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

The world from an email marketer's point of view

Anti-virus and security related articles provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
Spam King Scott Richter says he is "out to make the Internet a better place with email marketing" . High-profile email marketer Scott Richter, aka the 'Spam King', has told PC… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/07/world-email-marketer-s-point-view/

International pact to fight spam

Countries join forces to declare war on spam.
Countries join forces to declare war on spam. Representatives from the US, the UK and Australia have signed a 'Memorandum of Understanding' (MoU) on spam. The agreement was… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/07/international-pact-fight-spam/

Magold teen on probation

Hungarian virus writer convicted.
Hungarian virus writer convicted. A Hungarian teenager has been sentenced to two years' probation for creating the Magold virus. Earlier this week the Veszprem City Court… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/07/magold-teen-probation/

July

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/07/

Patent filed for voice spam blocking technology

Technology to stamp out Internet telephony spam.
Technology to stamp out Internet telephony spam. A patent application has been filed for a method to identify and block SPIT - spam over Internet telephony, or VoIP spam. SPIT, or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/06/patent-filed-voice-spam-blocking-technology/

SMS spammer arrested

First Russian to be sentenced for sending spam.
First Russian to be sentenced for sending spam. Russian student Dmitry Anosov made history last month when he became the first Russian to be sentenced for sending spam - even… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/06/sms-spammer-arrested/

Gates urges users to turn on auto-update

Microsoft chief says users must play their part in cutting down virus combat time.
Microsoft chief says users must play their part in cutting down virus combat time. Microsoft chief Bill Gates has pledged that the time taken for Microsoft to patch… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/06/gates-urges-users-turn-auto-update/

7 steps to a spam-free existence?

Anti-virus and security related articles provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
"Stunning" survey results lead to seven-step guide. Email security firm Vircom has issued a seven-step guide to avoiding spam, after its six-month study revealed (shock, horror)… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/06/7-steps-spam-free-existence/

Microsoft issues advice about critical vulnerability

Apply your patches and update your AV software.
Apply your patches and update your AV software. Microsoft has issued advice on what you should know about Download.Ject The Trojan downloader, also known as JS/Scob.A and Toofer,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/06/microsoft-issues-advice-about-critical-vulnerability/

AOL victim of inside spam job

AOL employee arrested.
AOL employee arrested. An AOL employee has been arrested and charged with selling the company's customer email list to spammers. 24-year-old AOL engineer Jason Smathers is accused… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/06/aol-victim-inside-spam-job/

ISPs take responsibility

The six major ISPs of the Anti-Spam Technical Alliance say spam cannot be stopped unless they take action.
The six major ISPs of the Anti-Spam Technical Alliance say spam cannot be stopped unless they take action. Six major Internet Service Providers have put forward a joint proposal… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/06/isps-take-responsibility/

Microsoft to buy NAI?

Rumours abound. NAI CEO denies them.
Rumours abound. NAI CEO denies them. Tech news website CRN reports that AV vendor Network Associates is up for sale, and that Microsoft is the likely lucky new owner. Although no… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/06/microsoft-buy-nai/

Obituary: Marek Sell

On 12 June 2004 Marek Sell, creator of the Polish MkS_Vir anti-virus, died. Aleksander Czarnowksi looks back.
On 12 June 2004 Marek Sell, creator of the Polish MkS_Vir anti-virus, died. Aleksander Czarnowksi looks back. I met Marek somewhere around 1990, two years after he released the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/06/obituary-marek-sell/

AV going mobile

Mobile providers clamour to become the first to offer AV protection for mobile phones.
Mobile providers clamour to become the first to offer AV protection for mobile phones. Following the appearance of SymbOS/Cabir.A, the first virus capable of spreading via mobile… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/06/av-going-mobile/

Sasser author jobseeking

Gis' a job! Name: Sven Jaschan. Age: 18. Previous work experience: creating and distributing Internet worm(s).
Gis' a job! Name: Sven Jaschan. Age: 18. Previous work experience: creating and distributing Internet worm(s). The lawyer representing Sven Jaschan, self-confessed author of the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/06/sasser-author-jobseeking/

FTC says no to 'Do Not Spam'

A 'Do Not Spam' list could actually increase spam levels, says FTC.
A 'Do Not Spam' list could actually increase spam levels, says FTC. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has told Congress that a national 'Do Not Spam' registry is not appropriate… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/06/ftc-says-no-do-not-spam/

Microsoft AV still on track

Not forgotten...
Not forgotten... Microsoft is still on track to offer its own anti-virus product, according to the chief of its security business unit. It has been a year since Microsoft… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/06/microsoft-av-still-track/

Virus calling

First mobile phone worm discovered.
First mobile phone worm discovered. The first worm to be capable of spreading via mobile phones has been discovered. The initial announcement of the proof-of-concept worm was… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/06/virus-calling/

More spammers sued

Microsoft throws its weight around against spammers
Microsoft throws its weight around against spammers Microsoft has filed eight new lawsuits against spammers. All of the suits allege spoofing and falsifying of domain names.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/06/more-spammers-sued/

Virus cost MOD £10 million

Ministry of Defence reveals Lovgate found a weakness in its defences
Ministry of Defence reveals Lovgate found a weakness in its defences According to Computer Weekly the UK's Ministry of Defence (MOD) has revealed that, last year, it spent £10m on… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/06/virus-cost-mod-10-million/

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