEB has an entry called ProcessParameters that holds the structure RTL_USER_PROCESS_PARAMETERS and is where the ShellInfo entry mentioned earlier is stored.
7. NtReadVirtualMemory() needs to be used again to read the RTL_USER_PROCESS_PARAMETERS structure and get the address of the ShellInfo.Buffer entry.

Flashpoint confirmed that after changing the memory to have executable permissions, the threat actors can perform thread hijacking by using GetThreadContext() to acquire information about the current running thread, change the instruction pointer to point to the ShellInfo.Buffer address, and then SetThreadContext() to apply the changes and execute the shellcode.

Flashpoint analysts further confirm that this technique also works with the WindowTitle entry, CommandLine entry using the same series of steps.

The technique also works with the Environment entry but requires additional steps. Environment blocks require a variable name and the variable data separated by an “=.” Environment blocks can contain multiple variable entries in which each entry is ended with a null terminator. Two null terminators are necessary to denote the end of the environment block. This means the payload needs to be embedded in a longer string with a “{NAME} = {VALUE}” format.

Flashpoint analysts note that four null terminators were appended to the shellcode bytes to denote the end of an environment block in Unicode. The resulting payload buffer is then passed into the lpEnvironment variable of CreateProcessW() along with the CREATE_UNICODE_ENVIRONMENT creation flag.

The rest of the process remains the same as reading the PEB and RTL_USER_PROCESS_PARAMETERS structure. The Environment entry is read, but at the offset of the embedded shellcode within the poisoned environment block string. Because four bytes were added to the beginning of the shellcode to make the Unicode environment block, execution needs to begin after four bytes from the beginning of the buffer to begin executing at the shellcode.

Flashpoint notes that the shellcode requires no NULL bytes, and, if using the PAGE_EXECUTE_READ flag, it cannot overwrite itself. This means automated shellcode generators such as MSFVenom might not work either because they contain NULL bytes or use encoders that perform memory writes during execution. Flashpoint analysts wrote custom shellcode to further test this technique. The shellcode downloads and executes an additional payload. The combination of this technique, custom shellcode, and the use of Rust as the programming language proved successful in minimizing initial static detections by security software.

Flashpoint tested this technique with a commonly-used open source EDR platform. The EDR platform itself failed to produce any alerts from executing the malicious binary. However, the XDR component blocked on the initial creation of a new process and COM interactions by the second stage payload.

Flashpoint analysts then combined this technique with the DLL unhooking technique and applied the non-Microsoft block DLL policy during the creation of the sacrificial process. Analysts observed no blocks from the XDR during execution and observed no alerts on the platform.

Associated MITRE ATT&CK

Security teams can leverage several detection strategies to identify Process Parameter Poisoning, though each approach carries distinct limitations:

• Analyzing Parameter Entropy and Argument Spoofing (MITRE ATT&CK T1564.010): Security tools can inspect initialization strings within process structures for unusually high entropy, which often indicates the presence of obfuscated or raw binary shellcode embedded within parameters.
• Monitoring Thread Execution Hijacking (MITRE ATT&CK T1055.003): Analysts can monitor for thread context manipulation; however, because Process Parameter Poisoning does not invoke explicit thread suspension or resumption APIs, specific detection rules that depend on those parameters will fail to trigger.
• Detecting Code Execution in Abnormal Memory Locations (MITRE ATT&CK T1055): Detections can flag execution attempts taking place outside the standard executable section, particularly when code executes directly within Process Environment Block (PEB) parameter buffers.
• Auditing Memory Permission Modifications: Tracking instances where memory region permissions are altered to executable states can reveal payload staging. However, enterprise security controls often tune down or avoid these specific alerts due to high volumes of false positives in normal software operations.

Stay Ahead of Process Parameter Poisoning Using Flashpoint

Process Parameter Poisoning demonstrates another advancement in stealthy process injection and the constantly evolving research into evading security products. By using the previously unknown purpose of the lpReserved field within the STARTUPINFOW structure to house shellcode, this technique bypasses standard security product triggers associated with common memory-allocation APIs. While this proof-of-concept was proven successful in lab testing, the technique has multiple opportunities for detection and will most likely require a combination of additional evasion techniques to achieve a higher success rate.

As threat actors continue to refine technique-stacking and exploit overlooked Windows internals, relying on traditional API hooks is no longer enough to protect your enterprise. Staying ahead of modern evasion mechanics requires proactive intelligence and deep visibility into emerging adversary TTPs.

Request a demo today to see how best-in-class threat intelligence can help security teams detect, prepare for, and neutralize advanced defense evasion techniques before they impact your network.

