VB Blog

Tizi Android malware highlights the importance of security patches for high-risk users

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 28, 2017

Researchers from Google have taken down 'Tizi', an Android malware family, that used nine already patched vulnerabilities to obtain root on infected devices.

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Virus Bulletin to attend AMTSO, AVAR and Botconf

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 27, 2017

Next week, Virus Bulletin researchers will be attending the AMTSO meeting and AVAR conference in Beijing, China, as well as the 5th edition of the Botconf conference in Montpellier, France.

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VB2017 video: FinFisher: New techniques and infection vectors revealed

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 24, 2017

Today, we publish the video of the VB2017 presentation by ESET researcher Filip Kafka, who looked at recent changes in the FinFisher government malware, including its infection vectors.

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Throwback Thursday: The beginning of the end(point): where we are now and where we'll be in five years

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 23, 2017

We look back at the VB2016 presentation by Adrian Sanabria on the state of endpoint security, both now and in the future.

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VB2017 paper: Beyond lexical and PDNS: using signals on graphs to uncover online threats at scale

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 22, 2017

At VB2017 in Madrid, Cisco Umbrella (OpenDNS) researchers Dhia Mahjoub and David Rodriguez presented a new approach to detecting infected machines using graphs to detect botnet traffic at scale. Today we publish both Dhia and David's paper and the recording of their presentation.

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Firefox 59 to make it a lot harder to use data URIs in phishing attacks

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 21, 2017

Firefox developer Mozilla has announced that, as of version 59 of the browser, many kinds of data URIs, which provide a way to create "domainless web content", will not be rendered in the browser, thus making this trick - used in various phishing campaigns - a lot less attractive.

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Standalone product test: FireEye Endpoint

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 16, 2017

Virus Bulletin ran a standalone test on FireEye's Endpoint Security solution.

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VB2017 video: Consequences of bad security in health care

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 13, 2017

Jelena Milosevic, a nurse with a passion for IT security, is uniquely placed to witness poor security practices in the health care sector, and to fully understand the consequences. Today, we publish the recording of a presentation given by Jelena at VB2017 in Madrid, in which she shared her inside view of security in hospitals.

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Vulnerabilities play only a tiny role in the security risks that come with mobile phones

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 9, 2017

Both bad news (all devices were pwnd) and good news (pwning is increasingly difficult) came from the most recent mobile Pwn2Own competition. But the practical security risks that come with using mobile phones have little to do with vulnerabilities.

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VB2017 paper: The (testing) world turned upside down

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 8, 2017

At VB2017 in Madrid, industry veteran and ESET Senior Research Fellow David Harley presented a paper on the state of security software testing. Today we publish David's paper in both HTML and PDF format.

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Search blog

IEEE announces Anti-Malware Support Service

'Software taggant system' and 'clean file metadata exchange' discussed at previous VB conferences.
'Software taggant system' and 'clean file metadata exchange' discussed at previous VB conferences. Wouldn't it be nice if providers of software packers included a licence key in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/03/ieee-announces-anti-malware-support-service/

March

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/03/

March issue of VB published

The March issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The March issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The March 2014 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/03/march-issue-vb-published/

'Cyberdanger' informs general audience of IT security

Eddy Willems' book is a pleasant read on an important subject.
Eddy Willems' book is a pleasant read on an important subject. Security expert Eddy Willems has written a book. The friendly Belgian, currently G Data's Security Evangelist, is a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/02/cyberdanger-informs-general-audience-it-security/

Researchers crack ransomware encryption

'Bitcrypt' authors confused their bytes and digits.
'Bitcrypt' authors confused their bytes and digits. Two French researchers have found a serious vulnerability in a new piece of ransomware that has allowed them to crack the keys… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/02/researchers-crack-ransomware-encryption/

Windows Error Reporting used to discover new attacks

No excuse for sending error reports in cleartext.
No excuse for sending error reports in cleartext. All happy programs are the same. But each unhappy program crashes in its own way. In a report published yesterday, security firm… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/02/windows-error-reporting-used-discover-new-attacks/

Tech support scammers won't give up

M3AAWG workshop to deal with fighting telephony abuse.
M3AAWG workshop to deal with fighting telephony abuse. For security researchers like myself, receiving a call from a tech support scammer is usually a good opportunity for a bit of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/02/tech-support-scammers-won-t-give/

At least 99.4% of spam blocked in recent Virus Bulletin test

All solutions on test blocked at least 99.4% of spam, but some struggled with false positive issues; survey also shows few products support DMARC.
All solutions on test blocked at least 99.4% of spam, but some struggled with false positive issues; survey also shows few products support DMARC. The results of the most recent… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/02/least-99-4-spam-blocked-recent-test/

February

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/02/

February issue of VB published

The February issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The February issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The February 2014 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/02/february-issue-vb-published/

Macro viruses make a return in targeted attacks

Macros disabled in modern versions of Office, but enabled within many organisations.
Macros disabled in modern versions of Office, but enabled within many organisations. A report by the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC, the Dutch CERT) points to a resurgence of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/01/macro-viruses-make-return-targeted-attacks/

VirusTotal support integrated into new version of Process Explorer

Sysadmins can check hashes of processes against file-checking service database.
Sysadmins can check hashes of processes against file-checking service database.Microsoft and Google are known for their fierce competition, but when it comes to security, the tech… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/01/virustotal-support-integrated-new-version-process-explorer/

CSRF vulnerability in USB modems allows for infrastructure-less phishing

Credentials sent to attacker by built-in SMS functionality.
Credentials sent to attacker by built-in SMS functionality. Modems and routers aren't typically known for their security, and modems that allow one to connect to mobile broadband… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/01/csrf-vulnerability-usb-modems-allows-infrastructure-less-phishing/

Browser-based ransomware uses scare tactics to extort money

Unsophisticated scam shows the high level of commoditization of today's cybercrime.
Unsophisticated scam shows the high level of commoditization of today's cybercrime. A case of browser-based ransomware, that is currently using social engineering tactics in an… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/01/browser-based-ransomware-uses-scare-tactics-extort-money/

Is your fridge sending spam?

It's possible that smart devices are sending spam, but it wouldn't make any difference.
It's possible that smart devices are sending spam, but it wouldn't make any difference. Last week, security-as-a-service firm Proofpoint published a press release on a recent spam… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/01/your-fridge-sending-spam/

2014

Latest news from the anti-virus industry provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
NewsConference review: Botconf 2014Second edition of 'botnet fighting conference' another great success. 22 December 2014Call for Papers: VB2015 PragueVB seeks submissions for the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/

January

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/01/

January issue of VB published

The January issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The January issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The January 2014 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/01/january-issue-vb-published/

Botconf - the 'first botnet fighting conference'

Tools, ideas and research presented in Nantes.
Tools, ideas and research presented in Nantes. There are far too many security conferences each year for my agenda, budget and brain to handle, and thus I need to choose carefully… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/12/botconf-first-botnet-fighting-conference/

VB2014: more of the same, plus something a little different

Hackers, network security researchers encouraged to submit abstracts for the conference.
Hackers, network security researchers encouraged to submit abstracts for the conference. The issuing of the call for papers for a VB conference is always an important event for us,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/12/more-same-plus-something-little-different/

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