VB Blog

VB2019 presentation: A deep dive into iPhone exploit chains

Posted by Virus Bulletin on Jan 10, 2020

In a last-minute presentation at VB2019 in London, John Bambenek of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign discussed details of campaigns that used advanced iOS and Android exploit chains against China’s Uighur minority. Today we release the recording of John's presentation.

Posted by Helen Martin on Jan 8, 2020

Today we released the Winter 2020 VBWeb report, detailing the performance of web security products against live web threats and looking at the current state of the web-based threat landscape.

Posted by Virus Bulletin on Jan 6, 2020

In a paper presented at VB2019 in London, Prismo Systems researchers Abhishek Singh and Ramesh Mani discussed code injection vulnerabilities and presented a tool that could detect this vulnerability class. Today we publish their paper and the recording of their presentation.

Posted by Helen Martin on Dec 31, 2019

As VB Editor Martijn Grooten steps down from his role to move on to new challenges, the team wish him a fond farewell and the very best of luck in his future endeavours.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Dec 27, 2019

Today, we publish the VB2019 paper and video by Sophos researcher Sergei Shevchenko in which he analyses a popular yet unnamed piece of macOS ‘bundleware’.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Dec 23, 2019

In the final of a five-part series of blog posts, departing VB Editor Martijn Grooten argues for more emphasis on the good news in security, especially that which is more subtle.

Posted by Virus Bulletin on Dec 20, 2019

In the fourth of a five-part series of blog posts, departing VB Editor Martijn Grooten explains why security researchers should refer to other people's work.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Dec 19, 2019

In the third of a five-part series of blog posts, departing VB Editor Martijn Grooten explains why he believes security vendors should take their products' security more seriously.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Dec 19, 2019

China has long been a hotbed of DDoS activities, and today we publish a VB2019 paper by Intezer researcher Nacho Sanmillan who looked at Chinese threat groups engaged in performing DDoS attacks. We have also uploaded the recording of his presentation.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Dec 18, 2019

In the second of a five-part series of blog posts, departing VB Editor Martijn Grooten explains why he believes cybersecurity professionals need to educate themselves on the complexities of the real-world situations in which security is applied.

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Facebook helps you determine whether emails really came from its servers

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.
There are many good reasons to criticize Facebook for its collecting of our personal data, but the company also deserves credit for being at the forefront when it comes to online… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/12/facebook-helps-you-determine-whether-emails-really-came-them/

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

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 acqui…
I have never been too keen on making comparisons between (advanced) cyber attacks and conventional war, as such comparisons tend to ignore the enormous human cost that comes with… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/12/vulnerability-disclosure-and-botnet-takedown-not-be-hindered-wassenaar-arrangement/

VB2017 paper: Nine circles of Cerber

Cerber is one of the major names in the world of ransomware, and last year, Check Point released a decryption service for the malware. Today, we publish a VB2017 paper by Check Point's Stanislav Skuratovich describing how the Cerber decryption tool worked…
Earlier this week, we published the video of a VB2017 presentation on the Spora ransomware. Spora is hardly alone in this prominent threat type though, and one of the other major… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/12/vb2017-paper-nine-circles-cerber/

Attack on Fox-IT shows how a DNS hijack can break multiple layers of security

Dutch security firm Fox-IT deserves praise for being open about an attack on its client network. There are some important lessons to be learned about DNS security from its post-mortem.
Every company will, sooner or later, get hacked and we should judge them by how they respond. With that in mind, Fox-IT, which writes in great detail about how a DNS hijack was… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/12/attack-fox-it-shows-how-dns-hijack-can-break-multiple-layers-security/

Throwback Thursday: BGP - from route hijacking to RPKI: how vulnerable is the Internet?

For this week's Throwback Thursday, we look back at the video of a talk Level 3's Mike Benjamin gave at VB2016 in Denver, on BGP and BGP hijacks.
Yesterday, a 'mysterious event' involving BGP, the Internet's border gateway protocol, led to the traffic to many popular websites being routed for around six minutes. BGP… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/12/throwback-thursday-bgp-route-hijacking-rpki-how-vulnerable-internet/

December

https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/12/

Security Planner gives security advice based on your threat model

Citizen Lab's Security Planner helps you improve your online safety, based on the specific threats you are facing.
During the upcoming holiday season, many security professionals will be visiting relatives and, during their visit, being asked to fulfil the role of ad-hoc tech support. Apart… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/12/security-planner-gives-security-advice-based-your-threat-model/

VB2017 video: Spora: the saga continues a.k.a. how to ruin your research in a week

Today, we publish the video of the VB2017 presentation by Avast researcher Jakub Kroustek and his former colleague Előd Kironský, now at ESET, who told the story of Spora, one of of the most prominent ransomware families of 2017.
First discovered at the beginning of the year, the Spora ransomware has become one of of the most prominent ransomware families of 2017, especially in Russia, a region it appears… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/12/vb2017-video-spora-saga-continues-k-how-ruin-your-research-week/

VB2017 paper: Modern reconnaissance phase on APT – protection layer

During recent research, Cisco Talos researchers observed the ways in which APT actors are evolving and how a reconnaissance phase is included in the infection vector in order to protect valuable zero-day exploits or malware frameworks. At VB2017 in Madrid…
Targeted attack campaigns involve multiple stages, the first of which consists of collecting information about the target: the reconnaissance phase. It's an essential part of any… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/12/vb2017-paper-modern-reconnaissance-phase-apt-protection-layer/

