Founded in 2012, Darktrace bills itself as a global leader in AI for cybersecurity that keeps organisations ahead of the changing threat landscape every day, with proprietary AI that learns from the unique patterns of life for each customer in real-time to proactively deal with unknown threats.

This enables it to secure businesses across the entire digital estate – from network to cloud to email, and with over 200 patents filed, protecting nearly 10,000 customers across all major industries globally, the company is clearly shining a very bright light so it can proactively trace everything that happens in, on and around the dark side of the web.

That snippet of poetic allegory aside, and the news from earlier this month that Darktrace is a "Leader" in TWO of Gartner's Magic Quadrants, being for ESP (Email Security Platform) and for NDR (Network Detection and Response), and we have a company that clearly knows how to navigate the dark arts with skill, aided with aplomb by AI, and lots of very smart people.

So, what of the Beaver's tale resurrected by the dark forces at Lazarus?

Darktrace traces this newly identified strain identified and says it represents a significant technical evolution of the variant, with new characteristics including:

• Deep obfuscation: BeaverTail has previously employed obfuscation, but this sample contains more than 128 layers dedicated entirely to concealment, a depth not seen in earlier versions.
• Signature evasion: Its code has evolved to bypass traditional signature‑based defenses, underscoring Lazarus’s continued refinement of malware to slip past trusted security tools. 

Over time, BeaverTail has transformed and evolved from a lightweight stealer into what is now a deeply disturbing dollop of digital destruction: a multi‑stage intrusion framework designed for persistence, stealth, and financial/data theft. If affected, your BeaverTail will likely turn into a tale of bereavement, with your data and savings shaved into a pile of digital dust as you go bust. 

It has become significantly more sophisticated, moving beyond trojanized 'npm' packages to vectors such as fake recruitment platforms that trick victims into running OS‑specific commands and retains a modular architecture capable of harvesting system information, steal browser credentials, and cryptocurrency wallet data.

BeaverTail's sad tale almost sounds like the modern day equivalent of putting users into a hypnotic spell, a dark trance where victims unknowingly dance with the devil in the pale moonlight, running commands they would never otherwise type in voluntarily, all to enact their own data-laden doom - leaving not just a trace but a massive trail of destruction. That's dark. 

In early 2026, Darktrace will release its latest "State of Cybersecurity" report, where more information about the titillating tale of the BeaverTail will be told - amongst a range of other dark threats that loom like Daleks wanting to terminate our peace and prosperity - so keep safe over the festive season, and may Darktrace continue their efforts to go much deeper into threats like BeaverTail, whose 128 layers of concealment is a cover up of criminally epic proportions!