Vladimir Kropotov
14 articles
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ResearchUnconventional Attack Surfaces: Identity Replication via Employee Digital Twins
In this second installment of a series exploring emerging AI-driven attack surfaces, TrendAI™ Research focuses on employee digital twins: AI replicas of employees that create new vectors for identity compromise, data exfiltration, and persistent access.
March 26th, 2026 34 minKirill Gelfand, Vladimir Kropotov, Dr. Fyodor Yarochkin, Robert McArdle
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ResearchAI Skills as an Emerging Attack Surface in Critical Sectors: Enhanced Capabilities, New Risks
AI skills bridge the gap between AI capabilities and real-world operations, but in doing so, they also introduce new risks and avenues for attack. We explore the challenges of AI skill adoption and provide a practical framework for secure deployment.
February 10th, 2026 13 minVladimir Kropotov, Dr. Fyodor Yarochkin, Kirill Gelfand
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ResearchHow Unmanaged AI Adoption Puts Your Enterprise at Risk
We challenge assumptions about AI models by revealing real-world biases and limitations, and the impact of poorly managed AI adoptions.
January 21st, 2026 4 minJosiah Hagen, Vladimir Kropotov, Robert McArdle, Dr. Fyodor Yarochkin
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ResearchComplexity and Visibility Gaps in Power Automate
Amid the rise of low-code automation, Microsoft Power Automate is becoming an attractive target for cybercriminals exploiting its complexity to evade detection and exfiltrate data – but demand for compromised enterprise assets is outstripping supply in the cybercriminal underground.
September 7th, 2025Stephen Hilt, Vladimir Kropotov, Dr. Fyodor Yarochkin, Benjamin Zigh
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ResearchDo Security Blogs Enable Vibe-Coded Cybercrime?
Security companies routinely publish detailed analyses of security incidents, making attacker tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) widely known and visible. These reports often provide comprehensive insights into specific vulnerabilities that are or could be exploited, malware delivery mechanisms, and evasion techniques.
September 4th, 2025 5 minRyan Flores, Numaan Huq, Vladimir Kropotov, Robert McArdle…
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ResearchThe Rise of Residential Proxies as a Cybercrime Enabler
This research discusses how residential proxies help cybercriminals bypass antifraud and IT security systems, and how vulnerabilities in the IoT supply chain are exploited where Android-based devices are shipped pre-infected.
May 27th, 2025Feike Hacquebord, Philippe Lin, Dr. Fyodor Yarochkin, Vladimir Kropotov
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ResearchThe Ever-Evolving Threat of the Russian-Speaking Cybercriminal Underground
We dive into one of the most sophisticated and impactful ecosystems within the global cybercrime landscape. Our research looks at tools and techniques, specialized forums, popular services, plus a deeply ingrained culture of secrecy and collaboration.
April 8th, 2025 11 minDr. Fyodor Yarochkin, Vladimir Kropotov, Robert McArdle
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ResearchIn Transit, Interconnected, at Risk: Cybersecurity Risks of Connected Cars
The use of connected cars continues to grow. While the vehicles’ link to technologies such as 5G and the cloud present opportunities for improving efficiency and safety, it can also attract risks from threat actors as well.
February 16th, 2021 4 minNumaan Huq, Craig Gibson, Vladimir Kropotov, Rainer Vosseler
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ResearchCybercriminal ‘Cloud of Logs’: The Emerging Underground Business of Selling Access to Stolen Data
We take a closer look at an emerging underground market that is driven by malicious actors who sell access to a gargantuan amount of stolen data, frequently advertised in the underground as “cloud of logs."
November 16th, 2020 22 minVladimir Kropotov, Dr. Fyodor Yarochkin
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ResearchInside the Bulletproof Hosting Business: Cybercriminal Methods and OpSec
Bulletproof hosting (BPH) services have long been crucial parts of the cybercriminal infrastructure. How do they protect malicious activities, and how do cybercriminals use them to stay in business?
October 6th, 2020 5 minVladimir Kropotov, Robert McArdle, Dr. Fyodor Yarochkin
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ResearchCommodified Cybercrime Infrastructure: Exploring the Underground Services Market for Cybercriminals
The provision of services, as well as the way criminals operate in the underground, have gone through many changes over the years to cater to the market’s different infrastructure demands.
September 1st, 2020 8 minVladimir Kropotov, Dr. Fyodor Yarochkin, Robert McArdle
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ResearchHacker Infrastructure and Underground Hosting 101:Where Are Cybercriminal Platforms Offered?
Underground platforms are part of a mature ecosystem for trading cybercrime goods and services. How does a capable hosting infrastructure allow illicit activities to thrive?
July 21st, 2020 5 minVladimir Kropotov, Robert McArdle, Dr. Fyodor Yarochkin
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ResearchUncovering IoT Threats in the Cybercrime Underground
Understanding current and future threats to the internet of things (IoT) can help shape how we secure this technology that is increasingly becoming integral to today's world. What insights can be reaped from the cybercrime underground?
September 10th, 2019 3 minStephen Hilt, Vladimir Kropotov, Fernando Mercês, Mayra Rosario…
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ResearchFake News and Cyber Propaganda: The Use and Abuse of Social Media
This research paper explores the tools and methods used to spread fake news and manipulate public opinion: the services that enable them, their appearance on social media sites, and the motivations behind these activities.
June 13th, 2017 4 minLion Gu, Vladimir Kropotov, Jonathan Leopando, John Estialbo
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