by Nart Villeneuve (Chief Research Officer, SecDev.cyber)
Introduction
Targeted attacks, known as “spear phishing,” are increasingly exploiting government and military themes in order to compromise defense contractors in the Unites States. [1] In 2009, the Washington Post reported that unknown attackers were able to break into a defense contractor and steal documents pertaining to the Joint [...]
The “Kneber” Botnet, Spear Phishing Attacks and Crimeware
Published: March 1, 2010
About the Author
Nart Villeneuve is a research fellow at the Citizen Lab, Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto. His research focuses on Internet censorship as well as the evasion tactics used to bypass Internet filtering systems. Nart is also a senior research associate at the Information Warfare Monitor where he studies electronic surveillance and digital attacks. 
Ron Deibert is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto. He is a co-founder and a principal investigator of the OpenNet Initiative (ONI) and the Information Warfare Monitor projects. He has published 32 articles, chapters and books on issues related to technology, media and world politics. His present area of research is the geopolitics of information and communication technologies. Ron has a PhD in Political Science from the University of British Columbia. 
Rafal Rohozinski is Principal of The SecDev Group and the former director of the Advanced Network Research Group, Cambridge Security Programme. He is a co-founder and Principal Investigator of the OpenNet Initiative (ONI) and Information Warfare Monitor, where he directs the work of researchers in the CIS, Asia and Middle East. He has over 17 years of field-based experience in 37 countries of the CIS, the Middle East, and Africa, working for the UN and other agencies as an expert on issues of security, governance, development, negotiations, strategic national programs, communications and IT. Rafal serves as the head of the advisory board of the Citizen Lab (Munk Center for International studies), and the Estonian e-Government Academy. His publications include a study of Information effects in counterinsurgency and stability operations for the US Army War College. 
Ron Deibert is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto. Rafal Rohozinski is Principal of The SecDev Group and the former director of the Advanced Network Research Group, Cambridge Security Programme.