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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Search blog

Fathers 4 Justice denies virus

Campaign group categorically denies responsibility
Campaign group categorically denies responsibility Campaign group Fathers 4 Justice has categorically denied any connection with a mass-mailing worm discovered this week which… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/01/fathers-4-justice-denies-virus/

EarthLink wins case against spammers

'Substantial' cash settlement
'Substantial' cash settlement EarthLink Inc. declared victory this week in a court case against two men accused of spamming from its network. The men, Damon DeCrescenzo and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/01/earthlink-wins-case-against-spammers/

Sentencing of Blaster author due

Maximum sentence sought for Jeffrey Lee Parson
Maximum sentence sought for Jeffrey Lee Parson Jeffrey Lee Parson, the Minnesota teenager who pleaded guilty to distributing the B variant of the Blaster worm, is scheduled to be… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/01/sentencing-blaster-author-due/

Virus writer recommends anti-virus

Brazilian virus writer reveals all to Finnish magazine
Brazilian virus writer reveals all to Finnish magazine A Brazilian software programmer, who proudly claims 'viruses are my life' says that he does not want his viruses to spread… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/01/virus-writer-recommends-anti-virus/

Man behind web cam virus arrested

Spanish authorities detain 37-year-old
Spanish authorities detain 37-year-old The Spanish Civil Guard has announced the arrest of a man suspected of writing and distributing a virus capable of covertly spying on… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/01/man-behind-web-cam-virus-arrested/

Spammer sues spammed

The tables are turned
The tables are turned In an unusual turn of events, a US company accused of sending large volumes of unsolicited email has filed a lawsuit against a man who reported their… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/01/spammer-sues-spammed/

Explosion in SMS spam

Korean cell phone users suffer onslaught of spam
Korean cell phone users suffer onslaught of spam Korean cell phone users are being blasted with SMS spam, with 870,000 cases reported to the Korea Information Security Agency… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/01/explosion-sms-spam/

Texas sues for millions

Two spammers sued by the state of Texas
Two spammers sued by the state of Texas The state of Texas is seeking millions of dollars from two men it accuses of sending millions of spam messages. Ryan Samuel Pitylak, a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/01/texas-sues-millions/

Sybari sets terms of IPO

3.35 million common shares for sale
3.35 million common shares for sale Anti-virus firm Sybari Software Inc. has set the terms of its planned initial public offering (IPO) in a filing with the Securities and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/01/sybari-sets-terms-ipo/

McAfee sells Research assets

SPARTA Inc. to become the lucky new owner
SPARTA Inc. to become the lucky new owner McAfee Inc. has announced that it is selling its McAfee Research assets to systems engineering firm SPARTA, Inc. McAfee Research… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/01/mcafee-sells-research-assets/

FTC granted restraining order against porn spammers

'Sexually explicit' labelling rule violated
'Sexually explicit' labelling rule violated The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been granted a temporary restraining order against six companies that it says have violated CAN… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/01/ftc-granted-restraining-order-against-porn-spammers/

Microsoft reveals anti-spyware beta and malware removal tool

Anti-virus imminent?
Anti-virus imminent? Microsoft has released the beta version of its new anti-spyware tool, Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware, along with indications that the release of an anti-virus… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/01/microsoft-reveals-anti-spyware-beta-and-malware-removal-tool/

Tsunami scamming begins

FBI warns donors of tsunami disaster relief fraud
FBI warns donors of tsunami disaster relief fraud The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued an alert warning those who wish to donate to tsunami disaster relief funds… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/01/tsunami-scamming-begins/

'Spam King' agrees to hold fire

For the time being at least...
For the time being at least... Prolific spammer Sanford Wallace has agreed to put a hold on his activity until his court case with the FTC has been resolved. Wallace, whose past… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/01/spam-king-agrees-hold-fire/

2005

Latest news from the anti-virus industry provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
NewsAddendum: 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… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/

January

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/01/

Happy New Year!!!

Virus Bulletin would like to wish all its readers a very happy and prosperous new year.
Virus Bulletin would like to wish all its readers a very happy and prosperous new year. Virus Bulletin would like to wish all its readers a very happy and prosperous new year.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2005/01/happy-new-year/

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/2004/12/latest-vgrep/

Test files: Straightening the record

VB sets the record straight regarding the collection of files referenced in Peter Morley's letter 'Generic detection - a specific case' published in last months main magazine.
VB sets the record straight regarding the collection of files referenced in Peter Morley's letter 'Generic detection - a specific case' published in last months main magazine.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/test-files-straightening-record/

January issue released

The Virus Bulletin January 2005 issue is on its way.
The Virus Bulletin January 2005 issue is on its way. It's that time of the month again... If you are a subscriber to Virus Bulletin, you should be receiving your January issue… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/january-issue-released/

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