This week we began the celebration of the
first ever Antimalware Day, a global ESET initiative to reinforce the
importance of protection against computer threats. Why did we choose November 3
as the date to establish it? Because on that day, in 1983, Dr. Fred Cohen
created one of the first computer viruses as we now know them today, and
inspired his professor, Prof. Leonard Adleman, to coin the term for the first time.
Fred Cohen's experiments proved that
viruses could replicate quickly in and to other systems, and also that it was
necessary to develop multiple layered computer defense techniques against them.
From that moment, the search for countermeasures to protect the systems was
born and it became clear that we must work to improve them continuously. This search for a safer technological
environment is the same one that, some years later, inspired ESET to develop
its solutions, with the aim that users can enjoy safer technology. Today we
celebrate Antimalware Day hoping that more and more people will join this
search and contribute to achieve a more secure environment.
Being one step ahead of cybercriminals is a
24/7 job, 365 days a year, and no one can do it alone. Apart from us, there are
many experts, specialists, researchers, analysts, hackers, even executives and
government officials who work to make our digital world safer. Of course, we
always need more hands and we are facing a scarcity of professionals in
cybersecurity, but we know it is only a matter of time until more people decide
to join this mission.
Today we want to suggest that maybe you can
try it. If you are interested in our content and you see yourself often taking
precautions to protect yourself, teaching your friends to do so or being
curious about the behavior of computer threats, maybe it's time you consider
getting involved in cybersecurity. Of course, there are different profiles in
this area and not everyone enjoys the same activities. So we have prepared a quiz to help you
discover what your ideal job would be in the field of cybersecurity — according
to your abilities and interests. Your contribution is more necessary and
valuable than you think: so take the test and be a part of the antimalware
celebration!
Cybersecurity profiles: Discover your ideal
job!
[Outcomes]
·
Security Researcher
o
You
have amazing analysis and research skills and an unstoppable curiosity, a need
to always find out a little more. You enjoy finding flaws that nobody had spotted
before, studying and communicating them. In addition to the technical behavior
of threats, you are interested in their impact on users, society, and
organizations. You would make a great Security
Researcher.
·
Malware Analyst
o
Your
relationship with malicious codes is one a love/hate one. You are passionate
about learning about them, amazed by their tricks, and they inspire you to keep
digging because nothing can get past your radar. But you hate them, so bad,
because of everything they ruin. You are an expert in reverse engineering and
an enthusiastic detective. Your mission in this world is to unravel the
behavior of threats and be a step ahead of cybercriminals.
·
Security Evangelist
o
You
were born to be a medium: you communicate what happens in the technical world
to the users out there who are not so much related with it, or are simply not
interested (their miss!). Just because they do not have technical knowledge
does not mean that users should be left out of security awareness, and your
mission is to translate complex concepts into friendly messages for them, so
that they are also part of it and learn why and how they should protect their
data. You think everyone deserves to know and you are interested in teaching, sending
a message so that people understand you. However, if you encounter an equally
skilled expert, you won’t hesitate to lecture them as well!
·
Detection Engineer
o
You
are a logical person with detective skills, who loves finding logical and
behavioral patterns in the threats you analyze. Your passion is not the
behavior of the malware but the patterns behind it, and luckily, your
mathematical mentality allows you to calculate hashes and define signatures for
everything you see.
·
Pentester
o
You love the risk of being
caught, but are confident it won’t happen. You are a white hat smooth (not)criminal. You
like to break everything! Always finding the secret, hidden path to make your
way to enter any system. Your laptop and your pentesting tools are all you need
to survive.
·
CISO/SysAdmin
o
Your
mission is to protect the datacenter and the network, like a perimeter
guardian. If you are in charge, no one will pass. You are careful not only that
the systems are safe at the technical level, but that you also follow the
management closely. For you, security is not a concrete action but a process.
1. What’s more fun to do in front of a PC?
·
Finding
security flaws to report
·
Analyzing
the behavior of a malicious code
·
Teaching
friends and family to protect against cyber threats
·
Identifying
patterns to carry out a registry of malicious codes and matching them according
their behavior
·
Testing
the security level of a system or organization
·
Managing
the security of a system or organization
2. Your favorite type of malicious code to
work on is:
·
The
one that has capabilities never seen before
·
The
one that has an interesting programming logic
·
The
one from which you can learn a lot of lessons
·
The
one that imitates the behavior of others
·
The
one that allows an easy way into a system
·
The
least harmful and easier to protect from
3. The malicious code you hate the most is:
·
The
one you have been seeing for a while and has nothing new
·
The
one with anti-debugging techniques
·
The
one that is very hard to explain
·
The
one that is hard to identify and doesn’t fit any previous description
·
The
one that doesn’t do any real harm
·
The
one that can infect the whole network and disrupt the services of an
organization
4. What would be your ideal work
environment?
·
A
laboratory with many recent metrics and statistics
·
Any
room where you can read security news and use your PC loaded with hacking tools
·
A
laboratory with many malware samples and test environments
·
Anywhere
with many potential victims to use your laptop with Kali Linux
·
An
auditorium or classroom full of people eager to learn more about something
·
A
datacenter and many endpoints to protect
5. Pick one of these:
·
Steve Wozniak
·
Sherlock Holmes
·
Sheldon
Cooper
·
Alan
Turing
·
Profesor Xavier
·
Mr.
Robot’s Elliot Alderson
·
Optimus
Prime
·
The IT Crowd’s Maurice Moss