Internet Security
Very precisely lost – GPS jamming
The technology is both widely available and well developed, hence it's also poised to proliferate – especially in the hands of those wishing ill...
Telekopye's tricks of the trade – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
ESET's research team reveals details about the onboarding process of the Telekopye scam operation and the various methods that the fraudsters use to defraud people online...
Retail at risk: Top threats facing retailers this holiday season
While it may be too late to introduce wholesale changes to your security policies, it doesn’t hurt to take a fresh look at where the biggest threats are and which best practices can help neutralize them...
‘Tis the season to be wary: 12 steps to ruin a cybercriminal's day
The holiday shopping season may be the time to splurge, but it’s a also favorite time of year for cybercriminals to target shoppers with phony deals, phishing scams and other threats...
Telekopye: Chamber of Neanderthals’ secrets
Insight into groups operating Telekopye bots that scam people in online marketplaces...
Your voice is my password
AI-driven voice cloning can make things far too easy for scammers – I know because I’ve tested it so that you don’t have to learn about the risks the hard way....
Fuel for thought: Can a driverless car get arrested?
What happens when problems caused by autonomous vehicles are not the result of errors, but the result of purposeful attacks?...
Safeguarding ports from the rising tide of cyberthreats – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
An attack against a port operator that ultimately hobbled some 40 percent of Australia’s import and export capacity highlights the kinds of supply chain shocks that a successful cyberattack can cause...
Spyware disguised as a news app – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
The Urdu version of the Hunza News website offers readers the option to download an Android app – little do they know that the app is actually spyware...
Level up! These games will make learning about cybersecurity fun
Discover six games that will provide valuable knowledge while turning learning about digital security into an enjoyable and rewarding adventure...
Capture the flag: 5 websites to sharpen your hacking skills
Through engaging hacking challenges and competitions, CTFs offer an excellent opportunity to test and enhance your security and problem-solving skills...
Cyber threat intelligence: Getting on the front foot against adversaries
By collecting, analyzing and contextualizing information about possible cyberthreats, including the most advanced ones, threat intelligence offers a critical method to identify, assess and mitigate cyber risk...
Unlucky Kamran: Android malware spying on Urdu-speaking residents of Gilgit-Baltistan
ESET researchers discovered Kamran, previously unknown malware, which spies on Urdu-speaking readers of Hunza News...
The mysterious demise of the Mozi botnet – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
Various questions linger following the botnet's sudden and deliberate demise, including: who actually initiated it?...
Navigating the security and privacy challenges of large language models
Organizations that intend to tap into the potential of LLMs must also be able to manage the risks that could otherwise erode the technology’s business value...
Is your LinkedIn profile revealing too much?
How much contact and personal information do you give away in your LinkedIn profile and who can see it? Here’s why less may be more....
Who killed Mozi? Finally putting the IoT zombie botnet in its grave
How ESET Research found a kill switch that had been used to take down one of the most prolific botnets out there...
Roundcube Webmail servers under attack – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
The zero-day exploit deployed by the Winter Vivern APT group only requires that the target views a specially crafted message in a web browser...
Closing the gender gap: 7 ways to attract more women into cybersecurity
Global Diversity Awareness Month is a timely occasion to reflect on the steps required to remove obstacles to women's participation in the security industry and to consider the value of diversity in the security workforce...
20 scary cybersecurity facts and figures for a haunting Halloween
Cybersecurity Awareness Month draws to a close and Halloween is just around the corner, so here is a bunch of spine-tingling figures about some very real tricks and threats lurking online...
ESET APT Activity Report Q2–Q3 2023
An overview of the activities of selected APT groups investigated and analyzed by ESET Research in Q2 and Q3 2023...
Winter Vivern exploits zero-day vulnerability in Roundcube Webmail servers
ESET Research recommends updating Roundcube Webmail to the latest available version as soon as possible...
Spearphishing targets in Latin America – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
ESET's analysis of cybercrime campaigns in Latin America reveals a notable shift from opportunistic crimeware to more complex threats, including those targeting enterprises and governments...
One login to rule them all: Should you sign in with Google or Facebook on other websites?
Why use and keep track of a zillion discrete accounts when you can log into so many apps and websites using your Facebook or Google credentials, right? Not so fast. What’s the trade-off?...