Blogs

Blog

The Flashpoint Threat Intelligence Brief: Middle East

Flashpoint’s weekly analysis tracks shifting kinetic and cyber threat radiuses, geopolitical disruptions, and provides critical operational forecasts for the ongoing Middle East conflict.

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Flashpoint Intel Team

October 23, 2026

Blogs

Blog

Flashpoint Named A Customer Favorite in The Forrester Wave

In this blog we explore the recently published Forrester Wave: External Threat Intelligence Service Providers, Q3 2026 report which named Flashpoint a Customer Favorite, along with naming the organization a Strong Performer with the highest scores possible in the criteria of: Fraud Intelligence, Executive Protection, and Pricing Flexibility and Transparency.

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Flashpoint

September 17, 2026

Flashpoint has been named a Customer Favorite and a Strong Performer in The Forrester Wave: External Threat Intelligence Service Providers, Q3 2026. 

The Forrester Wave evaluation is a rigorous, data-driven analysis of external threat intelligence service providers across 23 criteria grouped into two categories: Current Offering and Strategy. Alongside its scoring, Forrester incorporates direct customer feedback into its evaluation, and the Forrester report notes that customers “laud Flashpoint’s white-glove approach to addressing diverse customer needs.”

“Customer obsession has been part of Flashpoint’s DNA from day one. When your customers are protecting financial systems, critical infrastructure, national security, and human lives, their mission becomes your mission,” said Josh Lefkowitz, CEO at Flashpoint. “Forrester has built this likeminded customer obsession into how it evaluates vendors, and it’s why being named a Customer Favorite means so much to us. We believe it reflects customers confirming Flashpoint gives them the intelligence, context, and partnership they need to carry out those missions with confidence.”

The Primary Source Advantage

Flashpoint also received the highest score possible in three criteria: Fraud Intelligence, Executive Protection, and Pricing Flexibility and Transparency. Forrester’s report describes Flashpoint’s Ignite platform as “stand[ing] out for its fraud intelligence capabilities and strong presence across the ecosystem that supports enterprises’ fraud response.” It further describes Flashpoint’s executive protection offering as “structured and comprehensive.” 

At the foundation of these capabilities is Flashpoint Primary Source Collection, Flashpoint’s proprietary approach to collecting intelligence directly from the digital environments where threats originate — providing organizations with access to high-value intelligence from open and hard-to-reach sources, enriched by human expertise and scaled by AI. We believe Forrester’s assessment speaks directly to this strength, stating that “Flashpoint is ideal for customers seeking primary source access intelligence, particularly those in the financial industry.” That strength extends well beyond financial services. Organizations across industries rely on Flashpoint to address cyber threats, vulnerability risk, fraud, physical security, geopolitical risk, and brand protection.

Purpose Built for the Problems Leading Threat Intel Teams Need to Solve

The remit of threat intelligence programs continues to expand as the volume and complexity of threats grows, accelerated by AI. Now, a single incident can cross cyber operations, fraud, vulnerability management, executive protection, and physical security, while ownership of those risks may sit across several teams. Threat intelligence solutions need to provide holistic visibility into external activity and enough context to determine what deserves attention.

Flashpoint Ignite gives those teams a common intelligence foundation. In our opinion, the Forrester evaluation reflects that breadth: Flashpoint received the highest score possible in both the Fraud Intelligence and Executive Protection criteria.

For fraud teams, primary-source intelligence can expose compromised credentials, illicit services, access sales, and emerging schemes before they translate into financial loss. For executive protection and physical security teams, it can connect online activity with potential real-world risk to people, facilities, and events.

“Flashpoint saves us over $80 million in fraud losses every year. Their proactive approach and sharp insights are crucial in keeping our financial institution secure. They’re not just a solution; they’re a strategic partner helping us stay ahead of cyber threats.”

SVP Cyber Operations, Large U.S. Financial Institution

What Security Leaders Should Look for in a Threat Intelligence Partner

Analyst evaluations give buyers a structured view of a complex market. To understand how a threat intelligence platform will perform in practice, security leaders should ask:

• How close is the intelligence to the source? Understand where the data comes from, whether it is gathered from primary sources or aggregated from third parties and scrapers, how access is maintained, and how much original context is preserved.
• How broadly can the intelligence be applied? Evaluate whether the same foundation can support the risks your organization faces across cyber, vulnerability, fraud, and physical security domains. 
• How does the threat intelligence partner work with customers? Look for breadth and depth of expertise, ability to access analyst insights directly, responsiveness, and the willingness to support complex needs as they emerge.
• Can the program evolve with the organization? The platform and services should accommodate new use cases as intelligence requirements change. In parallel, customers should be able to tailor intelligence gathering for even greater visibility into their specific threat landscape — discovering and adding sources in a fast, automated way from within their workflows.

