VB Blog

Paper: New Keylogger on the Block

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jul 5, 2016

In a new paper published by Virus Bulletin, Sophos researcher Gabor Szappanos takes a look at the KeyBase keylogger, sold as a commercial product and popular among cybercriminals who use it in Office exploit kits.

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BSides Denver to take place the day after VB2016

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 28, 2016

VB2016, the 26th International Virus Bulletin conference, is an excellent reason to go to Denver, Colorado in the first week of October. But there is another reason to come to Denver: BSides Denver, which will take place the day after VB2016, on Saturday 8 October 2016.

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VB2015 paper: DDoS Trojan: A Malicious Concept that Conquered the ELF Format

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Jun 13, 2016

In their VB2015 paper, Peter Kálnai and Jaromír Hořejší look at the current state of DDoS trojans forming covert botnets on unsuspecting systems. The paper provides a technical analysis of the most important malware families, focusing on infection methods, dynamic behaviour, C&C communication, obfuscation techniques, advanced methods of persistence and stealth, and elimination of rivals.

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Throwback Thursday: Hyppönen, that Data Fellow / Finnish Sprayer

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Jun 2, 2016

This week, well known and universally respected industry guru Mikko Hyppönen celebrates his 25th anniversary of working at F-Secure (formerly known as Data Fellows). VB takes a look back in the archives at two articles published in 1994: an "insight" into the life and work of the then rising star of the anti-virus world, and a virus analysis penned by the man himself.

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VB2015 paper: Economic Sanctions on Malware

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Jun 1, 2016

Financial pressure can be a proactive and potentially very effective tool in making our computer ecosystems safer. By cleverly employing various trust metrics and technologies such as digital signing, watermarking, and public-key infrastructure in strategically selected places, we can encourage good behaviours and punish bad ones. In his VB2015 paper, Igor Muttik analyses and gives examples of technologies (certificates, credentials, etc.) to de-incentivize bad behaviours in several ecosystems (Windows, Android, iOS).

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Virus Bulletin's job site for recruiters and job seekers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 26, 2016

Virus Bulletin has relaunched its security job vacancy service and added a new section, in which job seekers can advertise their skills and experience.

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Throwback Thursday: One_Half: The Lieutenant Commander?

Posted by   Helen Martin on   May 26, 2016

In October 1994, a new multi-partite virus appeared, using some of the techniques developed by the Dark Avenger in Commander_Bomber. As if this were not enough, the One_Half virus could also encrypt vital parts of the fixed disk. Eugene Kaspersky provided a detailed analysis.

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Advertisements on Blogspot sites lead to support scam

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 9, 2016

Support scam pop-ups presented through malicious advertisements show that, next to vulnerable end points, gullible users remain an easy source of money for online criminals.

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To make Tor work better on the web, we need to be honest about it

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 6, 2016

Many websites put barriers in front of visitors who use the Tor network. If we want to make the web more accessible through Tor, we need to be honest about why this is done, rather than cry wolf about a dislike for privacy, Martijn Grooten says.

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Paper: How It Works: Steganography Hides Malware in Image Files

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 28, 2016

A new paper by CYREN researcher Lordian Mosuela takes a close look at Gatak, or Stegoloader, a piece of malware that was discovered last year and that is controlled via malicious code embedded in a PNG image, a technique known as steganography.

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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/

'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/

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/

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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