VB Blog

Alleged author of creepy FruitFly macOS malware arrested

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Jan 11, 2018

A 28-year old man from Ohio has been arrested on suspicion of having created the mysterious FruitFly malware that targeted macOS and used it to spy on its victims.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Jan 10, 2018

At the start of the new year, Virus Bulletin looks back at the threats seen in the 2017 and at the security products that are available to help mitigate them.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Jan 9, 2018

Spamhaus's annual report on botnet activity shows that botherders tend to use popular, legitimate hosting providers, domain registrars and top-level domains when setting up command-and-control servers.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Jan 5, 2018

As tech support scammers continue to target the computer illiterate through cold calling, VB's Martijn Grooten uses his own experience to share some advice on how to investigate such scams.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Jan 4, 2018

Just four days into the new year, two serious attacks in modern processors, dubbed Meltdown and Spectre, have been discovered. The attacks can be mitigated by patches to the operating system, but anti-virus software vendors need to make sure their products are compatible with the patches.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Dec 22, 2017

Martijn Grooten reports on the 20th AVAR conference, which took place earlier in December in Beijing, China.

Posted by Virus Bulletin on Dec 22, 2017

Virus Bulletin researchers report back from a very interesting fifth edition of Botconf, the botnet fighting conference.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Dec 21, 2017

(In)security is a global issue that affects countries around the world, but in recent years none has been so badly hit as Ukraine. Today, we publish the videos of two VB2017 talks about attacks that hit Ukraine particularly badly: a talk by Alexander Adamov (NioGuard) on (Not)Petya and related attacks, and another by Robert Lipovsky and Anton Cherepanov (ESET) on Industroyer.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Dec 21, 2017

On its website, Facebook now shows which emails it has sent you recently, thus helping you to determine which emails are real, and which should be discarded as phishing.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Dec 19, 2017

Clarification in the language of the Wassenaar Arrangement, a multilateral export control regime for conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies, means those involved in vulnerability disclosure or botnet takedown won't have to worry about acquiring an export licence.

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New paper: Behind the scenes of GandCrab's operation

The GandCrab ransomware regularly updated itself to newer versions to stay ahead of decryptors released by security researchers, and regularly included taunts, jokes and references to security organizations in its code. In a new paper, the AhnLab Security…
For more details of GandCrab, also see the VB2019 paper and presentation by McAfee researchers John Fokker and Alexandre Mundo, who looked both at the malware code and its… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2020/01/new-paper-behind-scenes-gandcrabs-operation/

VB2019 paper: King of the hill: nation-state counterintelligence for victim deconfliction

At VB2019 Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade looked at nation-state actors using threat intelligence for victim deconfliction. Today we publish both his paper and the recording of his presentation.
King of the hill: nation-state counterintelligence for victim deconfliction Read the paper (HTML) Download the paper (PDF) Past Virus Bulletin conference papers… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2020/01/vb2019-paper-king-hill-nation-state-counterintelligence-victim-deconfliction/

The VB2020 call for papers - how it works

With the VB2020 Call for Papers now open, we explain how the selection procedure works, which may help you during your abstract submission.
We recently opened the call for papers for VB2020, which is to take place 30 September to 2 October in Dublin, Ireland. The deadline for the call for papers is Sunday 15 March.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2020/01/vb2020-call-papers/

VB2019 presentation: Targeted attacks through ISPs

In 2019 we saw a rise in the number of targeted malware infections spread via ISPs and service providers. In a last-minute paper presented at VB2019 in London, Kaspersky researcher Denis Legezo discussed the details of a number of such cases. Today we rel…
In 2019 we saw an increase in the number of targeted malware infections spread via ISPs and service providers. Some notable cases included the installation of digital certificates… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2020/01/vb2019-presentation-targeted-attacks-through-isps/

VB2019 presentation: A deep dive into iPhone exploit chains

In a last-minute presentation at VB2019 in London, John Bambenek of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign discussed details of campaigns that used advanced iOS and Android exploit chains against China’s Uighur minority. Today we release the recor…
One of the biggest security stories of 2019 was the use of advanced iOS and Android exploit chains against China’s Uighur minority, first uncovered by Google’s Project Zero with… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2020/01/vb2019-presentation-deep-dive-iphone-exploit-chains/

Latest VBWeb report describes current state of the web-based threat landscape

Today we released the Winter 2020 VBWeb report, detailing the performance of web security products against live web threats and looking at the current state of the web-based threat landscape.
VBWeb Comparative Review - Winter 2020 Read the report (HTML) Download the report (PDF) If you are interested in having your product tested either publicly or privately, or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2020/01/latest-vbweb-report-describes-current-state-web-based-threat-landscape/

VB2019 paper: Catch me if you can: detection of injection exploitation by validating query and API integrity

In a paper presented at VB2019 in London, Prismo Systems researchers Abhishek Singh and Ramesh Mani discussed code injection vulnerabilities and presented a tool that could detect this vulnerability class. Today we publish their paper and the recording of…
Catch me if you can: detection of injection exploitation by validating query and API integrity Read the paper (HTML) Download the paper (PDF) Any web app that… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2020/01/vb2019-paper-catch-me-if-you-can-detection-injection-exploitation-validating-query-and-api-integrity/

2020

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January

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Virus Bulletin says a fond farewell and thank you to Martijn Grooten

As VB Editor Martijn Grooten steps down from his role to move on to new challenges, the team wish him a fond farewell and the very best of luck in his future endeavours.
Thirteen years ago, VB was searching for a web developer to join the very small team based in Oxfordshire, UK. A CV came in from one Martijn Grooten, a former Ph.D. student in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/12/virus-bulletin-says-fond-farewell-and-thank-you-martijn-grooten/

VB2019 paper: Never before had Stierlitz been so close to failure (or: what is a Soviet super-spy doing in a popular bundleware for Mac?)

