VB Blog

VB2016 Call for Papers - Frequently Asked Questions

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 11, 2016

Are you interested in submitting an abstract for VB2016? We've answered some frequently asked questions about the Call for Papers, which closes next week.

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Throwback Thursday: Hash Woes

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Mar 10, 2016

This Throwback Thursday we go back to 2004, when the entire crypto community was abuzz with the news that a group of Chinese researchers had demonstrated flaws in a whole set of hash functions - VB took a closer look to clarify the situation and draw lessons from the incident.

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VB2015 paper: Mobile Banking Fraud via SMS in North America: Who's Doing it and How

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 2, 2016

Though SMS may have been claimed dead many time, it is still very much alive, and quite popular among mobile phishers. At VB2015, Adaptive Mobile researcher Cathal Mc Daid presented a paper various mobile phishing campaigns targeting North American banks.

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Throwback Thursday: Viruses on the Internet

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Feb 25, 2016

This Throwback Thursday VB heads back to 1996 when - long before the days of driveby downloads and exploit kits - VB published a report on the state of viruses on the Internet.

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RSA and BSides San Francisco

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 24, 2016

Next week, Virus Bulletin Editor Martijn Grooten will attend the RSA conference in San Francisco, where he will give a talk entitled "How Broken Is Our Crypto Really?" He will also speak at BSides San Francisco, where he will give a talk entitled "Elliptic Curve Cryptography for Those Who are Afraid of Mathematics".

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Virus Bulletin publishes first web filter test report

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 19, 2016

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 first product to achieve a VBWeb certification.

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

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 18, 2016

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.

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First six VB2016 sponsors announced

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 17, 2016

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.

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

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 11, 2016

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 need such data and what can be done better.

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Throwback Thursday: The Thin Blue Line

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Feb 11, 2016

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 training program.

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October

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/10/

VB2015 'Steganoprague' competition

Use your steganography-detection skills and win a pile of books.
Use your steganography-detection skills and win a pile of books. As VB2015 is about to begin, we announce the second part of the 'Steganoprague' competition. In this part, you will… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/09/steganoprague-competition/

Throwback Thursday: The First International Virus Bulletin Conference

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to October 1991 to take a look back at the first ever VB Conference: VB'91 in Jersey.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to October 1991 to take a look back at the first ever VB Conference: VB'91 in Jersey. With VB2015, the 25th Virus Bulletin… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/09/throwback-thursday-first-international-conference/

Researchers seek ransomware samples for their generic solution

VB2015 presentation to include demonstration of technique against recent samples.
VB2015 presentation to include demonstration of technique against recent samples. 'The scary hack that's on the rise' is how Wired's Kim Zetter described ransomware in an overview… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/09/researchers-seek-ransomware-samples-their-generic-solution/

Throwback Thursday: Virus Writer and Distributors 'Attributable Viruses'

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to July 1990, when VB looked at virus origins and some of the rare cases of attributable viruses.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to July 1990, when VB looked at virus origins and some of the rare cases of attributable viruses. This week saw the confession of a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/09/throwback-thursday-virus-writer-and-distributors-attributable-viruses/

VB2015 last-minute papers announced

Ten talks covering hot research added to the VB2015 programme.
Ten talks covering hot research added to the VB2015 programme. There are just over two weeks to go until more than 400 security professionals descend on Prague for VB2015, the 25th… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/09/last-minute-papers-announced/

Paper: Custom packer defeats multiple automation systems

Combination of anti-automation, anti-VM and anti-reverse engineering to make researchers' lives harder.
Combination of anti-automation, anti-VM and anti-reverse engineering to make researchers' lives harder. Ever since the number of new malware samples became so large we could no… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/09/paper-custom-packer-defeats-multiple-automation-systems/

Throwback Thursday: Computer Viruses: Electronically Transmitted Disease?

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to March 2003, when VB reported on a piece of research investigating the psychological toll inflicted by computer viruses.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to March 2003, when VB reported on a piece of research investigating the psychological toll inflicted by computer viruses. One could… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/09/throwback-thursday-computer-viruses-electronically-transmitted-disease/

September

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/09/

VB2015: some important information

Last-minute papers, steganography competition and foosball tournament.
Last-minute papers, steganography competition and foosball tournament. We're just a little over a month away from the beginning of VB2015, the 25th Virus Bulletin International… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/08/some-important-information/

Throwback Thursday: Safe Hex in the 21st Century

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to July 2000, when we were already being warned that virus scanners were no longer enough.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to July 2000, when we were already being warned that virus scanners were no longer enough. How many times have we heard commentators… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/08/throwback-thursday-safe-hex-21st-century/

Paper: Not a GAMe maKER

Raul Alvarez performs low-level analysis of information-stealing trojan.
Raul Alvarez performs low-level analysis of information-stealing trojan. The Gamker information-stealing trojan (also known as Shiz) has been around for a few years. It made the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/08/paper-not-game-maker/

VB2015 preview: advanced persistent threats

Several conference papers to deal with targeted attacks.
Several conference papers to deal with targeted attacks. There was a time when analyses of malware and viruses at the Virus Bulletin conference used the number of infections as a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/08/preview-advanced-persistent-threats/

Throwback Thursday: The Virus Analyst Headache

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to April 1999, when the average virus analyst had to manually process around ten or more viruses per day, and the growing complexity and volume of viruses was proving a headache.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to April 1999, when the average virus analyst had to manually process around ten or more viruses per day, and the growing complexity… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/08/throwback-thursday-virus-analyst-headache/

Back to the future: anti-virus engines and sandboxes

Szilard Stange makes the case for multi-engine malware scanning.
Szilard Stange makes the case for multi-engine malware scanning.The VB2015 conference takes place next month (30 September to 2 October) in Prague, with an exciting programme that… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/08/back-future-anti-virus-engines-and-sandboxes/

Catch rates bounce back in latest spam filter test

Products defy prediction of tougher circumstances.
Products defy prediction of tougher circumstances. When spam levels were recently reported to have dropped below 50% for the first time in 12 years, I wrote that it was 'not… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/08/catch-rates-bounce-back-latest-spam-filter-test/

Paper: Life after the apocalypse for the Middle Eastern NJRat campaign

Malware authors upped their game following 2014 disruption of No-IP.
Malware authors upped their game following 2014 disruption of No-IP. In June last year, somewhat controversially Microsoft moved against dynamic DNS provider No-IP and seized 22 of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/08/paper-life-after-apocalypse-middle-eastern-njrat-campaign/

Throwback Thursday: IT Security Breaches: The 1994 NCC Survey

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to November 1994, when VB asked: what is the nature of the real virus problem, and how much does it cost?
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to November 1994, when VB asked: what is the nature of the real virus problem, and how much does it cost? Year after year, we see… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/08/throwback-thursday-it-security-breaches-1994-ncc-survey/

VB2015 preview: the Internet of Things

Experts to cover various aspects of IoT (in)security in a range of talks.
Experts to cover various aspects of IoT (in)security in a range of talks. As a reader of this blog, and hopefully as someone who will attend VB2015, you don't need to be told that… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/08/preview-internet-things/

File-stealing vulnerability found in Firefox PDF reader

Both Windows and Linux users actively being targeted.
Both Windows and Linux users actively being targeted. If, like me, you are suffering from vulnerability fatigue after so many flaws and weaknesses having been disclosed in Las… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/08/file-stealing-vulnerability-found-firefox-pdf-reader/

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