Strengthening the weakest link: top 3 security awareness topics for your employees
Knowledge is a powerful weapon that can empower your employees to become the first line of defense against threats...
Better safe than sorry: 10 tips to build an effective business backup strategy
How robust backup practices can help drive resilience and improve cyber-hygiene in your company...
Staying on top of security updates – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
Why keeping software up to date is a crucial security practice that should be followed by everyone from individual users to SMBs and large enterprises...
Operation King TUT: The universe of threats in LATAM
ESET researchers reveal a growing sophistication in threats affecting the LATAM region by employing evasion techniques and high-value targeting...
Virus Bulletin – building digital armies
Security researchers, global organizations, law enforcement and other government agencies need to have the right conversations and test potential scenarios without the pressure of an actual attack...
Virus Bulletin PUA – a love letter
Late nights at VB2023 featured intriguing interactions between security experts and the somewhat enigmatic world of grayware purveyors...
6 steps to getting the board on board with your cybersecurity program
How CISOs and their peers can better engage with boards to get long-term buy-in for strategic initiatives...
DinodasRAT used against governmental entity in Guayana – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
The backdoor can exfiltrate files, manipulate Windows registry keys, and execute commands that are capable of performing various actions on a victim’s machine...
Your family, home and small business need a cyber-resilience strategy, too!
Your preparedness to deal with cyberattacks is key for lessening the impact of a successful incident – even in home and small business environments...
Fake friends and followers on social media – and how to spot them
One of the biggest threats to watch out for on social media is fraud perpetrated by people who aren’t who they claim to be. Here’s how to recognize them....
Playing your part in building a safer digital world: Why cybersecurity matters
In an increasingly complex and interconnected digital landscape, personal cybersecurity empowers you to protect your data, privacy and digital well-being...
How Lazarus impersonated Meta to attack a target in Spain – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
During the attack, the group deployed several tools, most notably a newly-discovered sophisticated backdoor that ESET named LightlessCan...
Operation Jacana: Foundling hobbits in Guyana
ESET researchers discovered a cyberespionage campaign against a governmental entity in Guyana...
ESET's cutting-edge threat research at LABScon – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
Two ESET malware researchers took to the LABScon stage this year to deconstruct sophisticated attacks conducted by two well-known APT groups...
Can open-source software be secure?
Or, is mass public meddling just opening the door for problems? And how does open-source software compare to proprietary software in terms of security?...
Ballistic Bobcat's Sponsor backdoor – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
Ballistic Bobcat is a suspected Iran-aligned cyberespionage group that targets organizations in various industry verticals, as well as human rights activists and journalists, mainly in Israel, the Middle East, and the United States...
10 tips to ace your cybersecurity job interview
Once you’ve made it past the initial screening process and secured that all-important interview, it’s time to seal the deal. These 10 tips will put you on the right track....
Stealth Falcon preying over Middle Eastern skies with Deadglyph
ESET researchers have discovered Deadglyph, a sophisticated backdoor used by the infamous Stealth Falcon group for espionage in the Middle East...
OilRig’s Outer Space and Juicy Mix: Same ol’ rig, new drill pipes
ESET researchers document OilRig’s Outer Space and Juicy Mix campaigns, targeting Israeli organizations in 2021 and 2022...
Read it right! How to spot scams on Reddit
Do you know what types of scams and other fakery you should look out for when using a platform that once billed itself as “the front page of the Internet”?...
Will you give X your biometric data? – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
The update to X's privacy policy has sparked some questions among privacy and security folks, including how long X will retain users' biometric information and how the data will be stored and secured...
ESET Research Podcast: Sextortion, digital usury and SQL brute-force
Closing intrusion vectors force cybercriminals to revisit old attack avenues, but also to look for new ways to attack their victims...
5 of the top programming languages for cybersecurity
While far from all roles in security explicitly demand coding skills, it’s challenging to envision a career in this field that wouldn’t derive substantial advantages from at least a basic understanding of fundamental coding principles...
Staying ahead of threats: 5 cybercrime trends to watch
New reports from Europol and the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) shed a light on how the battle against cybercrime is being fought...