Today, we publish the VB2019 paper and video by Sophos researcher Sergei Shevchenko in which he analyses a popular yet unnamed piece of macOS ‘bundleware’.
Over the years, many ‘potentially unwanted applications’ have plagued macOS in the same way they have plagued other platforms. Though anti-virus isn’t ubiquitous on Macs,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/12/vb2019-paper-never-had-stierlitz-been-so-close-failure-or-what-soviet-super-spy-doing-popular-bundleware-mac/

Parting thoughts 5: bringing the good news

In the final of a five-part series of blog posts, departing VB Editor Martijn Grooten argues for more emphasis on the good news in security, especially that which is more subtle.
At the end of this month, I will step down as Editor of Virus Bulletin. Before doing so, I have been sharing some 'parting thoughts' in five blog posts, based on my experience… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/12/parting-thoughts-5-bringing-good-news/

Parting thoughts 4: the big picture

In the fourth of a five-part series of blog posts, departing VB Editor Martijn Grooten explains why security researchers should refer to other people's work.
At the end of this month, I will step down as Editor of Virus Bulletin. Before I do so, I will share some 'parting thoughts' in five blog posts, based on my experience working in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/12/parting-thoughts-4-big-picture/

VB2019 paper: Exploring the Chinese DDoS landscape

China has long been a hotbed of DDoS activities, and today we publish a VB2019 paper by Intezer researcher Nacho Sanmillan who looked at Chinese threat groups engaged in performing DDoS attacks. We have also uploaded the recording of his presentation.
Exploring the Chinese DDoS landscape Read the paper (HTML) Download the paper (PDF) China has long been a hotbed of DDoS activities, with several groups… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/12/vb2019-paper-exploring-chinese-ddos-landscape/

Parting thoughts 3: taking security seriously

In the third of a five-part series of blog posts, departing VB Editor Martijn Grooten explains why he believes security vendors should take their products' security more seriously.
At the end of this month, I will step down as Editor of Virus Bulletin. Before I do so, I will share some 'parting thoughts' in five blog posts, based on my experience working in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/12/parting-thoughts-3-taking-security-seriously/

VB2019 paper: Absolutely routed!! Why routers are the new bullseye in cyber attacks

Today we publish the VB2019 paper by Anurag Shandilya (K7 Computing) who looked at recent malware attacks against routers, as well as the video of his presentation in London.
Given their prominent position on home and corporate networks and their often poor standard of security, one might be forgiven for being surprised that massive attacks against… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/12/vb2019-paper-absolutely-routed-why-routers-are-new-bullseye-cyber-attacks/

Parting thoughts 2: the need for education in security

In the second of a five-part series of blog posts, departing VB Editor Martijn Grooten explains why he believes cybersecurity professionals need to educate themselves on the complexities of the real-world situations in which security is applied.
At the end of this month, I will step down as Editor of Virus Bulletin. Before I do so, I will share some 'parting thoughts' in five blog posts, based on my experience working in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/12/parting-thoughts-2-need-education-security/

Parting thoughts 1: cybersecurity as a social science

In the first of a five-part series of blog post, departing VB Editor Martijn Grooten explains why he believes cybersecurity isn't as much as technical field as we like to believe.
At the end of this month, I will step down as Editor of Virus Bulletin. This week, I will share some 'parting thoughts' in five blog posts, based on my experience working in the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/12/parting-thoughts-1-cybersecurity-social-science/

VB2020 call for papers - now open!

Have you analysed a new online threat? Do you know a new way to defend against such threats? Are you tasked with securing systems and fending off attacks? The call for papers for VB2020 is now open and we want to hear from you!
In the October 1990 edition of Virus Bulletin (pdf), then a printed monthly magazine sent to subscribers around the world by post, the very first Virus Bulletin conference was… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/12/vb2020-call-papers-now-open/

VB2019 paper: Operation Soft Cell - a worldwide campaign against telecommunication providers

Today we publish the VB2019 paper by Cybereason researchers Mor Levi, Amit Serper and Assaf Dahan on Operation Soft Cell, a targeted attack against telecom providers around the world.
Operation Soft Cell - a worldwide campaign against telecommunication providers Read the paper (HTML) Download the paper (PDF) In June this year, Cybereason published a blog… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/12/vb2019-paper-operation-soft-cell-worldwide-campaign-against-telecommunication-providers/

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