ESET Research podcast

How I (could’ve) stolen your corporate secrets for $100

What do you need to break into a corporate network? ESET’s latest research suggests that interest in secondhand computer hardware, a bit of time, and $100 is more than enough. In this episode, ESET Specialized Security Researcher Cameron Camp explains to host Aryeh Goretsky what secrets he found on secondhand routers bought online, what types of companies he would be able to penetrate with that information, and how to securely wipe devices before selling them. Cameron presented the topic at this year’s RSA Conference in San Francisco and published on WeLiveSecurity.com.
Host:
Aryeh Goretsky, ESET Distinguished Researcher
Guests:
Cameron Camp, ESET Specialized Security Researcher
Materials:
Blogpost Discarded, not destroyed: Old routers reveal corporate secrets
White paper How I (could’ve) stolen your corporate secrets for $100

The year of wipers

Since the Russian invasion on February 24th, 2022, Ukrainians have had to defend their data against an unprecedented number of data-wiping malware variants. While Russian threat actors seem like the obvious culprits, attributing these attacks to specific groups based on evidence is a different beast. In this podcast episode, ESET researchers Anton Cherepanov and Robert Lipovský explain to the host Aryeh Goretsky what pointed them to the crucial samples, how they pinned some of the attacks on the Russian cybergroup probably most notorious for NotPetya and Industroyer. The guests of this episode also offer their recollection of the events of February 23rd, 2022; compare HermeticWiper to its successors; and reveal the range of operating systems that were targeted as well as the level of success achieved by the attacks.
Host:
Aryeh Goretsky, ESET Distinguished Researcher
Guests:
Anton Cherepanov, ESET Senior Researcher
Robert Lipovský, ESET Principal Researcher
Blogposts:
A year of wiper attacks in Ukraine
Episode from March 2022: Past and present cyberwar in Ukraine
 

Threat Report T3 2022

In the last four months of 2022, Russia-aligned APT groups unleashed several data-destroying malware variants on Ukraine. Android detections grew rapidly, while most of the crimeware scene continued on a downward spiral. In this ESET Research Podcast episode, Aryeh Goretsky and Ondrej Kubovic explore trends in several threat areas, including ransomware, exploits used for initial access, and more. For additional security research topics, visit WeLiveSecurity.
Host: Aryeh Goretsky, ESET Distinguished Researcher
Guest: Ondrej Kubovic, Security Awareness Specialist
Read more @WeLiveSecurity.com and @ESETresearch on Twitter
Reports:
ESET Threat Report T3 2022
ESET APT Activity Report T3 2022

Tech in a digital vacuum

Let’s say your network access gets shut off from the rest of the world due to a catastrophic event. Whether it is a natural disaster, an armed conflict, a decision of an authoritarian regime or your connection is just squeezed to a trickle by overzealous network restriction and power grid issues; how secure will you be and for how long? In this episode of ESET Research Podcast, Aryeh Goretsky and Cameron Camp look at this scenario and its implications for the cybersecurity of one’s devices.
Host: Aryeh Goretsky, ESET Distinguished Researcher
Guests: Cameron Camp, ESET Specialized Security Engineer
Read more @WeLiveSecurity.com and @ESETresearch Twitter
Blogposts: 
How long would your tech work in a digital vacuum?
 

Threat Report T2 2022

Looking at the ESET telemetry data from May through August 2022, it seems like the cybercriminal scene has taken taking its foot off the pedal in almost every possible area. But what is the reason for the drop? We expand on the brutal decline in RDP brute-force attacks; changes observed around ransomware messaging and targeting, but we also mention one malware category, where the decline did not apply.
Host: Aryeh Goretsky, ESET Distinguished Researcher
Guests: Ondrej Kubovic, Security Awareness Specialist
Read more @WeLiveSecurity.com and @ESETresearch Twitter
Blogposts:
ESET Threat Report T2 2022

Live from RSAC 2022

This is an ESET Research Podcast special, recorded at RSA Conference 2022, the world's largest conference devoted entirely to information security. It is also a double feature: first, ESET’s top machine-learning experts Juraj Jánošík and Filip Mazán discuss the use of artificial intelligence in the industry, and how it compares with the claims presented on the expo floor and in the talks they’ve seen; in the second section, ESET Specialized Researcher Cameron Camp offers his insights into the security of medical devices, another hot topic of this year’s RSAC.
Host: Aryeh Goretsky, ESET Distinguished Researcher
Guests: Juraj Jánošík, ESET Head of Automated Threat Detection; Filip Mazán, ESET Senior Machine Learning Engineer; Cameron Camp, ESET Specialized Security Engineer; Ondrej Kubovič, ESET Security Awareness Specialist
Read more @WeLiveSecurity.com and @ESETresearch Twitter
 

ESPecter

As Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) replaced legacy BIOS as the leading technology embedded into chips of modern computers and devices, it became vital to the security of the pre-OS environment and to the loading of the operating system. It’s no surprise that such a widespread technology represents a tempting target for threat actors in their search for ultimate persistence.
Listen to the latest episode of ESET Research podcast to find out more about ESPecter, the latest real-world espionage malware targeting the UEFI space, namely the EFI System Partition.
Host: Aryeh Goretsky, ESET Distinguished Researcher
Guests: Jean-Ian Boutin, ESET Head of Threat Research, Martin Smolár, ESET Malware Researcher
Read more @WeLiveSecurity.com and @ESETresearch Twitter
Blogposts:
UEFI threats moving to the ESP: Introducing ESPecter bootkit

Past and present cyberwar in Ukraine

Long before the first Russian soldier set his foot on Ukrainian soil, the country has been a target of sophisticated digital operations, spying on its officials, and sabotaging its critical infrastructure and other sectors. It was even the initial ground for the most destructive cyberattack in history, known as NotPetya. 
That trend continues also during the current crisis as ESET researchers uncovered an array of new, advanced cyberthreats infiltrating Ukrainian organizations with a single goal - to cause as much damage as possible. Apart from describing their capabilities, we provide context and explain when such attacks against Ukraine started, how they evolved over time, which of them could be considered successful, and what to expect in the future.
Host:
Aryeh Goretsky, ESET Distinguished Researcher
Guests:
Jean-Ian Boutin, ESET Head of Threat Research
Robert Lipovský, ESET Malware Researcher
 
Read more @WeLiveSecurity.com and @ESETresearch Twitter
Blogposts and other resources:
IsaacWiper and HermeticWizard: New wiper and worm targeting Ukraine
Ukraine Crisis – Digital Security Resource Center