VB Blog

Paying a malware ransom is bad, but telling people never to do it is unhelpful advice

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 26, 2016

The current ransomware plague is one of the worst threats the Internet has seen and it is unlikely to go away any time soon. But telling people to never pay the ransom is unhelpful advice.

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VB2015 paper: VolatilityBot: Malicious Code Extraction Made by and for Security Researchers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 22, 2016

In his VB2015 paper, Martin Korman presented his 'VolatilyBot' tool, which extracts malicious code from packed binaries, leveraging the functionality of the Volatility Framework.

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VB2016 programme announced, registration opened

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 21, 2016

We have announced 37 papers (and four reserve papers) that will be presented at VB2016 in Denver, Colorado, USA in October. Registration for the conference has opened; make sure you register before 1 July to benefit from a 10% early bird discount.

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New tool helps ransomware victims indentify the malware family

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 15, 2016

The people behind the MalwareHunterTeam have released a tool that helps victims of ransomware identify which of more than 50 families has infected their system, something which could help them find a tool to decrypt their files.

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It's fine for vulnerabilities to have names — we just need not to take them too seriously

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 13, 2016

The PR campaign around the Badlock vulnerability backfired when it turned out that the vulnerability wasn't as serious as had been suggested. But naming vulnerabilities can actually be helpful and certainly shouldn't hurt.

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Throwback Thursday: The Number of the Beasts

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Apr 7, 2016

The Virus Bulletin Virus Prevalence Table, which ran from 1992 until 2013, gave users a regular snapshot of what was really going on in the virus (and later malware) world, recording the number of incidents of each virus reported to VB in the preceding month. In August 2000, Denis Zenkin, a self-confessed virus prevalence table junkie, shared his findings following a study of the virus prevalence tables over the preceding few years, allowing him to determine the top ten viruses of the period, the top viruses by type and the viruses of the year.

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Paper: All Your Meetings Are Belong to Us: Remote Code Execution in Apache OpenMeetings

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 30, 2016

Security researcher Andreas Lindh recently found a vulnerability in Apache OpenMeetings that could allow remote code execution on a vulnerable server. Andreas reported the vulnerability to the OpenMeetings developers and, once it had been patched, he wrote up the details.

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Throwback Thursday: 'In the Beginning was the Word...'

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Mar 24, 2016

Word and Excel’s internal file formats used to be something in which few were interested – until macro viruses came along and changed all that. In 1996, Andrew Krukov provided an overview of the new breed of viruses.

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VB2016 Call for Papers Deadline

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 18, 2016

You have until the early hours (GMT) of Monday 21 March to submit an abstract for VB2016! The VB2016 programme will be announced in the first week of April.

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How broken is SHA-1 really?

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 15, 2016

SHA-1 collisions may be found in the next few months, but that doesn't mean that fake SHA-1-based certificates will be created in the near future. Nevertheless, it is time for everyone, and those working in security in particular, to move away from outdated hash functions.

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Sender ID specification revised

Microsoft has another stab at getting its email authentication protocol approved.
Microsoft has another stab at getting its email authentication protocol approved. Microsoft has revised its Sender ID email authentication protocol and resubmitted it to the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/sender-id-specification-revised/

RSS activated

Virus Bulletin RSS feeds revamped and live again.
Virus Bulletin RSS feeds revamped and live again. Although RSS feeds have been available from VB for some time, today we have revamped them and made them accessable to all. You… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/rss-activated/

Online 'museum' displays collection of the finest spam...

