VB Blog

VB2016 video: Last-minute paper: Malicious proxy auto-configs: an easy way to harvest banking credentials

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 30, 2017

In a VB2016 last-minute presentation, Jaromír Horejší and Jan Širmer looked at Retefe, a trojan that has targeted banks in several European countries and used malicious proxy auto-config filesto redirect users' traffic to a server controlled by the attackers. A recording of their presentation is now available to view on our YouTube channel.

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WannaCry shows we need to understand why organizations don't patch

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 17, 2017

Perhaps the question we should be asking about WannaCry is not "why do so many organizations allow unpatched machines to exist on their networks?" but "why doesn't patching work reasonably well most of the time?"

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Modern security software is not necessarily powerless against threats like WannaCry

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 15, 2017

The WannaCry ransomware has affected many organisations around the world, making it probably the worst and most damaging of its kind. But modern security is not necessarily powerless against such threats.

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Throwback Thursday: CARO: A personal view

Posted by   Helen Martin on   May 11, 2017

This week sees the 11th International CARO Workshop taking place in Krakow, Poland – a prestigious annual meeting of anti-malware and security experts. As a founding member of CARO, Fridrik Skulason was well placed, in August 1994, to shed some light on the organization, to explain in detail CARO's main activities and functions, as well as the reasons behind its strict membership regulations.

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VB2016 paper: Uncovering the secrets of malvertising

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 10, 2017

Malicious advertising, a.k.a. malvertising, has evolved tremendously over the past few years to take a central place in some of today’s largest web-based attacks. It is by far the tool of choice for attackers to reach the masses but also to target them with infinite precision and deliver such payloads as ransomware. Today, we publish a paper presented at VB2016 in Denver by Malwarebytes researchers Jérôme Segura and Chris Boyd, in which they look at the advertising ecosystem, how it is used, and at what techniques are being utilised to spread malware

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Throwback Thursday: Tools of the DDoS Trade

Posted by   Helen Martin on   May 4, 2017

As DDoS attacks become costlier to fix and continue to increase in both number and diversity, we turn back the clock to 2000, when Aleksander Czarnowski took a look at the DDoS tools of the day.

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VB2016 paper: Building a local passiveDNS capability for malware incident response

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 4, 2017

At VB2016, Splunk researchers Kathy Wang and Steve Brant presented a Splunk app that can be used to locally collect passive DNS data. A recording of their presentation is now available to view on our YouTube channel.

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VB2016 video: Last-minute paper: A malicious OS X cocktail served from a tainted bottle

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 28, 2017

In a VB2016 last-minute presentation, ESET researchers Peter Kalnai and Martin Jirkal looked at the OS X malware threats KeRanger and Keydnap, that both spread through a compromised BitTorrent client. A recording of their presentation is now available to view on our YouTube channel.

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Consumer spyware: a serious threat with a different threat model

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 25, 2017

Consumer spyware is a growing issue and one that can have serious consequences: its use is increasingly common in domestic violence. But do our threat models consider the attacker with physical access to, and inside knowledge of the victim?

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VB2016 paper: Debugging and monitoring malware network activities with Haka

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 24, 2017

In their VB2016 paper, Stormshield researchers Benoît Ancel and Mehdi Talbi introduced Haka, an open-source language to monitor, debug and control malicious network traffic. Both their paper and the video recording of their presentation are now available to read/view on www.virusbulletin.com.

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VB2006 conference programme revealed

The VB2006 conference programme is now available.
The VB2006 conference programme is now available. VB has revealed the conference programme for VB2006, the 16th Virus Bulletin International Conference. The three-day conference… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/04/conference-programme-revealed/

Grisoft makes acquisition

AVG developer acquires Ewido Networks.
AVG developer acquires Ewido Networks. Anti-Virus vendor Grisoft has announced the acquisition of German anti-malware firm Ewido Networks. Although one of the smaller players in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/04/grisoft-makes-acquisition/

'Real' computer virus

Digital life form.
Digital life form. Researchers in the US have constructed a virtual version of the satellite tobacco mosaic virus using more than a million 'digital atoms'. The researchers used… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/04/real-computer-virus/

