VB Blog

Alleged author of creepy FruitFly macOS malware arrested

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 11, 2018

A 28-year old man from Ohio has been arrested on suspicion of having created the mysterious FruitFly malware that targeted macOS and used it to spy on its victims.

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The threat and security product landscape in 2017

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 10, 2018

At the start of the new year, Virus Bulletin looks back at the threats seen in the 2017 and at the security products that are available to help mitigate them.

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Spamhaus report shows many botnet controllers look a lot like legitimate servers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 9, 2018

Spamhaus's annual report on botnet activity shows that botherders tend to use popular, legitimate hosting providers, domain registrars and top-level domains when setting up command-and-control servers.

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Tips on researching tech support scams

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 5, 2018

As tech support scammers continue to target the computer illiterate through cold calling, VB's Martijn Grooten uses his own experience to share some advice on how to investigate such scams.

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Meltdown and Spectre attacks mitigated by operating system updates

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 4, 2018

Just four days into the new year, two serious attacks in modern processors, dubbed Meltdown and Spectre, have been discovered. The attacks can be mitigated by patches to the operating system, but anti-virus software vendors need to make sure their products are compatible with the patches.

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Conference review: AVAR 2017

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 22, 2017

Martijn Grooten reports on the 20th AVAR conference, which took place earlier in December in Beijing, China.

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Conference review: Botconf 2017

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Dec 22, 2017

Virus Bulletin researchers report back from a very interesting fifth edition of Botconf, the botnet fighting conference.

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VB2017 videos on attacks against Ukraine

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 21, 2017

(In)security is a global issue that affects countries around the world, but in recent years none has been so badly hit as Ukraine. Today, we publish the videos of two VB2017 talks about attacks that hit Ukraine particularly badly: a talk by Alexander Adamov (NioGuard) on (Not)Petya and related attacks, and another by Robert Lipovsky and Anton Cherepanov (ESET) on Industroyer.

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Facebook helps you determine whether emails really came from its servers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 21, 2017

On its website, Facebook now shows which emails it has sent you recently, thus helping you to determine which emails are real, and which should be discarded as phishing.

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Vulnerability disclosure and botnet takedown not to be hindered by Wassenaar Arrangement

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 19, 2017

Clarification in the language of the Wassenaar Arrangement, a multilateral export control regime for conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies, means those involved in vulnerability disclosure or botnet takedown won't have to worry about acquiring an export licence.

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Search blog

An end to 419 spam?

Nigerian government takes action.
Nigerian government takes action. Fed up of the stigma that 419 email scammers bring to Nigeria's reputation and keen to build investor confidence in the country, Nigeria's… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/01/end-419-spam/

MyDoom, YourDoom, OurDoom

SCO offers a bounty for the arrest of the MyDoom author, Bruce Perens offers a conspiracy theory...
SCO offers a bounty for the arrest of the MyDoom author, Bruce Perens offers a conspiracy theory... SCO is offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of the author… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/01/mydoom-yourdoom-ourdoom/

Divine intervention

AV on a spiritual level
AV on a spiritual level We all know how quickly time flies when we're having fun, or when there's a deadline looming, but a recent news report on the Asian news website Channel… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/01/divine-intervention/

Waiting, reflecting and removing

Microsoft reports success of Blaster removal tool
Microsoft reports success of Blaster removal tool While young Romanian virus author Dan Dumitru Ciobanu awaited trial by a Romanian court last month for releasing a variant of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/01/waiting-reflecting-and-removing/

News summary...

Blaster (variant) author charged, AhnLab warns against complacency, India launches CERT-In, more on monoculture, and what's new in the spam world...
Blaster (variant) author charged, AhnLab warns against complacency, India launches CERT-In, more on monoculture, and what's new in the spam world... In much the same way that the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/01/news-summary/

Email coaching for marketers

DMA releases quick-glance reference guide for email marketers.
DMA releases quick-glance reference guide for email marketers. The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has released a quick-glance reference guide for marketers entitled 'The CAN… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/01/email-coaching-marketers/

Ahnlab partners with Sina.com

Ahnlab gets major ASP deal in China.
Ahnlab gets major ASP deal in China. Ahnlab has acquired a major stepping-stone into the Chinese domestic market, according to an article published by the Korea Herald, by… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/01/ahnlab-partners-sina-com/

Weekend round-up

Narrowband blues, 2004 predictions, VeriSign scuttles Symantec, Dloader/Xombie
Narrowband blues, 2004 predictions, VeriSign scuttles Symantec, Dloader/Xombie It's been a busy few days as 2004 starts to get into full swing. VB has a roundup of the weekend's… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/01/weekend-round/

Security-conscious processors

AMD and Intel prep technology to prevent buffer overflows at the hardware level.
AMD and Intel prep technology to prevent buffer overflows at the hardware level. IT news site Silicon.com has published an article about hardware security in CPUs to prevent… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/01/security-conscious-processors/

2004

Latest news from the anti-virus industry provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
NewsJanuary issue released The Virus Bulletin January 2005 issue is on its way. 23 December 2004Latest VGrep The latest version of the virus name lookup tool - VGrep, is now… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/

January

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/01/

US and UK spam legislation in place

Anti-spam legislation in place.
Anti-spam legislation in place. While the 'CAN-SPAM Act' is expected to have been signed into US law by 1 January 2004, December 2003 saw the introduction of anti-spam… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/12/us-and-uk-spam-legislation-place/

Number crunching

Calculating the average cost of a virus attack - estimates or guesstimates?
Calculating the average cost of a virus attack - estimates or guesstimates? This month has seen a flurry of the traditional end-of-year predictions for the security challenges in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/12/number-crunching/

SAS - the SysAsmin Service?

Computer security experts prepare to become special constables.
Computer security experts prepare to become special constables. A set of proposals for tackling computer crime has been published by UK Parliamentary lobby group EURIM and the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/12/sas-sysasmin-service/

Seasonal spamming

Increase in spam in lead up to holiday season.
Increase in spam in lead up to holiday season. A recent study carried out by Corvigo, suggests that the volume of spam in our inboxes showed a marked increase over the lead up to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/12/seasonal-spamming/

December

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/12/

SpamCop snapped up

IronPort Systems to purchase SpamCop
IronPort Systems to purchase SpamCop According to the IDG News Service, email security hardware manufacturer IronPort Systems Inc. is set to announce its purchase of anti-spam… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/12/spamcop-snapped/

VB2004 call for papers

Virus Bulletin calls for all speakers papers.
Virus Bulletin calls for all speakers papers. full article Posted on 05 January 2004 by Virus Bulletin https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/11/call-papers/

The menace within

Is BitDefender really staffed by Romanian vampire hackers...?
Is BitDefender really staffed by Romanian vampire hackers...? A recent report by the Associated Press claims that 'computer-savvy Romanians are fast emerging as a bold menace in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/11/menace-within/

New VB Spam Supplement

VB plans to present a selection of news and articles on spam and anti-spam techniques - some technical, some ethical, some relating to real-world experiences of dealing with spam.
VB plans to present a selection of news and articles on spam and anti-spam techniques - some technical, some ethical, some relating to real-world experiences of dealing with spam.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/11/new-vb-spam-supplement/

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