VB Blog

VB2019 paper: Fantastic Information and Where to Find it: A guidebook to open-source OT reconnaissance

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 22, 2019

A VB2019 paper by FireEye researcher Daniel Kapellmann Zafra explained how open source intelligence (OSINT) can be used to learn crucial details of the inner workings of many a system. Today we publish Daniel's paper and the recording of his presentation.

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VB2019 paper: Different ways to cook a crab: GandCrab Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) analysed in depth

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 21, 2019

Though active for not much longer than a year, GandCrab had been one of the most successful ransomware operations. In a paper presented at VB2019 in London, McAfee researchers John Fokker and Alexandre Mundo looked at the malware code, its evolution and the affiliate scheme behind it. Today we publish both their paper and the recording of their presentation.

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VB2019 paper: Domestic Kitten: an Iranian surveillance program

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 18, 2019

At VB2019 in London, Check Point researchers Aseel Kayal and Lotem Finkelstein presented a paper detailing an Iranian operation they named 'Domestic Kitten' that used Android apps for targeted surveillance. Today we publish their paper and the video of their presentation.

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VB2019 video: Discretion in APT: recent APT attack on crypto exchange employees

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 18, 2019

At VB2019 in London, LINE's HeungSoo Kang explained how cryptocurrency exchanges had been attacked using Firefox zero-days. Today, we publish the video of his presentation.

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VB2019 paper: DNS on fire

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 7, 2019

In a paper presented at VB2019, Cisco Talos researchers Warren Mercer and Paul Rascagneres looked at two recent attacks against DNS infrastructure: DNSpionage and Sea Turtle. Today we publish their paper and the recording of their presentation.

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German Dridex spam campaign is unfashionably large

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 6, 2019

VB has analysed a malicious spam campaign targeting German-speaking users with obfuscated Excel malware that would likely download Dridex but that mostly stood out through its size.

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Paper: Dexofuzzy: Android malware similarity clustering method using opcode sequence

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 5, 2019

We publish a paper by researchers from ESTsecurity in South Korea, who describe a fuzzy hashing algorithm for clustering Android malware datasets.

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Emotet continues to bypass many email security products

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 4, 2019

Having returned from a summer hiatus, Emotet is back targeting inboxes and, as seen in the VBSpam test lab, doing a better job than most other malicious campaigns at bypassing email security products.

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VB2019 paper: We need to talk - opening a discussion about ethics in infosec

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 1, 2019

Those working in the field of infosec are often faced with ethical dilemmas that are impossible to avoid. Today, we publish a VB2019 paper by Kaspersky researcher Ivan Kwiatkowski looking at ethics in infosec as well as the recording of Ivan's presentation.

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Stalkerware poses particular challenges to anti-virus products

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 31, 2019

Malware used in domestic abuse situations is a growing threat, and the standard way for anti-virus products to handle such malware may not be good enough. But that doesn't mean there isn't an important role for anti-virus to play.

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WordPress pingback used for DDoS attacks

Millions of sites could potentially be used in attack.
Millions of sites could potentially be used in attack. Security firm Incapsula reports that it has discovered a DDoS attack on a gaming website using thousands of legitimate… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/05/wordpress-pingback-used-ddos-attacks/

May issue of VB published

The May issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The May issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The May 2013 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or download… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/05/may-issue-vb-published/

May

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/05/

Apache binaries replaced by stealth malcious ones

Malicious servers opening backdoors, performing redirects.
Malicious servers opening backdoors, performing redirects. Researchers at ESET and Sucuri have discovered a modified Apache binary that is used on hundreds of web servers to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/04/apache-binaries-replaced-stealth-malcious-ones/

Dutchman arrested in Spain for DDoS attacks on Spamhaus

Suspect drove around in 'mobile bunker' to co-ordinate attacks.
Suspect drove around in 'mobile bunker' to co-ordinate attacks. Police in Spain have arrested a 35-year-old Dutchman, believed to be responsible for the DDoS attacks on Spamhaus… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/04/dutchman-arrested-spain-ddos-attacks-spamhaus/

Cybercriminals quick to exploit emerging news

Malicious emails appear a matter of hours after news of explosions in the US.
Malicious emails appear a matter of hours after news of explosions in the US. It would have come as little surprise to anyone in the security industry that within hours of this… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/04/cybercriminals-quick-exploit-emerging-news/

Different focus on spam needed

What happens before the filter doesn't matter too much.
What happens before the filter doesn't matter too much. It is surprisingly difficult to get accurate figures for the amount of spam that is sent globally, yet everyone agrees that… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/04/different-focus-spam-needed/

VB2013 programme announced

Exciting range of topics to be covered at VB conference in Berlin this October.
Exciting range of topics to be covered at VB conference in Berlin this October. The VB conference selection committee have been busily assessing more than 150 proposals submitted… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/04/programme-announced/

AV-Comparatives reveals detection and protection reports

Figures released for long-term real-world tests and large-scale scanning measures.
Figures released for long-term real-world tests and large-scale scanning measures. Hot on the heels of the recent report from AV-Test, the latest sets of figures from Austrian… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/04/av-comparatives-reveals-detection-and-protection-reports/

AV-Test releases first Windows 8 test stats

Corporate and consumer products rated against Windows Defender baseline.
Corporate and consumer products rated against Windows Defender baseline. Independent testing house AV-Test.org has released its first set of figures for solutions run on Windows 8,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/04/av-test-releases-first-windows-8-test-stats/

April issue of VB published

The April issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The April issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The April 2013 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/04/april-issue-vb-published/

April

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/04/

Catch rates drop in latest VBSpam tests

Spam more of a challenge for majority of products.
Spam more of a challenge for majority of products. The results of VB's latest spam filter test show that spam has become more difficult to filter - with 15 of the 19 products… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/03/catch-rates-drop-latest-vbspam-tests/

Spam link sends Android users to trojan proxy

Meanwhile, desktop users sent to (relatively harmless) weight-loss site.
Meanwhile, desktop users sent to (relatively harmless) weight-loss site. Links found in certain spam emails which redirect desktop users to a phony weight-loss website, have been… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/03/spam-link-sends-android-users-trojan-proxy/

March

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/03/

March issue of VB published

The March issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The March issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The March 2013 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/03/march-issue-vb-published/

VB data supports Google's claim to having reduced compromised accounts

Internet giant may indeed do something right; Yahoo! has a real problem.
Internet giant may indeed do something right; Yahoo! has a real problem. Internet giant Google claims that a 'complex risk analysis' using 'more than 120 variables' has reduced the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/02/vb-data-supports-google-s-claim-having-reduced-compromised-accounts/

Hundreds of APTs linked to Chinese Army department

'Unit 61398' employs hundreds of people.
'Unit 61398' employs hundreds of people. A new report by security firm Mandiant links a large number of cyber-espionage cases to a department of the Chinese army. The report is… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/02/hundreds-apts-linked-chinese-army-department/

Massive drop in PPI SMS spam after spammers fined

Levels still higher than for most of 2012.
Levels still higher than for most of 2012. Security firm Cloudmark has reported a significant drop in the amount of PPI (Payment Protection Insurance) spam sent via SMS in the UK… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/02/massive-drop-ppi-sms-spam-after-spammers-fined/

Drop reported in infected computers worldwide

Nearly one third of computers still found to be infected.
Nearly one third of computers still found to be infected. The proportion of infected computers worldwide decreased from 38.49% in 2011 to 31.98% last year, according to an annual… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/02/drop-reported-infected-computers-worldwide/

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