VB Blog

Partner with VB2018 for extra visibility among industry peers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 8, 2018

Partnering with the VB conference links your company to a successful and well-established event, demonstrates your commitment to moving the industry forward, allows you to meet potential clients, be visible to industry peers and build lasting connections.

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VB2017 paper: The router of all evil

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 7, 2018

At VB2017 in Madrid, security researcher Himanshu Anand presented a paper on malware that targets routers, looking both at the topic in general and at some individual case studies. Today we publish both the paper (co-written with Chastine Menrige) and the recording of Himanshu's presentation.

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Using Mailchimp makes malware campaigns a little bit more successful

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 6, 2018

In recent months, some malicious spam campaigns have been spreading via the systems of Mailchimp, a well-known email service provider - a tactic which may give the campaigns a slightly higher success rate.

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VB2017 video: The state of cybersecurity in Africa: Kenya

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 1, 2018

Though many of the IT security issues we face are global, there is a noticeable difference in the threats faced in various countries and regions, as well as in the ways they are dealt with. At VB2017, we heard from Tyrus Kamau about the state of cybersecurity in Kenya. Today, we publish the video of Tyrus's talk.

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A crime against statistics that is probably worse than the cyber attacks faced in County Durham

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 21, 2018

A report on the number of cyber attacks faced by UK local authorities is a good example of how the large numbers seen in many reports on security are rather meaningless.

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NCSC gives important advice on lateral movement

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 20, 2018

The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has provided helpful and practical advice on preventing and detecting lateral movement by an attacker within a network.

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What kind of people attend Virus Bulletin conferences?

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 17, 2018

If you are considering submitting a proposal for a talk to VB2018 and you're not familiar with the event, you may find it useful to know what kind of people attend the conference.

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Olympic Games target of malware, again

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 15, 2018

An unattributed malware attack has disrupted some computer systems of the 2018 Winter Olympics. In 1994, a computer virus also targeted the Winter Olympics.

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There are lessons to be learned from government websites serving cryptocurrency miners

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 12, 2018

Thousands of websites, including many sites of government organisations in the UK, the US and Sweden, were recently found to have been serving a cryptocurrency miner. More interesting than the incident itself, though, are the lessons that can be learned from it.

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We need to continue the debate on the ethics and perils of publishing security research

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 9, 2018

An article by security researcher Collin Anderson reopens the debate on whether publishing threat analyses is always in the public interest.

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Search blog

VirusTotal project aims to remediate false positives

Security vendors to receive alerts when legitimate files are detected as malicious.
Security vendors to receive alerts when legitimate files are detected as malicious.False positives are a huge problem for the IT industry in general and for security products in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/02/virustotal-project-aims-remediate-false-positives/

VB2014 paper: P0wned by a barcode: stealing money from offline users

Fabio Assolini explains how cybercriminals are targeting boletos.
Fabio Assolini explains how cybercriminals are targeting boletos.Since the close of the VB2014 conference in Seattle in October, we have been sharing VB2014 conference papers as… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/02/paper-p0wned-barcode-stealing-money-offline-users/

Adobe issues patch for yet another Flash Player zero-day

CVE-2015-0313 used in the wild as long ago as December.
CVE-2015-0313 used in the wild as long ago as December. Adobe has just issued an out-of-band patch for its Flash Player to fix a zero-day vulnerability that is actively being… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/02/adobe-issues-patch-yet-another-flash-player-zero-day/

VB2014 paper: We know it before you do: predicting malicious domains

Wei Xu and his colleagues attempt to block domains before they're used for bad purposes.
Wei Xu and his colleagues attempt to block domains before they're used for bad purposes.Since the close of the VB2014 conference in Seattle in October, we have been sharing VB2014… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/02/paper-we-know-it-you-do-predicting-malicious-domains/

Praise for the unsung heroes of email

Many decent performances in VB's latest comparative spam filter test.
Many decent performances in VB's latest comparative spam filter test. A decade ago, there were optimists who thought that the spam problem would soon be eradicated. At the same… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/02/praise-unsung-heroes-email/

Low VirusTotal detection rates for new malware, do they matter?

