VB Blog

VB2016 video: Nymaim: the Untold Story

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 8, 2017

Until very recently, the Nymaim banking trojan was a serious problem in Poland. Today, we publish the video of the VB2016 presentation by CERT Polska researchers Jarosław Jedynak and Maciej Kotowicz, in which they analyse this malware-dropper-turned-banking-trojan.

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The Living Dead Anti-Virus

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Feb 2, 2017

Should users uninstall their anti-virus products, as was recently suggested by a security expert in a widely shared article? In a guest post, security consultant Hendrik Pilz explains why he doesn't think this is a good idea.

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Paper: The journey and evolution of God Mode in 2016: CVE-2016-0189

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 31, 2017

In a new paper published by Virus Bulletin, FireEye researchers Ankit Anubhav and Manish Sardiwal analyse the 'God Mode' vulnerability CVE-2016-0189 in Microsoft Internet Explorer.

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VB2016 video: Neverquest: Crime as a Service and On the Hunt for the Big Bucks

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 30, 2017

At VB2016, Peter Kruse gave a presentation detailing the Neverquest trojan, the alleged author of which was arrested in Spain earlier this month. Today, we publish the recording of Peter's presentation.

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VB2016 paper: Great crypto failures

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 24, 2017

Crypto is hard, and malware authors often make mistakes. At VB2016, Check Point researchers Yaniv Balmas and Ben Herzog discussed the whys and hows of some of the crypto blunders made by malware authors. Today, we publish their paper and the recording of their presentation.

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Call for Papers: VB2017

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 19, 2017

We have opened the Call for Papers for VB2017. We are particularly interested in receiving submissions from those working outside the security industry itself.

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Ransomware not a problem for half of businesses

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 11, 2017

According to a report by IBM Security, 70 per cent of businesses that are the victim of a ransomware attack end up paying the ransom. However, the report also suggests that a little over half of businesses manage to avoid getting infected at all, showing they must be doing something right.

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Ransomware would be much worse if it wasn't for email security solutions

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 5, 2017

The latest VBSpam test brings good news: at least 199 out of every 200 emails containing a malicious attachment were blocked by email security solutions. All of the full solutions tested achieved a VBSpam award, with five earning a VBSpam+ award.

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Throwback Thursday: The malware battle: reflections and forecasts

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Jan 5, 2017

"Another year has come to its end and the malware battle still rages on." In January 2004, Jamz Yaneza reflected on the year just ended and pondered what the coming year would have in store for the AV industry.

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VB2016 paper: Open Source Malware Lab

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 4, 2017

At VB2016, ThreatConnect Director of Research Innovation Robert Simmons presented a paper on setting up an open source malware lab. Today, we share the accompanying paper and video.

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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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