VB Blog

Paper: New Keylogger on the Block

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jul 5, 2016

In a new paper published by Virus Bulletin, Sophos researcher Gabor Szappanos takes a look at the KeyBase keylogger, sold as a commercial product and popular among cybercriminals who use it in Office exploit kits.

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BSides Denver to take place the day after VB2016

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 28, 2016

VB2016, the 26th International Virus Bulletin conference, is an excellent reason to go to Denver, Colorado in the first week of October. But there is another reason to come to Denver: BSides Denver, which will take place the day after VB2016, on Saturday 8 October 2016.

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VB2015 paper: DDoS Trojan: A Malicious Concept that Conquered the ELF Format

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Jun 13, 2016

In their VB2015 paper, Peter Kálnai and Jaromír Hořejší look at the current state of DDoS trojans forming covert botnets on unsuspecting systems. The paper provides a technical analysis of the most important malware families, focusing on infection methods, dynamic behaviour, C&C communication, obfuscation techniques, advanced methods of persistence and stealth, and elimination of rivals.

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Throwback Thursday: Hyppönen, that Data Fellow / Finnish Sprayer

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Jun 2, 2016

This week, well known and universally respected industry guru Mikko Hyppönen celebrates his 25th anniversary of working at F-Secure (formerly known as Data Fellows). VB takes a look back in the archives at two articles published in 1994: an "insight" into the life and work of the then rising star of the anti-virus world, and a virus analysis penned by the man himself.

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VB2015 paper: Economic Sanctions on Malware

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Jun 1, 2016

Financial pressure can be a proactive and potentially very effective tool in making our computer ecosystems safer. By cleverly employing various trust metrics and technologies such as digital signing, watermarking, and public-key infrastructure in strategically selected places, we can encourage good behaviours and punish bad ones. In his VB2015 paper, Igor Muttik analyses and gives examples of technologies (certificates, credentials, etc.) to de-incentivize bad behaviours in several ecosystems (Windows, Android, iOS).

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Virus Bulletin's job site for recruiters and job seekers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 26, 2016

Virus Bulletin has relaunched its security job vacancy service and added a new section, in which job seekers can advertise their skills and experience.

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Throwback Thursday: One_Half: The Lieutenant Commander?

Posted by   Helen Martin on   May 26, 2016

In October 1994, a new multi-partite virus appeared, using some of the techniques developed by the Dark Avenger in Commander_Bomber. As if this were not enough, the One_Half virus could also encrypt vital parts of the fixed disk. Eugene Kaspersky provided a detailed analysis.

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Advertisements on Blogspot sites lead to support scam

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 9, 2016

Support scam pop-ups presented through malicious advertisements show that, next to vulnerable end points, gullible users remain an easy source of money for online criminals.

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To make Tor work better on the web, we need to be honest about it

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 6, 2016

Many websites put barriers in front of visitors who use the Tor network. If we want to make the web more accessible through Tor, we need to be honest about why this is done, rather than cry wolf about a dislike for privacy, Martijn Grooten says.

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Paper: How It Works: Steganography Hides Malware in Image Files

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 28, 2016

A new paper by CYREN researcher Lordian Mosuela takes a close look at Gatak, or Stegoloader, a piece of malware that was discovered last year and that is controlled via malicious code embedded in a PNG image, a technique known as steganography.

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Search blog

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/

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/

April

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

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/

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/

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/

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/

An end to 419 spam?

Nigerian government takes action.
Nigerian government takes action. Fed up of the stigma that 419 email scammers bring to Nigeria's reputation and keen to build investor confidence in the country, Nigeria's… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/01/end-419-spam/

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