“I have used Flashpoint for several years and continue to be impressed with the quality of their services and the thought put into each new offering. Flashpoint is one of the few vendors that has consistently demonstrated a high level of responsiveness and an in-depth understanding of the needs of any threat/fraud/security analyst. Their services cover a wide range of topics from cybersecurity to physical threats, and they are always looking for ways to improve and widen the scope of intelligence they provide.”

Lead Analyst, Cybersecurity

Read The Forrester Wave: External Threat Intelligence Service Providers, Q3 2026 to explore the evaluation and learn more about Flashpoint’s results.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is The Forrester Wave: External Threat Intelligence Service Providers, Q3 2026?

The Forrester Wave: External Threat Intelligence Service Providers, Q3 2026 evaluates external threat intelligence service providers across their current offering, strategy, and customer feedback to help security leaders assess vendors in the market.

How did Flashpoint perform in Forrester’s latest evaluation of external threat intelligence service providers?

Flashpoint was named a Customer Favorite and a Strong Performer in The Forrester Wave: External Threat Intelligence Service Providers, Q3 2026. Flashpoint received the highest score possible in the Fraud Intelligence, Executive Protection, and Pricing Flexibility and Transparency criteria.

Why was Flashpoint named a Customer Favorite in the Forrester Wave?

Customer Favorite reflects feedback from customers participating in Forrester’s evaluation. Forrester reported that customers “laud Flashpoint’s white-glove approach to addressing diverse customer needs.” 

What capabilities was Flashpoint recognized for in the Forrester evaluation?

Forrester described Flashpoint Ignite as standing out for its fraud intelligence capabilities and strong presence across the enterprise fraud response ecosystem, while describing its executive protection offering as “structured and comprehensive.”

What differentiates Flashpoint’s threat intelligence?

Flashpoint is built around Primary Source Collection, its proprietary approach to collecting intelligence directly from the digital environments where threats originate. This gives security teams access to intelligence from open and hard-to-reach sources, enriched by human expertise and scaled by AI. In its assessment, Forrester stated that “Flashpoint is ideal for customers seeking primary source access intelligence, particularly those in the financial industry.” That strength extends across sectors: Flashpoint supports more than 750 customers across industries, helping organizations address security challenges spanning cyber threat intelligence, vulnerability management, fraud, physical security, and geopolitical risk.

What security use cases does Flashpoint support?

Flashpoint supports security teams across cyber threat intelligence, vulnerability intelligence, fraud, executive and physical security, geopolitical risk, and brand protection. These capabilities are delivered through Flashpoint Ignite, allowing organizations to apply a common intelligence foundation across multiple security and risk functions.

Forrester Disclaimer

Forrester does not endorse any company, product, brand, or service included in its research publications and does not advise any person to select the products or services of any company or brand based on the ratings included in such publications. Information is based on the best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. This report is part of a broader collection of Forrester resources, including interactive models, frameworks, tools, data, and access to analyst guidance. For more information, read about Forrester’s objectivity here.

Blogs

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How Natural Language Search Powers Rapid Physical Security Intelligence

A look at how natural language processing makes searching and refining results in Echosec simpler.

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Flashpoint

September 11, 2026

When physical threats manifest in the real world, every minute counts. Whether tasked with Executive Protection, securing critical infrastructure, or monitoring live events, security teams face a constant challenge: turning massive volumes of noisy online chatter into rapid, actionable insight.

For traditional workflows, surfacing relevant situational awareness required complex Boolean query construction, exhaustive lists of regional keywords, and constant tweaking of syntax. But when an operational threat is unfolding, troubleshooting search logic is the least of your priorities.

In a recent live session, Flashpoint’s Alanah Crocker, Head of the Flashpoint Training Academy, demonstrated a major evolution in Flashpoint’s physical security intelligence capabilities: Natural Language Search and AI-driven Search Planning.

Real-World Impact: Minutes Can Save Lives

When it comes to protecting people and infrastructure, security teams need to know what is happening around them. This involves pulling from mainstream social networks, fringe spaces, regional platforms, and illicit chat channels. By layering in geospatial enrichment and analyst-led finished intelligence, organizations gain the insights they need to function in high-stakes environments.

In this live session Flashpoint showed how analysts no longer need to spend time manually building complex syntax trees. Instead, using Flashpoint’s Physical Security Intelligence, analysts can simply describe what they want to discover in plain language.

