VB Blog

VB2016 preview: Smart Outlets. Why We Need Responsible Disclosure!

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 9, 2016

At VB2016, four researcher from Bitdefender will present a paper in which they look at vulnerabilities in four "smart" power outlets.

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VB2016 preview: Uncovering the Secrets of Malvertising

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 7, 2016

Malvertising, in which legitimate ad networks are abused to silently infect users with malware, has become a real plague in recent years. A VB2016 paper by Malwarebytes researchers Jérôme Segura and Chris Boyd will look at the issue.

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VB2016: Important Information About the Hotel

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 6, 2016

Many people have already registered for VB2016 and the conference hotel is rapidly filling up - registration for the event will remain open right up until the start of the conference, but here, we provide some advice about booking accommodation.

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VB2016 preview: Detecting Man-in-the-Middle Attacks With Canary Requests

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 6, 2016

At VB2016, Cylance researcher Brian Wallace will reveal a multi-platform tool that runs on the endpoint and uses various techniques to detect ongoing man-in-the-middle attacks.

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A look at the VB2016 sponsors

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 5, 2016

More than a dozen companies and organizations are lending their support to VB2016 as conference sponsors and supporting organizations.

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Guest blog: Nemucod ransomware analysis

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Sep 2, 2016

In a guest blog, Webroot researcher Jesse Lopez looks at another variant in the massive crop of malware that takes users’ files hostage: Nemucod ransomware.

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VB2016 preview: Mobile Applications: a Backdoor into Internet of Things?

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 1, 2016

At VB2016 in Denver, Fortinet researcher Axelle Apvrille will discuss how analysing a device's complementary mobile app can help a great deal in understanding the architecture of a smart device.

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VB2016 preview: Wild Android Collusions

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Aug 31, 2016

Full technical details of the first in-the-wild Android app 'collusion' attack, where multiple apps perform an attack in collaboration, will be shared with the public in at VB2016 in Denver on 5 October.

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Small Talks return to the Virus Bulletin Conference

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Aug 26, 2016

Following their success last year, this year a series of "Small Talks" return to the VB2016 conference programme. We are pleased to announce the details of six of these talks, covering subjects that range from the Chinese cybercriminal underground to Android security, the Tor Project, and exploit kits.

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Research shows web security products perform well against exploit kits

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Aug 24, 2016

Research by Virus Bulletin, in which five web security products were served 54 live exploit kits, shows that the products blocked between 87 and 100 per cent of the kits.

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Search blog

VB2014 preview: Labelling spam through the analysis of protocol patterns

Andrei Husanu and Alexandru Trifan look at what TCP packet sizes can teach us.
Andrei Husanu and Alexandru Trifan look at what TCP packet sizes can teach us.In the weeks running up to VB2014 (the 24th Virus Bulletin International Conference), we will look at… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/preview-labelling-spam-through-analysis-protocol-patterns/

VB2014 preview: Optimized mal-ops. Hack the ad network like a boss

Researchers Vadim Kotov and Rahul Kashyap to discuss how advertisements are the new exploit kits.
Researchers Vadim Kotov and Rahul Kashyap to discuss how advertisements are the new exploit kits.In the weeks running up to VB2014 (the 24th Virus Bulletin International… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/preview-optimized-mal-ops-hack-ad-network-boss/

Guest blog: Cyber insurance, is it for you?

Sorin Mustaca looks at how companies trading online can insure the risks they run.
Sorin Mustaca looks at how companies trading online can insure the risks they run.Throughout its 25 year history, Virus Bulletin has regularly published technical analyses of the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/guest-blog-cyber-insurance-it-you/

Google to take tough stance on homoglyph attacks

Good idea, but unlikely to have a huge impact.
Good idea, but unlikely to have a huge impact. Ever since internationalized domain names (IDNs) were introduced in the last decade, allowing people to use non-ASCII characters in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/google-take-tough-stance-homoglyph-attacks/

VB2014 preview: P0wned by a barcode

Fabio Assolini to speak about malware targeting boletos.
Fabio Assolini to speak about malware targeting boletos.In the weeks running up to VB2014, we will look at some of the research that will be presented at the conference. In the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/preview-p0wned-barcode/

