Stephen Cobb

Stephen Cobb

Senior Security Researcher


Education: Master of Science in Security and Risk Management, University of Leicester, UK

Highlights of your career? The Stephen Cobb Guide to PC and LAN Security (1992); The first anti-spam router (2001); Privacy for Business (2002); TEDx talk (2015)

Position and history at ESET? Joined ESET: 2011. Current title: Senior Security Researcher

What malware do you hate the most? State sponsored.

Favorite activities? Reading and writing, and some arithmetic.

What is your golden rule for cyberspace? Don’t put anything on the internet you wouldn’t want your mother to see.

When did you get your first computer and what kind was it? 1982 KayPro II portable computer with dual floppy drives, weighing 26 lbs or 12 Kg.

Favorite computer game/activity? Reading Wikipedia.


224 articles by Stephen Cobb

Less Technical

Cybercrime deterrence: 6 important steps

Cybercrime deterrence: 6 important steps

Less Technical

Cybercrime deterrence: 6 important steps

Cybercrime: there's too much of it, and we need to do more to deter it. With the President of the United States now making frequent references to "doing more about cybercrime" now is a good time to look at what steps must be taken.

Stephen Cobb20 Jan 201512 min. read


Less Technical

Cybersecurity and commitment: issues in the fight against cybercrime

Cybersecurity and commitment: issues in the fight against cybercrime

Less Technical

Cybersecurity and commitment: issues in the fight against cybercrime

Cybersecurity and cybercrime are a hot political topic in America these days, but a history of ignoring warning signs suggests a lack of commitment to acting on the rhetoric.

Stephen Cobb18 Jan 20156 min. read


Less Technical

2015: The cybersecurity threatscape for the year ahead

2015: The cybersecurity threatscape for the year ahead

Less Technical

2015: The cybersecurity threatscape for the year ahead

Presenting a recorded webinar that seeks to answer this question: How is the landscape changing for cybersecurity and what do businesses need to know to protect themselves?

Stephen Cobb14 Jan 20151 min. read


Less Technical

5 reasons not to "hack back"

5 reasons not to "hack back"

Less Technical

5 reasons not to "hack back"

Are hacking victims "hacking back"? That question was recently posed in headlines like this one from Bloomberg: FBI Investigating Whether Companies Are Engaged in Revenge Hacking. The Marketplace reporter, Ben Johnson, speculated that 2015 might be the year of "hacking back" when he asked me about revenge hacking.

Stephen Cobb07 Jan 20157 min. read


Less Technical

The Sony Pictures Hack: 5 short sharp lessons we all can learn

The Sony Pictures Hack: 5 short sharp lessons we all can learn

Less Technical

The Sony Pictures Hack: 5 short sharp lessons we all can learn

The recent hacking of Sony Pictures offers valuable lessons in cybersecurity from which every company and consumer can learn.

Stephen Cobb22 Dec 20145 min. read


Less Technical

Target breach 12 months on: a year of lessons learned

Target breach 12 months on: a year of lessons learned

Less Technical

Target breach 12 months on: a year of lessons learned

Stephen Cobb18 Dec 20148 min. read


Less Technical

Privacy and security post-Snowden: Pew Research parallels ESET findings

Privacy and security post-Snowden: Pew Research parallels ESET findings

Less Technical

Privacy and security post-Snowden: Pew Research parallels ESET findings

Privacy and security online are hot button topics in America today, as a new survey by the Pew Research Center confirms, mirroring similar results from two different privacy and security surveys conducted by ESET.

Stephen Cobb17 Nov 20146 min. read


Less Technical

Top Cyber Security Awareness Month themes, topics, and resources

Top Cyber Security Awareness Month themes, topics, and resources

Less Technical

Top Cyber Security Awareness Month themes, topics, and resources

National Cyber Security Awareness Month happens every October and NCSAM 2014 has seen more events and resources than ever. This recorded webinar discusses the top topics of NCSAM 2014, from the shortage of skilled cybersecurity workers to the Internet of Things (IoT).

Stephen Cobb29 Oct 20141 min. read


Less Technical

Botnet malware: What it is and how to fight it

Botnet malware: What it is and how to fight it

Less Technical

Botnet malware: What it is and how to fight it

Malware or malicious computer code has been around in some form or other for over 40 years, but the use of malware to take control of a group of computers that are then organized into something called a botnet is more a twenty-first century phenomenon.

Stephen Cobb22 Oct 20145 min. read