Matthieu Faou

Matthieu Faou

Senior Malware Researcher


Education: Ingénieur civil at Mines Nancy / M. Sc. in Computer Engineering at Polytechnique Montréal

Position and history at ESET: I joined ESET in august 2016 as a Malware Researcher.

Favorite activities: Running, cycling, skiing.

What is your golden rule for cyberspace? Use your critical mindset.


25 articles by Matthieu Faou

FamousSparrow: A suspicious hotel guest

FamousSparrow: A suspicious hotel guest

FamousSparrow: A suspicious hotel guest

Yet another APT group that exploited the ProxyLogon vulnerability in March 2021

Matthieu Faou and Tahseen Bin Taj • 23 Sep 2021 • 7 min. read


Gelsemium: When threat actors go gardening

Gelsemium: When threat actors go gardening

Gelsemium: When threat actors go gardening

ESET researchers shed light on new campaigns from the quiet Gelsemium group

Matthieu Faou and Thomas Dupuy • 09 Jun 2021 • 4 min. read


Exchange servers under siege from at least 10 APT groups

Exchange servers under siege from at least 10 APT groups

Exchange servers under siege from at least 10 APT groups

ESET Research has found LuckyMouse, Tick, Winnti Group, and Calypso, among others, are likely using the recent Microsoft Exchange vulnerabilities to compromise email servers all around the world

Matthieu Faou, Thomas Dupuy, Mathieu Tartare • 10 Mar 2021 • 15 min. read


Operation SignSight: Supply-chain attack against a certification authority in Southeast Asia

Operation SignSight: Supply-chain attack against a certification authority in Southeast Asia

Operation SignSight: Supply-chain attack against a certification authority in Southeast Asia

ESET researchers have uncovered a supply-chain attack on the website of a government in Southeast Asia.

Ignacio Sanmillan and Matthieu Faou • 17 Dec 2020 • 5 min. read


Turla Crutch: Keeping the “back door” open

Turla Crutch: Keeping the “back door” open

Turla Crutch: Keeping the “back door” open

ESET researchers discover a new backdoor used by Turla to exfiltrate stolen documents to Dropbox

Matthieu Faou • 02 Dec 2020 • 7 min. read


XDSpy: Stealing government secrets since 2011

XDSpy: Stealing government secrets since 2011

XDSpy: Stealing government secrets since 2011

ESET researchers uncover a new APT group that has been stealing sensitive documents from several governments in Eastern Europe and the Balkans since 2011

Matthieu Faou • 02 Oct 2020 • 6 min. read


KryptoCibule: The multitasking multicurrency cryptostealer

KryptoCibule: The multitasking multicurrency cryptostealer

KryptoCibule: The multitasking multicurrency cryptostealer

ESET researchers analyze a previously undocumented trojan that is spread via malicious torrents and uses multiple tricks to squeeze cryptocoins from its victims while staying under the radar

Matthieu Faou and Alexandre Côté Cyr • 02 Sep 2020 • 11 min. read


From Agent.BTZ to ComRAT v4: A ten-year journey

From Agent.BTZ to ComRAT v4: A ten-year journey

From Agent.BTZ to ComRAT v4: A ten-year journey

Turla has updated its ComRAT backdoor and now uses the Gmail web interface for Command and Control

Matthieu Faou • 26 May 2020 • 6 min. read


Tracking Turla: New backdoor delivered via Armenian watering holes

Tracking Turla: New backdoor delivered via Armenian watering holes

Tracking Turla: New backdoor delivered via Armenian watering holes

Can an old APT learn new tricks? Turla’s TTPs are largely unchanged, but the group recently added a Python backdoor.

Matthieu Faou • 12 Mar 2020 • 8 min. read