SecureWorks' Counter Threat Unit Researchers, Joe Stewart and Jason Milletary, to Present at the 22nd Annual Forum of Incident Response and Security Team (FIRST) Conference

ATLANTA, June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Atlanta-based SecureWorks®, a leading, global provider of security services protecting 2,800 clients worldwide, announced today that its Counter Threat Unit(SM) (CTU) researchers, Joe Stewart and Jason Milletary, will present at the 22nd Annual FIRST Conference in Miami, FL, June 13-18. The Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) is a global non-profit organization dedicated to bringing together computer security incident response teams (CSIRTs), and includes response teams from over 200 corporations, government bodies, universities and other institutions spread across the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania.

Stewart's presentation titled, "BlackEnergy 2 Revealed" focuses on his discovery of a new variant of the BlackEnergy bot which is currently being used by hackers to steal money from Russian and Ukrainian banks. The new BlackEnergy botnet is also being used to launch Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks against many of the same banks it is targeting for cybertheft. The BlackEnergy botnet gained notoriety in 2008 when it was reportedly used in the cyber attacks against the country of Georgia during the Russia/Georgia conflict. The BlackEnergy 2 variant has evolved from a simple DDoS Trojan to a stealthy modular platform for spam, banking fraud and DoS.  

Milletary's presentation titled, "Understanding and Combating Man-in-the-Browser Attacks (MITB)" will discuss the evolution of malware that integrates itself into the functionality of a victim's web browser with the ultimate goal of performing sophisticated information theft attacks. Traditionally, these attacks were largely focused against the financial sector but indications show these types of attacks are now affecting more diverse targets. In this presentation, Milletary reviews several malware families that utilize MITB capabilities and discusses strategies for recognizing these threats and mitigation against these attacks.

In his role as Director of Malware Research for SecureWorks' CTU, Stewart is a frequent commentator on security issues for leading media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today. Stewart has presented his security research at many conferences worldwide, most recently at the Australian and Norwegian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) Conferences.  

Milletary is the Technical Director for Malware Analysis in SecureWorks' CTU with over 10 years of experience in Information Security, encompassing operations and research, including hands-on malware analysis. As a seasoned speaker on topics related to malicious code, Milletary has presented his work at numerous events worldwide. He is a recognized and well-respected subject matter expert on malware threats against the financial sector and e-commerce systems.

Stewart and Milletary work with the SecureWorks' CTU, a team of information security experts, to identify and analyze emerging threats and develop countermeasures to protect the critical information assets of SecureWorks' clients.

About the FIRST Conference

The annual FIRST conference provides a setting for conference participants to attend a wide range of presentations delivered by leading experts in both the CSIRT field and from the wider global security community. The conference also creates opportunities for networking, collaboration, and sharing technical information and management practices. Just as importantly, the conference enables attendees to meet their peers and build confidential relationships across corporate disciplines and geographical boundaries. For more information on the FIRST Conference, visit http://conference.first.org/.

About SecureWorks

SecureWorks is a market leading provider of world-class information security services with over 2,800 clients worldwide spanning North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific Rim. Organizations of all sizes, including more than ten percent of the Fortune 500, rely on SecureWorks to protect their assets, improve compliance and reduce costs. The combination of award-winning security technology, strong client service, and experienced security professionals makes SecureWorks the premier provider of information security services for any organization. Positioned in the Leader's Quadrant of Gartner's Magic Quadrant for MSSPs, SecureWorks has also won SC Magazine's "Best Managed Security Service" award for 2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009 and has been named to the Inc. 500, Inc. 5000 and the Deloitte lists of fastest-growing companies.  www.secureworks.com

SOURCE SecureWorks