Brendan Smith

Brendan Smith has spent over 15 years knee-deep in cybersecurity, chasing down malware from the gritty reverse-engineering of old-school trojans all the way to wrangling full-blown incident responses for small-to-medium businesses that couldn’t afford a full-blown breach. Over at Gridinsoft, he’s the guy piecing together those double-checked guides on nasty stuff like AsyncRAT, a remote access tool used in malware campaigns—helping readers make sense of the threat and work through cleanup without the extra headache.
Cybersecurity Analyst
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726 Articles

Estart Center / E START App Removal After CrystalDiskInfo

Estart Center or E START App appeared after CrystalDiskInfo? Uninstall the bundle,…

Brendan Smith

Trojan:Win32/Egairtigado!rfn

Defender found Trojan:Win32/Egairtigado!rfn? Check the affected path, WinRAR Default.SFX context, false-positive signs,…

Brendan Smith

Potemkin Loader Turns ClickFix Into 11-Host Intrusion

A ClickFix command dropped Potemkin Loader, RMMProject and EtherRAT across 11+ hosts.…

Brendan Smith

Malware.AI Detection: False Positive or Malware?

Malware.AI is a Malwarebytes machine-learning detection. Learn when it may be a…

Brendan Smith

Accidentally Allowed a Threat in Windows Defender? Undo Allow

Clicked Allow on a Microsoft Defender threat by mistake? Revoke the allowed…

Brendan Smith

Trojan:Win32/Etset!rfn Alert: Removal Check

Defender found Trojan:Win32/Etset!rfn? Check Protection History, false-positive clues, repeat alerts, exclusions, startup…

Brendan Smith

Wallpaper Engine Malware: Steam Workshop Cleanup

Wallpaper Engine is legitimate, but malicious Steam Workshop application wallpapers can run…

Brendan Smith

OptinMonster CDN Backdoor Checks

WordPress sites using OptinMonster, TrustPulse, or PushEngage should check for rogue admin…

Brendan Smith

Trojan.Malware.300983.susgen

Learn what Trojan.Malware.300983.susgen means in VirusTotal results, when it is likely a…

Brendan Smith

Fake Slack Download Malware: Hidden Desktop Cleanup

Downloaded Slack from an unfamiliar site? Learn how fake Slack installers hide…

Brendan Smith

Windows Hello Fingerprint Not Working With Memory Integrity

Fingerprint sign-in failed after a Windows 11 reinstall? Check Windows Hello, biometric…

Brendan Smith

Microsoft Defender Platform cab96880 Sign-In Prompt: Is It Legit?

See what the Microsoft Defender Platform cab96880 sign-in prompt means, when it…

Brendan Smith

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