VB Blog

Malicious CCleaner update points to a major weakness in our infrastructure

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 18, 2017

Researchers from Cisco Talos have found that a recent version of the widely used CCleaner tool installed malware on the machine.

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Despite the profitability of ransomware there is a good reason why mining malware is thriving

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Sep 15, 2017

Though ransomware is far more profitable than using a compromised PC to mine bitcoins, the global distribution of malware means that there are many botnets for which mining is the most efficient way to extract money out of a PC.

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VB2017 preview: Crypton - exposing malware's deepest secrets

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 14, 2017

We preview the VB2017 paper by Julia Karpin and Anna Dorfman (F5 networks), in which they present a tool to decrypt encrypted parts of malware.

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VB2017 preview: Hacktivism and website defacement: motivations, capabilities and potential threats

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 13, 2017

We preview the VB2017 paper by Marco Romagna and Niek Jan van den Hout (The Hague University of Applied Sciences), in which they thoroughly analyse the motivations and modus operandy of hacktivists.

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Three questions to ask about security product bypasses

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 13, 2017

Proof-of-concepts for bypasses of security products always sound scary, but how seriously should we take them? VB Editor Martijn Grooten lists three questions one should ask about any such bypass to determine how serious a threat it represents.

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VB2017: WHOIS and EICAR Small Talks added

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 12, 2017

Today, we announce two more 'Small Talks' for the VB2017 programme. In one of them, Neil Schwarzman will discuss the consequences of the GDPR for WHOIS and abuse research, while the other will be hosted by three members of EICAR, who will discuss its work on a trustworthiness strategy and minimum standard.

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VB2017: nine last-minute papers announced

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 11, 2017

From attacks on Ukraine's power grid to web shells, and from car hacking to ransomware: we announce the first nine 'last-minute' papers on the VB2017 programme.

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Patching is important even when it only shows the maturity of your security process

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 5, 2017

A lot of vulnerabilities that are discovered are never exploited in the wild. It is still important to patch them though.

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Massive data breach confirms what you already knew: you are getting spam

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 4, 2017

A security researcher found more than 700 million email addresses stored on a server used by a spam botnet, which gives us some insight into what the email lists used by spammers look like.

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VB2017 preview: State of cybersecurity in Africa: Kenya

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 4, 2017

We preview the VB2017 presentation by Tyrus Kamau (Euclid Security), who will talk about the state of cybersecurity in Africa, with a particular focus on his home country, Kenya.

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Hormel halts Spam King in his tracks

No 'Spam King' clothing line for Richter.
No 'Spam King' clothing line for Richter. Infamous spammer Scott Richter, aka the 'Spam King', has fallen at the first hurdle in his bid to launch a 'Spam King'-branded clothing… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/06/hormel-halts-spam-king-his-tracks/

DIY do not spam

Chicago businessman takes matters into his own hands
Chicago businessman takes matters into his own hands Chicago businessman Rocky Mosele has created his own 'do not spam' list. Fed up of the disruptive effect spam was having on… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/06/diy-do-not-spam/

June

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/06/

Taiwanese Trojan writer arrested

Suspect not a teenager for a change.
Suspect not a teenager for a change. A Taiwanese engineer has been arrested on suspicion of creating a Trojan horse. Earlier this week, 30-year-old Wang Ping-an was apprehended… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/05/taiwanese-trojan-writer-arrested/

German government spammed

Government email systems overwhelmed
Government email systems overwhelmed Barely a month after Germany's ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD) put forward proposals for tough new sanctions for spammers, the German… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/05/german-government-spammed/

Legislation: NZ makes a move

New Zealand government moves toward anti-spam legislation
New Zealand government moves toward anti-spam legislation The government of New Zealand has signalled its intention to bring in anti-spam legislation. A discussion paper released… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/05/legislation-nz-makes-move/

Cajun spammer tells it like it is

Straight talking spammer
Straight talking spammer A prolific emailer (read spammer) has told the US Senate Commerce Committee that, although the 30 million email messages he sends out each day comply… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/05/cajun-spammer-tells-it-it/

Spend, spend, spend for Symantec

Anti-spam company to become AV vendor's latest purchase
Anti-spam company to become AV vendor's latest purchase Just days after revealing that its gateway anti-virus product will stop sending automatic virus notification 'spam' - a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/05/spend-spend-spend-symantec/

No rest for German police

Arrest of suspected Sasser author, arrest of suspected Phatbot author and questioning of five more suspects - all within the space of 7 days.
Arrest of suspected Sasser author, arrest of suspected Phatbot author and questioning of five more suspects - all within the space of 7 days. The German authorities have been busy… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/05/no-rest-german-police/

Buying and selling

Trend buys back shares, Sybari prepares to sell
Trend buys back shares, Sybari prepares to sell Trend Micro's board of directors has announced plans to repurchase some of the company's shares from the market. The company will… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/05/buying-and-selling/

SpamCop at receiving end of a restraining order

Venerable spam reporting outfit SpamCop has had a restraining order granted against it on behalf of alleged spammer OptInRealBig.com.
Venerable spam reporting outfit SpamCop has had a restraining order granted against it on behalf of alleged spammer OptInRealBig.com. Venerable spam reporting outfit SpamCop has… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/05/spamcop-receiving-end-restraining-order/

Spam on the catwalk

Spammer extraordinaire launches own clothing line
Spammer extraordinaire launches own clothing line Scott Richter, spammer extraordinaire, is set to launch his own clothing line, according to Newsday . The man who brought to our… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/05/spam-catwalk/

Law and order

Spamming set to become illegal in the Netherlands and other legislative news...
Spamming set to become illegal in the Netherlands and other legislative news... Spamming is about to become illegal in The Netherlands, after the upper house of the Dutch… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/05/law-and-order/

Figures and fluctuations

Dips, increases and the cost of dealing with spam
Dips, increases and the cost of dealing with spam While the term 'spam' celebrated its tenth birthday last month, MessageLabs reported a decline in the volume of spam seen in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/05/figures-and-fluctuations/

NAI reverts to McAfee

Network Associates Inc. (NAI) to streamline and adopt (not so) new name.
Network Associates Inc. (NAI) to streamline and adopt (not so) new name. In a bid to reduce costs and increase productivity, Network Associates, Inc. (NAI) has announced plans to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/05/nai-reverts-mcafee/

Call for papers: AVAR 2004

AVAR calls for papers
AVAR calls for papers AVAR (the Association of anti-Virus Asia Researchers) has issued a call for papers for AVAR 2004 in Tokyo, which will take place 25-26 November 2004 in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/05/call-papers-avar-2004/

May

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/05/

Symantec vulnerabilities

eEye reports four new Symantec vulnerabilities
eEye reports four new Symantec vulnerabilities eEye Digital Security has reported that it has discovered four new vulnerabilities affecting Symantec products. Products affected… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/04/symantec-vulnerabilities/

Business news

Acquisitions and new product lines
Acquisitions and new product lines UK-based web and email filtering company SurfControl revealed plans last month to acquire California-based email security firm MessageSoft Inc.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/04/business-news/

No bull?

Eset vs. BullGuard
Eset vs. BullGuard Recently it was brought to VB’s attention that affiliates of BullGuard have been cruising in the slipstream of Eset’s NOD32 product range. Visitors to the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/04/no-bull/

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