Paper: Inside the iOS/AdThief malware

75,000 jailbroken iOS devices infected with malware that steals ad revenues.
75,000 jailbroken iOS devices infected with malware that steals ad revenues. Believing that the device or operating system you use reduces your chance of being affected by malware… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/paper-inside-ios-adthief-malware/

$83k in bitcoins 'stolen' through BGP hijack

Short-lived network changes used to make miners connect to rogue pool.
Short-lived network changes used to make miners connect to rogue pool. Researchers at Dell SecureWorks have discovered an operation that used BGP hijacking to force bitcoin miners… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/83k-bitcoins-stolen-through-bgp-hijack/

Report: 15 solutions achieve VBSpam award

Despite short spike, image spam no problem for spam filters.
Despite short spike, image spam no problem for spam filters. Good news for those who need to run a spam filter (in other words: everyone who runs a mail server). For the second… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/report-15-solutions-achieve-vbspam-award/

Researchers release CryptoLocker decryption tool

Tool uses private keys found in database of victims.
Tool uses private keys found in database of victims.Please note: this blog post was written in August 2014 and refers to a particular kind of encryption-ransomware that was active… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/researchers-release-cryptolocker-decryption-tool/

Paper: IcoScript: using webmail to control malware

RAT gets instructions from Yahoo Mail address.
RAT gets instructions from Yahoo Mail address. One of the big challenges for malicious actors in operating a RAT (remote administration tool) is how to control the malware and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/paper-icoscript-using-webmail-control-malware/

August

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/

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/

Report: VB100 comparative review on Windows 7

29 out of 35 tested products earn VB100 award.
29 out of 35 tested products earn VB100 award. The various changes at Virus Bulletin mean that things are busier than ever in our office. Still, behind the scenes we continue to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/07/report-comparative-review-windows-7/

Call for last-minute papers for VB2014 announced

Seven speaking slots waiting to be filled with presentations on 'hot' security topics.
Seven speaking slots waiting to be filled with presentations on 'hot' security topics. Earlier this year, we announced the programme for VB2014: three days filled with excellent… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/07/call-last-minute-papers-announced/

Paper: Mayhem - a hidden threat for *nix web servers

New kind of malware has the functions of a traditional Windows bot, but can act under restricted privileges in the system.
New kind of malware has the functions of a traditional Windows bot, but can act under restricted privileges in the system. One of the main trends in malware in recent years is a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/07/paper-mayhem-hidden-threat-nix-web-servers/

Google's Project Zero to hunt for zero-days

Bugs to be reported to the vendor only, and to become public once patched.
Bugs to be reported to the vendor only, and to become public once patched.Google has created a new team, called Project Zero, whose task is to find vulnerabilities in any kind of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/07/google-s-project-zero-hunt-zero-days/

Paper: API-EPO

Raul Alvarez studies the unique EPO methodology used by the W32/Daum file infector.
Raul Alvarez studies the unique EPO methodology used by the W32/Daum file infector. A few months ago, we published an article by Fortinet's Raul Alvarez on the Expiro file… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/07/paper-api-epo/

Paper: Not old enough to be forgotten: the new chic of Visual Basic 6

Marion Marschalek looks at two Miuref binaries: one packed with Visual Basic 6 and one with C++.
Marion Marschalek looks at two Miuref binaries: one packed with Visual Basic 6 and one with C++. Two months ago, Microsoft announced it had added 'Miuref' to its Malicious Software… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/07/paper-not-old-enough-be-forgotten-new-chic-visual-basic-6/

Paper: VBA is not dead!

Gabor Szappanos looks at the resurgence of malicious VBA macros that use social engineering to activate.
Gabor Szappanos looks at the resurgence of malicious VBA macros that use social engineering to activate.Macro malware had long been assumed dead. After all, macros are disabled by… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/07/paper-vba-not-dead/

'Cyber attack on hedge fund' turns out to be internal 'scenario' used by BAE Systems

Story that appeared to be taken from fiction turns out... to have been fiction.
Story that appeared to be taken from fiction turns out... to have been fiction. Two weeks after BAE Systems reported its technicians had thwarted an attack against hedge fund… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/07/cyber-attack-hedge-fund-turns-out-be-internal-scenario-used-bae-systems/

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