VB Blog

VB2018 paper: Fake News, Inc.

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Apr 25, 2019

A former reporter by profession, Andrew Brandt's curiosity was piqued when he came across what appeared at first glance to be the website of a small-town newspaper based in Illinois, but under scrutiny, things didn’t add up. At VB2018 he presented a paper in which he shared the results of his investigation of the site. Today, we publish his paper and the recording of his presentation.

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Paper: Alternative communication channel over NTP

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 24, 2019

In a new paper published today, independent researcher Nikolaos Tsapakis writes about the possibilities of malware using NTP as a covert communication channel and how to stop this.

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VB2019 conference programme announced

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 5, 2019

VB is excited to reveal the details of an interesting and diverse programme for VB2019, the 29th Virus Bulletin International Conference, which takes place 2-4 October in London, UK.

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VB2018 paper: Under the hood - the automotive challenge

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 27, 2019

Car hacking has become a hot subject in recent years, and at VB2018 in Montreal, Argus Cyber Security's Inbar Raz presented a paper that provides an introduction to the subject, looking at the complex problem, examples of car hacks, and the challenges ahead. Today, we publish both Inbar's paper and the recording of his presentation.

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VB2018 paper and video: Android app deobfuscation using static-dynamic cooperation

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 20, 2019

Static analysis and dynamic analysis each have their shortcomings as methods for analysing potentially malicious files. Today, we publish a VB2018 paper by Check Point researchers Yoni Moses and Yaniv Mordekhay, in which they describe a method that combines static and dynamic analysis to defeat app obfuscation in Android binaries. We also publish the video of their presentation.

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VB2019 call for papers closes this weekend

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 15, 2019

The call for papers for VB2019 closes on 17 March, and while we've already received many great submissions, we still want more!

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Registration open for VB2019 ─ book your ticket now!

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 13, 2019

Registration for VB2019, the 29th Virus Bulletin International Conference, is now open, with an early bird rate available until 1 July.

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The VB2019 call for papers is about ... papers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 8, 2019

When we are calling for papers for the Virus Bulletin conference as we are doing now, we really mean a written paper. But don't worry if you've never written a paper - we can help!

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VB2018 video: Adware is just malware with a legal department - how we reverse engineered OSX/Pirrit, received legal threats, and survived

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 8, 2019

Amit Serper first analysed the OSX/Pirrit adware in 2016, highlighting some of its malware-like techniques, and soon afterwards started receiving legal threats from the company behind it. At VB2018 Amit gave a presentation in which he discussed both the adware and the legal threats he received for calling it malware. Today, we publish the video of Amit's presentation.

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VB2018 paper: Anatomy of an attack: detecting and defeating CRASHOVERRIDE

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 5, 2019

In December 2016, the CRASHOVERRIDE malware framework was used to cause a blackout in Ukraine. At VB2018 in Montreal, Dragos researcher Joe Slowik presented a detailed paper on the framework, explaining how the malware works and how it targets various protocols used to operate the electric grid. Today we publish both Joe's paper and the recording of his presentation.

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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/

Spam-reporting trial

Australia's latest anti-spam initiative
Australia's latest anti-spam initiative The Australian Communications Authority (ACA) is teaming up with Internet Service Provider Pacific Internet and software company… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/spam-reporting-trial/

December

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/

Australia to protect critical computer systems

Vulnerability assessment for country's critical infrastructure systems
Vulnerability assessment for country's critical infrastructure systems The Australian government is to spend more than 8 million dollars on a project that will identify and fix… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/11/australia-protect-critical-computer-systems/

Lycos turns hippy on spam

'Make love not spam'
'Make love not spam' Lycos Europe has come up with an interesting new way for its users to feel they are getting their own back on spammers. Lycos is encouraging its users to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/11/lycos-turns-hippy-spam/

Spam survey

Do women hate spam more than men? Are humans better at identifying spam than computers? Make your contribution to (anti-)spam research...
Do women hate spam more than men? Are humans better at identifying spam than computers? Make your contribution to (anti-)spam research... John Graham-Cumming, author of POPFile… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/11/spam-survey/

Standardised malware naming for the new year

An end to the virus-naming problem?
An end to the virus-naming problem? A new initiative that aims to standardise malware naming may be in operation as early as January 2005. The US Department of Homeland… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/11/standardised-malware-naming-new-year/

Most spammed

Think you've got it bad? Spare a thought for Bill.
Think you've got it bad? Spare a thought for Bill. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is the world's most spammed email recipient. The (let's face it, not entirely surprising) fact… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/11/most-spammed/

29A virus writer sentenced

Member of notorious virus-writing group found guilty.
Member of notorious virus-writing group found guilty. A Russian virus writer has been found guilty of creating viruses and fined the somewhat paltry sum of 3,000 roubles. Eugene… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/11/29a-virus-writer-sentenced/

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/2004/11/latest-vgrep/

November

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/11/

Phishy goings on

Fewer than five zombie network operators are responsible for all Internet phishing attacks worldwide according to CipherTrust...
Fewer than five zombie network operators are responsible for all Internet phishing attacks worldwide according to CipherTrust... According to Commtouch Software the US, UK,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/phishy-goings/

Storms put the wind up spammers

Significant decline in the volume of spam messages seen in the days immediately following the three recent hurricanes.
Significant decline in the volume of spam messages seen in the days immediately following the three recent hurricanes. Email security firm FrontBridge Technologies Inc. reported… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/storms-put-wind-spammers/

Spam becomes a collectors' item

British man sets up his own Museum of Spam.
British man sets up his own Museum of Spam. Just in case you hadn't already seen enough spam in your inbox, or in case your spam filter is so efficient that you find yourself… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/spam-becomes-collectors-item/

November issue released

The Virus Bulletin November issue is on its way.
The Virus Bulletin November 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 November issue… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/november-issue-released/

Dial a detection

Guidance issued on how to deal with rogue Internet diallers ('porn diallers')
Guidance issued on how to deal with rogue Internet diallers ('porn diallers') UK telecoms watchdog the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/dial-detection/

Spam gets the sniffles

Spammers seize the opportunity to cash in on the US flu vaccine problem.
Spammers seize the opportunity to cash in on the US flu vaccine problem. Not only has the shortage of flu vaccine been something of a political hot potato in the run up to the US… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/spam-gets-sniffles/

Trial of virus writer postponed

Sasser author made to wait.
Sasser author made to wait. The trial of self-confessed virus writer Sven Jaschan has been postponed until next year. The 18-year-old, who confessed earlier this year to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/trial-virus-writer-postponed/

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