VB Blog

First sponsors of VB2017 announced

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 6, 2017

We are excited to announce the first five sponsors of VB2017, companies based in Europe, Asia and North America.

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Security products and HTTPS: let's do it better

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 27, 2017

A recent paper showed that many HTTPS-intercepting security solutions have implemented TLS rather poorly. Does that mean we should avoid such solutions altogether?

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The SHA-1 hashing algorithm has been 'shattered'

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 23, 2017

Researchers from Google and CWI Amsterdam have created the first known collision of the SHA-1 hashing algorithm, making a very strong case to ditch it.

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Throwback Thursday: Once a researcher...

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Feb 23, 2017

VB was saddened to learn this week of the passing of one of the pioneers of the AV industry, Ross Greenberg. This Throwback Thursday we look back at an interview with Ross in November 1995.

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VB2017: What is happening in the threat landscape and what are we doing against it? Submit a proposal in the VB2017 CFP!

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 20, 2017

Have you analysed a new online threat? Do you know a new way to defend against such threats? Then submit an abstract in the CFP for VB2017!

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VB2016 paper: APT reports and OPSEC evolution, or: these are not the APT reports you are looking for

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 17, 2017

APT reports are great for gaining an understanding of how advanced attack groups operate - however, they can also provide free QA for the threat actors. Today, we publish a VB2016 paper by Gadi Evron (Cymmetria) and Inbar Raz (Perimeter X), who discuss what they think is wrong with many APT reports and what can be done to improve them.

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Security for your ears: recommended infosec podcasts

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 14, 2017

Industry veteran Mikko Hyppönen recently urged would-be security researchers to ditch their favourite pop music and listen to security podcasts on their commute to work instead. Virus Bulletin Editor Martijn Grooten shares his favourite security podcasts.

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VB2016 video: Getting duped: piggybacking on webcam streams for surreptitious recordings

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 10, 2017

In a presentation at VB2016, Patrick Wardle, Director of Research at Synack, discussed the possibilities of Mac malware recording the user via the webcam. Today, we publish the video of Patrick's presentation.

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We shouldn't forget those most vulnerable in our digital world

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 9, 2017

Virus Bulletin Editor Martijn Grooten calls for the security community not to forget those most vulnerable in the digital world, including political activists living under oppressive regimes, and victims of abuse.

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Throwback Thursday: A troubled world

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Feb 9, 2017

In early 1991, the world was a troubled place and conflict and violence were being reported globally on a daily basis. With this as a backdrop, the world of "indiscriminate" computer viruses which "victimise in a random and unpredictable manner" seemed relatively trivial to then Editor of VB, Edward Wilding.

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Search blog

Vietnamese botnet-keeper arrested

Student launched DDoS attacks 'just for fun'.
Student launched DDoS attacks 'just for fun'. A Hanoi student who used the forums he ran to recruit and control a botnet has been arrested. The as-yet-unnamed youth used the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/vietnamese-botnet-keeper-arrested/

Virus writers continue targeting Microsoft's latest ideas

Another piece of malware for MS Powershell.
Another piece of malware for MS Powershell. Another piece of malware for Microsoft's Powershell is making the news. The script virus exploits the new command shell, formerly known… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/virus-writers-continue-targeting-microsoft-s-latest-ideas/

Apple releases patches - Mac debate rumbles on

Are Macs safer than Windows PCs? Oh yes they are... Oh no they're not.. etc.
Are Macs safer than Windows PCs? Oh yes they are... Oh no they're not.. etc. Spokespeople for various AV companies continue to add to the 'are Macs safer?' debate kicked off last… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/apple-releases-patches-mac-debate-rumbles/

Supermarket scammed by hacker employees

Supermarket sweep.
Supermarket sweep. In a plot mirroring the Mike Judge comedy Office Space, a team of supermarket employees in Manama created trojan software to tweak company databases and steal… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/supermarket-scammed-hacker-employees/

Rain of phish hits UK

Single botnet responsible for 8 million phishing emails.
Single botnet responsible for 8 million phishing emails. A single botnet has unleashed over 8 million phishing emails on UK targets over the last few days, according to mail… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/rain-phish-hits-uk/

Security products scoop sales top ten

Strong sales for security products in June.
Strong sales for security products in June. A hefty seven of the top 10 software products sold over the counter in June were security-related, according to sales tracking… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/security-products-scoop-sales-top-ten/

F-Secure announces healthy figures

Finnish AV firm shows strong performance.
Finnish AV firm shows strong performance.F-Secure's latest financial announcement reports a 35% growth in revenues, and an 88% growth in operating profits. The success is put down… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/f-secure-announces-healthy-figures/

Symantec, McAfee suffer bugs

Norton and VirusScan afflicted.
Norton and VirusScan afflicted.Symantec has issued details of a minor bug in its Norton AV software - a recent update left some users seeing confusing messages claiming the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/symantec-mcafee-suffer-bugs/

Interpol site spoofed

Beware fake international police organizations...
Beware fake international police organizations... Practitioners of ur-phish, the 419 scam, have set up a doctored mirror of Interpol's website, as a ruse to ease victims' worries… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/interpol-site-spoofed/

BBC hypes 'more than 95% spam rate'

Shock figure drawn from dubious source.
Shock figure drawn from dubious source. The BBC online news website has published an article under the headline 'More than 95% of e-mail is "junk"'. The report, which was linked… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/bbc-hypes-more-95-spam-rate/

Sysinternals goes the Microsoft way

Microsoft acquires company behind the Sysinternals range of freeware tools.
Microsoft acquires company behind the Sysinternals range of freeware tools.Microsoft announced the acquisition last month of privately held Winternals Software LP - the company… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/sysinternals-goes-microsoft-way/

Market consolidation

Mergers in the anti-spam market.
Mergers in the anti-spam market. Anti-spam and messaging security company CipherTrust announced last month that it is to be acquired by Secure Computing.CipherTrust - which… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/market-consolidation/

Anti-phishing best practices

Anti-phishing recommendations for ISPs and mailbox providers.
Anti-phishing recommendations for ISPs and mailbox providers. A new set of best practices to combat phishing has been released by the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/anti-phishing-best-practices/

Linux magazine prints rootkit how-to

Arming sys admins with all they need to know to write a rootkit...
Arming sys admins with all they need to know to write a rootkit... Imaginatively named magazine for Linux users Linux Magazine has published an article entitled 'How to write a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/linux-magazine-prints-rootkit-how/

New and revised laws

New anti-spam laws prepared and old ones revisited.
New anti-spam laws prepared and old ones revisited. One of the world's top spam-sending hot spots is currently preparing for the launch of its first anti-spam laws. Together with… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/new-and-revised-laws/

August issue of VB published

The August issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The August issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The August 2006 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/august-issue-vb-published/

August

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/

Supply of data to spammers stopped

Database thief charged.
Database thief charged. A US man has been charged with stealing a database of US physicians with the intention of selling it on to spammers. Forty-six-year-old William Bailey, Jr… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/supply-data-spammers-stopped/

More on the XP comparative

Setting the record straight.
Setting the record straight. In VB's June 2006 comparative review it was reported that the Norman product behaved badly, with repeated crashes on dealing with infected or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/more-xp-comparative/

Big bucks

AV software revenues increase.
AV software revenues increase. Anti-virus software revenues reached $4 billion worldwide last year - an increase of 13.6% on the previous year - according to industry analyst… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/07/big-bucks/

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