Amer Owaida

Amer Owaida

Security Writer


Education M.A. in translation and interpreting.

Highlights of your career Working as a copywriter and freelancing as a translator while thinking in the correct language.

Position and history at ESET Joined in the fall of 2019 as security writer.

What malware do you hate the most? Adware, annoying the living daylight out of me since forever.

Favorite activities Drinking coffee while reading a book, exploring new places, trying new things..

Golden rule for cyberspace Don’t trust and always verify, always use a Gandalf level adblocker.

When did you get your first computer and what kind was it? A Pentium 3 powered pc with a GeForce card lacking a pixel shader, around the year 2000 so dial up modems were still a thing.

Favorite computer game/activity Assassin’s Creed or God of War spinning myths and history in fun alternative ways.


339 articles by Amer Owaida

Almost $2 billion lost to BEC scams in 2020

Almost $2 billion lost to BEC scams in 2020

Almost $2 billion lost to BEC scams in 2020

Nearly half of reported cybercrime losses in 2020 were the result of BEC fraud, according to an FBI report

Amer Owaida • 23 Mar 2021 • 3 min. read


5 reasons why (not only) financial companies struggle with cybersecurity

5 reasons why (not only) financial companies struggle with cybersecurity

5 reasons why (not only) financial companies struggle with cybersecurity

Why do many organizations have a hard time keeping up with the evolving threat landscape and effectively managing their cyber-risks?

Amer Owaida • 22 Mar 2021 • 4 min. read


7 steps to staying safe and secure on Twitter

7 steps to staying safe and secure on Twitter

7 steps to staying safe and secure on Twitter

Follow these easy steps to prevent your Twitter account from being hacked and to remain safe while tweeting

Amer Owaida • 19 Mar 2021 • 4 min. read


FBI: Cybercrime losses topped US$4.2 billion in 2020

FBI: Cybercrime losses topped US$4.2 billion in 2020

FBI: Cybercrime losses topped US$4.2 billion in 2020

The Bureau received over 28,000 reports of COVID-19-themed scams last year

Amer Owaida • 18 Mar 2021 • 2 min. read


Beware of Android trojan posing as Clubhouse app

Beware of Android trojan posing as Clubhouse app

Beware of Android trojan posing as Clubhouse app

The malware can grab login credentials for more than 450 apps and bypass SMS-based two-factor authentication

Amer Owaida • 18 Mar 2021 • 3 min. read


Google fixes Chrome zero-day bug exploited in the wild

Google fixes Chrome zero-day bug exploited in the wild

Google fixes Chrome zero-day bug exploited in the wild

The latest update patches a total of five vulnerabilities affecting the browser’s desktop versions

Amer Owaida • 16 Mar 2021 • 2 min. read


PayPal fraud: What merchants should know

PayPal fraud: What merchants should know

PayPal fraud: What merchants should know

From overpayment to shipping scams, what are some of the most common threats that merchants using PayPal should watch out for?

Amer Owaida • 15 Mar 2021 • 4 min. read


WhatsApp may soon roll out encrypted chat backups

WhatsApp may soon roll out encrypted chat backups

WhatsApp may soon roll out encrypted chat backups

While chats are end-to-end encrypted, their backups are not – this may change soon

Amer Owaida • 09 Mar 2021 • 2 min. read


Women in cybersecurity: Gender gap narrows but not enough

Women in cybersecurity: Gender gap narrows but not enough

Women in cybersecurity: Gender gap narrows but not enough

The number of women joining the ranks of cybersecurity practitioners is steadily increasing, but a lot still needs to be done to close the gap

Amer Owaida • 08 Mar 2021 • 4 min. read