VB Blog

VB2016 Call for Papers - Frequently Asked Questions

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 11, 2016

Are you interested in submitting an abstract for VB2016? We've answered some frequently asked questions about the Call for Papers, which closes next week.

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Throwback Thursday: Hash Woes

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Mar 10, 2016

This Throwback Thursday we go back to 2004, when the entire crypto community was abuzz with the news that a group of Chinese researchers had demonstrated flaws in a whole set of hash functions - VB took a closer look to clarify the situation and draw lessons from the incident.

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VB2015 paper: Mobile Banking Fraud via SMS in North America: Who's Doing it and How

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 2, 2016

Though SMS may have been claimed dead many time, it is still very much alive, and quite popular among mobile phishers. At VB2015, Adaptive Mobile researcher Cathal Mc Daid presented a paper various mobile phishing campaigns targeting North American banks.

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Throwback Thursday: Viruses on the Internet

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Feb 25, 2016

This Throwback Thursday VB heads back to 1996 when - long before the days of driveby downloads and exploit kits - VB published a report on the state of viruses on the Internet.

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RSA and BSides San Francisco

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 24, 2016

Next week, Virus Bulletin Editor Martijn Grooten will attend the RSA conference in San Francisco, where he will give a talk entitled "How Broken Is Our Crypto Really?" He will also speak at BSides San Francisco, where he will give a talk entitled "Elliptic Curve Cryptography for Those Who are Afraid of Mathematics".

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Virus Bulletin publishes first web filter test report

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 19, 2016

After a lot of preparation, Virus Bulletin is proud to have published the first "VBWeb" comparative web filter test report, in which products' ability to block web-based malware and drive-by downloads was tested. Fortinet's FortiGuard appliance was the first product to achieve a VBWeb certification.

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VB2015 paper: Will Android Trojans, Worms or Rootkits Survive in SEAndroid and Containerization?

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 18, 2016

Sophos researchers Rowland Yu and William Lee look at whether recent security enhancements to Android, such as SEAndroid and containerization, will be enough to defeat future malware threats.

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First six VB2016 sponsors announced

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 17, 2016

Virus Bulletin is excited to announce the first six sponsors for VB2016, the 26th international Virus Bulletin conference, which will take place in Denver, Colorado, USA 5-7 October 2016.

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VB2015 paper: Sizing cybercrime: incidents and accidents, hints and allegations

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 11, 2016

Cybercrime is big. But how big is it really? In a paper presented at VB2015 and together with the presentation video published on our website today, ESET researcher Stephen Cobb looks at previous studies that attempt the size of cybercrime and asks why we need such data and what can be done better.

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Throwback Thursday: The Thin Blue Line

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Feb 11, 2016

This Throwback Thursday, VB heads back to 1994 when UK Fraud Squad detectives started making inroads into the most puzzling 'Whodunnit' since the Great Train Robbery. Had an outbreak of computer crime swept Britain? No, it was all part of a police training program.

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VB2017 video: Spora: the saga continues a.k.a. how to ruin your research in a week

Today, we publish the video of the VB2017 presentation by Avast researcher Jakub Kroustek and his former colleague Előd Kironský, now at ESET, who told the story of Spora, one of of the most prominent ransomware families of 2017.
First discovered at the beginning of the year, the Spora ransomware has become one of of the most prominent ransomware families of 2017, especially in Russia, a region it appears… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/12/vb2017-video-spora-saga-continues-k-how-ruin-your-research-week/

Stuxnet infected Natanz plant via carefully selected targets rather than escape from it

Five initial victims of infamous worm named.
Five initial victims of infamous worm named. Today, as Wired journalist Kim Zetter publishes her book Countdown to Zero Day on Stuxnet, researchers from Kaspersky and Symantec… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/11/stuxnet-infected-natanz-plant-carefully-selected-targets-rather-escape-it/

Paper: Learning about Bflient through sample analysis

Flexible module-handling mechanism allows malware to adjust functionalities at will.
Flexible module-handling mechanism allows malware to adjust functionalities at will. The history of the 'Bflient' worm goes back to the discovery of its first variants in June… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/07/paper-learning-about-bflient-through-sample-analysis/

Flame worm one of the most complex threats ever discovered

Malware possibly used for cyber-espionage.
Malware possibly used for cyber-espionage. The jury is out on whether 'Flame' (also known as 'Flamer' or 'Skywiper') is 'the most lethal cyberweapon to date' as some have claimed,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/05/flame-worm-one-most-complex-threats-ever-discovered/

