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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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/

Throwback Thursday: Palm Breach

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to July 2000, when concerns were growing about malicious threats to the Palm Personal Digital Assistant.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to July 2000, when concerns were growing about malicious threats to the Palm Personal Digital Assistant. In the 1980s, no one left… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/08/throwback-thursday-palm-breach/

August

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/08/

Compromised site serves Nuclear exploit kit together with fake BSOD

Support scammers not lying about a malware infection for a change.
Support scammers not lying about a malware infection for a change. During our work on the development of the VBWeb tests, which will be started soon, we came across an interesting… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/07/compromised-site-serves-nuclear-exploit-kit-together-fake-bsod/

Throwback Thursday: Riotous Assembly

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to January 1994, shortly after Cyber Riot had emerged as the first virus capable of infecting the Windows kernel.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to January 1994, shortly after Cyber Riot had emerged as the first virus capable of infecting the Windows kernel. Today, malware… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/07/throwback-thursday-riotous-assembly/

Stagefright vulnerability leaves 950 million Android devices vulnerable to remote code execution

The operating system has been patched, but it is unclear whether users will receive those patches.
The operating system has been patched, but it is unclear whether users will receive those patches. Researchers at mobile security firm Zimperium have discovered a remote code… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/07/stagefright-vulnerability-leaves-950-million-android-devices-vulnerable-remote-code-execution/

Throwback Thursday: Sizewell B: Fact or Fiction?

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to 1993, when VB asked the key question: could a virus compromise safety at one of Britain's nuclear power plants?
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to 1993, when VB asked the key question: could a virus compromise safety at one of Britain's nuclear power plants? 2010 saw the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/07/throwback-thursday-sizewell-b-fact-or-fiction/

Call for last-minute papers for VB2015 announced

Ten speaking slots waiting to be filled with presentations on 'hot' security topics.
Ten speaking slots waiting to be filled with presentations on 'hot' security topics. There's never a dull moment in the world of IT security. Whether you think the breach of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/07/call-last-minute-papers-announced/

'NOMORE' attack makes RC4 a little weaker again

No good reason to continue using the stream cipher, yet attacks remain impractical.
No good reason to continue using the stream cipher, yet attacks remain impractical. Researchers from the KU Leuven have presented a new attack against the RC4 stream cipher called… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/07/nomore-attack-makes-rc4-little-weaker-again/

Spam levels fall below 50% for the first time in 12 years

Decline not necessarily good news for spam filters.
Decline not necessarily good news for spam filters. For the first time in 12 years, less than half of email traffic is spam, Symantec reports in the latest issue of its monthly… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/07/spam-levels-fall-below-50-first-time-12-years/

Throwback Thursday: What You Pay For...

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to 1996, when VB looked at what was available to protect your computer free of charge.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to 1996, when VB looked at what was available to protect your computer free of charge. Today, the 'freemium' business model is a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/07/throwback-thursday-what-you-pay/

Paper: Dridex in the Wild

Meng Su explains how Dridex works and how it communicates with its C&C server.
Meng Su explains how Dridex works and how it communicates with its C&C server. A descendant of Cridex, Dridex was first written about a little less than a year ago, by S21sec and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/07/paper-dridex-wild/

Those doing bad things deserve privacy too

Hacking Team leakers should have taken a leaf out of Snowden's book.
Hacking Team leakers should have taken a leaf out of Snowden's book. I can understand, at least in principle, that targeted malware could be used by law enforcement agencies for… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/07/those-doing-bad-things-deserve-privacy-too/

Throwback Thursday: Cabirn Fever

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to 2004, when the first worm to spread from mobile phone to mobile phone appeared.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to 2004, when the first worm to spread from mobile phone to mobile phone appeared. Since it first appeared almost exactly 11 years… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/07/throwback-thursday-cabirn-fever/

Little sympathy for breached Hacking Team

Lists of customers, source code and zero-day vulnerabilities made public.
Lists of customers, source code and zero-day vulnerabilities made public. The biggest security story of this week, and probably one of the biggest of the year, is the hack of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/07/little-sympathy-breached-hacking-team/

Throwback Thursday: The Updating Game

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to 1997, when automatic updates of AV software were not the norm.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to 1997, when automatic updates of AV software were not the norm. We all know that the malware scene has changed almost beyond… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/07/throwback-thursday-updating-game/

July

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/07/

Nominations opened for second Péter Ször Award

'Brilliant mind and a true gentleman' commemorated through annual award for technical security research.
'Brilliant mind and a true gentleman' commemorated through annual award for technical security research. During VB2014 in Seattle, we presented the first annual Péter Ször Award to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/06/nominations-opened-second-p-ter-sz-r-award/

VB2014 paper: Quantifying maliciousness in Alexa top-ranked domains

Paul Royal looks at malware served through the most popular websites.
Paul Royal looks at malware served through the most popular websites. Though VB2014 took place nine months ago, most of the papers presented during the conference remain very… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/06/paper-quantifying-maliciousness-alexa-top-ranked-domains/

Latest spam filter test sees significant drop in catch rates

Despite a drop in catch rates, 15 products earn a VBSpam award, with four earning a VBSpam+ award.
Despite a drop in catch rates, 15 products earn a VBSpam award, with four earning a VBSpam+ award. Spam is notoriously volatile and thus, while we like to make the news headlines… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/06/latest-spam-filter-test-sees-significant-drop-catch-rates/

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