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AMTSO turns pro

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow May 21, 2012

The Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization contemplates a make-over into a more professionally-run organization.
 

Cyber crime as a Market

Stephen Cobb, security evangelist at ESET May 09, 2012

Information security experts often talk about the costs of cybercrime to businesses, but a new report from Russia quantifies how much criminals make in the "cybercrime market."
 

Play nicely with your Facebook friends

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow May 04, 2012

Perhaps Facebook users are beginning to expect more consideration from their friends on social networks.
 

CeCOS VI: The Counter eCrime Operations Summit

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow April 17, 2012

CeCOS VI: The Counter eCrime Operations Summit: A cybercrime conference I can't get to, but heartily recommend
 

Facebook, trust and security

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow April 04, 2012

Trusting the good intentions of an agency shouldn't carry an automatic assumption that what they do or say, or where they say it, is always good for you.
 

Can you stop terrorism by policing the websites people visit?

Cameron Camp, security researcher, ESET March 30, 2012

Is jail time for the crime of visiting the wrong websites the answer to terrorism?
 

The "caught red-handed" league

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • March 28, 2012

There's a certain amount of tension between testers and vendors from time to time, even in the rarified atmosphere of an AMTSO workshop.
 

Malicious software meets BYOD

Stephen Cobb, security evangelist at ESET * March 26, 2012

Bringing together two separate pieces of security research reveals vulnerability to cybercrime on an alarming scale.
 

AMTSO at a crossroads (again)

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow March 12, 2012

Sometimes it's security vendors versus testers, but it's the customer who gets confused.
 

Malware Incorporated: Turning your data into their dreams

Stephen Cobb, security evangelist at ESET March 08, 2012

Who is behind the production, distribution and exploitation of malicious software today? Knowing the answer is a vital tool in the fight against cyber crime.
 

My not-so-funny valentine

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • February 13, 2012

Spanish is the loving tongue, but you may not love cookie stuffing.
 

Towards a safer internet

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • February 07, 2012

Child safety is a hot topic right now, but then it's always important.
 

U.K. MPs bite the cyber bullet...

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • February 02, 2012

The Science and Technology Committee seems to be taking malware and cyber crime seriously.
 

Facebook click-jackers allegedly made $1.2 million per month

Stephen Cobb, security evangelist at ESET • January 27, 2012

Lawsuits give CAN-SPAM Act new life combatting social media schemes that aim to reap rewards from transmission of misleading commercial electronic communications
 

Keep taking the tablets...

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • January 25, 2012

Taking your Android's pulse before you give it access to your health records.
 

Great expectations

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • January 16, 2012

WPS, "Whoops!!!," the Grim Reaver, and what you can expect from anti-virus.
 

Retrophitted Retrophish

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • January 11, 2012

Malware that uses US-CERT and the Anti-Phishing Working Group to "legitimize" itself.
 

FBI wraps up 2011 with 30 more cyber crime indictments

Stephen Cobb, security evangelist at ESET • December 30, 2011

Recent prosecuted cases tackle long-running internet-based scams
 

2012 cyber crime predictions: More arrests and Willie Sutton 2.0

Stephen Cobb, security evangelist at ESET December 16, 2011

More cyber crime rings will be broken up in 2012, but the risk/reward ratio for cyber crime will remain criminal friendly.
 

Top of the potshots

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • December 13, 2011

The trouble with end-of-the-year predictions is that you can never be sure where satire ends and clairvoyance begins.
 

Cyber crime aftermath: Beyond the indictment

Stephen Cobb, security evangelist at ESET December 09, 2011

The aftermath of a cyber crime takedown poses new challenges to law enforcement, like what to do about the victims' systems and data
 

Fair Information Practice and unfair name calling

Stephen Cobb, security evangelist at ESET • December 02, 2011

The collection of data from mobile phones by Carrier IQ brings to mind the FTC's imposition of 20-year privacy settlements on Facebook and Google.
 

Product testing and accountability

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • December 01, 2011

He who pays the piper call the tune, but who really pays?
 

A wild week in cybercrime

Stephen Cobb, security evangelist at ESET • November 22, 2011

New attempts to crack down on cybercrime take different paths, from racketing laws to stiffer penalties, while a curve ball called SOPA seeks to mess with DNS.
 

Privacy, identity, and the Nym of the Rose

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • November 22, 2011

Anonymity and pseudonymity: A once and future thing.
 

Facebook: Is the Fawkes virus still smoldering?

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • November 15, 2011

Once again Facebook is a focus for unsavory activity, but is there a change here for the worse?
 

Kudos to federal cybercrime fighters

Stephen Cobb, security evangelist at ESET November 14, 2011

The fight against industrial-scale cybercrime requires cooperation across boundaries, as the latest FBI bust demonstrates.
 

Freezing assets and turning up the heat

Stephen Cobb, security evangelist at ESET • November 08, 2011

Victories in the fight against cybercrime, from indictments and arrests to asset recovery, should be celebrated, even if there are not yet enough of them.
 