• “Recent arson attacks against factories in North America”
• “Traffic disruptions in Central London near VIP transit routes”
• “Situational awareness and security chatter around BC Place Stadium”

With this update, analysts no longer need to spend time manually building complex syntax trees. Here’s what an updated workflow looks like using Flashpoint PSI:

1. Plain Language Prompting: Type your operational question or intelligence focus area into the search bar using everyday language.
2. Automated Search Plan Generation: Flashpoint Ignite instantly analyzes current online chatter, identifies relevant regional keywords, assigns date parameters, and applies precise geospatial boundaries.
3. Human-in-the-Loop Review: Review the proposed search plan, tailor keywords, adjust date ranges, or modify the boundary before execution.
4. Rapid Execution & AI Summarization: Execute the query to receive curated results from global sources alongside an executive summary of key takeaways and sentiment.

How Natural Language Search Accelerates Physical Security Triage and OSINT Workflows

By integrating AI-driven search planning directly into Flashpoint PSI, Flashpoint fundamentally changes how security teams move from initial inquiry to tactical triage. When facing unfamiliar threat vectors, analysts need to eliminate the cold start, so that they are not spending needless time guessing local slangs, hashtags, or regional terms to query. Flashpoint’s natural language processing automates this pre-research phase by synthesizing live open-source chatter to surface active jargon and keywords automatically.

Spatial context is equally seamless. Instead of manually looking up street intersections or plotting coordinates on a map, analysts can simply mention a landmark or venue in plain text. Flashpoint PSI understands the geographical intent, automatically constructing precise spatial geofences around the physical asset, event, or VIP travel routes.

Once populated, intelligence gathering becomes a dynamic conversation rather than a static reporting exercise. Analysts can interrogate their data in real-time, asking Flashpoint to isolate video uploads, filter for explicit threats, or hone in on specific operational themes throughout this workflow—all while ensuring the analyst remains firmly in control throughout the entire workflow.

Protect Critical Assets Using Flashpoint

Want to see for yourself how plain-language prompts can build rich, multi-source intelligence workflows? Request a demo, or check out our Product Update page to explore how AI-driven search planning and relevance ranking accelerates OSINT investigations.

Blogs

Blog

Cybercrime at Machine Speed: Key Takeaways from Flashpoint’s 2026 Midyear Threat Intelligence Briefing

Threat actors are no longer just using automation to execute tasks, they are leveraging prepackaged, safeguard-free AI, weaponizing stolen session data, and directly targeting defenders’ security stacks.

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Flashpoint

September 1, 2026

In our latest webinar, Flashpoint Vice President of Intelligence, Ian Gray, briefed security leaders on the evolving threat environment, providing critical insights from the Flashpoint Global Threat Intelligence Report (GTIR): 2026 Midyear Edition.

The threat landscape has developed at a striking pace with Flashpoint tracking over 22 million illicit AI discussions, 7.4 million compromised hosts yielding 1.7 billion stolen credentials, and over 21,600 disclosed vulnerabilities in just six months. Beyond these staggering numbers, the on-demand session detailed something even more alarming: a fundamental shift in adversary operational tradecraft.

Here are the five critical shifts every cyber threat intelligence (CTI), Vulnerability Management, and SOC team needs to know.

The Death of Signal: Threat Actors are Shifting to “Private AI”

The public discussion surrounding criminal artificial intelligence (AI) has reached a critical inflection point. Early in the AI boom, Flashpoint observed threat actors collaboratively experiment across underground forums, jailbreaking commercial frontier models or advertising surface-level tools like WormGPT and DarkGPT.

Today, adversaries are shifting from public forums to running fine-tuned, open-source models locally on private servers, which greatly hampers traditional signature-based detection. Flashpoint analysts are now seeing attackers generate unique, highly tailored malware variants, flawless phishing lures, and custom exploit scripts at extremely low costs—completely offline and shielded from public monitoring.

“A few months ago, a lot of this was collaborative… public outsourcing. Now what we’re seeing is scarier: pre-packaged cybercrime models run locally on private infrastructure. Malicious code, exploit scripts, and targeted phishing are all being generated inside closed environments.”

Ian Gray, VP of Intelligence, Flashpoint

Weaponizing the Defender’s Own Tooling

Another eye-opening tactical insight shared during the session was how threat actors are repurposing defender infrastructure for automated initial access and extortion. In the webinar, we pointed to recent campaigns where adversaries specifically targeted misconfigurations and zero-day vulnerabilities inside open-source vulnerability scanners, secrets-detection tools, Kubernetes clusters, and Infrastructure-as-Code(IaC) environments.

