VB Blog

Paper: New Keylogger on the Block

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jul 5, 2016

In a new paper published by Virus Bulletin, Sophos researcher Gabor Szappanos takes a look at the KeyBase keylogger, sold as a commercial product and popular among cybercriminals who use it in Office exploit kits.

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BSides Denver to take place the day after VB2016

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 28, 2016

VB2016, the 26th International Virus Bulletin conference, is an excellent reason to go to Denver, Colorado in the first week of October. But there is another reason to come to Denver: BSides Denver, which will take place the day after VB2016, on Saturday 8 October 2016.

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VB2015 paper: DDoS Trojan: A Malicious Concept that Conquered the ELF Format

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Jun 13, 2016

In their VB2015 paper, Peter Kálnai and Jaromír Hořejší look at the current state of DDoS trojans forming covert botnets on unsuspecting systems. The paper provides a technical analysis of the most important malware families, focusing on infection methods, dynamic behaviour, C&C communication, obfuscation techniques, advanced methods of persistence and stealth, and elimination of rivals.

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Throwback Thursday: Hyppönen, that Data Fellow / Finnish Sprayer

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Jun 2, 2016

This week, well known and universally respected industry guru Mikko Hyppönen celebrates his 25th anniversary of working at F-Secure (formerly known as Data Fellows). VB takes a look back in the archives at two articles published in 1994: an "insight" into the life and work of the then rising star of the anti-virus world, and a virus analysis penned by the man himself.

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VB2015 paper: Economic Sanctions on Malware

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Jun 1, 2016

Financial pressure can be a proactive and potentially very effective tool in making our computer ecosystems safer. By cleverly employing various trust metrics and technologies such as digital signing, watermarking, and public-key infrastructure in strategically selected places, we can encourage good behaviours and punish bad ones. In his VB2015 paper, Igor Muttik analyses and gives examples of technologies (certificates, credentials, etc.) to de-incentivize bad behaviours in several ecosystems (Windows, Android, iOS).

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Virus Bulletin's job site for recruiters and job seekers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 26, 2016

Virus Bulletin has relaunched its security job vacancy service and added a new section, in which job seekers can advertise their skills and experience.

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Throwback Thursday: One_Half: The Lieutenant Commander?

Posted by   Helen Martin on   May 26, 2016

In October 1994, a new multi-partite virus appeared, using some of the techniques developed by the Dark Avenger in Commander_Bomber. As if this were not enough, the One_Half virus could also encrypt vital parts of the fixed disk. Eugene Kaspersky provided a detailed analysis.

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Advertisements on Blogspot sites lead to support scam

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 9, 2016

Support scam pop-ups presented through malicious advertisements show that, next to vulnerable end points, gullible users remain an easy source of money for online criminals.

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To make Tor work better on the web, we need to be honest about it

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 6, 2016

Many websites put barriers in front of visitors who use the Tor network. If we want to make the web more accessible through Tor, we need to be honest about why this is done, rather than cry wolf about a dislike for privacy, Martijn Grooten says.

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Paper: How It Works: Steganography Hides Malware in Image Files

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 28, 2016

A new paper by CYREN researcher Lordian Mosuela takes a close look at Gatak, or Stegoloader, a piece of malware that was discovered last year and that is controlled via malicious code embedded in a PNG image, a technique known as steganography.

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Latest Virus Bulletin report shows the difference web security products make

The latest Virus Bulletin web security report sees Kaspersky, Trustwave and Fortinet all achieve VBWeb certification, but also see some products struggle with the new Fallout exploit kit.
Extremely targeted attacks aside, when a user gets infected through the web, it means something has happened that should not have. Either the user clicked on a link they shouldn't… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/11/latest-virus-bulletin-report-shows-difference-web-security-products-make/

Subscribe to the relaunched Virus Bulletin eNews newsletter

Subscribe to the re-launched Virus Bulletin eNews Newsletter to receive regular updates on the latest threat intelligence sources directly in your inbox.
Today, we relaunched the Virus Bulletin eNews newsletter. The newsletter provides weekly updates of what is happening both at Virus Bulletin and in the wider security… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/11/subscribe-relaunched-virus-bulletin-enews-newsletter/

VB2018 paper: Since the hacking of Sony Pictures

The Lazarus Group, which became (in)famous through the Sony Pictures breach and the WannaCry attack, is still very much active and targeting financial institutions around the world. Today we publish the VB2018 paper by AhnLab researcher Minseok (Jacky) Ch…
Recent activity shows that the Lazarus Group, which became (in)famous through the Sony Pictures breach and the WannaCry attack, is still very much active and targeting financial… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/11/vb2018-paper-hacking-sony-pictures/

VB2018 video: Shedding skin - Turla's fresh faces

Today, we have published the video of a VB2018 presentation by Kaspersky Lab researchers Kurt Baumgartner and Mike Scott, who looked at the latest activity of the Turla group.
"Capable, well-resourced, and they go back decades." The Turla threat group doesn't make the news as much as some other Russian-speaking APT groups, but it is one of the most… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/11/vb2018-video-shedding-skin-turlas-fresh-faces/

VB2018 video: Triada: the past, the present and the (hopefully not existing) future

Today we publish the video of the VB2018 presentation by Google researcher Lukasz Siewierski on the Triada Android malware and Google's work with OEMs to remove it from infected devices.
From NotPetya to Shadowpad, supply chain attacks have become a serious and hard-to-fight security problem. One prominent type of supply chain attack involves the pre-installation… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/11/vb2018-video-triada-past-present-and-hopefully-not-existing-future/

VB2018 paper: Uncovering the wholesale industry of social media fraud: from botnet to bulk reseller panels