Cold-calling scams and rehearsals for retirement*

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • November 07, 2011

Another excursion into scammer-baiting.
 

Phishing, the Slim Jim of cybercrime

Stephen Cobb, security evangelist at ESET • November 03, 2011

Phishing is all grown up and operated on a large-scale by well-funded cybercriminals who use botnets to harvest personal data and sell it on the black market.
 

Support scams: Can we help you with those?

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • October 31, 2011

Help with cold-calling scams is offered from an unexpected source.
 

PR, crime and punishment

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • October 26, 2011

PR and security viewed from down under.
 

U.S. Naval Academy: First to teach cybersecurity as requirement

Cameron Camp, researcher for ESET • October 26, 2011

New courses in cybersecurity are being rolled out to foster the next generation of cyber warriors to defend the U.S.
 

Social engineering and social media

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • October 14, 2011

Truth when Symantec inadvertently blocks access to Facebook.
 

Defense in depth

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • October 14, 2011

Truth is also multilayered...
 

Virus Bulletin 2011: A surprise 21st birthday present

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • October 10, 2011

A trojan downloader is not a birthday gift you want to open.
 

The art of cyberwar

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • October 05, 2011

Sun Tzu to Clausewitz to Georgia and Iraq: first principles are still first principles.
 

Facebook-style feng shui phooey

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • September 30, 2011

Facebook is the 21st century chainletter channel of choice.
 

Losing medical data

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • September 26, 2011

Apparently, the loss of sensitive medical data is not purely an English disease.
 

Induc-trination: Malware under continuing development

David Harley David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • September 20, 2011

Win32/Induc is more than a proof of concept.
 

Dead certs?

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • September 15, 2011

Are we seeing the decline and fall of SSL and the Certificate Authority model?
 

9/11 to 9/11/11

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • September 12, 2011

Man, myth and the media in the internet age.
 

A taxing business

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • September 09, 2011

Sometimes it's useful to look at the nuts and bolts of a scam message to see what it might tell us about other scams.
 

Would the United States win a cyberwar?

Cameron Camp, researcher for ESET • September 07, 2011

Cyberthreats are increasing, but can be mitigated with a concerted effort at educating as many people as possible.
 

Backup strategy: not just for system administrators

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • September 07, 2011

Losing data may be just as disastrous to a home user as to a business.
 

Shadow boxing

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • September 07, 2011

AV detection performance comparison is a can of worms (and trojans, and viruses, and bots...).
 

Look - my Android is being robbed!

Cameron Camp, researcher for ESET • August 30, 2011

New attack on the Android OS take place in broad daylight, following the installation of increasingly popular malicious apps.
 

Ten years later, still the same malware?

Cameron Camp, researcher for ESET August 22, 2011

Malware gangs can always pick up some low-hanging fruit by doing drive-bys on older computers.
 

Keyloggers and malicious intent

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • August 19, 2011

Programs used maliciously are not always malware.
 

Conferencing in the Metaverse

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • August 19, 2011

Looking forward to conferences without jetlag.
 

Fact, fiction and authoring malware

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • August 15, 2011

If it isn't maliciously intended, can it be malware?
 

Social media and political certainties

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • August 15, 2011

Blanket censorship of social media in the UK might be unlikely, but targeted blocking based on legal interception isn't out of the question.
 

So why hasn't "Anonymous" been caught?

Cameron Camp, researcher for ESET August 08, 2011

Are the hacktivist ideas that hacker group Anonymous is promoting resonating with the public?
 

A farewell to alms

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • August 08, 2011

419s, job scams and "wash wash."
 

Linking alms

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • August 08, 2011

I can't believe my own luck: Money and job offers are just pouring in.
 

Rebels with a cause?

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • August 02, 2011

Activists, hacktivists, cyberwar and cybercrime: What are the differentiators?
 

Phish quota exceeded In your mailbox

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • August 01, 2011

A phishing lure with a slightly novel lure.
 

Just slip out the hack, Jack

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow July 27, 2011

Despite a new report warning of a sharp increase in automated web application attacks, this doesn't necessarily signal a rise in cybercrime.
 

Spam? No comment!

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • July 22, 2011

Making one's way through blog comments can present some surprises.
 

Cold call scams: Life in the old dog

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • July 20, 2011

It's a cold, cold-calling world: an old scam with some new wrinkles.
 

Monarch of all I survey?

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • July 18, 2011

How to lie with statistics? First, consider your survey...
 

Infected in a Flash

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • July 18, 2011

Re-(James)Joyce: ESET Ireland reveals all about the Blackhat Velvet Band
 

The luck of the Irish

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • July 11, 2011

ESET Ireland reveals an interesting trend in the murky world of 419 scams.
 

Newspaper hacks hacking? Not exactly

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • July 11, 2011

A newspaper's unauthorized access to voicemail has had wide and serious repercussions, but what does it mean to those of us who aren't celebrities?
 

CyberWar is Hell

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • July 05, 2011

At any rate, it deserves to be taken seriously...
 

