Eddy Willems

Eddy Willems is a Belgian computer security expert and author of security blogs and books, active in international computer security organizations and as a speaker at information security-related events.

Eddy Willems
Born1962
Alma materIHRB Anderlecht
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Scientific career
FieldsAuthor
Information security
Malware

Career

Eddy Willems has been a security evangelist at German security software specialist G DATA since the beginning of 2010.[1] He is involved in anti-malware and security research, consultancy, training and communication programs with press, resellers and end-users, as a security evangelist.

He started his career as a systems analyst in 1984, and while working at an insurance company he was challenged in 1989 by a Trojan incident, in fact a very early version of ‘ransomware’ malware, the AIDS Trojan Horse. His system got infected by inserting a (5.25’’) floppy with ‘aids/HIV’-related information (a questionnaire), resulting in a lock down of his system and a request to pay $189.[2] Figuring out how to get around this malware kindled Eddy Willems’ interest in computer viruses and resulted in a well received solution for this Trojan malware. Furthermore, it kick started his anti-virus and anti-malware career. Ever since, Eddy Willems compiles and maintains a reference library on the subject of viruses and malware.

Eddy Willems developed his career as security specialist initially at an insurance company (De Vaderlandsche – today part of P&V), followed by an added value distributor of security products (anti-virus expert at NOXS - a Westcon Group company) and at security software specialist Kaspersky Lab (Benelux, security evangelist).[3]

As his expertise grew, Eddy Willems joined international computer security organizations. In 1991, he became a founding father of EICAR (the European Institute for Computer Anti-Virus Research).[4] In 1995, he joined Joe Wells’ Virus Wildlist, reporting for Belgium, Luxembourg & for EICAR Europe. In May 2005, he became a board member of EICAR, as director of Press and Information. In 2009, he took up the position of director for Security AV Industry Relationships.[5] In 2010, Eddy Willems became a member and PR officer of AMTSO, the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization, joining its board in May 2012.[6]

In Belgium, Eddy Willems was a member of the first government initiated e-security team, on the website of the telecom regulator BIPT-IBPT.[7] In 2015, he joined the board of LSEC – Leaders in Security, an association grouping security companies active in Belgium and EU.[8]

Eddy Willems is active on the speakers circuit, with presentations for companies and consumers, as well as at conferences (see Publications section). [9] [10] .[11] [12]

He has been asked for comments and opinions by radio and TV-stations, both international (CNN,[13] Al Jazeera [14]) and national (Belgium: VRT,[15] VTM [16]), and national newspapers (De Standaard,[17] De Morgen [18]). Eddy Willems regularly publishes opinions in ict-magazines, as Data News (Belgium)[19] and ZDnet.be.[20]

Education
  • IHRB 1982-1984, computer sciences
  • Vrije Universiteit Brussel 1980-1982, computer sciences

Publications
  • Willems, Eddy (2013). Cybergevaar [Cyberdanger] (in Dutch). Netherlands: Lannoo. ISBN 978-9-401-412537. This is a book detailing the dangers and solutions regarding computer security,[21] targeting a readership of consumers and small business. It sketched the history of computer viruses and malware, specific cases, as well as tips and solutions to protect against viruses and malware.[22]
  • Willems, Eddy (2015). Cybergefahr [Cyberdanger] (in German). Germany: Springer. ISBN 978-3-658-04761-0. This is an updated edition translated into German.[23]
  • Willems, Eddy (2019). Cyberdanger. Springer. ISBN 978-3-030-04531-9. An English edition of Cybergevaar (as 'Cyberdanger'), translated and updated, was published in June 2019.
  • Major security white papers and articles include:

Personal

Eddy Willems is married and has a son.

See also

References
  1. "G Data Benelux breidt team uit met Security Evangelist Eddy Willems (Dutch)".
  2. "'We may think of ransomware as a modern invention, but the genius idea at the centre of it dates back more than two decades'".
  3. "'Eddy Willems stapt over naar G Data' (Dutch)".
  4. Willems, Eddy (June 2003). "The Winds Of Change - Updates To The EICAR Test File (Article)" (PDF). Virus Bulletin. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. "EICAR Board retrieved July 11th 2017".
  6. "AMTSO Board retrieved July 11th 2017".
  7. "'Vreselijkste superworm ooit' bedreigt miljoenen computers (Dutch)".
  8. "LSEC Board retrieved July 11th 2017".
  9. "BIO Eddy Willems ReadMyLips Website - Public Speaker".
  10. "Virus Bulletin Conference 2005 Teach your children well (Paper)".
  11. "Virus bulletin Conference 2010 Attacks from the Inside (Paper)".
  12. "Test Files and Product Evaluation: the Case for and against Malware Simulation (Paper)". AVAR Conference 2010.
  13. "CNN Transcript Interview Richard Quest with Eddy Willems: The Cloud and Security".
  14. "Appearances International Media".
  15. "VRT Radio Search".
  16. "VTM news - Cyberattack in Belgium".
  17. "De Standaard Newspaper Eddy Willems Search".
  18. "De Morgen Newspaper - WannaCry comments".
  19. "DataNews opinions by Eddy Willems".
  20. "ZDNet Belgium opinions by Eddy Willems".
  21. Grooten, Martijn (24 February 2014). "'Cyberdanger' informs general audience of IT security". Virus Bulletin. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  22. "Cybergevaar (first book by Eddy Willems)".
  23. "Cybergefahr (second book by Eddy Willems - translation and update of the original 'Cybergevaar')".
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