ESET Threat Blog

OK, I realize that it looks a little self-obsessed to keep writing about comment spam relating to your own blog.
Actually, while I did write about it recently, on that occasion it was for SC Magazine's Cybercrime Corner. And that was largely because I'm still chuckling at the concept of a comment spammer complaining about the … Read More…

I get a lot of press enquiries currently about hacktivism, usually in the context of certain groups who have had more than enough publicity already. While discussing some related issues with my colleagues at ESET UK, it occurred to me that what we're lacking here is a clear differentiation between types of "hacktivist" or, indeed, "activist": much … Read More…

In fact, the main point of the article I just sent up to SC Magazine's Cybercrime Corner, "Stuxnet: Paradigms Lost and Paradise Regained" is that the 'next Stuxnet' probably won't be any such thing, whatever we may choose to call it.
Stuxnet was certainly a warning, but the message is a bit less dramatic than a … Read More…

[Update: that article "IMF and the weakest link" is now up on SC Magazine's Cybercrime Corner.]
In a recent article for SC Magazine (I'll post the link here when it gets posted) on the International Monetary Fund security breach, I focused on the implications of technological versus psychosocial threats and countermeasures. Not, of course, the first time I've … Read More…

First: a link to another article  for SC Magazine's Cybercrime Corner on password issues: Good passwords are no joke. However good your password is, your privacy still depends on rational implementation by the service provider.
Also, one of the articles that sparked off that particular post: ESET Ireland's excellent blog post on a survey carried out … Read More…

…but I'm not convinced that LulzSec's admiration for Nintendo and Sega makes them suitable playmates. More about that in my latest article for SC Magazine's Cybercrime Corner:
Bad boys and black ops
The fact is, as Tom Brewster suggests, that whatever the hacker community's personal taste is in games and consoles, gamers are a tempting target. The … Read More…

We like to give you plenty of warning when we suspect that something unpleasant is coming down the pike, even if it's just one of those likely bursts of Black Hat SEO (web search poisoning) that come with a media-friendly event.
Still, I suspect that if I told you we expect lots of malicious activity around … Read More…

Recent additions to SCMagazine's Cybercrime Corner blog include:

"Password strategies: Who goes there?" by David Harley, May 23, 2011
Password selection usually involves compromise, but even a short password can be reasonably strong and still memorable. This follows up at some length on a previous ESET blog by Paul Laudanski.
"Fighting cybercrime" by Randy Abrams, May 23, 2011
If … Read More…

It occurs to me that I haven't recently posted any pointers to our content on SC Magazine's Cybercrime Corner, and now might be a good time to recap on what Randy and I have been posting there this month (so far…)
Babushka* dollars
David Harley, May 19, 2011
It's not surprising, given how much cybercrime originates in Eastern … Read More…

Well, the EICAR conference earlier this month was in Krems, in Austria, where I hear that they're not averse to the occasional brandy, but I was actually perfectly sober when I delivered my paper on Security Software & Rogue Economics: New Technology or New Marketing? (The full abstract is available at the same URL.)
To conform with EICAR's usual … Read More…