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

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/

MyDoom, YourDoom, OurDoom

SCO offers a bounty for the arrest of the MyDoom author, Bruce Perens offers a conspiracy theory...
SCO offers a bounty for the arrest of the MyDoom author, Bruce Perens offers a conspiracy theory... SCO is offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of the author… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/01/mydoom-yourdoom-ourdoom/

Divine intervention

AV on a spiritual level
AV on a spiritual level We all know how quickly time flies when we're having fun, or when there's a deadline looming, but a recent news report on the Asian news website Channel… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/01/divine-intervention/

Waiting, reflecting and removing

Microsoft reports success of Blaster removal tool
Microsoft reports success of Blaster removal tool While young Romanian virus author Dan Dumitru Ciobanu awaited trial by a Romanian court last month for releasing a variant of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/01/waiting-reflecting-and-removing/

News summary...

Blaster (variant) author charged, AhnLab warns against complacency, India launches CERT-In, more on monoculture, and what's new in the spam world...
Blaster (variant) author charged, AhnLab warns against complacency, India launches CERT-In, more on monoculture, and what's new in the spam world... In much the same way that the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/01/news-summary/

Email coaching for marketers

DMA releases quick-glance reference guide for email marketers.
DMA releases quick-glance reference guide for email marketers. The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has released a quick-glance reference guide for marketers entitled 'The CAN… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/01/email-coaching-marketers/

Ahnlab partners with Sina.com

Ahnlab gets major ASP deal in China.
Ahnlab gets major ASP deal in China. Ahnlab has acquired a major stepping-stone into the Chinese domestic market, according to an article published by the Korea Herald, by… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/01/ahnlab-partners-sina-com/

Weekend round-up

Narrowband blues, 2004 predictions, VeriSign scuttles Symantec, Dloader/Xombie
Narrowband blues, 2004 predictions, VeriSign scuttles Symantec, Dloader/Xombie It's been a busy few days as 2004 starts to get into full swing. VB has a roundup of the weekend's… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/01/weekend-round/

Security-conscious processors

AMD and Intel prep technology to prevent buffer overflows at the hardware level.
AMD and Intel prep technology to prevent buffer overflows at the hardware level. IT news site Silicon.com has published an article about hardware security in CPUs to prevent… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/01/security-conscious-processors/

2004

Latest news from the anti-virus industry provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
NewsJanuary issue released The Virus Bulletin January 2005 issue is on its way. 23 December 2004Latest VGrep The latest version of the virus name lookup tool - VGrep, is now… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/

January

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/01/

US and UK spam legislation in place

Anti-spam legislation in place.
Anti-spam legislation in place. While the 'CAN-SPAM Act' is expected to have been signed into US law by 1 January 2004, December 2003 saw the introduction of anti-spam… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/12/us-and-uk-spam-legislation-place/

Number crunching

Calculating the average cost of a virus attack - estimates or guesstimates?
Calculating the average cost of a virus attack - estimates or guesstimates? This month has seen a flurry of the traditional end-of-year predictions for the security challenges in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/12/number-crunching/

SAS - the SysAsmin Service?

Computer security experts prepare to become special constables.
Computer security experts prepare to become special constables. A set of proposals for tackling computer crime has been published by UK Parliamentary lobby group EURIM and the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/12/sas-sysasmin-service/

Seasonal spamming

Increase in spam in lead up to holiday season.
Increase in spam in lead up to holiday season. A recent study carried out by Corvigo, suggests that the volume of spam in our inboxes showed a marked increase over the lead up to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/12/seasonal-spamming/

December

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/12/

SpamCop snapped up

IronPort Systems to purchase SpamCop
IronPort Systems to purchase SpamCop According to the IDG News Service, email security hardware manufacturer IronPort Systems Inc. is set to announce its purchase of anti-spam… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/12/spamcop-snapped/

VB2004 call for papers

Virus Bulletin calls for all speakers papers.
Virus Bulletin calls for all speakers papers. full article Posted on 05 January 2004 by Virus Bulletin https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/11/call-papers/

The menace within

Is BitDefender really staffed by Romanian vampire hackers...?
Is BitDefender really staffed by Romanian vampire hackers...? A recent report by the Associated Press claims that 'computer-savvy Romanians are fast emerging as a bold menace in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/11/menace-within/

New VB Spam Supplement

VB plans to present a selection of news and articles on spam and anti-spam techniques - some technical, some ethical, some relating to real-world experiences of dealing with spam.
VB plans to present a selection of news and articles on spam and anti-spam techniques - some technical, some ethical, some relating to real-world experiences of dealing with spam.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/11/new-vb-spam-supplement/

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