VB Blog

First sponsors of VB2017 announced

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 6, 2017

We are excited to announce the first five sponsors of VB2017, companies based in Europe, Asia and North America.

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Security products and HTTPS: let's do it better

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 27, 2017

A recent paper showed that many HTTPS-intercepting security solutions have implemented TLS rather poorly. Does that mean we should avoid such solutions altogether?

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The SHA-1 hashing algorithm has been 'shattered'

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 23, 2017

Researchers from Google and CWI Amsterdam have created the first known collision of the SHA-1 hashing algorithm, making a very strong case to ditch it.

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Throwback Thursday: Once a researcher...

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Feb 23, 2017

VB was saddened to learn this week of the passing of one of the pioneers of the AV industry, Ross Greenberg. This Throwback Thursday we look back at an interview with Ross in November 1995.

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VB2017: What is happening in the threat landscape and what are we doing against it? Submit a proposal in the VB2017 CFP!

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 20, 2017

Have you analysed a new online threat? Do you know a new way to defend against such threats? Then submit an abstract in the CFP for VB2017!

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VB2016 paper: APT reports and OPSEC evolution, or: these are not the APT reports you are looking for

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 17, 2017

APT reports are great for gaining an understanding of how advanced attack groups operate - however, they can also provide free QA for the threat actors. Today, we publish a VB2016 paper by Gadi Evron (Cymmetria) and Inbar Raz (Perimeter X), who discuss what they think is wrong with many APT reports and what can be done to improve them.

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Security for your ears: recommended infosec podcasts

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 14, 2017

Industry veteran Mikko Hyppönen recently urged would-be security researchers to ditch their favourite pop music and listen to security podcasts on their commute to work instead. Virus Bulletin Editor Martijn Grooten shares his favourite security podcasts.

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VB2016 video: Getting duped: piggybacking on webcam streams for surreptitious recordings

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 10, 2017

In a presentation at VB2016, Patrick Wardle, Director of Research at Synack, discussed the possibilities of Mac malware recording the user via the webcam. Today, we publish the video of Patrick's presentation.

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We shouldn't forget those most vulnerable in our digital world

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 9, 2017

Virus Bulletin Editor Martijn Grooten calls for the security community not to forget those most vulnerable in the digital world, including political activists living under oppressive regimes, and victims of abuse.

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Throwback Thursday: A troubled world

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Feb 9, 2017

In early 1991, the world was a troubled place and conflict and violence were being reported globally on a daily basis. With this as a backdrop, the world of "indiscriminate" computer viruses which "victimise in a random and unpredictable manner" seemed relatively trivial to then Editor of VB, Edward Wilding.

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Search blog

'Mobile Thursday' at the VB conference

Record number of presentations dedicated to threats affecting smartphones.
Record number of presentations dedicated to threats affecting smartphones. The significant increase in mobile threats is reflected in the VB2013 programme, which includes seven… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/09/mobile-thursday-vb-conference/

VB2013 speaker spotlight

We speak to VB2013 presenter Sergey Golovanov about business-to-government malware.
We speak to VB2013 presenter Sergey Golovanov about business-to-government malware. The VB2013 conference takes place this autumn (2-4 October) in Berlin, with an exciting… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/09/speaker-spotlight-golovanov/

VB2013 last-minute papers and keynote announced

Hot topics to be covered at VB conference in Berlin.
Hot topics to be covered at VB conference in Berlin. We thought that the 45 previously announced VB2013 papers, together with the panel discussion, already made for a really… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/09/last-minute-papers-and-keynote-announced/

Backdoored standards show we desperately need more cryptographers

Too few currently possess the skills to verify standards.
Too few currently possess the skills to verify standards. Recent revelations of the NSA's crypto-breaking capabilities have led to calls for better cryptography. But we need more… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/09/backdoored-standards-show-we-desperately-need-more-cryptographers/

Syrian conflict used in pump-and-dump spam

Short campaign could have had desired effect.
Short campaign could have had desired effect.Pump-and-dump spam is almost as old as spam itself: emails are sent out promoting worthless 'penny stocks', which have been purchased… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/09/syrian-conflict-used-pump-and-dump-spam/

VB2013 speaker spotlight

We speak to VB2013 presenter Andrei Serbanoiu about Facebook ad spam and scams, and what he aims to bring to VB2013.
We speak to VB2013 presenter Andrei Serbanoiu about Facebook ad spam and scams, and what he aims to bring to VB2013.The VB2013 conference takes place this autumn (2-4 October) in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/09/speaker-spotlight-serbanoiu/

