ESET Science Award launches its second annual edition

Bratislava – At a time when the world is relying on scientists and science to help with the coronavirus pandemic, ESET Science Award is launching its second annual recognition contest. Its aim is to recognize outstanding scientists working in Slovakia and introduce them to the public, as well as to showcase the essential role that science plays in society. The international jury will once again be chaired by a Nobel Prize winner this year.

In 2019, ESET Science Award launched its second annual edition to recognize exceptional scientists and academics working in Slovakia. Laureates of the first award include chemist Ján Tkáč, molecular biologist Ľubomíra Tóthová, and bioinformatics scientist Tomáš Vinař.

One of the objectives of the ESET Science Award is to highlight the important role of science and scientists within society. “Today more than ever we, as a society, recognize that scientific knowledge can save thousands of lives and help us make better decisions,” says Richard Marko, CEO of ESET. “Results of a survey conducted before the launch of this year’s award show that as much as 86 percent of respondents agree that Slovakia needs stronger support for science and research. We believe that by recognizing outstanding personalities in science, we will be able to increase the public’s interest in the field, thus increasing the state’s support for it.”

The jury that decides on the laureates consists of world-renowned and respected representatives of science disciplines from around the world. The jury assesses the short-listed scientists in terms of the quality of their scientific work and research and how these overlap with society, with an emphasis on international standards. A complex evaluation process includes both quantitative and qualitative criteria, taking into account the analysis of professional work and its benefits for society, communication, and scientific ethics and integrity.

This year, a top-level evaluation process is to be overseen by an international jury chairman who is a Nobel Prize winner. As the award organizer, the ESET Foundation is hopeful that, despite the current situation with the coronavirus pandemic, it will be able to secure the chairman’s participation in person. “Accepting the award from a Nobel Prize winner has been an exceptional moment in my scientific career. Despite the laureates being decided by a high-quality international scientific jury, I am pleased that this award comes not only from scientific circles but also from the wider community. It symbolizes that society is slowly starting to recognize the role of science in people’s everyday lives,” says Jan Tkáč, the 2019 laureate in the main category, Outstanding Individual Contributor to Slovak Science.

Scientists, researchers, and academics working in Slovakia have until May 28, 2020, to submit an application for the ESET Science Award via the esetscienceaward.sk website. Like last year, this year’s award is to be split into three categories – Outstanding Individual Contributor to Slovak Science, Exceptional Young Scientist in Slovakia under the Age of 35, and Outstanding Academic. The award covers four scientific areas: natural sciences, medical and pharmaceutical sciences, technical sciences, and agricultural sciences. An award ceremony to announce the laureates is planned for October 14, 2020, subject to change based on the coronavirus pandemic situation. For more information, visit www.esetscienceaward.sk.

 

 

About Version 2 Digital

Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About ESET
For 30 years, ESET® has been developing industry-leading IT security software and services for businesses and consumers worldwide. With solutions ranging from endpoint security to encryption and two-factor authentication, ESET’s high-performing, easy-to-use products give individuals and businesses the peace of mind to enjoy the full potential of their technology. ESET unobtrusively protects and monitors 24/7, updating defenses in real time to keep users safe and businesses running without interruption. Evolving threats require an evolving IT security company. Backed by R&D facilities worldwide, ESET became the first IT security company to earn 100 Virus Bulletin VB100 awards, identifying every single “in-the-wild” malware without interruption since 2003.

ESET researchers disrupt cryptomining botnet VictoryGate

BRATISLAVA, BUENOS AIRES – ESET researchers have recently discovered a previously undocumented botnet named VictoryGate. It has been active since at least May 2019, and is composed mainly of devices in Peru, where over 90% of the infected devices are located. The main activity of the botnet is mining Monero cryptocurrency. The victims include organizations in both public and private sectors, including financial institutions. Thanks to data obtained during this research and shared with the nonprofit Shadowserver Foundation, at least a portion of the botnet operation has been disrupted.

ESET researchers have been “sinkholing” several domain names that control the botnet’s actions, replacing them with machines that do not send the botnet’s slave computers the commands they expect, but simply monitor botnet activity. Based on this data and ESET telemetry, ESET estimates that at least 35,000 devices became infected with VictoryGate at one point or another during this campaign.

The only infection vector used for spreading VictoryGate is via removable devices. “The victim receives a USB drive that at some point was connected to an infected machine. It seemingly has all the files with the same names and icons that it contained before being infected. Because of this, the content will look almost identical at first glance. However, all the original files were replaced by a copy of the malware,” says ESET researcher Alan Warburton, who investigated the botnet. “When an unsuspecting user attempts to open one of these files, the script will open both the file that was intended and the malicious payload.”

Warburton also warns about the impact on victims’ machines: “There is very high resource usage by the botnet, resulting in a constant 90% to 99% CPU load. This slows down the device and can cause overheating and possible damage.”