Sponsor with batch-filed whiskers: Ballistic Bobcat’s scan and strike backdoor
ESET Research uncovers the Sponsoring Access campaign, which utilizes an undocumented Ballistic Bobcat backdoor we have named Sponsor...
Fake Signal and Telegram apps – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
ESET research uncovers active campaigns targeting Android users and spreading espionage code through the Google Play store, Samsung Galaxy Store and dedicated websites...
Getting off the hook: 10 steps to take after clicking on a phishing link
Phishing emails are a weapon of choice for criminals intent on stealing people’s personal data and planting malware on their devices. The healing process does not end with antivirus scanning....
ESET Research Podcast: Unmasking MoustachedBouncer
Listen as ESET's Director of Threat Research Jean-Ian Boutin unravels the tactics, techniques and procedures of MoustachedBouncer, an APT group taking aim at foreign embassies in Belarus...
How a Telegram bot helps scammers target victims – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
ESET researchers uncover a Telegram bot that enables even less tech-savvy scammers to defraud people out of their money...
BadBazaar espionage tool targets Android users via trojanized Signal and Telegram apps
ESET researchers have discovered active campaigns linked to the China-aligned APT group known as GREF, distributing espionage code that has previously targeted Uyghurs...
Lazarus luring employees with trojanized coding challenges: The case of a Spanish aerospace company
While analyzing a Lazarus attack luring employees of an aerospace company, ESET researchers discovered a publicly undocumented backdoor...
What you need to know about iCloud Private Relay
If you want to try to enter the world of VPNs with a small dip, then iCloud Private Relay is your friend — but is it a true VPN service? The devil is in the details....
Recovering from a supply-chain attack: What are the lessons to learn from the 3CX hack?
The campaign started with a trojanized version of unsupported financial software...
Scarabs colon-izing vulnerable servers
Analysis of Spacecolon, a toolset used to deploy Scarab ransomware on vulnerable servers, and its operators, CosmicBeetle...
Evacuation of 30,000 hackers – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
DEF CON, the annual hacker convention in Las Vegas, was interrupted on Saturday evening when authorities evacuated the event's venue due to a bomb threat...
DEF CON 31: US DoD urges hackers to go and hack ‘AI’
The limits of current AI need to be tested before we can rely on their output...
DEF CON 31: Robot vacuums may be doing more than they claim
When it comes to privacy, it remains complicated and near impossible for a consumer to make an informed decision....
20k security folks in the desert – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
Unsurprisingly, artificial intelligence took the center stage at this year's edition of Black Hat, one of the world's largest gatherings of cybersecurity professionals...
Black Hat 2023: How AI changes the monetization of search
Search engines, AI, and monetization in the new era...
Black Hat 2023: Hacking the police (at least their radios)
Hiding behind a black box and hoping no one will hack it has been routinely proven to be unwise and less secure....
A Bard’s Tale – how fake AI bots try to install malware
The AI race is on! It’s easy to lose track of the latest developments and possibilities, and yet everyone wants to see firsthand what the hype is about. Heydays for cybercriminals!...
Black Hat 2023: ‘Teenage’ AI not enough for cyberthreat intelligence
Current LLMs are just not mature enough for high-level tasks...
Black Hat 2023: AI gets big defender prize money
Black Hat is big on AI this year, and for a good reason...
Black Hat 2023: Cyberwar fire-and-forget-me-not
What happens to cyberweapons after a cyberwar?...
Mass-spreading campaign targeting Zimbra users
ESET researchers have observed a new phishing campaign targeting users of the Zimbra Collaboration email server....
Telekopye: Hunting Mammoths using Telegram bot
Analysis of Telegram bot that helps cybercriminals scam people on online marketplaces...
Check cybersecurity pre-invest – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
When you invest in a company, do you check its cybersecurity? The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted new cybersecurity rules....
MoustachedBouncer: Espionage against foreign diplomats in Belarus
Long-term espionage against diplomats, leveraging email-based C&C protocols, C++ modular backdoors, and adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) attacks… Sounds like the infamous Turla? Think again!...
Time is money, and online game scammers have lots of it
Gamers and cybersecurity professionals have something in common – the ever-terrible presence of hacking, scams, and data theft – but how and why would anyone want to target gamers?...
Is backdoor access oppressive? – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
Bills granting access to end-to-end encrypted systems, opportunity for cybercriminals, abuse by authority, human rights, and tech companies leaving the UK?...
