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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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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