VB Blog

VB2016 video: Last-minute paper: Malicious proxy auto-configs: an easy way to harvest banking credentials

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 30, 2017

In a VB2016 last-minute presentation, Jaromír Horejší and Jan Širmer looked at Retefe, a trojan that has targeted banks in several European countries and used malicious proxy auto-config filesto redirect users' traffic to a server controlled by the attackers. A recording of their presentation is now available to view on our YouTube channel.

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WannaCry shows we need to understand why organizations don't patch

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 17, 2017

Perhaps the question we should be asking about WannaCry is not "why do so many organizations allow unpatched machines to exist on their networks?" but "why doesn't patching work reasonably well most of the time?"

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Modern security software is not necessarily powerless against threats like WannaCry

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 15, 2017

The WannaCry ransomware has affected many organisations around the world, making it probably the worst and most damaging of its kind. But modern security is not necessarily powerless against such threats.

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Throwback Thursday: CARO: A personal view

Posted by   Helen Martin on   May 11, 2017

This week sees the 11th International CARO Workshop taking place in Krakow, Poland – a prestigious annual meeting of anti-malware and security experts. As a founding member of CARO, Fridrik Skulason was well placed, in August 1994, to shed some light on the organization, to explain in detail CARO's main activities and functions, as well as the reasons behind its strict membership regulations.

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VB2016 paper: Uncovering the secrets of malvertising

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 10, 2017

Malicious advertising, a.k.a. malvertising, has evolved tremendously over the past few years to take a central place in some of today’s largest web-based attacks. It is by far the tool of choice for attackers to reach the masses but also to target them with infinite precision and deliver such payloads as ransomware. Today, we publish a paper presented at VB2016 in Denver by Malwarebytes researchers Jérôme Segura and Chris Boyd, in which they look at the advertising ecosystem, how it is used, and at what techniques are being utilised to spread malware

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Throwback Thursday: Tools of the DDoS Trade

Posted by   Helen Martin on   May 4, 2017

As DDoS attacks become costlier to fix and continue to increase in both number and diversity, we turn back the clock to 2000, when Aleksander Czarnowski took a look at the DDoS tools of the day.

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VB2016 paper: Building a local passiveDNS capability for malware incident response

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 4, 2017

At VB2016, Splunk researchers Kathy Wang and Steve Brant presented a Splunk app that can be used to locally collect passive DNS data. A recording of their presentation is now available to view on our YouTube channel.

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VB2016 video: Last-minute paper: A malicious OS X cocktail served from a tainted bottle

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 28, 2017

In a VB2016 last-minute presentation, ESET researchers Peter Kalnai and Martin Jirkal looked at the OS X malware threats KeRanger and Keydnap, that both spread through a compromised BitTorrent client. A recording of their presentation is now available to view on our YouTube channel.

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Consumer spyware: a serious threat with a different threat model

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 25, 2017

Consumer spyware is a growing issue and one that can have serious consequences: its use is increasingly common in domestic violence. But do our threat models consider the attacker with physical access to, and inside knowledge of the victim?

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VB2016 paper: Debugging and monitoring malware network activities with Haka

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 24, 2017

In their VB2016 paper, Stormshield researchers Benoît Ancel and Mehdi Talbi introduced Haka, an open-source language to monitor, debug and control malicious network traffic. Both their paper and the video recording of their presentation are now available to read/view on www.virusbulletin.com.

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Virtually There

The Infosecurity show and exhibition has gone virtual with the launch of the first Infosecurity World Online exhibition. But where are the sweets?
The Infosecurity show and exhibition has gone virtual with the launch of the first Infosecurity World Online exhibition. But where are the sweets? The Infosecurity show and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2002/09/virtually-there/

The youth of today...

