VB Blog

48 hours after initial reports, many mysteries remain around the latest ransomware/wiper threat

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 29, 2017

Whether you call it Petya, NotPetya, Nyetya or Petna, there are still many mysteries surrounding the malware that has been causing havoc around the world.

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VB2017 Early Bird discount to expire this week

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 28, 2017

This week, the Early Bird discount for VB2017 comes to an end - so, for a 10% saving on the cost of full price registration, make sure you register now!

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VB2016 paper: Steam stealers: it's all fun and games until someone's account gets hijacked

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 23, 2017

Last year, Kaspersky Lab researcher Santiago Pontiroli and PwC's Bart Parys presented a VB2016 paper analysing the malicious threats faced by users of the Steam online gaming platform, and highlighting how organized criminals are making money with these profitable schemes. Today, we publish the paper.

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Research paper shows it may be possible to distinguish malware traffic using TLS

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 22, 2017

Researchers at Cisco have published a paper describing how it may be possible to use machine learning to distinguish malware command-and-control traffic using TLS from regular enterprise traffic, and to classify malware families based on their encrypted C&C traffic.

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Is CVE-2017-0199 the new CVE-2012-0158?

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 20, 2017

After five years of exploitation in a wide variety of attacks, CVE-2012-0158 may have found a successor in CVE-2017-0199, which is taking the Office exploit scene by storm.

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Review: BSides London 2017

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 19, 2017

Virus Bulletin was a proud sponsor of BSides London 2017 - Martijn Grooten reports on a great event.

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VB2017: one of the most international security conferences

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 15, 2017

It is well known that the problem of cybersecurity is a global one that affects users worldwide - but it's also one that has some unique local flavours. With speakers representing at least 24 countries, VB2017 is one of the most international security conferences on the circuit, allowing attendees to hear the viewpoints of experts from around the world. Register before 1 July and receive a 10% Early Bird discount.

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VB2016 paper: Diving into Pinkslipbot's latest campaign

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 12, 2017

Qakbot or Qbot, is a banking trojan that makes the news every once in a while and was the subject of a VB2016 paper by Intel Security researchers Sanchit Karve, Guilherme Venere and Mark Olea. In it, they provided a detailed analysis of the Pinkslipbot/Qakbot trojan and its then latest campaign. Their full paper is now available to download or read online.

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Book review: Spam: A Shadow History of the Internet

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 2, 2017

VB Editor Martijn Grooten reviews Finn Brunton's book 'Spam: A Shadow History of the Internet'.

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Virus Bulletin to sponsor BSides London

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 1, 2017

Virus Bulletin is proud to be a Silver sponsor of BSides London next week; we look forward to the event and to meeting many security professionals.

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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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