VB Blog

VB2017 preview: Calling all PUA fighters

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Aug 31, 2017

We preview the VB2017 Small Talk to be given by AppEsteem's Dennis Batchelder that should help security vendors make decisions about apps whose behaviours sit right on the limits of what is acceptable from a security point of view.

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VB2017 preview: From insider threat to insider asset: a practical guide

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Aug 30, 2017

We preview the VB2017 paper by Forcepoint's Kristin Leary and Richard Ford, who will discuss a practical approach to preventing insider attacks.

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WireX DDoS botnet takedown shows the best side of the security industry

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Aug 29, 2017

Collaboration between a number of security companies has led to the takedown of the WireX Android DDoS botnet. Efforts like these, and the fact that the companies involved all decided to publish the very same blog post, show the best side of the security industry.

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VB2017 preview: Your role in child abuse

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Aug 28, 2017

We preview the VB2017 presentation by Mick Moran, who will discuss online child abuse and the role the security community can play fighting it.

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ROPEMAKER email exploit is of limited practical use

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Aug 28, 2017

Researchers at Mimecast have published a paper about the 'ROPEMAKER' exploit, which allows an email sender with malicious intentions to change the visial appearance of an email after it has been delivered.

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VB2017 preview: Mariachis and jackpotting: ATM malware from Latin America

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Aug 25, 2017

We preview the VB2017 presentation by Kaspersky Lab researchers Thiago Marques and Fabio Assolini in which they look at malware targeting ATMs in Latin America.

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VB2017 preview: Stuck between a ROC and a hard place

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Aug 24, 2017

We preview the VB2017 paper by Microsoft's Holly Stewart and Joe Blackbird, which uses data about users switching anti-virus provider to decide whether machine-learning models should favour avoiding false positives over false negatives.

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VB2017 preview: Consequences of bad security in health care

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Aug 23, 2017

We preview the VB2017 presentation by Jelena Milosevic, an ICU nurse by profession, who will provide the audience with an inside view of security in hospitals.

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VB2017 Small Talk: The encryption vs. inspection debate

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Aug 22, 2017

At VB2017, Cloudflare's Head of Cryptography Nick Sullivan will give a Small Talk on the intercepting of HTTPS connections by proxies and anti-virus software.

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Throwback Thursday: Ten memorable Virus Bulletin conference presentations - part 2

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Aug 10, 2017

In the second part of this two-part blog series, we look at five more memorable Virus Bulletin conference presentations.

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Virus Bulletin publishes first web filter test report

After a lot of preparation, Virus Bulletin is proud to have published the first "VBWeb" comparative web filter test report, in which products' ability to block web-based malware and drive-by downloads was tested. Fortinet's FortiGuard appliance was the fi…
Virus Bulletin has been testing security products for more than 18 years, and in recent years, we have had many requests from product developers asking us to test their web… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/02/virus-bulletin-published-first-corporate-web-filter-test-report/

VB2015 paper: Will Android Trojans, Worms or Rootkits Survive in SEAndroid and Containerization?

Sophos researchers Rowland Yu and William Lee look at whether recent security enhancements to Android, such as SEAndroid and containerization, will be enough to defeat future malware threats.
Google's Android operating system may have a bit of a bad reputation when it comes to security, but it's worth noting that recent versions of the operating system have been… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/02/vb2015-paper-will-android-trojans-worms-or-rootkits-survive-seandroid-and-containerization/

First six VB2016 sponsors announced

Virus Bulletin is excited to announce the first six sponsors for VB2016, the 26th international Virus Bulletin conference, which will take place in Denver, Colorado, USA 5-7 October 2016.
While VB2016, the 26th Virus Bulletin conference, is still more than nine months away, preparations for the event are well under way. Hopefully you will already have seen the call… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/02/vb2016-sponsors-announced/

VB2015 paper: Sizing cybercrime: incidents and accidents, hints and allegations

Cybercrime is big. But how big is it really? In a paper presented at VB2015 and together with the presentation video published on our website today, ESET researcher Stephen Cobb looks at previous studies that attempt the size of cybercrime and asks why we…
How big is cybercrime? Various attempts have been made to measure the size of cybercrime around the world, or in individual countries, but how reliable are the methodologies… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/02/vb2015-paper-sizing-cybercrime-incidents-and-accidents-hints-and-allegations/

Throwback Thursday: The Thin Blue Line

This Throwback Thursday, VB heads back to 1994 when UK Fraud Squad detectives started making inroads into the most puzzling 'Whodunnit' since the Great Train Robbery. Had an outbreak of computer crime swept Britain? No, it was all part of a police trainin…
This Throwback Thursday, VB heads back to 1994 when UK Fraud Squad detectives started making inroads into the most puzzling 'Whodunnit' since the Great Train Robbery. Had an… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/02/throwback-thursday-thin-blue-line/

