VB Blog

Subtle change could see a reduction in installation of malicious Chrome extensions

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 13, 2018

Google has made a subtle change to its Chrome browser, banning the inline installation of new extensions, thus making it harder for malware authors to trick users into unwittingly installing malicious extensions.

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Paper: EternalBlue: a prominent threat actor of 2017–2018

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 11, 2018

We publish a paper by researchers from Quick Heal Security Labs in India, who study the EternalBlue and DoublePulsar exploits in full detail.

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'North Korea' a hot subject among VB2018 talks

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Jun 1, 2018

Several VB2018 papers deal explicitly or implicitly with threats that have been attributed to North Korean actors.

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Expired domain led to SpamCannibal's blacklist eating the whole world

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 31, 2018

The domain of the little-used SpamCannibal DNS blacklist had expired, resulting in it effectively listing every single IP address.

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MnuBot banking trojan communicates via SQL server

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 30, 2018

Researchers at IBM X-Force have discovered MnuBot, a banking trojan targeting users in Brazil, which is noteworthy for using SQL Server for command and control communication.

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Throwback Thursday: Giving the EICAR test file some teeth

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 24, 2018

The 68-byte EICAR test file plays as important a role today as it did 19 years ago. In this week's Throwback Thursday we look back at a VB99 conference paper in which Randy Abrams described how this 'miracle tool' worked and how it could be used.

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XMRig used in new macOS cryptominer

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 23, 2018

A new piece of cryptocurrency-mining malware on macOS has been found to use the popular XMRig miner.

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Tendency for DDoS attacks to become less volumetric fits in a wider trend

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 22, 2018

CDN provider Cloudflare reports an increase in DDoS attacks targeting layer 7 and focusing on exhausting server resources rather than sending large volumes of data. This fits in a wider trend.

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Turkish Twitter users targeted with mobile FinFisher spyware

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 15, 2018

Through fake social media accounts, users were tricked into installing an Android application that was actually a mobile version of the FinFisher spyware.

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Hide'n'Seek IoT botnet adds persistence

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 9, 2018

The Hide'n'Seek IoT botnet has received an update to make its infection persist on infected devices beyond a restart.

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Search blog

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/

November

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/11/

Totally Toronto: VB2003

Helen Martin recounts the Virus Bulletin conference.
Helen Martin recounts the Virus Bulletin conference. full article Posted on 30 October 2003 by Virus Bulletin https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/10/totally-toronto/

Linux vs. Windows viruses: a rebuttal

Pete Sergeant responds to an article by a SecurityFocus columnist, which hints that Linux users really don't need to worry about viruses.
Pete Sergeant responds to an article by a SecurityFocus columnist, which hints that Linux users really don't need to worry about viruses. Regarding Linux vs. Windows Viruses:… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/10/linux-vs-windows-viruses-rebuttal/

October

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/10/

Four arrests and a congressional hearing

US Congress starts to take computer security seriously, four alleged malware writers arrested...
US Congress starts to take computer security seriously, four alleged malware writers arrested... A US Congressional hearing was held last month to discuss the current state of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/09/four-arrests-and-congressional-hearing/

September

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/09/

Youth faces arrest for Blaster variant

Teenager suspected of creating Blaster variant faces arrest.
Teenager suspected of creating Blaster variant faces arrest. An 18-year-old suspected of creating a variant of the Blaster worm is reported to be facing arrest today. The… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/08/youth-faces-arrest-blaster-variant/

Watching and waiting for Sobig

On 22 August 2003 anti-virus experts and sysadmins worldwide waited to discover what events, if any, would unfold when Sobig.F began a synchronized attack.
On 22 August 2003 anti-virus experts and sysadmins worldwide waited to discover what events, if any, would unfold when Sobig.F began a synchronized attack. Anti-virus experts and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/08/watching-and-waiting-sobig/

Symantec acquires Hilgraeve patent

Symantec pays $62.5m for a software patent, considers litigation against infringing competitors.
Symantec pays $62.5m for a software patent, considers litigation against infringing competitors. Symantec announced yesterday it had paid $62.5m for the infamous US Patent No.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/08/symantec-acquires-hilgraeve-patent/

August

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/08/

No more Mr Nice Guy: UK gets tough on hi-tech criminals

Welsh virus-writer shown justice, not mercy
Welsh virus-writer shown justice, not mercy London’s Court of Appeal has turned down Welsh virus writer Simon Vallor’s appeal to shorten his two-year custodial sentence. Vallor,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/08/no-more-mr-nice-guy-uk-gets-tough-hi-tech-criminals/

July

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/07/

Canadian retreat

Ontario plays host to VB2003 and NTBugtraq Retreat.
Ontario plays host to VB2003 and NTBugtraq Retreat. This year's Virus Bulletin conference programme covers a wide range of subjects - from the detailed analysis of emerging… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/07/canadian-retreat/

The big wait

Will Microsoft's second attempt at entering the anti-virus field result in the 'vast shake-up' of the AV industry that was expected last time?
Will Microsoft's second attempt at entering the anti-virus field result in the 'vast shake-up' of the AV industry that was expected last time? The big news in June was the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/07/big-wait/

School without thought - your thoughts

Your thoughts on the University of Calgary's proposals to teach virus writing in its course on computer viruses and malware.
Your thoughts on the University of Calgary's proposals to teach virus writing in its course on computer viruses and malware.Recently VB reported on the University of Calgary's… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/06/school-without-thought-your-thoughts/

Microsoft buys into AV

Microsoft announces acquisition of anti-virus technology.
Microsoft announces acquisition of anti-virus technology.Microsoft has announced the acquisition of anti-virus technology from Romanian AV manufacturer GeCAD Software.The… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/06/microsoft-buys-av/

June

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/06/

School without thought

University course teaches students to write malware.
University course teaches students to write malware. The University of Calgary has announced very proudly on its website that a new undergraduate course will 'focus on developing… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/06/school-without-thought/

Military intelligence

US Army gets serious about anti-virus.
US Army gets serious about anti-virus. The US Army is using products supplied by Trend Micro to protect users of its Army Knowledge Online service from viruses, malicious content… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2003/04/military-intelligence/

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