VB Blog

Registration for VB2018 now open!

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 8, 2018

Registration for VB2018, the 28th International Virus Bulletin conference, is now open, with an early bird rate available until 1 July.

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RSA 2018: the good, the bad, the ugly, the great and the fantastic

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 1, 2018

In April, VB's Martijn Grooten attended the RSA Expo in San Francisco. He shares his views on the expo and the industry.

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Standalone product test: Kaspersky Security for Microsoft Office 365

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 30, 2018

There are a number of security solutions on the market that are designed to increase the default protection provided by Office 365. One such product is the newly launched Kaspersky Security for Microsoft Office 365. Virus Bulletin was commissioned to measure the effectiveness of the Kaspersky product compared to the Office 365 baseline protection.

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GravityRAT malware takes your system's temperature

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 27, 2018

The GravityRAT malware, discovered by Cisco Talos researchers, gives some interesting insight into modern malware development.

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$150k in cryptocurrency stolen through combined BGP-DNS hijack

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 25, 2018

A BGP hijack was used to take over some of Amazon's DNS infrastructure, which was then used to serve a phishing site to users of the MyEtherWallet service.

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Security-focused routers may help to mitigate IoT threats

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 24, 2018

Various security companies are offering security-focused routers. This is a good trend and may help mitigate a lot of the issues that come with the IoT.

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The road to IPv6 is generally smooth but contains a few potholes

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Apr 23, 2018

Most of the switch from IPv4 to IPv6 will happen seamlessly. But we cannot assume it won't introduce new security issues.

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New paper: Powering the distribution of Tesla stealer with PowerShell and VBA macros

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 19, 2018

Since their return four years ago, Office macros have been one of the most common ways to spread malware. Today, we publish a research paper which looks in detail at a campaign in which VBA macros are used to execute PowerShell code, which in turn downloads the Tesla information-stealing trojan.

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VB2017 paper: Android reverse engineering tools: not the usual suspects

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 18, 2018

Within a few years, Android malware has grown from a relatively small threat to a huge problem involving more than three million new malware samples a year. Axelle Apvrille, one of the world's leading Android malware researchers, will deliver a workshop on Android reverse engineering at VB2018 in Montreal this October. Last year, Axelle presented a paper at VB2017 on some of the less common tools that can be used to reverse engineer Android malware. Today, we publish both the paper and the recording of Axelle's presentation.

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Patch early, patch often, but don't blindly trust every 'patch'

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 16, 2018

Compromised websites are being used to serve fake Flash Player uploads that come with a malicious payload.

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January

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/01/

Spammers using Google open redirect

Vulnerability 'not worthy of bug bounty program'.
Vulnerability 'not worthy of bug bounty program'. Researchers at Solera Labs have discovered spammers using an open redirect at Google to hide the final destination of their link… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/12/spammers-using-google-open-redirect/

'Nitro attacks' continue

PoisonIvy trojan sent attached to email warning about the same trojan.
PoisonIvy trojan sent attached to email warning about the same trojan. Researchers at Symantec report that the 'Nitro attacks', which target a number of large companies, many of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/12/nitro-attacks-continue/

Compromised websites used to mine bitcoins

In-the-browser botnet turns victims' CPU cycles into cash for the attackers.
In-the-browser botnet turns victims' CPU cycles into cash for the attackers. Researchers have discovered a compromised website where a piece of JavaScript has been included that is… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/12/compromised-websites-used-mine-bitcoins/

December issue of VB published

The December issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The December issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The December 2011 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/12/december-issue-vb-published/

December

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/12/

Recently discovered Java vulnerability being added to exploit kit

Kit 'patched' to include latest exploit; users urged to patch their software too.
Kit 'patched' to include latest exploit; users urged to patch their software too. Security researcher and journalist Brian Krebs has found evidence that a recently discovered… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/11/recently-discovered-java-vulnerability-being-added-exploit-kit/

SMS trojan targets Android users in eight western countries

Will another piece of mobile malware convince Google manager of the seriousness of the threat?
Will another piece of mobile malware convince Google manager of the seriousness of the threat? Researchers at Kaspersky have discovered an SMS trojan for Android phones that… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/11/sms-trojan-targets-android-users-eight-western-countries/

Latest VBSpam certification results published

Latest VBSpam results published - full report now also available.
Latest VBSpam results published - full report now also available. The results of the November VBSpam comparative review have been announced, with more distinction showing between… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/11/latest-vbspam-certification-results-published/

IETF expedites publication of RFC describing feedback loop recommendations

Document fast-tracked to be published shortly before the sad passing of its author J.D. Falk.
Document fast-tracked to be published shortly before the sad passing of its author J.D. Falk. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has published an RFC detailing current… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/11/ietf-expedites-publication-rfc-describing-feedback-loop-recommendations/

South Korea to ask ISPs to block port 25 traffic

Experts sceptical about long-term effects on spam levels.
Experts sceptical about long-term effects on spam levels. South Korea intends to require ISPs to block all outbound traffic on port 25 from anything but the "official" mail… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/11/south-korea-ask-isps-block-port-25-traffic/

Most free Android anti-virus 'useless', find testers

AV-Test comparative sees minimal value in free mobile protection.
AV-Test comparative sees minimal value in free mobile protection. In a comparative test run by independent anti-malware testing specialist AV-Test.org, the majority of free Android… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/11/most-free-android-anti-virus-useless-find-testers/

'Largest takedown ever' sees six arrested

Millions made through 'DNSChanger' malware.
Millions made through 'DNSChanger' malware. Six Estonian nationals have been arrested for taking part in a cybercrime ring that made money through DNS-changing malware that had… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/11/largest-takedown-ever-sees-six-arrested/

Significant rise in Chinese phishing sites

Phishers shown to care little about domain names.
Phishers shown to care little about domain names. In its latest 'Global Phishing Survey', the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) reports a significant increase in phishing sites… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/11/significant-rise-chinese-phishing-sites/

Support scammers up their game

Websites and Facebook accounts created to make callers appear more legitimate.
Websites and Facebook accounts created to make callers appear more legitimate. 'Support call scammers' have started to use professional-looking websites and social media accounts… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/11/support-scammers-their-game/

DNS poisoning attack targeting Brazilian customers

ISP employee suspected of changing DNS cache.
ISP employee suspected of changing DNS cache. Millions of Internet users in Brazil may have been exposed to malware after the DNS caches of their ISPs were modified to redirect… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/11/dns-poisoning-attack-targeting-brazilian-customers/

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 2011 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/11/november-issue-vb-published/

November

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/11/

'Meta-phish' uses attached form to evade web filters

Landing page contains clear warning.
Landing page contains clear warning. A phishing email targeting Austrian credit card users evades web filters by using an attached HTML form, but thankfully the landing page on the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/10/meta-phish-uses-attached-form-evade-web-filters/

'Son of Stuxnet' trojan found

'Duqu' used in targeted attacks to steal specific information.
'Duqu' used in targeted attacks to steal specific information. Researchers at both Symantec and McAfee have discovered a new Remote Access Trojan (RAT) with strong links to Stuxnet… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/10/son-stuxnet-trojan-found/

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