Today, we publish the VB2018 paper by Masarah Paquet-Clouston (GoSecure) who looked at the supply chain behind social media fraud.
On the day of the 2018 US mid-term elections, there will be few who are not aware of the activity of botnets on social media and how these, allegedly, have tried to influence… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/11/vb2018-paper-uncovering-wholesale-industry-social-media-fraud-botnet-bulk-reseller-panels/

VB2018 paper: Now you see it, now you don't: wipers in the wild

Today, we publish the VB2018 paper from Saher Naumaan (BAE Systems) who looks at malware variants that contain a wiper functionality. We also publish the recording of her presentation.
Early computer viruses were often destructive in nature, but once criminals learned about the money they could make from malware, they realised that destructiveness hurt their… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/11/vb2018-paper-now-you-see-it-now-you-dont-wipers-wild/

Emotet trojan starts stealing full emails from infected machines

The infamous Emotet trojan has added the capability to steal full email bodies from infected machines, opening the possibilities for more targeted spam and phishing campaigns.
Researchers at Kryptos Logic have discovered that the Emotet banking trojan is exfiltrating entire email bodies as opposed to merely email addresses. Emotet was first discovered… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/10/emotet-trojan-starts-stealing-full-emails-infected-machines/

VB2018 paper: Who wasn’t responsible for Olympic Destroyer?

Cisco Talos researchers Paul Rascagnères and Warren Mercer were among the first to write about the Olympic Destroyer, the malware that targeted the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games. Today, we publish the paper they presented at VB2018 about the malwa…
It may be hard to believe, but it was only eight months ago that the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games were targeted by malware named Olympic Destroyer. Though not the first… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/10/who-wasnt-responsible-olympic-destroyer/

VB2018 paper: From drive-by download to drive-by mining: understanding the new paradigm

Today, we publish the VB2018 paper by Malwarebytes researcher Jérôme Segura, in which he details the shift from exploit kits to drive-by mining. We also publish the video of his VB2018 presentation.
When it comes to web-based threats, Malwarebytes researcher Jérôme Segura is one of the people to follow. His quarterly reviews of the exploit kit landscape are an essential read… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/10/vb2018-paper-drive-download-drive-mining-understanding-new-paradigm/

VB2018 presentation: The wolf in sheep's clothing - undressed

Today, we publish the video of the VB2018 presentation by CSIS researchers Benoît Ancel and Aleksejs Kuprins, who looked at a rather dubious seller of government spyware, described by someone else operating in the same space as a "criminal of the worst ki…
In recent years, we have seen a trend of commercial spyware being sold to governments. This is a very controversial subject, not least because of the frequent use of this spyware… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/10/wolf-sheeps-clothing-undressed/

VB2018 paper: The dark side of WebAssembly

Today, we publish the VB2018 paper by Symantec researchers Aishwarya Lonkar and Siddhesh Chandrayan on the security risks that come with WebAssembly.
With this year's very successful Virus Bulletin Conference (VB2018) now behind us, we plan to continue the tradition of publishing most of the papers and videos of the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/10/vb2018-paper-dark-side-webassembly/

The Virus Bulletin conference returns home: VB2019 to take place in London

In 2019, the Virus Bulletin conference is set to return home, with VB2019 taking place in London, UK.
In July 1989, the first ever Virus Bulletin magazine was published from its home in Oxfordshire, UK – a monthly publication focusing on the emerging threat of computer viruses.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/10/virus-bulletin-conference-returns-home-vb2019-take-place-london/

Guest blog: The case for increasing transparency in cybersecurity

In a guest blog post, Kaspersky Lab's Anton Shingarev considers the case for increasing transparency in cybersecurity.
In a guest blog post by VB2018 gold partner Kaspersky Lab, Anton Shingarev, Vice President, Public Affairs, considers the case for increasing transparency in cybersecurity.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/10/guest-blog-case-increasing-transparency-cybersecurity/

VB2018 preview: Workshops

Workshops make their VB Conference debut during VB2018, giving delegates the opportunity to learn the basics of kernel-level malware analysis, Android reverse-engineering and artificial intelligence.
The Virus Bulletin Conference is first and foremost a place to learn: about new threats, about the tools used to detect and fight them, and to learn about (and get to know) the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/09/vb2018-preview-workshops/

New article: Through the looking glass: webcam interception and protection in kernel mode

Today we publish a short article by Ronen Slavin and Michael Maltsev, researchers at Reason Software Company, who dive into the video capturing internals on Windows, and explain how this can be used by a malicious actor to steal images recorded by a compu…
Today we publish a short article by Ronen Slavin and Michael Maltsev, researchers at Reason Software, one of the partners of VB2018. In the article, Ronen and Michael dive into… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/09/new-article-through-looking-glass-webcam-intercepton-and-protection-kernel-mode/

VB2018 preview: The botnet landscape - live threats and steps for mitigation (Small Talk)

In a Small Talk at VB2018, Spamhaus's Simon Forster will present the organization's research into the botnet landscape and will discuss with the audience topics such as how the rise of anonymzation techniques and the hosting of botnets on well-regarded cl…
Whether they're used to send spam, to perform DDoS attacks, or as a proxy network for other kinds of nefarious activities, botnets remain a prominent tool for cybercriminals, and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/09/vb2018-preview-botnet-landscape-live-threats-and-steps-mitigation-small-talk/

VB2018 Threat Intelligence Summit: survey on threat intel usage

Virus Bulletin is proud to host the first Threat Intelligence Summit as an integral part of VB2018 next week. In a bid to help collect as much current data as possible, we'd like to ask anyone generating or consuming threat intelligence to fill in a very …
Virus Bulletin is proud to host the first Threat Intelligence Summit as an integral part of VB2018, which is to take place next week in Montreal, Canada. The Summit is open to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/09/vb2018-threat-intelligence-summit-survey-threat-intel-usage/

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