VB Blog

Alleged author of creepy FruitFly macOS malware arrested

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 11, 2018

A 28-year old man from Ohio has been arrested on suspicion of having created the mysterious FruitFly malware that targeted macOS and used it to spy on its victims.

Read more  

The threat and security product landscape in 2017

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 10, 2018

At the start of the new year, Virus Bulletin looks back at the threats seen in the 2017 and at the security products that are available to help mitigate them.

Read more  

Spamhaus report shows many botnet controllers look a lot like legitimate servers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 9, 2018

Spamhaus's annual report on botnet activity shows that botherders tend to use popular, legitimate hosting providers, domain registrars and top-level domains when setting up command-and-control servers.

Read more  

Tips on researching tech support scams

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 5, 2018

As tech support scammers continue to target the computer illiterate through cold calling, VB's Martijn Grooten uses his own experience to share some advice on how to investigate such scams.

Read more  

Meltdown and Spectre attacks mitigated by operating system updates

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 4, 2018

Just four days into the new year, two serious attacks in modern processors, dubbed Meltdown and Spectre, have been discovered. The attacks can be mitigated by patches to the operating system, but anti-virus software vendors need to make sure their products are compatible with the patches.

Read more  

Conference review: AVAR 2017

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 22, 2017

Martijn Grooten reports on the 20th AVAR conference, which took place earlier in December in Beijing, China.

Read more  

Conference review: Botconf 2017

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Dec 22, 2017

Virus Bulletin researchers report back from a very interesting fifth edition of Botconf, the botnet fighting conference.

Read more  

VB2017 videos on attacks against Ukraine

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 21, 2017

(In)security is a global issue that affects countries around the world, but in recent years none has been so badly hit as Ukraine. Today, we publish the videos of two VB2017 talks about attacks that hit Ukraine particularly badly: a talk by Alexander Adamov (NioGuard) on (Not)Petya and related attacks, and another by Robert Lipovsky and Anton Cherepanov (ESET) on Industroyer.

Read more  

Facebook helps you determine whether emails really came from its servers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 21, 2017

On its website, Facebook now shows which emails it has sent you recently, thus helping you to determine which emails are real, and which should be discarded as phishing.

Read more  

Vulnerability disclosure and botnet takedown not to be hindered by Wassenaar Arrangement

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 19, 2017

Clarification in the language of the Wassenaar Arrangement, a multilateral export control regime for conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies, means those involved in vulnerability disclosure or botnet takedown won't have to worry about acquiring an export licence.

Read more  

Search blog

April

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/04/

New sentencing, new legislation

United States Sentencing Commission gets busy...
United States Sentencing Commission gets busy... The United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) — the body tasked with refining the sentencing portions of new legislation — met… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/04/new-sentencing-new-legislation/

Shrinking violets

Consolidation in the anti-spam industry
Consolidation in the anti-spam industry A report released by Gartner last month predicts consolidation in the anti-spam industry and a rapid contraction of the pool of anti-spam… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/04/shrinking-violets/

Patent for Postini

Postini wins U.S. patent for email filtering
Postini wins U.S. patent for email filtering Managed email security company Postini has been granted a U.S. patent for email filtering technology.According to the patent, any… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/03/patent-postini/

Roll up, roll up

AOL raffles spammer's Porsche
AOL raffles spammer's Porsche Taking a new angle on hitting spammers where it hurts, AOL is offering its members the opportunity to win a luxury car seized as part of a court… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/03/roll-roll/

New kid on the certification block

CheckVir starts certification program
CheckVir starts certification program At the start of this year, CheckVir became the latest independent organisation to offer certification for anti-virus products, when the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/03/new-kid-certification-block/

A bit of R&R

Man. Loves. His. Spam. No really.
Man. Loves. His. Spam. No really. Some choose Yoga, others choose a glass of wine and a soak in a hot bath, and some, apparently, choose reading spam as their preferred method of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/03/bit-r-amp-r/

News summary

AMD introduces hardware-level AV protection
AMD introduces hardware-level AV protection AMD has launched its new Athlon 64 FX processor at the CeBIT trade show in Hanover, Germany. Aimed primarily at the PC gamer market,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/03/news-summary/

ISPs refile lawsuits

AOL and EarthLink refile suits against spammers
AOL and EarthLink refile suits against spammers US Internet service providers AOL and EarthLink have each refiled lawsuits against prolific spammers. A Florida man and married… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/03/isps-refile-lawsuits/

March

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/03/

Fine for dialler spam

UK watchdog fines US company for sending spam
UK watchdog fines US company for sending spam A UK watchdog has fined a US company for sending spam. The fine was imposed by the UK's regulatory body for the premium rate… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/03/fine-dialler-spam/

SMS spam goes down Down Under

Anti-spam code of conduct proves successful
Anti-spam code of conduct proves successful Australia's Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman reports that a code of conduct aimed at preventing SMS spam has been highly… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/03/sms-spam-goes-down-down-under/

Errata: Windows NT comparative review

After re-testing, Alwil's AVAST! product gains a VB 100% award.
After re-testing, Alwil's AVAST! product gains a VB 100% award. The results were reviewed for two products in the Windows NT comparative review (VB February 2004, p.12), with the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/02/errata-windows-nt-comparative-review/

China sets deadline for spammers

China blacklists offending IP addresses
China blacklists offending IP addresses The Internet Society of China's Anti-Spam Coordination Team (ASCT) has published a blacklist of mail servers sending spam. The list… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/02/china-sets-deadline-spammers/

Plans, acquisitions and royalty

NAI makes plans, Symantec acquires software manufacturer, Sophos receives royal visitors
NAI makes plans, Symantec acquires software manufacturer, Sophos receives royal visitors Network Associates Inc. (NAI) has unveiled plans to provide its customers with information… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/02/plans-acquisitions-and-royalty/

Gigabyte arrested

Well known female virus writer arrested. Finally.
Well known female virus writer arrested. Finally. Last month the Belgian Federal Crime Unit reported that they had arrested and questioned the virus writer known as 'Gigabyte'.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/02/gigabyte-arrested/

More core wars

Virus vs virus - new Welchia variant seeks to destroy Mydoom.
Virus vs virus - new Welchia variant seeks to destroy Mydoom. Today we can say our goodbyes to Mydoom.A - which is programmed to stop spreading on today's date, 12 February 2004.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/02/more-core-wars/

News summary

Why technical writing is best left to technical journalists, Netcraft monitors SCO, and February's VB magazine
Why technical writing is best left to technical journalists, Netcraft monitors SCO, and February's VB magazine There is yet another great rant on the ZDNet website. Josh Mehlman… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/02/news-summary/

February

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/02/

Congressional attack on inboxes

US Congressional representatives send bulk email
US Congressional representatives send bulk email While congratulating themselves for (supposedly) stemming the flow of spam with the passage of the CAN-SPAM anti-spam… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/01/congressional-attack-inboxes/

We have placed cookies on your device in order to improve the functionality of this site, as outlined in our cookies policy. However, you may delete and block all cookies from this site and your use of the site will be unaffected. By continuing to browse this site, you are agreeing to Virus Bulletin's use of data as outlined in our privacy policy.