TDL4: Much ado about something

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow • July 05, 2011

TDSS is by no means trivial, but it is far from being the end of the world.
 

Is Comcast the newest rogue AV player?

Randy Abrams, director of technical education, ESET June 29, 2011

Is Comcast using "Constant Guard" to generate support revenue?
 

A day late and a WoW short

Randy Abrams, director of technical education, ESET June 27, 2011

BitCoin is not so unique when it comes to theft.
 

TDSS: Political botnets

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow June 27, 2011

It seems that for the TDSS gang, P2P democracy is more resilient than client-server oligarchy.
 

Stuxnet: The way we were

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow June 27, 2011

The way we were is too much like the way we are: There is no way I will ever say there is no way.
 

Cloudy with spells of pain

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow June 22, 2011

Clouds are, by definition, insubstantial, but when services "somewhere out there" go pear-shaped, the damage can be catastrophic.
 

Still scared for SCADA?

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow June 20, 2011

The sky hasn't fallen, but we can never again write off infrastructure attacks as science fiction.
 

Your cyberthief rides shotgun

Randy Abrams, director of technical education, ESET, ESET North America June 15, 2011

Information sharing in the digital automobile.
 

Stuxnet: Paradigms lost and paradigms regained

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow June 13, 2011

The assumption that the next Stuxnet will be somehow similar but not the same could be seriously misleading.
 

IMF and the weakest link

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow June 13, 2011

The best security takes into account technical and psychosocial factors
 

Good passwords are no joke

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow June 07, 2011

However good your password is, your privacy still depends on rational implementation by the service provider.
 

Bad boys and black ops

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow June 06, 2011

LulzSec are clearly having fun making money and hacking Sony: why should Nintendo worry?
 

What the phishers hope you don't know

Randy Abrams, director of technical education, ESET North America June 03, 2011

Only thieves and idiots ask for your password.
 

Cancer with a Taurus Rising

Randy Abrams, director of technical education, ESET June 01, 2011

Look out for email scams appealing to your heart.
 

On the 419 front

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow May 31, 2011

A new 419 scam targeting the 2014 World Cup smells familiar...
 

Statute of Liberty

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow May 31, 2011

Give me liberty or give me.....?
 

If I ran the zoo

Randy Abrams, director of technical education, ESET May 24, 2011

What might a hacker do with the Sony PlayStation Network database?
 

Fighting cybercrime

Randy Abrams, director of technical education, ESET May 23, 2011

If you aren't fighting cybercrime in the workplace you are probably a victim.
 

Minding your own business

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow May 23, 2011

Business, education, and academia: three different views to a bill.
 

Password strategies: Who goes there?

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow May 23, 2011

Password selection usually involves compromise, but even a short password can be reasonably strong and still memorable.
 

Babushka* dollars

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow May 19, 2011

It's not surprising, given how much cybercrime originates in Eastern Europe, that some of the best counter-threat research also comes out of the region.
 

Masterminds and Mastercards

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow May 19, 2011

Fortunately, not every criminal is a mastermind, but then most victims aren't Sherlock Holmes.
 

Magic Lantern: Shining a light on the AV numbers game?

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow May 12, 2011

No anti-virus product worth its salt uses the "one malicious program, one signature" model today.
 

CIPAV: Spy(ware) versus Spy(ware)

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow May 05, 2011

Good viruses and trojans? Legal malware? Does (or should) AV detect the FBI's spyware?
 

In the midst of Bin Laden death, there is malware

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow May 02, 2011

From fake anti-virus to hoaxes, the internet can always serve up more unpleasantness around a dramatic news item.
 

You don't have to hack to be tried as a hacker

Randy Abrams, director of technical education, ESET May 02, 2011

There's a little cybercriminal in many of us!
 

Return of the password reset attack

Randy Abrams, director of technical education, ESET April 28, 2011

The Sony PlayStation Network breach sets the table for massive password reset attacks.
 

What if it wasn't about the phish?

Randy Abrams, director of technical education, ESET April 25, 2011

Phishing is not the only possible motivation for breaching Epsilon.
 

419: it's a magic number....

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow April 22, 2011

Thoughts on the continuing success of advance fee fraud.
 

AMTSO: Talk to me....

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow April 22, 2011

How should you test anti-malware products? Have your say...
 

Phresh phish from the Keepnet

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow April 22, 2011

Rummaging through my spam folders, I found a pretty kettle of phish...
 

You have (voice) mail

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow April 14, 2011

A new twist on an old Skype scam can give you something less desirable than a bug-free PC.
 

Every picture tells a story

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow April 13, 2011

Your smartphone might be giving away more information than you really want to share.
 

Plenty more (potential) phish in the C:\

David Harley, ESET senior research fellow April 13, 2011

The consequences of the Epsilon breach may have been a little overstated, but the Texas data exposures are far from trivial.
 

RSA: APTitude adjustment

David Harley, senior research fellow April 05, 2011

An advanced persistent threat doesn't always have to be particularly advanced.
 
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