VB Blog

Registration for VB2018 now open!

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 8, 2018

Registration for VB2018, the 28th International Virus Bulletin conference, is now open, with an early bird rate available until 1 July.

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RSA 2018: the good, the bad, the ugly, the great and the fantastic

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 1, 2018

In April, VB's Martijn Grooten attended the RSA Expo in San Francisco. He shares his views on the expo and the industry.

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Standalone product test: Kaspersky Security for Microsoft Office 365

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 30, 2018

There are a number of security solutions on the market that are designed to increase the default protection provided by Office 365. One such product is the newly launched Kaspersky Security for Microsoft Office 365. Virus Bulletin was commissioned to measure the effectiveness of the Kaspersky product compared to the Office 365 baseline protection.

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GravityRAT malware takes your system's temperature

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 27, 2018

The GravityRAT malware, discovered by Cisco Talos researchers, gives some interesting insight into modern malware development.

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$150k in cryptocurrency stolen through combined BGP-DNS hijack

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 25, 2018

A BGP hijack was used to take over some of Amazon's DNS infrastructure, which was then used to serve a phishing site to users of the MyEtherWallet service.

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Security-focused routers may help to mitigate IoT threats

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 24, 2018

Various security companies are offering security-focused routers. This is a good trend and may help mitigate a lot of the issues that come with the IoT.

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The road to IPv6 is generally smooth but contains a few potholes

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Apr 23, 2018

Most of the switch from IPv4 to IPv6 will happen seamlessly. But we cannot assume it won't introduce new security issues.

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New paper: Powering the distribution of Tesla stealer with PowerShell and VBA macros

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 19, 2018

Since their return four years ago, Office macros have been one of the most common ways to spread malware. Today, we publish a research paper which looks in detail at a campaign in which VBA macros are used to execute PowerShell code, which in turn downloads the Tesla information-stealing trojan.

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VB2017 paper: Android reverse engineering tools: not the usual suspects

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 18, 2018

Within a few years, Android malware has grown from a relatively small threat to a huge problem involving more than three million new malware samples a year. Axelle Apvrille, one of the world's leading Android malware researchers, will deliver a workshop on Android reverse engineering at VB2018 in Montreal this October. Last year, Axelle presented a paper at VB2017 on some of the less common tools that can be used to reverse engineer Android malware. Today, we publish both the paper and the recording of Axelle's presentation.

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Patch early, patch often, but don't blindly trust every 'patch'

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 16, 2018

Compromised websites are being used to serve fake Flash Player uploads that come with a malicious payload.

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December

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/12/

December issue of VB published

The December issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The December issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The December 2013 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/12/december-issue-vb-published/

Spamhaus CIO calls for those running open DNS resolvers to be fined

Open DNS resolvers instrumental in many DDoS attacks.
Open DNS resolvers instrumental in many DDoS attacks. At the Cyber Security Summit in London, Richard Cox, CIO of DNS blacklist provider Spamhaus, called on the UK government to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/11/spamhaus-cio-calls-those-running-open-dns-resolvers-be-fined/

Privilege escalation vulnerability targets Windows XP and Server 2003

Vulnerability being used in the wild in combination with exploit of patched Adobe Reader vulnerability.
Vulnerability being used in the wild in combination with exploit of patched Adobe Reader vulnerability. Researchers at FireEye have discovered a new privilege escalation… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/11/privilege-escalation-vulnerability-targets-windows-xp-and-server-2003/

There is a place for unauthenticated key exchange, but don't tell anyone

Making dragnet surveillance harder justifies using weak form of encryption.
Making dragnet surveillance harder justifies using weak form of encryption. Discussions on how to make the Internet more secure have been going on ever since the first two… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/11/there-place-unauthenticated-key-exchange-don-t-tell-anyone/

NCA issues alert on CryptoLocker ransomware

Malware demands $1,000 ransom to decrypt files.
Malware demands $1,000 ransom to decrypt files. This weekend, the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) issued an alert about the 'CryptoLocker' ransomware - following a similar alert… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/11/nca-issues-alert-cryptolocker-ransomware/

Industry suffers loss of great researcher

Untimely death of Peter Ször sends shockwaves across anti-malware community.
Untimely death of Peter Ször sends shockwaves across anti-malware community. We were shocked and saddened to learn, yesterday, of the sudden and unexpected death of security… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/11/industry-suffers-loss-great-researcher/

'123456' may be an adequate password to protect nothing

Are we giving users the right kind of advice when it comes to password security?
Are we giving users the right kind of advice when it comes to password security? A recent data-breach at Adobe has shown once again that a lot of users choose the most trivial of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/11/123456-may-be-adequate-password-protect-nothing/

Good and bad news for victims of targeted attacks against Microsoft products

Bug bounty program extended; TIFF zero-day used in the wild.
Bug bounty program extended; TIFF zero-day used in the wild. This week, Microsoft has good news and bad news for those targeted by zero-day exploits in its products. The bad… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/11/good-and-bad-news-victims-targeted-attacks-against-microsoft-products/

November

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/11/

November issue of VB published

The November issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The November issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The November 2013 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/11/november-issue-vb-published/

Open letter asks AV companies for openness on surveillance malware

Old issue has become hot topic again following Snowden revelations.
Old issue has become hot topic again following Snowden revelations. A group of experts in privacy and digital rights has sent an open letter (pdf) to a number of anti-virus… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/10/open-letter-asks-av-companies-openness-surveillance-malware/

Php.net compromised to serve malware

Researchers initially believed Google warning was a false positive.
Researchers initially believed Google warning was a false positive. For a few days this week, the popular php.net website was serving malware to some of its visitors and was doing… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/10/php-net-compromised-serve-malware/

Should software vendors extend support for their products on Windows XP?

Is Google making the Internet more or less secure by extending support for Chrome on XP?
Is Google making the Internet more or less secure by extending support for Chrome on XP? A software vendor's decision to release updates to its product is generally seen as a good… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/10/should-software-vendors-extend-support-their-products-windows-xp/

October issue of VB published

The October issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The October issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The October 2013 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/10/october-issue-vb-published/

October

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/10/

VB2013 speaker spotlight

We speak to VB2013 presenter Methusela Ferrer about her research interests and what she aims to bring to VB2013.
We speak to VB2013 presenter Methusela Ferrer about her research interests and what she aims to bring to VB2013. The VB2013 conference takes place next week (2-4 October) in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/09/speaker-spotlight-ferrer/

VB2013 speaker spotlight

We speak to VB2013 presenter Jarno Niemela about APTs and about what he aims to bring to VB2013.
We speak to VB2013 presenter Jarno Niemela about APTs and about what he aims to bring to VB2013. The VB2013 conference takes place next week (2-4 October) in Berlin, with an… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/09/speaker-spotlight-niemela/

Tens of thousands of fake Twitter accounts passed off and sold as 'followers'

After initial takedown, more efforts put into making new fake accounts look genuine.
After initial takedown, more efforts put into making new fake accounts look genuine.Virus Bulletin's research into a scam selling fake Twitter accounts being passed off as… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/09/tens-thousands-fake-twitter-accounts-passed-and-sold-followers/

VB2013 speaker spotlight

We speak to VB2013 presenter Rowland Yu about Android malware, his research interests, and what he aims to bring to VB2013.
We speak to VB2013 presenter Rowland Yu about Android malware, his research interests, and what he aims to bring to VB2013. The VB2013 conference takes place next month (2-4… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/09/speaker-spotlight-yu/

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