It is not as important as is often suggested — and doesn't mean the malware is allowed to execute.
It is not as important as is often suggested — and doesn't mean the malware is allowed to execute. It is fairly common these days for security researchers to write about new… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/02/low-virustotal-detection-rates-new-malware-do-they-matter/

From roadie to security rock star: it can happen

To break into security, start by getting a job in the industry.
To break into security, start by getting a job in the industry. You don't have to be a regular reader of this blog to know that computer security is very important in our… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/02/roadie-security-rock-star-it-can-happen/

'RansomWeb' ransomware targets companies' databases

Encryption first added as a patch, key only removed when all backups are encrypted.
Encryption first added as a patch, key only removed when all backups are encrypted. Make backups, they said. Then you won't have to worry about ransomware, they said. Ransomware… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/02/ransomweb-ransomware-targets-companies-databases/

February

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/02/

VB2014 paper: Ubiquitous Flash, ubiquitous exploits and ubiquitous mitigation

Chun Feng and Elia Florio analyse two Flash Player vulnerabilities and an IE one where Flash provides a helping hand.
Chun Feng and Elia Florio analyse two Flash Player vulnerabilities and an IE one where Flash provides a helping hand.Since the close of the VB2014 conference in Seattle in October,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/01/paper-ubiquitous-flash-ubiquitous-exploits-and-ubiquitous-mitigation/

Frequently asked questions about VB2015 conference submissions

No, it doesn't have to be about malware and no, it doesn't have to be deeply technical either!
No, it doesn't have to be about malware and no, it doesn't have to be deeply technical either! Last month, we opened the call for papers for VB2015, the 25th Virus Bulletin… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/01/frequently-asked-questions-about-conference-submissions/

Linux systems affected by 'GHOST' vulnerability

Proof-of-concept email gives remote access to Exim mail server.
Proof-of-concept email gives remote access to Exim mail server. If you administer Linux-based systems, you'd better schedule some time for patching, as a serious buffer overflow… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/01/linux-systems-affected-ghost-vulnerability/

VB2014 paper: Design to discover: security analytics with 3D visualization engine

Thibault Reuille and Dhia Mahjoub use DNS data to look for clusters of malicious domains.
Thibault Reuille and Dhia Mahjoub use DNS data to look for clusters of malicious domains.Since the close of the VB2014 conference in Seattle in October, we have been sharing VB2014… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/01/paper-design-discover-security-analytics-3d-visualization-engine/

Adobe to patch Flash Player zero-day next week

Patch due next week as malvertising leads to Bedep trojan downloader.
Patch due next week as malvertising leads to Bedep trojan downloader. As the news of a zero-day vulnerability in Adobe's Flash Player actively being exploited reached the security… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/01/adobe-patch-flash-player-zero-day-next-week/

Alleged Flash Player zero-day used in Angler exploit kit

Adobe 'investigating reports'.
Adobe 'investigating reports'.Vulnerable browser plug-ins are one of the most important infection vectors, which is why it is so important to keep them up to date. If you don't,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/01/alleged-flash-player-zero-day-used-angler-exploit-kit/

Research paper profiles victims of targeted attacks

Large organisations working in national security and international affairs run highest risk.
Large organisations working in national security and international affairs run highest risk. Anyone can be a target of cybercriminal attacks these days. But some are bigger targets… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/01/research-paper-profiles-victims-targeted-attacks/

Paper: Nesting doll: unwrapping Vawtrak

Raul Alvarez unwraps the many layers of an increasingly prevalent banking trojan.
Raul Alvarez unwraps the many layers of an increasingly prevalent banking trojan. Banking trojans remain one of the most prevalent kinds of malware. Among them, trojans based on… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/01/paper-nesting-doll-unwrapping-vawtrak/

VB2014 paper: OPSEC for security researchers

Vicente Diaz teaches researchers the basics of OPSEC.
Vicente Diaz teaches researchers the basics of OPSEC.Since the close of the VB2014 conference in Seattle in October, we have been sharing VB2014 conference papers as well as video… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/01/paper-opsec-security-researchers/

WhatsApp spam on the rise

End-to-end encryption makes spam filtering more difficult.
End-to-end encryption makes spam filtering more difficult. Spam sent through the WhatsApp messaging service is on the rise, mobile security firm AdaptiveMobile reports. This news… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/01/whatsapp-spam-rise/

What would Cameron's 'anti-terrorism' proposals mean for the UK?

Proposals could cause serious damage to business and the economy, and are unlikely to stop terrorism.
Proposals could cause serious damage to business and the economy, and are unlikely to stop terrorism. This week, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the French offices of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/01/what-would-cameron-s-anti-terrorism-proposals-mean-uk/

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