Five Israeli teenagers have been charged in connection with writing and disseminating W32/Goner.
Five Israeli teenagers have been charged in connection with writing and disseminating W32/Goner. According to Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, five youngsters have been charged with… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2002/08/youth-today/

Bugs galore

Symantec's acquisition of SecurityFocus last month has unsettled a number of contributors to the BugTraq vulnerability list. So much so that they created a new one.
Symantec's acquisition of SecurityFocus last month has unsettled a number of contributors to the BugTraq vulnerability list. So much so that they created a new one. At the news of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2002/08/bugs-galore/

Retail Therapy

Symantec has been on a blow-out shopping spree...
Symantec has been on a blow-out shopping spree... Symantec has been on a blow-out shopping spree. Perhaps it was its purchase of Mountain Wave earlier this year that put the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2002/08/retail-therapy/

Third time unlucky

NAI's third attempt to re-acquire McAfee.com was scuppered yesterday when 96% of McAfee.com shareholders rejected NAI's latest exchange offer for McAfee.com shares.
NAI's third attempt to re-acquire McAfee.com was scuppered yesterday when 96% of McAfee.com shareholders rejected NAI's latest exchange offer for McAfee.com shares.NAI's third… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2002/08/third-time-unlucky/

August

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2002/08/

Erratum: Windows XP comparative review: McAfee VirusScan

After re-testing, McAfee's VirusScan product gains a VB 100% award.
After re-testing, McAfee's VirusScan product gains a VB 100% award. Unfortunately an error occurred in Virus Bulletin's Windows XP comparative review (see VB June 2002, p.21):… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2002/07/erratum-windows-xp-comparative-review-mcafee-virusscan/

July

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2002/07/

Crying wolf revisited

While one AV vendor comes in for a roasting, the others enjoy the rare taste of the moral high ground.
While one AV vendor comes in for a roasting, the others enjoy the rare taste of the moral high ground. Last month was Network Associates' turn to come in for a roasting over its… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2002/07/crying-wolf-revisited/

Quarter byte squaw?

Worryingly, many sysadmins seemed unaware both of the Apache 'chunked encoding' bug and of their systems' vulnerability...
Worryingly, many sysadmins seemed unaware both of the Apache 'chunked encoding' bug and of their systems' vulnerability... This month has seen the elevation of what was thought… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2002/07/quarter-byte-squaw/

Windows XP Professional comparative review

After re-testing, Panda Antivirus Platinum's on-access scanner product gains a VB 100% award.
After re-testing, Panda Antivirus Platinum's on-access scanner product gains a VB 100% award. Since the publication of the Windows XP comparative review in the June edition of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2002/06/windows-xp-professional-comparative-review/

Shakira cynicism

As reports begin to appear of the latest VBSWG variant climbing prevalence tables, VB has received a particularly relevant comment from sys-admin Scott Francis.
As reports begin to appear of the latest VBSWG variant climbing prevalence tables, VB has received a particularly relevant comment from sys-admin Scott Francis. As reports begin… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2002/06/shakira-cynicism/

As complex as Euler's formula

IT news website Slashdot's report of Simile's cross-platform capabilities was met with the usual host of ill-informed, biased and naïve comments from users of the site.
IT news website Slashdot's report of Simile's cross-platform capabilities was met with the usual host of ill-informed, biased and naïve comments from users of the site. IT news… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2002/06/complex-euler-s-formula/

June

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2002/06/

Outraged of Slovakia

Is there really any need to include virus samples in product tests? CNET seems to think it's not worth the bother.
Is there really any need to include virus samples in product tests? CNET seems to think it's not worth the bother. Recently VB received an email from an outraged user declaring… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2002/05/outraged-slovakia/

Closed source sauce

Microsoft has claimed that open source software threatens security - unlike proprietary software such as its own SQL Server, currently playing vector to a new worm.
Microsoft has claimed that open source software threatens security - unlike proprietary software such as its own SQL Server, currently playing vector to a new worm. Goliath of the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2002/05/closed-source-sauce/

May

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2002/05/

2002

Latest news from the anti-virus industry provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
NewsStocks, viruses and a disgruntled employee A systems administrator has been charged with attempting to manipulate a company's stock price by introducing a virus into its… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2002/

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