VB Blog

VB2017 paper: Nine circles of Cerber

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 15, 2017

Cerber is one of the major names in the world of ransomware, and last year, Check Point released a decryption service for the malware. Today, we publish a VB2017 paper by Check Point's Stanislav Skuratovich describing how the Cerber decryption tool worked; we have also uploaded the video of the presentation of this paper, by Or Eshed and Yaniv Balmas.

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Attack on Fox-IT shows how a DNS hijack can break multiple layers of security

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 14, 2017

Dutch security firm Fox-IT deserves praise for being open about an attack on its client network. There are some important lessons to be learned about DNS security from its post-mortem.

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Throwback Thursday: BGP - from route hijacking to RPKI: how vulnerable is the Internet?

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 14, 2017

For this week's Throwback Thursday, we look back at the video of a talk Level 3's Mike Benjamin gave at VB2016 in Denver, on BGP and BGP hijacks.

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Security Planner gives security advice based on your threat model

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 13, 2017

Citizen Lab's Security Planner helps you improve your online safety, based on the specific threats you are facing.

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VB2017 video: Spora: the saga continues a.k.a. how to ruin your research in a week

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 11, 2017

Today, we publish the video of the VB2017 presentation by Avast researcher Jakub Kroustek and his former colleague Előd Kironský, now at ESET, who told the story of Spora, one of of the most prominent ransomware families of 2017.

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VB2017 paper: Modern reconnaissance phase on APT – protection layer

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 7, 2017

During recent research, Cisco Talos researchers observed the ways in which APT actors are evolving and how a reconnaissance phase is included in the infection vector in order to protect valuable zero-day exploits or malware frameworks. At VB2017 in Madrid, two of those researchers, Paul Rascagneres and Warren Mercer, presented a paper detailing five case studies that demonstrate how the infection vector is evolving. Today we publish both Paul and Warren's paper and the recording of their presentation.

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VB2017 paper: Peering into spam botnets

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 1, 2017

At VB2017 in Madrid, CERT Poland researchers Maciej Kotowicz and Jarosław Jedynak presented a paper detailing their low-level analysis of five spam botnets. Today we publish their full paper.

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Throwback Thursday: Anti-malware testing undercover

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 30, 2017

We look back at the VB2016 presentation by Righard Zwienenberg (ESET) and Luis Corrons (Panda Security), in which they discussed various issues relating to anti-malware testing.

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Virus Bulletin relaunches VB Security Jobs Market for both employers and job seekers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 30, 2017

As an independent body in the IT security industry, Virus Bulletin is in an ideal position to act as a global source of information both about jobs currently available in the field and about those candidates currently seeking to start or progress their career in the industry - which is why we have relaunched the VB Security Jobs Market.

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VB2017 paper: Offensive malware analysis: dissecting OSX/FruitFly.B via a custom C&C server

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 29, 2017

At VB2017 in Madrid, macOS malware researcher Patrick Wardle presented the details of a specific piece of Mac malware, FruitFly, which he analysed through a custom C&C server - a technique that will also be of interest for researchers of malware on other platforms. Today we publish both Patrick's paper and the recording of his presentation.

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Tor exit node found to turn downloaded binaries into malware

Tor provides anonymity, not security, hence using HTTPS is essential.
Tor provides anonymity, not security, hence using HTTPS is essential. A security researcher has discovered a Tor exit node that was modifying binaries downloaded through it on the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/tor-exit-node-found-turn-downloaded-binaries-malware/

VB2014 paper: Exposing Android white collar criminals

Luis Corrons dives into the world of shady Android apps.
Luis Corrons dives into the world of shady Android apps.Over the next few months, we will be sharing VB2014 conference papers as well as video recordings of the presentations.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/paper-exposing-android-white-collar-criminals/

Black Hat Europe - day 2

IPv6 versus IDPS, XSS in WYSIWYG editors, and reflected file downloads.
IPv6 versus IDPS, XSS in WYSIWYG editors, and reflected file downloads. After a busy first day, I was somewhat glad that the talks on the second day of Black Hat Europe appealed… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/black-hat-europe-day-2/

Black Hat Europe - day 1

Programme packed with interesting talks.
Programme packed with interesting talks. Though the prestige of Black Hat Europe doesn't compare to that of its American parent conference, and the event certainly doesn't dominate… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/black-hat-europe-day-1/

VB2014 paper: DNSSEC - how far have we come?

