August issue of VB published

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Aug 1, 2012

The August issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.

The August 2012 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or download in PDF or PRC (Kindle) format.

Some of the things this month's issue has in store are:

• IP addresses and privacy-sensitive data: a different point of view: '[In] the digital realm ... we tread very carefully and avoid reporting [incidents] for fear of divulging sensitive data, i.e. the IP address.' Wout de Natris.

• ZAccess detailed analysis: Recently, we have seen a new trend in ZAccess: less is more. In around March 2012, the aggressive self-defence technique had disappeared from some variants, and in June 2012, the whole rootkit was removed, making it a completely user-mode piece of malware. Neo Tan and Kyle Yang describe the details of the latest versions of ZAccess.

• Inside the ICE IX bot, descendent of Zeus: Aditya Sood and colleagues present an analysis of ICE IX bot, a descendent of the Zeus bot which demonstrates how one bot can give rise to another.

• Tussling with Tussie: There are multiple ways to hide the decoder, such as by forcing Windows to apply a relocation delta, or by using obscure instruction side effects. Now, W32/Tussie shows us a way to hide the encoded data. Peter Ferrie has the details.

• Garbage collection: As a form of anti-debugging/anti-emulation, some malicious programs insert garbage code within their instructions. Raul Alvarez looks at the use of garbage code and unsupported or rarely used APIs by recent malware.

Note: The August 2012 VB100 comparative review will be published as standalone article later in the month. As with all new VBSpam and VB100 reviews, the report will be available for non-subscribers to purchase as a standalone item (Virus Bulletin subscribers will be notified by email when the comparative is available to download). Non-subscribers can purchase VB100 reports here and VBSpam reports here.

Subscribers click here to access the issue.

If you are not already a subscriber why not take the chance to subscribe now.

Posted on 6 August 2012 by Virus Bulletin

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