Box-ticking mentality leads to insecurity

Credit card company fails to understand how authentication works.
Credit card company fails to understand how authentication works. Security experts often bemoan a 'box-ticking' mentality and argue that in many cases ticking boxes doesn't address… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/09/box-ticking-mentality-leads-insecurity/

Updated botnet likely cause of surge in Tor traffic

New Tor version should help the network deal with increased traffic.
New Tor version should help the network deal with increased traffic. Sometimes a picture says more than a thousand words: The graph shows the daily number of users of the Tor… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/09/updated-botnet-likely-cause-surge-tor-traffic/

Malware spoofing HTTP Host header to hide C&C communication

Traffic appears as requests to Google or Yandex.
Traffic appears as requests to Google or Yandex. There have been several recent examples of malware using a spoofed HTTP Host header to hide communucation with its control servers.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/09/malware-spoofing-http-host-header-hide-c-amp-c-communication/

Phone support scams: an old scam with some new tricks

Files in Prefetch directory supposedly show malware infections.
Files in Prefetch directory supposedly show malware infections. Telephone support scams have been going on for quite a long time, and have received a fair amount of publicity,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/09/phone-support-scams-old-scam-some-new-tricks/

September

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/09/

September issue of VB published

The September issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The September issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The September 2013 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/09/september-issue-vb-published/

VB2013 speaker spotlight

We speak to Joe Blackbird and Bill Pfeifer about how anti-malware protection states affect infection rates.
We speak to Joe Blackbird and Bill Pfeifer about how anti-malware protection states affect infection rates. The VB2013 conference takes place this autumn (2-4 October) in Berlin,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/08/speaker-spotlight-blackbirdpfeifer/

Kelihos checks machines' IP addresses against DNS blacklists

Role of node in a botnet dependent on whether the IP address is blacklisted.
Role of node in a botnet dependent on whether the IP address is blacklisted. Whenever I look at the results of the VBSpam tests, it always amazes me how large a percentage of spam… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/08/kelihos-checks-machines-ip-addresses-against-dns-blacklists/

New email header attempts to prevent damage of reissued email addresses

Transactional emails not delivered if the account's owner has changed in the meantime.
Transactional emails not delivered if the account's owner has changed in the meantime. When in June, Yahoo announced it would free up inactive user IDs, it received fierce… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/08/new-email-header-attempts-prevent-damage-reissued-email-addresses/

VB2013 speaker spotlight

We speak to Gunter Ollmann about the growing need to assess corporate security defences from a hacker's perspective.
We speak to Gunter Ollmann about the growing need to assess corporate security defences from a hacker's perspective. The VB2013 conference takes place this autumn (2-4 October) in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/08/speaker-spotlight-ollmann/

VB2013 speaker spotlight

We speak to Roman Unuchek about malicious redirection of mobile users, his research interests, and what he aims to bring to VB2013.
We speak to Roman Unuchek about malicious redirection of mobile users, his research interests, and what he aims to bring to VB2013. The VB2013 conference takes place this autumn… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/08/speaker-spotlight-unuchek/

DNSSEC glitch causes .gov sites to become inaccessible

Name servers unable to distinguish faulty from rogue responses.
Name servers unable to distinguish faulty from rogue responses. A glitch at VeriSign yesterday led to DNSSEC-aware name servers being unable to verify responses on the .gov… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/08/dnssec-glitch-causes-gov-sites-become-inaccessible/

Researchers demonstrate how IPv6 can easily be used to perform MitM attacks

Many devices simply waiting for router advertisements, good or evil.
Many devices simply waiting for router advertisements, good or evil. When early last year I was doing research for an article on IPv6 and security, I was surprised to learn how… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/08/researchers-demonstrate-how-ipv6-can-easily-be-used-perform-mitm-attacks/

VB2013 speaker spotlight

We speak to VB2013 presenters Ilya Rabinovich and Randy Abrams about their research, Windows 8 security, and what they aim to bring to VB2013.
We speak to VB2013 presenters Ilya Rabinovich and Randy Abrams about their research, Windows 8 security, and what they aim to bring to VB2013. The VB2013 conference takes place… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/08/speaker-spotlight-rabinovich-abrams/

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