VB Blog

Subtle change could see a reduction in installation of malicious Chrome extensions

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 13, 2018

Google has made a subtle change to its Chrome browser, banning the inline installation of new extensions, thus making it harder for malware authors to trick users into unwittingly installing malicious extensions.

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Paper: EternalBlue: a prominent threat actor of 2017–2018

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 11, 2018

We publish a paper by researchers from Quick Heal Security Labs in India, who study the EternalBlue and DoublePulsar exploits in full detail.

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'North Korea' a hot subject among VB2018 talks

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Jun 1, 2018

Several VB2018 papers deal explicitly or implicitly with threats that have been attributed to North Korean actors.

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Expired domain led to SpamCannibal's blacklist eating the whole world

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 31, 2018

The domain of the little-used SpamCannibal DNS blacklist had expired, resulting in it effectively listing every single IP address.

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MnuBot banking trojan communicates via SQL server

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 30, 2018

Researchers at IBM X-Force have discovered MnuBot, a banking trojan targeting users in Brazil, which is noteworthy for using SQL Server for command and control communication.

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Throwback Thursday: Giving the EICAR test file some teeth

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 24, 2018

The 68-byte EICAR test file plays as important a role today as it did 19 years ago. In this week's Throwback Thursday we look back at a VB99 conference paper in which Randy Abrams described how this 'miracle tool' worked and how it could be used.

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XMRig used in new macOS cryptominer

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 23, 2018

A new piece of cryptocurrency-mining malware on macOS has been found to use the popular XMRig miner.

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Tendency for DDoS attacks to become less volumetric fits in a wider trend

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 22, 2018

CDN provider Cloudflare reports an increase in DDoS attacks targeting layer 7 and focusing on exhausting server resources rather than sending large volumes of data. This fits in a wider trend.

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Turkish Twitter users targeted with mobile FinFisher spyware

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 15, 2018

Through fake social media accounts, users were tricked into installing an Android application that was actually a mobile version of the FinFisher spyware.

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Hide'n'Seek IoT botnet adds persistence

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 9, 2018

The Hide'n'Seek IoT botnet has received an update to make its infection persist on infected devices beyond a restart.

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February

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/02/

2006

Latest news from the anti-virus industry provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
NewsBitDefender vulnerability disclosedDetails released of overflow issue reported and patched.18 December 2006UK taxman warns of rebate phishMails promising tax refund just… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/

A global view

live spam map showing exactly where spam is coming from.
live spam map showing exactly where spam is coming from. Maintainers of cartographic collections may be interested in a new map created by Mailinator, a company that provides… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/09/global-view/

Addendum: August 2005 Netware 6.5 Comparative Review

VB regrets that Symantec was not included in NetWare 6.5 comparative review published in the August 2005 issue of Virus Bulletin
VB regrets that Symantec was not included in NetWare 6.5 comparative review published in the August 2005 issue of Virus Bulletin Unfortunately, due to a combination of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/09/addendum-august-2005-netware-6-5-comparative-review/

Latest VGrep

The latest version of the virus name lookup tool - VGrep, is now available.
The latest version of the virus name lookup tool - VGrep, is now available. VGrep is a system produced in an attempt to clear up some of the confusion surrounding the naming of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/09/latest-vgrep/

CME initiative sets forth

US-CERT will officially unveil its Common Malware Enumeration (CME) initiative this month.
US-CERT will officially unveil its Common Malware Enumeration (CME) initiative this month. The scheme, which will be operated by MITRE, and will work very much like the current… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/09/cme-initiative-sets-forth/

Czech spammers receive fines

The Czech Office for Personal Data Protection (UOOU) imposes first fines for spamming offences.
The Czech Office for Personal Data Protection (UOOU) imposes first fines for spamming offences. The Czech Office for Personal Data Protection (UOOU) has imposed its first fines for… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/09/czech-spammers-receive-fines/

Spam 'hotline' for German users

German email users can now report spam directly to the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv)
German email users can now report spam directly to the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv)German email users can now report spam directly to the Federation of German… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/09/spam-hotline-german-users/

Symantec snaps up Wholesecurity

Symantec announces plans to purchase privately held behavioural endpoint security solutions provider WholeSecurity Inc.
Symantec announces plans to purchase privately held behavioural endpoint security solutions provider WholeSecurity Inc. WholeSecurity’s behavioural detection technology identifies… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/09/symantec-snaps-wholesecurity/

AVIEN virtual conference

Organisers of the AVIEN/AVIEWS virtual conference issue call for papers.
Organisers of the AVIEN/AVIEWS virtual conference issue call for papers. The organisers of the inaugural AVIEN/AVIEWS virtual conference have issued a call for papers. The… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/09/avien-virtual-conference/

September

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/09/

Trial and retribution

Former AOL employee Jason Smathers sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for selling customers' email details to spammers.
Former AOL employee Jason Smathers sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for selling customers' email details to spammers. Former AOL employee Jason Smathers has been sentenced to 15… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/08/trial-and-retribution/

The naming game

CA becomes latest AV firm to join name game with the announcement of its new division
CA becomes latest AV firm to join name game with the announcement of its new division First there was Kaspersky Lab and ICSA Labs, then came along MessageLabs and SophosLabs. Now… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/08/naming-game/

More hash woes

For the second year running, research presented at the annual Crypto conference raised concerns over the security of commonly-used hash functions.
For the second year running, research presented at the annual Crypto conference raised concerns over the security of commonly-used hash functions. For the second year running,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/08/more-hash-woes/

Black Hat round-up

Andrew Lee shares his highlights of the Black Hat Briefings USA
Andrew Lee shares his highlights of the Black Hat Briefings USA In the midsummer heat of the Nevada desert, close to two thousand people donned their sunscreen and their coolest… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/08/black-hat-round/

AhnLab wins in anti-spyware ruling

Court approves AhnLab's spyware classification
Court approves AhnLab's spyware classification The Southern District Court of Seoul ruled this week that AhnLab's detection and labelling as spyware of the product of software… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/08/ahnlab-wins-anti-spyware-ruling/

August

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/08/

Hoax alert

New hoax email comes to light after the launch in the UK of a campaign involving personal emergency contact numbers
New hoax email comes to light after the launch in the UK of a campaign involving personal emergency contact numbers It has been a long while since VB reported on any virus hoaxes,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/07/hoax-alert/

Sun, sea, sand and scams

310 people arrested in Malaga after an operation involving the FBI, the US Postal Service and the Spanish police.
310 people arrested in Malaga after an operation involving the FBI, the US Postal Service and the Spanish police. Authorities in Malaga, Spain, must be congratulated on a bumper… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/07/sun-sea-sand-and-scams/

Spammer reformed?

Scott Richter, aka the 'Spam King', is no longer classed as a spammer according to Spamhaus's authoritative Register of Known Spam Operations (ROKSO)
Scott Richter, aka the 'Spam King', is no longer classed as a spammer according to Spamhaus's authoritative Register of Known Spam Operations (ROKSO) Scott Richter, aka the 'Spam… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/07/spammer-reformed/

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