VB Blog

Malicious CCleaner update points to a major weakness in our infrastructure

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 18, 2017

Researchers from Cisco Talos have found that a recent version of the widely used CCleaner tool installed malware on the machine.

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Despite the profitability of ransomware there is a good reason why mining malware is thriving

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Sep 15, 2017

Though ransomware is far more profitable than using a compromised PC to mine bitcoins, the global distribution of malware means that there are many botnets for which mining is the most efficient way to extract money out of a PC.

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VB2017 preview: Crypton - exposing malware's deepest secrets

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 14, 2017

We preview the VB2017 paper by Julia Karpin and Anna Dorfman (F5 networks), in which they present a tool to decrypt encrypted parts of malware.

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VB2017 preview: Hacktivism and website defacement: motivations, capabilities and potential threats

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 13, 2017

We preview the VB2017 paper by Marco Romagna and Niek Jan van den Hout (The Hague University of Applied Sciences), in which they thoroughly analyse the motivations and modus operandy of hacktivists.

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Three questions to ask about security product bypasses

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 13, 2017

Proof-of-concepts for bypasses of security products always sound scary, but how seriously should we take them? VB Editor Martijn Grooten lists three questions one should ask about any such bypass to determine how serious a threat it represents.

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VB2017: WHOIS and EICAR Small Talks added

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 12, 2017

Today, we announce two more 'Small Talks' for the VB2017 programme. In one of them, Neil Schwarzman will discuss the consequences of the GDPR for WHOIS and abuse research, while the other will be hosted by three members of EICAR, who will discuss its work on a trustworthiness strategy and minimum standard.

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VB2017: nine last-minute papers announced

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 11, 2017

From attacks on Ukraine's power grid to web shells, and from car hacking to ransomware: we announce the first nine 'last-minute' papers on the VB2017 programme.

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Patching is important even when it only shows the maturity of your security process

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 5, 2017

A lot of vulnerabilities that are discovered are never exploited in the wild. It is still important to patch them though.

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Massive data breach confirms what you already knew: you are getting spam

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 4, 2017

A security researcher found more than 700 million email addresses stored on a server used by a spam botnet, which gives us some insight into what the email lists used by spammers look like.

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VB2017 preview: State of cybersecurity in Africa: Kenya

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 4, 2017

We preview the VB2017 presentation by Tyrus Kamau (Euclid Security), who will talk about the state of cybersecurity in Africa, with a particular focus on his home country, Kenya.

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September

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/09/

September issue of VB published

The September issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The September issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The September 2011 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/09/september-issue-vb-published/

Researchers find email used in RSA hack

Email with malicious attachment uploaded to online scanning service
Email with malicious attachment uploaded to online scanning service Researchers at F-Secure have managed to obtain the file used in the targeted attack against security vendor RSA… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/08/researchers-find-email-used-rsa-hack/

Explosive growth of malicious spam

Spam filters less likely to block current malware campaigns.
Spam filters less likely to block current malware campaigns. While several reports show that the global levels of spam have seen a steady decline over the past year, this month has… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/08/explosive-growth-malicious-spam/

Spam sent via fake out-of-office messages

'Sick leave' message followed by weight loss spam.
'Sick leave' message followed by weight loss spam. In an apparently new way of spreading their messages, spammers are advertising their products via fake out-of-office replies.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/08/spam-sent-fake-out-office-messages/

Fake codec trojan disables anti-virus software

Victim tricked into believing security software still active.
Victim tricked into believing security software still active. A new trojan, discovered by researchers at ESET, spreads itself via fake codecs, then disables running anti-virus… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/08/fake-codec-trojan-disables-anti-virus-software/

Banking malware tells user to 'refund' money

Web injection used to suggest accidental transfer.
Web injection used to suggest accidental transfer. In a new twist to banking trojans, a piece of malware found on German computers tricks victims into believing a large amount has… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/08/banking-malware-tells-user-refund-money/

August

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/08/

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 2011 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/08/august-issue-vb-published/

AV-Test.org unveils latest certifications

Q2 test results covering 22 products released.
Q2 test results covering 22 products released. Independent testing body AV-Test.org has released the results of its latest round of testing, putting 22 of the latest security… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/07/av-test-org-unveils-latest-certifications/

Rogue Twitter application steals passwords

'See who stalks my Twitter' used to lure users.
'See who stalks my Twitter' used to lure users. A malicious Twitter application is currently spreading on the microblogging network, luring users to hand over their passwords,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/07/rogue-twitter-application-steals-passwords/

Trojan uses remote user account to control compromised machine

Malware targets customers of Brazilian banks.
Malware targets customers of Brazilian banks. Researchers at Kaspersky have discovered a piece of malware aimed at customers of Brazilian banks which creates a remote user account… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/07/trojan-uses-remote-user-account-control-compromised-machine/

Hotmail beefs up security with stricter password policy

'My friend has been spammed' button also welcomed by experts.
'My friend has been spammed' button also welcomed by experts.Microsoft's free webmail service Hotmail has introduced some new features which should make it less likely for its… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/07/hotmail-beefs-security-stricter-password-policy/

Latest VBSpam certification results published

Latest VBSpam results published - full report now also available.
Latest VBSpam results published - full report now also available. The results of the July VBSpam comparative review have been announced. The 14th VBSpam test showed both a number… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/07/latest-vbspam-certification-results-published/

Zitmo trojan for Android defeats two-factor authentication

Malware intercepts TANs sent via SMS.
Malware intercepts TANs sent via SMS. A new variant of the Zitmo trojan has been discovered that infects mobile devices running the Android platform and which intercepts SMS… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/07/zitmo-trojan-android-defeats-two-factor-authentication/

Google delists all .co.cc domains from its index

Large fraction of sites deemed 'spammy or low-quality'.
Large fraction of sites deemed 'spammy or low-quality'.Google has removed all sites running on subdomains of .co.cc from its search engine index as the company believes too large a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/07/google-delists-all-co-cc-domains-its-index/

July

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/07/

July issue of VB published

The July issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The July issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The July 2011 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or download… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/07/july-issue-vb-published/

Spammers using social network templates

Templates from social networking sites used to make messages appear legitimate.
Templates from social networking sites used to make messages appear legitimate. According to Symantec, spammers are increasingly using templates from social networking sites to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/06/spammers-using-social-network-templates/

International co-operation leads to scareware arrests

ChronoPay co-founder arrested for DDoS attacks on rivals.
ChronoPay co-founder arrested for DDoS attacks on rivals. Last week, Russian authorities arrested Pavel Vrublevsky, co-founder of ChronoPay, Russia's largest processor of online… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/06/international-co-operation-leads-scareware-arrests/

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