What this means for defenders is that the attack surface is no longer bounded by traditional enterprise network boundaries: it extends directly into CI/CD pipelines, security orchestration tooling, and third-party SaaS integrations. Security teams are finding themselves in a race against attackers who use automated scanning scripts to weaponize vulnerabilities in the security tools themselves.

The Global Infostealer Threat and Identity-First Attacks

Flashpoint tracked 7.4 million hosts compromised by infostealers in H1 2026—a 27% increase period-over-period—harvesting 1.7 billion credentials and identity information.

While the top infostealer strains remain familiar, law enforcement operations have created vacuums that competitors rapidly fill.

Threat actors are leveraging drive-by downloads, watering holes, and pirated software packages to plant stealers. Once a machine is compromised, the logs capture corporate SSO credentials, active browser cookies, VPN keys, and SaaS session tokens. This enables adversaries to simply log in without having to leverage complex technical exploits.

The Structural Failure of CVE/NVD and the Importance of KEV

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) and National Vulnerability Database (NVD) have failed to keep pace with the velocity of AI-assisted vulnerability discovery. As such, vulnerability management teams are facing significant operational delays.

Therefore, waiting for NVD enrichment before prioritizing a patch is a dangerous strategy. To compensate, security teams require Vulnerability Intelligence (VI) that provides primary-source confirmation of weaponization, exploit availability, and actionable mitigation guidance long before public databases update.

Ransomware Evolution: From Encryption to Cloud Extortion

Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) activity surged by 45% period-over-period, reaching 6,256 verified victim postings on data leak sites. However, total on-chain payout revenue dropped by 8% to $820 million, with victim pay-rates hitting a record low of 28%.

Faced with declining payouts and resilient enterprise backups, extortion syndicates are adapting. Rather than relying exclusively on technical file-encrypting malware, groups are executing pure data extortion campaigns—frequently targeting cloud platforms or extracting data through third-party vendor access.

Protect Your Organization Using Flashpoint

Defending against machine-speed attacks requires moving beyond reactive, post-incident telemetry. Flashpoint arms security, CTI, and vulnerability management teams with the primary-source intelligence required to preempt adversary operations:

• Unrivaled Deep & Dark Web Visibility: Flashpoint’s Primary Source Collection actively monitors closed criminal communities, illicit Telegram channels, and private forums, giving you early warning when threat actors build custom AI toolkits or trade credentials targeting your organization.
• Comprehensive Vulnerability Intelligence (VI): Flashpoint tracks zero-days and vulnerability disclosures independently, delivering immediate exploit availability data and threat-informed prioritization so you patch what actually matters.
• Continuous Compromised Credential Monitoring: Instantly surface exposed enterprise credentials, active session tokens, and stealer logs tied to your domain or third-party supply chain before they lead to an account takeover (ATO).

Request a demo, or watch the full on-demand webinar to explore the data shaping today’s risk landscape.

Blogs

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The Evolution of Hacktivism in Hybrid Warfare: Modern Tactics and Real-World Impact

In this post we examine how modern hacktivism has evolved into a tool of global hybrid warfare, analyzing crowdsourced attack tactics, media-driven propaganda, and real-world impacts across Ukraine, the Middle East, European Union, and NATO nations.

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Flashpoint Intel Team

August 26, 2026

Hacktivism used to be perceived as digital graffiti, with lone-wolf threat actors defacing government websites or temporarily crashing banking portals to make a political point. However, Flashpoint is tracking a fundamental shift in how these groups operate.

Modern hacktivism is evolving into a disciplined component of global hybrid warfare, capable of bridging digital disruptions with tangible real-world impact. Today, these operations blur the line between volunteer activism and coordinated state interest, leveraging crowdsourced infrastructure to disrupt critical utilities, manipulate media narratives, and target public infrastructure on a global scale. Unpacking these modern hacktivist collectives reveals what their tactics look like in practice and their far-reaching consequences across dozens of nations.

What is Hacktivism?

Hacktivism is the use of cyberattacks to promote or advance a particular political or social cause, leveraging a wide range of tactics such as website defacement, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, and data breaches. Modern hacktivist collectives serve as the loud, high-visibility arm of cyber conflict—frequently aligning with state geopolitical interests, as seen most prominently in recent pro-Russian operations and Iranian-aligned cyber campaigns.

These pro-Russian hacktivist groups, such as NoName057 and Killnet, alongside pro-Iranian collectives and proxy ecosystems like Handala Hack, often react to the news cycle and target countries designated by state media or ideological narratives as enemies. As such, modern hacktivist campaigns are opportunistic and tied to global events—from the escalation in the Middle East following military operations like Operation Epic Fury, to the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics and new aid packages to Ukraine. These groups’ justification narratives typically mirror state messaging.