April

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/04/

More updating woes

Another troublesome month for security vendors.
Another troublesome month for security vendors. Last month we reported on problems for Kaspersky, Sophos and Microsoft caused by faulty updates. This month it is the turn of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/04/more-updating-woes/

Largest can-spam fine to be paid

Internet marketing firm makes $900,000 settlement.
Internet marketing firm makes $900,000 settlement. An Internet marketing firm in the US has agreed to pay $900,000 to settle a case brought against it by the Federal Trade… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/04/largest-can-spam-fine-be-paid/

Spy couple sentenced

Trojan peddlers get their comeuppance.
Trojan peddlers get their comeuppance. An Israeli couple who ran a private investigation service have been handed jail sentences and a $426,000 fine after pleading guilty to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/04/spy-couple-sentenced/

Code of practice for Australia's ISPs

Legislative code to come into force.
Legislative code to come into force. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is poised to introduce a legislative code of practice for ISPs that could see hefty… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/04/code-practice-australia-s-isps/

China calculates cost of spam

Lost productivity costs dear.
Lost productivity costs dear. Spam is costing China $756m (6.069 billion yuan) every year according to estimates by the Internet Society of China (ISC). The figure, published in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/04/china-calculates-cost-spam/

Hotbar adware dispute settled

Symantec settles adware case
Symantec settles adware case Symantec has reached an out-of-court agreement in the pre-emptive lawsuit it filed against marketing firm Hotbar.com Inc. In the unusual case, the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/03/hotbar-adware-dispute-settled/

China to crack down on spam

China toughens up its anti-spam regulations
China toughens up its anti-spam regulations The Chinese Government has introduced a set of regulations aimed at reducing the amount of spam circulating in the country. The sending… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/03/china-crack-down-spam/

March

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/03/

Updating niggles

Troublesome month for security vendors
Troublesome month for security vendors Last month proved to be troublesome for security vendors Sophos, Microsoft and Kaspersky, as niggles with updates caused problems for their… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/03/updating-niggles/

Vigilant staff avert phishing scam

Scammers halted in their tracks
Scammers halted in their tracks A web-hosting company based in New Zealand claims that, thanks to the vigilance of its staff, it has averted a potential phishing scam targeted at… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/03/vigilant-staff-avert-phishing-scam/

Dutch police arrest Nigerian scammers

419 scamming ring uncovered
419 scamming ring uncovered Dutch police arrested 12 Nigerians in Amsterdam last month after they were found to be operating a 419 scamming ring. According to Dutch police, who… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/03/dutch-police-arrest-nigerian-scammers/

Neighbourhood Watch to fight 'badware'

New initiative aimed at fighting spyware, malware and deceptive adware.
New initiative aimed at fighting spyware, malware and deceptive adware. Google, Lenovo and Sun Microsystems have pledged their support for a new initiative aimed at fighting… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/02/neighbourhood-watch-fight-badware/

Addendum: The false positive disaster

Some concerns have arisen over the version of ClamAV tested for the article 'The false positive disaster'.
Some concerns have arisen over the version of ClamAV tested for the article 'The false positive disaster'. Some concerns have arisen over the version of ClamAV tested for the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/02/addendum-false-positive-disaster/

Hong Kong proposes anti-spam bill

Proposals for anti-spam legislation revealed.
Proposals for anti-spam legislation revealed. Hong Kong's Commerce, Industry & Technology Bureau has revealed its proposals for anti-spam legislation and launched a two-month… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/02/hong-kong-proposes-anti-spam-bill/

VB2006 call for papers

The deadline for submitting paper proposals for VB2006 is fast approaching.
The deadline for submitting paper proposals for VB2006 is fast approaching. The deadline for submitting paper proposals for VB2006 is fast approaching. Abstracts of approximately… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/02/call-papers/

Spammer to pay AOL over $5 million

Company wins case against prolific spammer.
Company wins case against prolific spammer.AOL is waiting to receive $5.6 million this month after winning its case against 25-year-old Minnesota spammer Christopher William… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/02/spammer-pay-aol-over-5-million/

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