As if you haven't already seen enough...
As if you haven't already seen enough... A British man has set up his own Museum of Spam. Considering spam to be 'as much a part of contemporary culture as just about anything… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/online-museum-displays-collection-finest-spam/

Action plan on spam

15 countries sign up to international action plan on spam.
15 countries sign up to international action plan on spam. A total of 15 countries have signed up to the London Action Plan - an international action plan designed to encourage… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/action-plan-spam/

Top ten security urban legends revealed

Most common cyber security myths unveiled as part of Cyber Security Month.
Most common cyber security myths unveiled as part of Cyber Security Month. Secure Computing has revealed the 'top ten cyber security urban legends' as part of Cyber Security… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/top-ten-security-urban-legends-revealed/

FTC sues spyware outfit

US government begins crack down on spyware.
US government begins crack down on spyware. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a law suit in New Hampshire against an alleged spyware operation.The FTC filed the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/ftc-sues-spyware-outfit/

Conference photos

Take a look at the VB2004 conference photos
Take a look at the VB2004 conference photos The VB2004 conference photos are now online and available for viewing.If you would like to contribute a selection of your VB2004… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/conference-photos/

Another successful VB conference

With over 330 delegates and a collection of interesting and informative speakers, VB2004 was a great success.
With over 330 delegates and a collection of interesting and informative speakers, VB2004 was a great success. This year's VB conference, held in the beautiful city of Chicago,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/another-successful-vb-conference/

MessageLabs teams up with Symantec

Companies collaborate to provide anti-spam services.
Companies collaborate to provide anti-spam services. Email security firm MessageLabs and security company Symantec have announced that they will combine their anti-spam… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/messagelabs-teams-symantec/

October

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/

Symantec to block phishing

Symantec announces new service to help stop phishing scams
Symantec announces new service to help stop phishing scams Anti-virus and anti-spam vendor Symantec has announced a new service to help identify and block phishing scams. The… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/09/symantec-block-phishing/

IETF rejects sender ID

The Internet Engineering Task Force has rejected Microsoft's preferred anti-spam specification.
The Internet Engineering Task Force has rejected Microsoft's preferred anti-spam specification. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has rejected Microsoft's preferred… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/09/ietf-rejects-sender-id/

Governments urged to do more to combat cybercrime

The Council of Europe's 2001 Cybercrime Convention has been signed by 30 countries, but is only law in eight of these.
The Council of Europe's 2001 Cybercrime Convention has been signed by 30 countries, but is only law in eight of these. The message at a conference organized by the Council of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/09/governments-urged-do-more-combat-cybercrime/

Correction

VB regrets that an error slipped through the editorial net in the August 2004 Netware comparative review.
VB regrets that an error slipped through the editorial net in the August 2004 Netware comparative review. VB regrets that an error slipped through the editorial net in the August… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/09/correction/

Increase in infections for chinese

87.9% Thats the number of malware infected computer users in China, according to their Minister of Public Security.
87.9% Thats the number of malware infected computer users in China, according to their Minister of Public Security. According to China's Ministry of Public Security, 87.9 per… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/09/increase-infections-chinese/

Symantec Buys Again

The AV company that never seems to stop buying, reveals its latest purchase.
The AV company that never seems to stop buying, reveals its latest purchase. Symantec, the AV company that never seems to stop shopping, has revealed its latest purchase: digital… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/09/symantec-buys-again/

The bounty hunters are here

US Federal Trade Commission says the US government must be generous with its rewards if it decides to encourage 'bounty hunters' to track down email spammers
US Federal Trade Commission says the US government must be generous with its rewards if it decides to encourage 'bounty hunters' to track down email spammers In a report to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/09/bounty-hunters-are-here/

September

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/09/

Phish it yourself

Do-it-yourself phishing kits are available free of charge to anyone surfing the Internet.
Do-it-yourself phishing kits are available free of charge to anyone surfing the Internet.Do-it-yourself phishing kits are available free of charge to anyone surfing the Internet… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/08/phish-it-yourself/

Virginian law is constitutional

US judge rules Virginia’s anti-spam law is constitutional.
US judge rules Virginia’s anti-spam law is constitutional. A judge in the US has ruled that Virginia’s anti-spam law is constitutional. Back in May this year VB reported that the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/08/virginian-law-constitutional/

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