According to ESET research, VictoryGate has made a much greater effort to avoid detection than in previous, similar campaigns observed in the Latam region. And, given the fact that the botmaster can update functionality of the payloads that are downloaded and executed on the infected devices from cryptomining to any other malicious activities at any given time, this poses a considerable risk. This is particularly true since many of the victims identified were in either the public sector or in financial institutions.

If you suspect your device may have been infected with this malware, you can use our free ESET Online Scanner to clean your machine. The first-stage module is detected by ESET security products as MSIL/VictoryGate.

The peak number of unique IP addresses connecting to the botnet command and control server per day.

For more technical details about the VictoryGate botnet, read the blogpost Following ESET’s discovery, a Monero mining botnet is disrupted on WeLiveSecurity. Make sure to follow ESET research on Twitter for the latest news from ESET Research.

 

 

About Version 2 Digital

Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About ESET
For 30 years, ESET® has been developing industry-leading IT security software and services for businesses and consumers worldwide. With solutions ranging from endpoint security to encryption and two-factor authentication, ESET’s high-performing, easy-to-use products give individuals and businesses the peace of mind to enjoy the full potential of their technology. ESET unobtrusively protects and monitors 24/7, updating defenses in real time to keep users safe and businesses running without interruption. Evolving threats require an evolving IT security company. Backed by R&D facilities worldwide, ESET became the first IT security company to earn 100 Virus Bulletin VB100 awards, identifying every single “in-the-wild” malware without interruption since 2003.

ESET Foundation has supported development of a diagnostic PCR test to detect the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19.

BRATISLAVA, April 14, 2020 – Scientists from the Slovak companies MultiplexDX, Lambda Life and ProScience Tech have joined forces with virologists from the Biomedical Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (BMC SAV) to develop a reagent kit according to World Health Organization (WHO) protocols for reliable SARS-CoV-2 detection. In the first phase they plan to produce and make available 100,000 PCR tests. The ESET Foundation supported the development of the kit and will finance the first 100,000 tests to be offered as an in-kind gift to the Slovak Republic.

Key components have been brought to the project by MultiplexDX, a company dedicated to developing and manufacturing various innovative molecular diagnostic reagents. The Slovak PCR test is currently being validated in cooperation with a team of scientists from the BMC SAV. Preliminary results of the new test not only show nominal functionality, but also good sensitivity compared to currently used diagnostics. “This means that our test is reliable and accurate and can help diagnose early stage patients. We can produce key components for 100,000 PCR tests within two weeks,” explained Pavol Čekan, founder of MultiplexDX.

“In the process of validation and subsequent registration of the resulting report, we are cooperating with the non-profit organization CCCT SK. This stage is estimated to take about three weeks,” said Adam Andráško of ProScience Tech.

“Virus detection consists of sample collection, RNA isolation and PCR diagnostics, with our joint efforts focused on the last step,” said Ivan Juráš of Lambda Life.

“I believe that the efforts of our scientists will be crowned with success, and that we will have sufficient PCR tests from our own resources for the task at hand, coronavirus detection. This will not only help Slovakia by providing much-needed testing, but will also create a reserve in case there is a shortage of tests globally,” noted Robert Mistrík from the permanent crisis staff.

The ESET Foundation supported the development of the test and provided funding for the first 100,000 units from its fund to support the effective diagnosis and prevention of COVID-19. These tests will be offered as a gift to Slovak state institutions. “When creating the fund, it was important for us to ensure effective mass-scale diagnostics, which can only be achieved through scientific cooperation. Such a critical situation reveals the importance of supporting science in Slovakia, which the ESET Foundation has been dedicated to for a long time,” said Richard Marko, CEO of ESET.

Production capacity, including the first 100,000 tests, will be available primarily to diagnostic laboratories on the Slovak market. “We are ready to cooperate with state laboratories, flexibly responding to their needs and supplying them efficiently. After satisfying the needs of Slovak laboratories, we can then direct our capacities to other countries that may need our products,” explained the authors of the test.

 

 

About Version 2 Digital

Version 2 Digital is one of the most dynamic IT companies in Asia. The company distributes a wide range of IT products across various areas including cyber security, cloud, data protection, end points, infrastructures, system monitoring, storage, networking, business productivity and communication products.

Through an extensive network of channels, point of sales, resellers, and partnership companies, Version 2 offers quality products and services which are highly acclaimed in the market. Its customers cover a wide spectrum which include Global 1000 enterprises, regional listed companies, different vertical industries, public utilities, Government, a vast number of successful SMEs, and consumers in various Asian cities.

About ESET
For 30 years, ESET® has been developing industry-leading IT security software and services for businesses and consumers worldwide. With solutions ranging from endpoint security to encryption and two-factor authentication, ESET’s high-performing, easy-to-use products give individuals and businesses the peace of mind to enjoy the full potential of their technology. ESET unobtrusively protects and monitors 24/7, updating defenses in real time to keep users safe and businesses running without interruption. Evolving threats require an evolving IT security company. Backed by R&D facilities worldwide, ESET became the first IT security company to earn 100 Virus Bulletin VB100 awards, identifying every single “in-the-wild” malware without interruption since 2003.