Welcome to virusbulletin.com

Almost 20 years after Virus Bulletin revealed its first site on the "world wide web", we've redesigned our whole website. And we have a new domain as well.
Virus Bulletin revealed its first website in the spring of 1996, almost 20 years ago. As was common in those days, it was referred to as 'our presence on the "world wide web"' —… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/02/welcome-virusbulletincom/

VB2015 video: TurlaSat: The Fault in our Stars

In a presentation at VB2015 in Prague, Kaspersky Lab researcher Kurt Baumgartner talked about Turla's extraplanetary activities: the malware used (and abused) satellite Internet connections for command and control communication.
Kurt Baumgartner talks about Turla's extraplanetary activities. Despite the hype around the subject, the tools used by most so-called APT groups are surprisingly mundane. But… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/02/vb2015-video-fault-our-stars/

Security vendors should embrace those hunting bugs in their products

When interviewed by the Risky Business podcast last week, VB Editor Martijn Grooten talked about the security of security products and said that many vendors are embracing the work done by Tavis Ormandy and others - as they should.
Security software is software too — and it will have flaws. Last week, I was interviewed for the Risky Business podcast. I really enjoyed the experience, not just because I've… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/02/security-vendors-should-embrace-those-hunting-bugs-their-products/

February

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/02/

More VB Conference papers and videos published

More VB2014 Conference papers and videos published - 11 papers and 9 videos added to our website.
11 papers and 9 videos added to our website. In the security industry, we're used to people saying sorry: "sorry we chose a default password of 12345678"; "sorry we didn't look… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/01/more-vb-conference-papers-and-videos-published/

Throwback Thursday: Peter-II - Three Questions of The Sphinx

This Throwback Thursday, VB heads back to 1993, when an ordinary memory-resident master boot sector virus spiced things up with a bit of pop trivia.
This Throwback Thursday, VB heads back to 1993, when an ordinary memory-resident master boot sector virus spiced things up with a bit of pop trivia. Over recent years we have… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/01/throwback-thursday-peter-ii-three-questions-sphinx/

VB2015 paper: Effectively testing APT defences

Simon Edwards discusses how to test the potentially untestable.
Simon Edwards discusses how to test the potentially untestable. Like the term or loathe it, APTs have given rise to a new generation of security products that protect against these… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/01/paper-effectively-testing-apt-defences/

VB2015 paper: The ethics and perils of APT research: an unexpected transition into intelligence brokerage

Juan Andrés Guerrero-Saade discusses the perils and ethical conundrums that arise as the industry enters a new playing field.
Juan Andrés Guerrero-Saade discusses the perils and ethical conundrums that arise as the industry enters a new playing field. Many security researchers have been part of the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/01/paper-ethics-and-perils-apt-research-unexpected-transition-intelligence-brokerage/

VB2015 paper: Digital 'Bian Lian' (face changing): the Skeleton Key malware

Microsoft, Dell SecureWorks researchers analyse malware targeting Active Directory servers.
Microsoft, Dell SecureWorks researchers analyse malware targeting Active Directory servers. A year ago, researchers from Dell SecureWorks discovered a new kind of malware, dubbed… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/01/paper-digital-bian-lian-face-changing-skeleton-key-malware/

Throwback Thursday: I say Virus, You say Trojan

This Throwback Thursday, VB heads back to 1998 — a time when anti-virus vendors avoided tackling non-replicating trojans, worms, jokes and corrupted files.
This Throwback Thursday, VB heads back to 1998 — a time when anti-virus vendors avoided tackling non-replicating trojans, worms, jokes and corrupted files. Today, the idea of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/01/throwback-thursday-i-say-virus-you-say-trojan/

Let's Encrypt certificate used in malversiting

We'd better get used to a world where malicious traffic is encrypted too.
We'd better get used to a world where malicious traffic is encrypted too. According to some people, myself included, Let's Encrypt was one of the best things that happened to the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/01/let-s-encrypt-certificate-used-malversiting/

When it comes to online banking, sub-optimal encryption isn't our biggest concern

Malware authors and scammers won't attack the crypto.
Malware authors and scammers won't attack the crypto. Under the headline "no zero-day necessary", Xiphos has published a rather scary blog post on the state of SSL security within… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/01/when-it-comes-online-banking-sub-optimal-encryption-isn-t-our-biggest-concern/

Malware likely cause of power cut in Ukraine

BlackEnergy malware previously linked to targeted attacks in the country.
BlackEnergy malware previously linked to targeted attacks in the country. When in late December hundreds of thousands of homes in Western Ukraine suffered power outages, many… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/01/malware-likely-cause-power-cut-ukraine/

2016

Latest news from the anti-virus industry provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
NewsThrowback Thursday: Peter-II - Three Questions of The SphinxThis Throwback Thursday, VB heads back to 1993, when an ordinary memory-resident master boot sector virus spiced… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/

January

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/01/

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