VB Blog

VB2017 video: Turning Trickbot: decoding an encrypted command-and-control channel

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 3, 2017

Trickbot, a banking trojan which appeared this year, seems to be a new, more modular, and more extensible malware descendant of the notorious Dyre botnet trojan. At VB2017, Symantec researcher Andrew Brandt presented a walkthrough of a typical Trickbot infection process, and its aftermath, as seen through the lens of a tool used to perform man-in-the-middle decryption. Today, we publish both Andrew's slides and the recording of his presentation.

Read more  

Paper: FAME - Friendly Malware Analysis Framework

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 2, 2017

Today, we publish a short paper in which CERT Société Générale presents FAME, its open source malware analysis framework.

Read more  

Ebury and Mayhem server malware families still active

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 31, 2017

Ebury and Mayhem, two families of Linux server malware, about which VB published papers back in 2014, are still active and have received recent updates.

Read more  

VB2017 paper: Crypton - exposing malware's deepest secrets

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 27, 2017

Crypton, a tool developed by F5 Networks researchers Julia Karpin and Anna Dorfman, aims to speed up the reverse engineering process by decrypting encrypted content found in a (malicious) binary. The researchers described the tool in a paper which they presented at VB2017 in Madrid. Today, we publish both the paper and the recording of their presentation.

Read more  

VB2017 paper: The sprawling market of consumer spyware

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 25, 2017

For many people, the threat of an abusive partner or ex-partner is very real - and the market for consumer spyware worryingly large. Today, we publish the recording of a presentation on the subject of consumer spyware given at VB2017 by The Daily Beast reporter Joseph Cox.

Read more  

Gábor Szappanos wins fourth Péter Szőr Award

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 23, 2017

At the VB2017 gala dinner, the fourth Péter Szőr Award was presented to Sophos researcher Gábor Szappanos for his paper "AKBuilder – the crowdsourced exploit kit".

Read more  

VB2017 paper: Walking in your enemy's shadow: when fourth-party collection becomes attribution hell

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 20, 2017

We publish the VB2017 paper and video by Kaspersky Lab researchers Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade and Costin Raiu, in which they look at fourth-party collection (spies spying on other spies' campaigns) and its implications for attribution.

Read more  

Didn't come to VB2017? Tell us why!

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 11, 2017

Virus Bulletin is a company - and a conference - with a mission: to further the research in and facilitate the fight against digital threats. To help us in this mission, we want to hear from those who didn't come to Madrid. What is your impression of the VB Conference? What did you think of this year's programme? And why couldn't you come to Madrid?

Read more  

Montreal will host VB2018

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 10, 2017

Last week, we announced the full details of VB2018, which will take place 3-5 October 2018 at the Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth hotel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Read more  

VB2017 preview: Beyond lexical and PDNS (guest blog)

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Oct 5, 2017

In a special guest blog post, VB2017 Silver sponsor Cisco Umbrella writes about a paper that researchers Dhia Mahjoub and David Rodriguez will present at the conference this Friday.

Read more  

Search blog

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/

No deal for AOL employee

Judge refuses to accept guilty plea.
Judge refuses to accept guilty plea. A federal judge has refused to accept the guilty plea of a former AOL employee charged with selling the company's customer email list to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/no-deal-aol-employee/

Teen brought to book for Randex

British teenager sentenced.
British teenager sentenced. A 16-year-old British teenager has been given a six-month suspended sentence for his part in distributing the Randex worm. A total of four suspects… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/teen-brought-book-randex/

Deal for AOL employee

AOL worker accused of selling customer email lists offered deal.
AOL worker accused of selling customer email lists offered deal. A former AOL employee charged with selling the company's customer email list to spammers has been offered a plea… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/deal-aol-employee/

Trend ousts McAfee on Hotmail

Trend Micro to take over from McAfee as new provider of virus scanning for MSN.
Trend Micro to take over from McAfee as new provider of virus scanning for MSN. Trend Micro has announced that it is to be the new provider of virus scanning for Microsoft's MSN… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/trend-ousts-mcafee-hotmail/

ISP wins $1 billion against spammers

Largest judgement against spammers to date.
Largest judgement against spammers to date. A company in Iowa has been awarded a total of more than $1 billion in what is believed to be the largest judgement to date against… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/isp-wins-1-billion-against-spammers/

