Head of Threat Research, Kaspersky
As Head of Threat Research team, Alexander leads top experts on protection from cyberthreats and is responsible for organizing, conducting researches aimed to obtain valuable cyber threat intelligence. The expertise gained from these researches provides the foundation for the further development of Kaspersky's cybersecurity solutions, enabling instantly response to new threats, providing reliable protection against them across all platforms. Alexander joined Kaspersky in 2006 as a malware analyst in the Packed Objects Analysis Group. Within this role he acquired great experience in reverse engineering and software development. In 2013, he became a leader in the Heuristic Detection Group and, several years later, the group’s manager. The division provided generic detections for all kinds of threats as well as developing malware detection methods. As a lead malware analyst, Alexander designed and developed a number of technologies that currently form the basis of Kaspersky’s anti-virus engine. In 2018, Alexander became Head of the Heuristic Detection and Vulnerability Research Team. The team was responsible for heuristic and generic malware detection, developing new threat protection technologies, static and dynamic exploit detection, vulnerability assessment and patch management, packed objects analysis and format parsers. In 2019, Alexander became Head of Anti-Malware Research. In this position he worked on improving threat detection, creating new technologies for protection against advanced threats, and the development of current malware detection mechanisms. Alexander graduated with honors from the Department of Mechanics and Mathematics at Moscow State University.Kaspersky analyzes SideWinder APT’s recent activity: new targets in the MiddleEast and Africa, post-exploitation tools and techniques.
Kaspersky shares insights into the activity and TTPs of the BlindEagle APT, which targets organizations and individuals in Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Panama and other Latin American countries.
Kaspersky has identified a new EastWind campaign targeting Russian organizations and using CloudSorcerer as well as APT31 and APT27 tools.
The report features the most significant developments relating to APT groups in Q2 2024, including the new backdoor in Linux utility XZ, a new RAT called SalmonQT, and hacktivist activity.