VB2017 paper: Peering into spam botnets

At VB2017 in Madrid, CERT Poland researchers Maciej Kotowicz and Jarosław Jedynak presented a paper detailing their low-level analysis of five spam botnets. Today we publish their full paper.
Spam continues to be an important infection vector for many malware campaigns, but while a lot of attention is paid to the payloads delivered by these campaigns – Andrew Brandt's… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/12/vb2017-paper-peering-spam-botnets/

Throwback Thursday: Anti-malware testing undercover

We look back at the VB2016 presentation by Righard Zwienenberg (ESET) and Luis Corrons (Panda Security), in which they discussed various issues relating to anti-malware testing.
The testing of security products has been a hotly debated topic in the industry for at least the past two decades. It was, for instance, the topic of a popular VB2017 paper by… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/11/throwback-thursdayanti-malware-testing-undercover/

Virus Bulletin relaunches VB Security Jobs Market for both employers and job seekers

As an independent body in the IT security industry, Virus Bulletin is in an ideal position to act as a global source of information both about jobs currently available in the field and about those candidates currently seeking to start or progress their ca…
We don't like dramatic headlines here at Virus Bulletin, and whether there really are one million security job openings, as is often claimed, we don't know (there probably… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/11/virus-bulletin-relaunches-vb-security-jobs-market-both-employers-and-job-seekers/

VB2017 paper: Offensive malware analysis: dissecting OSX/FruitFly.B via a custom C&C server

At VB2017 in Madrid, macOS malware researcher Patrick Wardle presented the details of a specific piece of Mac malware, FruitFly, which he analysed through a custom C&C server - a technique that will also be of interest for researchers of malware on other …
Few readers of this blog will believe that there aren't any security issues with Apple's macOS operating system, a point made rather unsubtly by yesterday's discovery of a flaw… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/11/vb2017-paper-offensive-malware-analysis-dissecting-osxfruitflyb-custom-cc-server/

Tizi Android malware highlights the importance of security patches for high-risk users

Researchers from Google have taken down 'Tizi', an Android malware family, that used nine already patched vulnerabilities to obtain root on infected devices.
A well-known security researcher once said: "if you purposely choose Android you are either Poor, Cheap, or really hate Apple." Android has a bad reputation in security… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/11/tizi-android-malware-highlights-importance-security-patches-high-risk-users/

Virus Bulletin to attend AMTSO, AVAR and Botconf

Next week, Virus Bulletin researchers will be attending the AMTSO meeting and AVAR conference in Beijing, China, as well as the 5th edition of the Botconf conference in Montpellier, France.
Next week, Virus Bulletin will attend a number of important security conferences in Beijing, China and Montpellier, France. In Beijing, security… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/11/virus-bulletin-attend-amtso-avar-and-botconf/

VB2017 video: FinFisher: New techniques and infection vectors revealed

Today, we publish the video of the VB2017 presentation by ESET researcher Filip Kafka, who looked at recent changes in the FinFisher government malware, including its infection vectors.
Over the last few years, the infamous FinFisher government spyware (already the subject of a VB2013 paper) has done a good job of staying under the radar. Recently, however, it… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/11/vb2017-video-finfisher-new-techniques-and-infection-vectors-revealed/

Throwback Thursday: The beginning of the end(point): where we are now and where we'll be in five years

We look back at the VB2016 presentation by Adrian Sanabria on the state of endpoint security, both now and in the future.
Over the coming weeks and months, we plan to use the Throwback Thursday slot to look back at and publish some great VB conference presentations from our archives. We start… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/11/vb2017-video-beginning-endpoint-where-we-are-now-and-where-well-be-five-years/

VB2017 paper: Beyond lexical and PDNS: using signals on graphs to uncover online threats at scale

At VB2017 in Madrid, Cisco Umbrella (OpenDNS) researchers Dhia Mahjoub and David Rodriguez presented a new approach to detecting infected machines using graphs to detect botnet traffic at scale. Today we publish both Dhia and David's paper and the recordi…
Malicious Internet traffic, such as botnet C&C traffic, is easily recognized if it uses known bad domain names, or known bad IP addresses. This is why botnets constantly change… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/11/vb2017-paper-beyond-lexical-and-pdns-using-signals-graphs-uncover-online-threats-scale/

Firefox 59 to make it a lot harder to use data URIs in phishing attacks

Firefox developer Mozilla has announced that, as of version 59 of the browser, many kinds of data URIs, which provide a way to create "domainless web content", will not be rendered in the browser, thus making this trick - used in various phishing campaign…
While a domain name is really just a short string, this string comes with a large amount of implicit metadata: the registration date; the IP address(es) the domain currently… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/11/firefox-59-make-it-lot-harder-use-data-uris-phishing-attacks/

Standalone product test: FireEye Endpoint

Virus Bulletin ran a standalone test on FireEye's Endpoint Security solution.
FireEye is well known within the security community, both for its advanced protection products and for its regular research reports. Recently, the company launched a new version… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/11/standaline-test-fireeye-endpoint/

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