Virus Bulletin RSS feeds now support Live Bookmarks

Virus Bulletin RSS feeds now support 'Live bookmarks' allowing you to browse our latest headlines directly from your browsers bookmarks menu.
Virus Bulletin RSS feeds now support 'Live bookmarks' allowing you to browse our latest headlines directly from your browsers bookmarks menu. The Virus Bulletin RSS feeds now… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/rss-feeds-now-support-live-bookmarks/

GIANT purchase for Microsoft

Microsoft buys anti-spyware provider.
Microsoft buys anti-spyware provider. Microsoft announced yesterday that it has acquired anti-spyware firm GIANT Company Software Inc. Microsoft says it plans to use… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/giant-purchase-microsoft/

Anti-spam law 'unconstitutional'

Judge says Maryland anti-spam law is flawed.
Judge says Maryland anti-spam law is flawed. A judge has ruled that Maryland's anti-spam law is flawed because it violates the commerce clause of the US Constitution. The… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/anti-spam-law-unconstitutional/

Symantec to acquire Veritas?

Just in time for Christmas?
Just in time for Christmas? Symantec may be close to acquiring data storage firm Veritas, according to reports circulating on the Internet. AV firm Symantec, which has something… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/symantec-acquire-veritas/

Spyware-led investigations

Australian police given power to use spyware.
Australian police given power to use spyware. Police in Australia have been awarded the right to use spyware for evidence-gathering, thanks to a new law passed last week. Under… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/spyware-led-investigations/

DDoS stunt over

Lycos ends its 'make love not spam' campaign - but not before the file had been trojanised...
Lycos ends its 'make love not spam' campaign - but not before the file had been trojanised... Lycos has announced that it has ended its controversial 'Make Love not Spam'… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/ddos-stunt-over/

More spammers for the slammer?

Microsoft continues to make good use of its legal resources.
Microsoft continues to make good use of its legal resources. Microsoft has filed seven new lawsuits against spammers. The company is suing the individuals (who currently remain… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/more-spammers-slammer/

Hotmail originator turns to anti-spam

Sabeer Bhatia, the man behind Hotmail, has announced that he has invested in an anti-spam company
Sabeer Bhatia, the man behind Hotmail, has announced that he has invested in an anti-spam company Sabeer Bhatia, the man behind Hotmail, has announced that he has invested in an… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/hotmail-originator-turns-anti-spam/

Errata - Windows Server 2003 comparative review

VB regrets that three mistakes crept into the Comparative review published in the November issue.
VB regrets that three mistakes crept into the Comparative review published in the November issue. The mistakes were as follows: The version number for Sophos Anti Virus should… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/errata-windows-server-2003-comparative-review/

Academic research journal

Announcement and first call for papers of the European Research Journal in Computer Virology
Announcement and first call for papers of the European Research Journal in Computer Virology October saw the announcement and first call for papers of the European Research… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/academic-research-journal/

Most-spammed sees end in sight

Bill Gates says he hopes to have the spam problem under control within two years - again.
Bill Gates says he hopes to have the spam problem under control within two years - again. The world's most spammed email recipient, Bill Gates, said last month that he hopes to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/most-spammed-sees-end-sight/

News by email

New twice-monthly email newsletter dedicated to news and technical information about the spam and anti-spam arena launched.
New twice-monthly email newsletter dedicated to news and technical information about the spam and anti-spam arena launched. Last month saw the inaugural issue of a twice-monthly… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/news-email/

VB2005 call for papers

Virus Bulletin is seeking submissions from those wishing to present at VB2005 in Dublin - so set aside some time between the season's festive parties to get writing!
Virus Bulletin is seeking submissions from those wishing to present at VB2005 in Dublin - so set aside some time between the season's festive parties to get writing! Virus… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/call-papers/

FBI's virus blunder

Virus infection nearly blew the cover on a secret FBI fraud investigation two years ago.
Virus infection nearly blew the cover on a secret FBI fraud investigation two years ago. It has come to light that a virus infection nearly blew the cover on a secret FBI fraud… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/fbi-s-virus-blunder/

We have placed cookies on your device in order to improve the functionality of this site, as outlined in our cookies policy. However, you may delete and block all cookies from this site and your use of the site will be unaffected. By continuing to browse this site, you are agreeing to Virus Bulletin's use of data as outlined in our privacy policy.