VB Blog

VB2019 paper: Fantastic Information and Where to Find it: A guidebook to open-source OT reconnaissance

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 22, 2019

A VB2019 paper by FireEye researcher Daniel Kapellmann Zafra explained how open source intelligence (OSINT) can be used to learn crucial details of the inner workings of many a system. Today we publish Daniel's paper and the recording of his presentation.

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VB2019 paper: Different ways to cook a crab: GandCrab Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) analysed in depth

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 21, 2019

Though active for not much longer than a year, GandCrab had been one of the most successful ransomware operations. In a paper presented at VB2019 in London, McAfee researchers John Fokker and Alexandre Mundo looked at the malware code, its evolution and the affiliate scheme behind it. Today we publish both their paper and the recording of their presentation.

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VB2019 paper: Domestic Kitten: an Iranian surveillance program

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 18, 2019

At VB2019 in London, Check Point researchers Aseel Kayal and Lotem Finkelstein presented a paper detailing an Iranian operation they named 'Domestic Kitten' that used Android apps for targeted surveillance. Today we publish their paper and the video of their presentation.

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VB2019 video: Discretion in APT: recent APT attack on crypto exchange employees

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 18, 2019

At VB2019 in London, LINE's HeungSoo Kang explained how cryptocurrency exchanges had been attacked using Firefox zero-days. Today, we publish the video of his presentation.

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VB2019 paper: DNS on fire

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 7, 2019

In a paper presented at VB2019, Cisco Talos researchers Warren Mercer and Paul Rascagneres looked at two recent attacks against DNS infrastructure: DNSpionage and Sea Turtle. Today we publish their paper and the recording of their presentation.

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German Dridex spam campaign is unfashionably large

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 6, 2019

VB has analysed a malicious spam campaign targeting German-speaking users with obfuscated Excel malware that would likely download Dridex but that mostly stood out through its size.

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Paper: Dexofuzzy: Android malware similarity clustering method using opcode sequence

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 5, 2019

We publish a paper by researchers from ESTsecurity in South Korea, who describe a fuzzy hashing algorithm for clustering Android malware datasets.

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Emotet continues to bypass many email security products

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 4, 2019

Having returned from a summer hiatus, Emotet is back targeting inboxes and, as seen in the VBSpam test lab, doing a better job than most other malicious campaigns at bypassing email security products.

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VB2019 paper: We need to talk - opening a discussion about ethics in infosec

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 1, 2019

Those working in the field of infosec are often faced with ethical dilemmas that are impossible to avoid. Today, we publish a VB2019 paper by Kaspersky researcher Ivan Kwiatkowski looking at ethics in infosec as well as the recording of Ivan's presentation.

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Stalkerware poses particular challenges to anti-virus products

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 31, 2019

Malware used in domestic abuse situations is a growing threat, and the standard way for anti-virus products to handle such malware may not be good enough. But that doesn't mean there isn't an important role for anti-virus to play.

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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/

January

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

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/

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