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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693 Articles

OfferLoader: Fake Installers Can Deliver Several Malware Payloads

A new Unit 42 report links OfferLoader to fake gaming tools and…

Brendan Smith

PingSender.exe After Firefox Closes: Is It Safe?

PingSender.exe can send Firefox telemetry after the browser closes. Check the file,…

Brendan Smith

SIHClient.exe: Check a Network or Antivirus Alert

Check the exact SIHClient.exe behind a network or antivirus alert. Verify its…

Brendan Smith

Memory Compression High RAM: Find What Is Using Memory

Memory Compression using high RAM? Read Task Manager correctly, separate app and…

Brendan Smith

Microsoft Compatibility Telemetry High CPU: Trace the Appraiser

Microsoft Compatibility Telemetry using high CPU or disk? Check CompatTelRunner, task history,…

Brendan Smith

WSAPPX High CPU or Disk: Find the Stuck Store App

WSAPPX using high CPU, disk, or memory? Identify a stuck Microsoft Store…

Brendan Smith

Secure System High Memory: Check VBS Before Disabling It

Secure System using too much RAM? Check the actual memory trend, VBS…

Brendan Smith

System Interrupts High CPU: Find the Driver or Device

Diagnose System Interrupts high CPU on Windows 11. Isolate USB devices, compare…

Brendan Smith

AppHostRegistrationVerifier.exe: Check a Firewall Alert

See what AppHostRegistrationVerifier.exe does, verify its Windows signature and network destination, and…

Brendan Smith

PackClient RAT: A Tax Notice Can Leave Persistent Access

PackClient tax lures deliver a Windows RAT with a restart guard. Check…

Brendan Smith

StreamRat Android Trojan: Stop the Fake Streaming Install

StreamRat installers can block Internet access while seeking phone control. Check which…

Brendan Smith

Defender Says It Is Turned Off: Verify Protection First

Microsoft confirms false Defender-off alerts. Check the active antivirus provider and read-only…

Brendan Smith

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