Contract spam serving malware

Recipients made to believe they have been sent emails accidentally.
Recipients made to believe they have been sent emails accidentally. In a new campaign, spammers are sending out emails that have appear to have contracts attached to them, but… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/05/contract-spam-serving-malware/

Worm targets MS08-067 vulnerability

Exploit attack patches flaw once system penetrated.
Exploit attack patches flaw once system penetrated. A worm has been seen taking advantage of the vulnerability in Microsoft's Windows Server Service, patched out-of-cycle last… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/12/worm-targets-ms08-067-vulnerability/

Microsoft issues emergency patch

Out-of-cycle update fixes serious, wormable flaw.
Out-of-cycle update fixes serious, wormable flaw.Microsoft has issued an emergency update to cover a serious vulnerability in the Windows Server service, breaking its usual monthly… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/10/microsoft-issues-emergency-patch/

Trojan-to-worm automation tool spotted

GUI gizmo adds extra spreading menace to any malware.
GUI gizmo adds extra spreading menace to any malware. Researchers at Panda have discovered a simple and colourful graphical application designed to add basic worm techniques to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/06/trojan-worm-automation-tool-spotted/

Google Groups and Blogspot used to serve malware

Company finds own IP address to be serving most malware.
Company finds own IP address to be serving most malware.Malware writers have created thousands of Google Groups with the sole purpose of serving malware, Sunbelt reports. On the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/04/google-groups-and-blogspot-used-serve-malware/

April Storm

April Fools' Day emails contain new variant of infamous worm.
April Fools' Day emails contain new variant of infamous worm. Security researchers report a new wave of spam emails being sent out. The emails, which use subject lines such as… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/04/april-storm/

Microsoft research revives 'friendly worm' ideas

Malware techniques proposed as update-spreading method.
Malware techniques proposed as update-spreading method. A group of Microsoft researchers have put forward proposals to use worm techniques to spread patches and updates across… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/microsoft-research-revives-friendly-worm-ideas/

First virus-writing arrests in Japan

Winny worm authors brought to book - for copyright violation.
Winny worm authors brought to book - for copyright violation. Japan has seen its first ever arrests of virus writers, with three men taken into custody in Kyoto last week and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/01/first-virus-writing-arrests-japan/

Polyglot worm spreads through MSN

Worm changes language to target wide audience.
Worm changes language to target wide audience. A new worm has been discovered that spreads through MSN Messenger. Once active, the worm opens random TCP ports to connect to an IRC… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/01/polyglot-worm-spreads-through-msn/

Symbian worm sighted in the wild

Malware pretends to be media or image file.
Malware pretends to be media or image file. A new worm has been sighted in the wild that operates on the Symbian operating system, which is used on many mobile phones. The worm,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/01/symbian-worm-sighted-wild/

Batch of Dutch MP3 players ships with malware

Worm included as unwanted extra for music lovers.
Worm included as unwanted extra for music lovers. A shipment of MP3 players sold in recent months by Dutch firm Victory has been found to be infected with the Fujacks worm, which… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/01/batch-dutch-mp3-players-ships-malware/

Fujacks/Panda virus authors sentenced, offered job

Fujacks author put away for four years.
Fujacks author put away for four years. Four men who were charged last month with writing, selling and spreading the W32/Fujacks virus and worm (a.k.a. the 'Panda burning… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/09/fujacks-panda-virus-authors-sentenced-offered-job/

New worm spreading via Skype

Multilingual malware posing as porn in chat messages.
Multilingual malware posing as porn in chat messages. VoIP and chat system Skype has been targeted by another worm, sending chat messages to harvested contacts posing as links to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/09/new-worm-spreading-skype/

Four charged with writing Fujacks

Malware authors and sellers appear in Chinese court.
Malware authors and sellers appear in Chinese court. Four men have appeared in a public court in Hubei Province, China, charged with writing, selling and spreading the W32/Fujacks… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/four-charged-writing-fujacks/

AVK tops latest AV-Test charts

Top four beat 99% in large collection scan.
Top four beat 99% in large collection scan. Testers at AV-Test.org have run 29 products over a massive collection of malware samples, with detection rates measured against 874,822… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/avk-tops-latest-av-test-charts/

Trojans and worms hiding behind games

Mario latest lure to hook victims on malware.
Mario latest lure to hook victims on malware. Social engineering techniques used to trick computer users into running malicious code on their systems concentrate around simple… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/trojans-and-worms-hiding-behind-games/

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