Modern Tactics: Gamifying Cyber Warfare

In tracking modern hacktivist groups, Flashpoint analysts identified a new method these groups are utilizing to convert ordinary devices into tools for hybrid warfare—the gamification of cyberattacks. Flashpoint has observed groups like NoName057 turning DDoS attacks into community-based “patriotic online games,” such as their “DDoSia Project,” with participants earning military-style ranks and cryptocurrency rewards for overloading the websites of government institutions, banks, and various infrastructure across various countries.

This model has enabled the scaling of operations by utilizing a large, low-skilled participant base rather than having to rely on sophisticated technical tradecraft. The model’s decentralized structure and ideological appeal continue to pose a significant challenge for international law enforcement.

The Propaganda Engine: Media Amplification and Validation

Beyond technical disruptions, publicity is the primary currency of modern hacktivism. Hacktivist groups demonstrate a consistent pattern of media-seeking behavior and self-promotion, likely intended to amplify their perceived impact and reinforce notoriety within the broader cyber threat landscape. Many of these groups repeatedly repost media coverage and news articles referencing themselves.

This serves as a curated self-promotion mechanism, allowing the group to selectively showcase external validation of its operations, including coverage from mainstream and security-focused outlets, to its followers. This behavior aligns with a broader trend observed with especially pro-Russian hacktivist collectives, in which media visibility is treated as a measure of operational success independent of verified technical impact. It also serves as a deliberate tactic for engagement and recruitment that reinforces “patriotic” branding and sustains participant morale and visibility.

Beyond Propaganda: Aligning Cyber Disruption with Military Objectives

In some cases, the digital targeting of hacktivist collectives is more aligned with kinetic objectives, rather than public perception or propaganda initiatives. This is especially true for Iranian-aligned hacktivists and proxy groups who are more deeply intertwined with military operations in the Middle East. These groups have expanded their operations from website disruptions into claims of large-scale data wipers, extortion, and cyberattacks targeting key infrastructure across the Gulf.

The Far Reach of Modern Hacktivism

Major geopolitical flashpoints in the Middle East have triggered waves of hacktivist activity that has spread across North America, with threat actors targeting supply chains, financial infrastructure, and operational technology and control systems.

Simultaneously, pro-Russian hacktivist groups, particularly NoName057, have been extremely prolific within the last year—carrying out two major illicit campaigns heavily targeting Ukraine, which then spilled over to more than 30 nations globally. The following breakdown contains statistics and targeting dynamics of pro-Russian hacktivist groups observed between July 2025 and 2026:

The Continuous Campaign Against Ukraine

Ukraine has been the primary target for pro-Russian hacktivist groups who seek to damage Ukrainian infrastructure and morale. Anti-Ukrainian content is constantly distributed through dedicated per-language channels, making it the most linguistically developed target spanning six languages. Involved channels each post near-identical translated content within minutes to hours of the Russian original, down to the same image file with identical SHA1 hashes, which suggests a sustained propaganda distribution operation.

This has resulted in alleged data breaches impacting Ukrainian General Staff, military enlistment offices, medical, and morgue databases to push a casualty-count narrative. It also has resulted in the defacement or disruption of websites of regional capitals and administrative centers, energy plants, water and power-adjacent infrastructure, and many more.

Spilling Over: Impact Across EU and NATO Allies

However, Ukraine is not the sole casualty of modern hacktivism. Recent pro-Russian hacktivist campaigns have spread to other EU nations and NATO members. Germany, the United Kingdom, and Spain have been observed to be priority targets, with threat actors targeting public transportation, federal and security agencies, municipal government and utilities, financial markets, and other infrastructure. In some cases, hacktivist campaigns manifest in the real-world, with physical sticker drives on municipal streets, alongside doxxing operations releasing alleged personal data and automated scans hijacking exposed CCTV camera systems across Europe.

Defend Against the New Wave of Hacktivism Using Flashpoint

As hacktivist operations continue to blur the boundary between digital disruption and real-world interference, organizations can no longer view DDoS attacks or low-level intrusions as simple background noise. Protecting critical assets requires proactive visibility into threat actor networks, early detection of targeting narratives, and primary source threat intelligence.

Request a demo today to see how Flashpoint provides actionable intelligence to help security teams, government agencies, and infrastructure providers identify, monitor, and mitigate emerging hacktivist campaigns before they impact operations.

Blogs

Blog

Insider Threat Report: Dark Web Recruitment & Access Trends

Flashpoint’s monthly analysis of insider threat recruitment, illicit access advertising, and threat actor activity targeting enterprise environments.