Nick Sullivan describes how DNSSEC uses cryptography to add authentication and integrity to DNS responses.
Nick Sullivan describes how DNSSEC uses cryptography to add authentication and integrity to DNS responses.Over the next months, we will be sharing conference papers as well as… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/paper-dnssec-how-far-have-we-come/

POODLE attack forces the Internet to move away from SSL 3.0

Users and administrators urged to stop supporting the protocol, or at least to prevent downgrade attacks.
Users and administrators urged to stop supporting the protocol, or at least to prevent downgrade attacks. After Heartbleed and Shellshock, or the SSL/TLS attacks CRIME and BEAST,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/poodle-attack-forces-internet-move-away-ssl-3-0/

Report: 15 solutions achieve VBSpam award

Surprisingly, the presence of more URLs doesn't necessarily make spam easier to block.
Surprisingly, the presence of more URLs doesn't necessarily make spam easier to block. Yet again, we have good news for those who need to run a spam filter (in other words:… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/report-15-solutions-achieve-vbspam-award/

Windows zero-day used in targeted attacks

Vulnerability used to download BlackEnergy trojan - as discussed during VB2014.
Vulnerability used to download BlackEnergy trojan - as discussed during VB2014. Today is going to be a busy day for system administrators: they were already on high alert following… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/windows-zero-day-used-targeted-attacks/

VB2014 paper: The evolution of webinjects

Jean-Ian Boutin looks at the increased commoditization of webinjects.
Jean-Ian Boutin looks at the increased commoditization of webinjects.Virus Bulletin has always been about sharing information, and the Virus Bulletin conference is an important… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/paper-evolution-webinjects/

Paper: The Hulk

Raul Alvarez studies cavity file infector.
Raul Alvarez studies cavity file infector. Most file infectors increase the length of the infected file, as the malicious code is added as a new section of the host file, or to the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/paper-hulk/

Shellshock used to spread Mayhem

Malware switched to more effective Perl installer.
Malware switched to more effective Perl installer. One of the most prominent discussion topics during VB2014 was the 'Shellshock' vulnerability (CVE-2014-6271) in the popular Bash… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/shellshock-used-spread-mayhem/

October

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/

VB2014: Slides day three

Thanks all for a fantastic conference and see you in Prague... or in Denver!
Thanks all for a fantastic conference and see you in Prague... or in Denver! Two days ago, a lively panel discussion closed what we can only describe as a fantastic conference. For… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/09/slides-day-three/

'Windigo' research wins first annual Péter Szőr award

The first of many awards to commemorate brilliant researcher.
The first of many awards to commemorate brilliant researcher. When, in November last year, we heard of the passing of Péter Szőr, we wanted to do something to keep the memory of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/09/windigo-research-wins-first-annual-p-ter-sz-r-award/

VB2014: Slides day two

Another day of excellent presentations.
Another day of excellent presentations. The second day of VB2014 was just as successful as the first one, and saw 22 interesting presentations, divided over two parallel streams,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/09/slides-day-two/

VB2014: Slides day one

Almost £1,300 donated to WWF!
Almost £1,300 donated to WWF! The inaugural Virus Bulletin conference was held in 1991, making it one of the oldest security conferences in the world. It is also one of very few… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/09/slides-day-one/

VB2014 previews: an overview

Fourteen blog posts look ahead at the 24th Virus Bulletin conference.
Fourteen blog posts look ahead at the 24th Virus Bulletin conference. In just a few more hours, delegates will be able to collect their VB2014 badges before the conference really… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/09/previews-overview/

VB2014 preview: Tech Support Scams 2.0: an inside look into the evolution of the classic Microsoft tech support scam

Jérôme Segura looks at recent developments in malicious cold calls.
Jérôme Segura looks at recent developments in malicious cold calls.In the weeks running up to VB2014 (the 24th Virus Bulletin International Conference), we are looking at some of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/09/preview-tech-support-scams-2-0-inside-look-evolution-classic-microsoft-tech-support-scam/

VB2014 preview: Ubiquitous Flash, ubiquitous exploits and ubiquitous mitigation

Chun Feng and Elia Florio look at exploits targeting domain memory opcode in Adobe Flash.
Chun Feng and Elia Florio look at exploits targeting domain memory opcode in Adobe Flash.In the weeks running up to VB2014 (the 24th Virus Bulletin International Conference), we… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/09/preview-ubiquitous-flash-ubiquitous-exploits-and-ubiquitous-mitigation/

VB2014: frequently asked questions

Some useful information for those attending VB2014 - or those interested in attending.
Some useful information for those attending VB2014 - or those interested in attending.I haven't registered yet, but I'd like to attend. Can I still register? Yes, you can. Use our… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/09/frequently-asked-questions/

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