The grand theft of Jake Moore’s voice: The concept of a virtual kidnap
With powerful AI, it doesn’t take much to fake a person virtually, and while there are some limitations, voice-cloning can have some dangerous consequences....
Fingerprints all over: Can browser fingerprinting increase website security?
Browser fingerprinting is supposedly a more privacy-conscious tracking method, replacing personal information with more general data. But is it a valid promise?...
Quantum computing: Will it break crypto security within a few years?
Current cryptographic security methods watch out - quantum computing is coming for your lunch....
Gathering dust and data: How robotic vacuums can spy on you
Mitigate the risk of data leaks with a careful review of the product and the proper settings....
Dear all, What are some common subject lines in phishing emails?
Scammers exploit current ongoing events, account notifications, corporate communication, and a sense of urgency....
What happens if AI is wrong? – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
Responses generated by ChatGPT about individual people could be misleading or harmful or spill their personal information. What are the takeaways for you as a ChatGPT user?...
8 common work-from-home scams to avoid
That ‘employer’ you’re speaking to may in reality be after your personal information, your money or your help with their illegal activities...
Protect yourself from ticketing scams ahead of the Premier League Summer Series USA Tour
There is a significant secondary marketplace where tickets can sell for several times their original value, opening the opportunity for scammers and fraud...
Child identity theft: how do I keep my kids’ personal data safe?
Why is kids’ personal information in high demand, how do criminals steal it, and what can parents do to help prevent child identity theft?...
Key findings from ESET Threat Report H1 2023 – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
Here's how cybercriminals have adjusted their tactics in response to Microsoft's stricter security policies, plus other interesting findings from ESET's new Threat Report...
The danger within: 5 steps you can take to combat insider threats
Some threats may be closer than you think. Are security risks that originate from your own trusted employees on your radar?...
ESET Research Podcast: Finding the mythical BlackLotus bootkit
Here's a story of how an analysis of a supposed game cheat turned into the discovery of a powerful UEFI threat...
ESET Threat Report H1 2023
A view of the H1 2023 threat landscape as seen by ESET telemetry and from the perspective of ESET threat detection and research experts...
Emotet: sold or on vacation? – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
Originally a banking trojan, Emotet later evolved into a full-blown botnet and went on to become one of the most dangerous cyberthreats worldwide...
What’s up with Emotet?
A brief summary of what happened with Emotet since its comeback in November 2021...
Deepfaking it: What to know about deepfake-driven sextortion schemes
Criminals increasingly create deepfake nudes from people’s benign public photos in order to extort money from them, the FBI warns...
Verizon 2023 DBIR: What’s new this year and top takeaways for SMBs
Here are some of the key insights on the evolving data breach landscape as revealed by Verizon’s analysis of more than 16,000 incidents...
The good, the bad and the ugly of AI – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
The growing use of synthetic media and the difficulties in distinguishing between real and fake content raise a slew of legal and ethical questions...
Employee monitoring: Is ‘bossware’ right for your company?
While employee monitoring software may boost productivity, it may also be a potential privacy minefield and it can affect your relationship with your employees...
School’s out for summer, but it’s not time to let your cyber guard down
The beginning of the summer break is the perfect time for parents to remind their children about the importance of safe online habits...
What to know about the MOVEit hack – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
The US government has now announced a bounty of $10 million for intel linking the Cl0p ransomware gang to a foreign government...
Maltego: Check how exposed you are online
A primer on how to use this powerful tool for uncovering and connecting information from publicly available sources...
Going on vacation soon? Stay one step ahead of travel scams
From bogus free trips to fake rental homes, here are some of the most common online threats you should look out for both before and during your travels...
Passwords out, passkeys in: are you ready to make the switch?
With passkeys poised for prime time, passwords seem passé. What are the main benefits of ditching one in favor of the other?...
Is a RAT stealing your files? – Week in security with Tony Anscombe
Could your Android phone be home to a remote access tool (RAT) that steals WhatsApp backups or performs other shenanigans?...
Stop Cyberbullying Day: Prevention is everyone's responsibility
Strategies for stopping and responding to cyberbullying require a concerted, community-wide effort involving parents, educators and children themselves...