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Flashpoint Intel Team

October 15, 2026

Blogs

Blog

Navigating AI-Driven Cyber Threats: Insights from Flashpoint’s 2026 GTIR Midyear Edition

In this post, we preview the critical findings of Flashpoint’s Global Threat Intelligence Report: 2026 Midyear Edition.

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Flashpoint

August 13, 2026

In the first half of 2026, the global threat landscape reached a clear operational inflection point: threat operations have fundamentally transitioned from human-led campaigns to machine-speed, AI-driven exploitation. As threat actors gain commoditized access to open-source AI technologies and actively deploy automated, safeguard-free tooling locally on private infrastructure, organizations face an accelerating hybrid risk environment.

Flashpoint’s Global Threat Intelligence Report: 2026 Midyear Edition

The Flashpoint Global Threat Intelligence Report: 2026 Midyear Edition anchors security leaders—from threat intelligence, vulnerability management, to executive leadership—in the data required to navigate this evolving threat landscape. Covering the period from January 1 to June 30, 2026, the report delivers timely insights backed by Flashpoint’s proprietary primary-source collection from over 3.9 petabytes of continuously monitored illicit sources.

Our midyear findings reveal several key metrics that highlight the speed and scale of the H1 2026 threat landscape:

• 22M+ threat actor posts discussed, shared, or advertised artificial intelligence toolkits for criminal deployment.
• 1.7B credentials and identity data points extracted across more than 7.4M unique compromised hosts globally.
• Nearly one-in-five (19%) of all vulnerability disclosures dropped with ready-made, functional exploit code.
• 45% period-over-period surge in Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS), with total victim volume reaching 6,256 even as victim payout rates dropped to a historic low of 28%.

Download the Flashpoint Global Threat Intelligence Report: 2026 Midyear Edition to gain:

1. A Clear Understanding of the Convergence Between AI and Cyber Threats
   From generating flawless phishing campaigns to automating vulnerability scanning and code obfuscation, discover how adversaries are optimizing for speed and cost-efficiency — utilizing AI as a force multiplier in their various illicit campaigns.
2. A Comprehensive Top-Down View of the Evolving Threat Landscape
   Gain full visibility of the threat landscape with Flashpoint’s primary-source collections and real-time threat intelligence.
3. Strategies for Proactive Defense and Risk Mitigation
   Move your organization beyond reactive incident response by leveraging Flashpoint’s comprehensive threat intelligence. Gain the foresight needed to strengthen defenses and optimize your security posture.

“AI is compressing the time between opportunity and exploitation. Capabilities that once took significant expertise, coordination, and time to develop are becoming faster to build, easier to scale, and harder to detect. Security teams are facing an adversary ecosystem that can use AI to iterate at unprecedented speed — the only way to keep pace is with primary-source intelligence that surfaces adversary behavior before attacks unfold.”

Josh Lefkowitz, Flashpoint Co-Founder & CEO

The Four Driving Themes Shaping the 2026 Threat Landscape

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Threats

During the first half of 2026, Flashpoint captured over 22M illicit posts discussing or advertising AI for criminal-related activities. By stripping ethical safeguards, custom malicious LLMs allow unsophisticated threat actors to automate complex phases of the attack lifecycle, including target profiling, malware evasion script creation, and zero-day exploit generation.

Information-Stealing Malware Threats

Infostealer malware harvested 1.7 billion credentials across 7.4 million compromised systems in H1 2026 alone, turning digital identity into the main entry point for enterprise intrusions.

Vulnerability Intelligence and Patching Management

19% (4,015) of all H1 2026 vulnerability disclosures arrived with ready-made exploit code. Adversaries deploy automated replication scripts almost immediately upon disclosure, eliminating manual remediation windows.

Ransomware Operations, Multi-Extortion Cartels, and Financial Risk

Despite a 45% surge in victim volume (6,256 overall), total on-chain revenue fell by 8% to $820M. Improved enterprise backups and incident response have driven payout rates down to 28%, prompting syndicates to demand larger sums from paying victims.

Proactive Security in 2026 and Beyond

The data shows that traditional enterprise security organizations are struggling to keep pace with modern threat cycles that are accelerated by illicit uses of AI. This continued convergence of AI engines and initial access vectors have further compressed attack timelines, making it nearly impossible for security teams to defend against them—especially if they are limited by traditional approaches to threat intelligence.

Equipping your team with primary-source threat intelligence is critical for protecting critical assets in 2026. Download the Flashpoint Global Threat Intelligence Report: 2026 Midyear Edition to gain the visibility and strategic clarity required to defend your organization.

