VB Blog

Subtle change could see a reduction in installation of malicious Chrome extensions

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 13, 2018

Google has made a subtle change to its Chrome browser, banning the inline installation of new extensions, thus making it harder for malware authors to trick users into unwittingly installing malicious extensions.

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Paper: EternalBlue: a prominent threat actor of 2017–2018

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 11, 2018

We publish a paper by researchers from Quick Heal Security Labs in India, who study the EternalBlue and DoublePulsar exploits in full detail.

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'North Korea' a hot subject among VB2018 talks

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Jun 1, 2018

Several VB2018 papers deal explicitly or implicitly with threats that have been attributed to North Korean actors.

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Expired domain led to SpamCannibal's blacklist eating the whole world

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 31, 2018

The domain of the little-used SpamCannibal DNS blacklist had expired, resulting in it effectively listing every single IP address.

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MnuBot banking trojan communicates via SQL server

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 30, 2018

Researchers at IBM X-Force have discovered MnuBot, a banking trojan targeting users in Brazil, which is noteworthy for using SQL Server for command and control communication.

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Throwback Thursday: Giving the EICAR test file some teeth

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 24, 2018

The 68-byte EICAR test file plays as important a role today as it did 19 years ago. In this week's Throwback Thursday we look back at a VB99 conference paper in which Randy Abrams described how this 'miracle tool' worked and how it could be used.

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XMRig used in new macOS cryptominer

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 23, 2018

A new piece of cryptocurrency-mining malware on macOS has been found to use the popular XMRig miner.

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Tendency for DDoS attacks to become less volumetric fits in a wider trend

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 22, 2018

CDN provider Cloudflare reports an increase in DDoS attacks targeting layer 7 and focusing on exhausting server resources rather than sending large volumes of data. This fits in a wider trend.

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Turkish Twitter users targeted with mobile FinFisher spyware

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 15, 2018

Through fake social media accounts, users were tricked into installing an Android application that was actually a mobile version of the FinFisher spyware.

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Hide'n'Seek IoT botnet adds persistence

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 9, 2018

The Hide'n'Seek IoT botnet has received an update to make its infection persist on infected devices beyond a restart.

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Search blog

Do we need stronger email addresses?

Skype vulnerability allowed for account hijacking using only email address.
Skype vulnerability allowed for account hijacking using only email address. A worryingly trivial vulnerability in VoIP service Skype became public this morning, which allowed… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/11/do-we-need-stronger-email-addresses/

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 2012 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/11/november-issue-vb-published/

November

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/11/

FBI agent receives first J.D. Falk award

Thomas X. Grasso praised for starting DNSChanger working group.
Thomas X. Grasso praised for starting DNSChanger working group. The first annual J.D. Falk award has been given to FBI agent Thomas X. Grasso for establishing the DNSChanger… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/10/fbi-agent-receives-first-j-d-falk-award/

Weak cryptography keys allow others to add valid DKIM signatures to fake emails

512-bit key cracked within 72 hours.
512-bit key cracked within 72 hours. A Florida-based mathematician has caused a stir in the email community by adding a valid DKIM signature for google.com to an email after… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/10/weak-cryptography-keys-allow-others-add-valid-dkim-signatures-fake-emails/

Anti-virus software significantly shortens life of banking trojans

Security software causes malware to run for less than a third as long.
Security software causes malware to run for less than a third as long. 'Does anti-virus software actually help?' is a question often asked, even by security experts - who point to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/10/anti-virus-software-significantly-shortens-life-banking-trojans/

One in ten spam messages contains drive-by download link

80-fold increase in one month.
80-fold increase in one month. I do not think I am unique in that I can recognize (most) phishing pages from a mile away and that I know that, if I ever wanted to buy… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/10/one-ten-spam-messages-contains-drive-download-link/

VGrep: the rose revived

Virus Bulletin relaunches anti-malware name matching tool.
Virus Bulletin relaunches anti-malware name matching tool. 'That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet.' So wrote Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet. And anyone… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/10/vgrep-rose-revived/

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 2012 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/10/october-issue-vb-published/

October

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/10/

Microsoft releases advisory offering workarounds for IE vulnerability

German government advises users to use alternative browser.
German government advises users to use alternative browser.Microsoft has released a security advisory to address the zero-day vulnerability in its Internet Explorer browser that we… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/09/microsoft-releases-advisory-offering-workarounds-ie-vulnerability/

Internet Explorer zero-day used in the wild

Dropped PoisonIvy trojan linked to 'Nitro' attacks.
Dropped PoisonIvy trojan linked to 'Nitro' attacks. Security researcher Eric Romang has discovered a new zero-day vulnerability in Internet Explorer that is currently being used in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/09/internet-explorer-zero-day-used-wild/

Air Force Major Abacha Tunde needs your help

419 scam asks you to help release funds to get Nigerian astronaut back to earth.
419 scam asks you to help release funds to get Nigerian astronaut back to earth. A few months ago, Microsoft researcher Cormac Herley published a paper "Why do Nigerian Scammers… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/09/air-force-major-abacha-tunde-needs-your-help/

VB2012 last-minute papers announced

Hot topics to be covered at VB conference in Dallas.
Hot topics to be covered at VB conference in Dallas. For the last six years, VB has set aside a section of the VB conference for 'last-minute' papers, the idea being that… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/09/last-minute-papers-announced/

Gach do bonn a mbaineann a chur chugainn

Why cybercriminals may have a reason for using Irish language in a ransomware scam.
Why cybercriminals may have a reason for using Irish language in a ransomware scam. According to a story that made the security headlines this weekend, and which seems to orginate… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/09/gach-do-bonn-mbaineann-chur-chugainn/

From spear phishing to watering holes

Symantec reports increase in 'watering hole attacks'.
Symantec reports increase in 'watering hole attacks'. Imagine that for some reason you wanted to gain access to my computer. One thing you could do is send me an email with some… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/09/spear-phishing-watering-holes/

September

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/09/

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 2012 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/09/september-issue-vb-published/

August

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/08/

August issue of VB published

The August issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The August issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The August 2012 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/08/august-issue-vb-published/

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