Blogs

Blog

Data Center Physical Security: Mitigating FPV Drone Threats

In this post, we explore how shifting online sentiment and low-cost First-Person View (FPV) technology are creating an unprecedented airborne threat vector for critical data center infrastructure.

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Flashpoint Intel Team

August 10, 2026

Data centers have become a driving force in the modern digital economy—powering cloud services, global enterprise operations, and the explosive growth of artificial intelligence (AI). However, due to growing negative public discourse, data centers are facing a new physical threat vector: low-cost, payload-capable drones.

According to Flashpoint research, shifting public sentiment surrounding AI development, combined with the extreme accessibility of First-Person View (FPV) drone technology, is creating an unprecedented hybrid threat to physical critical infrastructure.

Here is what you need to know about this emerging threat landscape and what it means for physical security teams protecting critical assets.

Growing Online Sentiment and Anti-AI Hostility

Organizations tasked with protecting critical data infrastructure need to understand that this growing threat is not developing in a vacuum. Across both clearnet and Deep and Dark Web (DDW) forums, online discussions regarding data center expansion have intensified, with a significant portion bordering on hostility. Key drivers of negative sentiment include:

• Environmental & Local Concerns: Debates over massive energy consumption, water usage, noise, and localized quality-of-life impacts.
• Backlash against AI: Discontent directed at tech companies driving the rapid deployment of AI infrastructure.
• Perceived Regulatory Inaction: Frustration among activists who feel local and state governments are failing to halt or regulate new construction.

While much of the current online chatter currently revolves around organized protests and aspirational threats, Flashpoint analysts note a troubling uptick in rhetoric targeting corporate tech executives and data center infrastructure.

The Evolving Data Center Threat Landscape

Data centers across the United States are seeing a rapid increase in physical and operational threats. Vandalism and property destruction have become common topics in illicit online spaces when discussing data centers and their impact on everyday life. Flashpoint research highlights two primary force multipliers driving this threat:

DIY Drones & Low Barriers to Entry

Historically, kinetic airborne strikes required specialized equipment and advanced training. Today, that barrier to entry has virtually collapsed. Rapid improvements in drone manufacturing have made payload-capable aircraft extraordinarily accessible. In today’s market, an individual can purchase an off-the-shelf system or assemble a customized drone for under $1,000 USD.

Inspiration for these tactics is also readily available; widespread footage of FPV drones operating in conflict zones like Ukraine has demonstrated to online audiences how easily and effectively low-cost aircrafts can be weaponized. Threat actors view this as a high-yield investment, especially given the capability to deploy multiple drones in quick succession.

Protests as Cover for Physical Operations

Organized protests to stop data center development remain prevalent, and large crowds can easily overwhelm contracted security personnel, diminishing the effectiveness of a response to an aerial threat. A malicious actor could use a protest at a data center as cover to cause physical damage to the facility while security resources are spread thin. For example, on July 19, 2026, activists threw balloons filled with acetic acid at a data center construction site in Amsterdam. In its aftermath, Flashpoint analysts captured individuals online discussing the use of drones to deliver similar payloads.

Regulatory and Defense Measure Challenges

Current federal regulations limit the ability to effectively deter or stop an incoming drone threat because the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) classifies drones as aircraft. Therefore, organizations specializing in the physical security of data centers will likely need to increase their operational capabilities and advise companies on potential hardening to deter attacks.

Traditional foot patrols and monitoring perimeter access control points will be insufficient in mitigating overhead threats. The majority of data centers are currently not equipped with the specialized Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-UAS) equipment, specialized training, or legal authorization needed to respond effectively to airborne incursions.

Protect Critical Infrastructure Using Flashpoint

Defending against aerial incursions requires moving from reactive security to proactive, intelligence-led physical protection. Physical security teams cannot afford to rely solely on ground-level surveillance when threat actors are leveraging open-source hardware and coordinating online.

Flashpoint Physical Security Intelligence (PSI) equips security teams and executive protection units with real-time visibility into emerging physical threats before they reach your perimeter:

• Early Warning Indicator Tracking: Monitor chatter across mainstream social platforms, fringe networks, and illicit DDW forums to identify probe attempts or the targeting of specific data center facilities and executives.
• Geospatial Threat Mapping: Overlay real-time intelligence onto physical assets using customizable geofencing to detect active incidents, protest activity, and drone-related discussions near sensitive sites.
• Actionable Counter-UAS Insights: Receive finished intelligence and analyst support to benchmark threat actor TTPs (Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures), enabling your organization to harden physical structures and justify operational investments.

To learn more about how Flashpoint helps safeguard critical infrastructure, executives, and high-value assets against physical and cyber threats, request a demo today.