VB Blog

VB2017: a wide ranging and international conference programme

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 13, 2017

We are proud to announce a very broad and very international programme for VB2017, which will take place in Madrid, 4-6 October 2017.

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John Graham-Cumming and Brian Honan to deliver keynote addresses at VB2017

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 10, 2017

Virus Bulletin is excited to announce John-Graham Cumming and Brian Honan as the two keynote speakers for VB2017 in Madrid.

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Virus Bulletin says a fond farewell to John Hawes

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 31, 2017

As VB's COO John Hawes moves on to new challenges, the team wish him a fond farewell and good luck in his future endeavours.

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VB2016 paper: One-Click Fileless Infection

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 28, 2017

Symantec researchers Himanshu Anand and Chastine Menrige explain how a single click can lead to a compromised machine, without malware ever being stored on disk.

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Mostly blocked, but still good enough: Necurs sending pump-and-dump spam

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 22, 2017

The Necurs botnet has started sending pump-and-dump spam. Almost all of these emails are blocked by spam filters, yet the stock price still increased.

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Why the SHA-1 collision means you should stop using the algorithm

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 10, 2017

Realistically speaking, if your software or system uses the SHA-1 hashing algorithm, it is unlikely that it will be exploited in the foreseeable future. But it is also extremely difficult to be certain that your system won't be the exception.

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VB2017 Call for Papers: frequently asked questions

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 10, 2017

The call for papers for VB2017, which takes place 4 to 6 October in Madrid, Spain, is currently open. We're always on the look out for new speakers and new content, so to help anyone who's unfamiliar with the VB conference, we've prepared a list of answers to some frequently asked questions about the event, and about how to submit a paper.

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Throwback Thursday: Michelangelo - Graffiti Not Art

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Mar 9, 2017

This week marked the 25th anniversary of the trigger date of the infamous Michelangelo virus. In January 1992, VB published an analysis of the boot sector virus that captured the imagination of the press and kicked up a media storm.

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How are you defending your network? Come and tell us at VB2017!

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 8, 2017

Is it your job to defend your company’s network? Are you defending a government’s systems? Do you help secure the devices used by activists operating in less open societies? Do you work with abuse victims targeted by spyware? Share your experiences with the security community at VB2017.

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Quick impressions from BSides Budapest

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Mar 8, 2017

At Virus Bulletin, we love the BSides concept and we have attended several of the BSides events around the world. So when Peter Karsai, who is soon to join the VB team, offered to write about his experience at BSides Budapest, we jumped at the chance to publish his post.

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Search blog

Dutch ISP sues Spamhaus for 'extortion'

Blacklist entries 'unfair and illegal'.
Blacklist entries 'unfair and illegal'. Dutch ISP A2B Internet has sued The Spamhaus Project, claiming the project unfairly blacklisted its IP range. A2B provides the upstream… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/10/dutch-isp-sues-spamhaus-extortion/

Google AdWords phishing campaign spreads

Users urged to login because of 'issues'.
Users urged to login because of 'issues'. A new phishing campaign that targets users of Google AdWords looks worryingly real, GFI reports. The phish begins with an email claiming… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/10/google-adwords-phishing-campaign-spreads/

Mac trojan is VMware-aware

Malicious execution stopped when virtual environment is detected.
Malicious execution stopped when virtual environment is detected. Researchers at F-Secure have found a variant of the 'Flashback' trojan for Mac (a fake Adobe Flash Player update)… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/10/mac-trojan-vmware-aware/

Government trojan found on German computers

Four states admit the use of spyware.
Four states admit the use of spyware. Controversy has arisen in Germany, after the well-known CCC hacker group reported that it had found a trojan that was used to spy on behalf of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/10/government-trojan-found-german-computers/

VB conference hashtag used to spread malware

Tweet promising conference news links to trojan.
Tweet promising conference news links to trojan. A tweet using the #vb2011 hashtag, which was used in numerous tweets referring to last week's VB2011 conference, contained a link… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/10/vb-conference-hashtag-used-spread-malware/

October

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/10/

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 2011 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/10/october-issue-vb-published/

Mysql.com hacked, serving malware

Root access to site offered on black market.
Root access to site offered on black market. Yesterday, mysql.com, the official website of the popular database management system MySQL, was hacked and visitors to the website were… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/09/mysql-com-hacked-serving-malware/

E-marketing companies compromised to send spam

Fake order confirmations contain malicious links.
Fake order confirmations contain malicious links. Spammers have gained access to the accounts of email service providers (ESPs) and used them to send out fake order confirmation… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/09/e-marketing-companies-compromised-send-spam/

Alureon trojan uses steganography to receive commands

Messages hidden inside images create extra layer of redundancy.
Messages hidden inside images create extra layer of redundancy. Researchers at Microsoft have discovered a new variant of the 'Alureon' trojan that uses steganography to make… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/09/alureon-trojan-uses-steganography-receive-commands/

Attack targets government agencies in CIS countries

Trojans used to steal specific files.
Trojans used to steal specific files. Researchers at Trend Micro have discovered an ongoing targeted attack against, among others, government agencies and diplomatic missions in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/09/attack-targets-government-agencies-cis-countries/

New RFC grants DKIM improved status

Email signing method now 'Draft Standard'.
Email signing method now 'Draft Standard'. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has published a new RFC describing the DKIM protocol which sees its status advance from… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/09/new-rfc-grants-dkim-improved-status/

Trojan steals money from bank accounts via 'training session'

Social engineering circumvents banking security
Social engineering circumvents banking security In a new method of stealing money from customer accounts, a variant of the SpyEye trojan invites the user to make a supposedly… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/09/trojan-steals-money-bank-accounts-training-session/

Malicious spam campaigns leave experts puzzled

Increase in malware in spam has not led to increase in malicious activity.
Increase in malware in spam has not led to increase in malicious activity. Security researchers have noticed a significant increase in the quantity of spam sent with malicious… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/09/malicious-spam-campaigns-leave-experts-puzzled/

Bank's Twitter account hacked to send phishing messages

Important lessons for companies engaging in social media.
Important lessons for companies engaging in social media. Last week, the Twitter account of the Bank of Melbourne was hacked and used to send direct messages containing phishing… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/09/bank-s-twitter-account-hacked-send-phishing-messages/

Diginotar declared bankrupt

Browsers and operating systems had already revoked trust in Dutch CA.
Browsers and operating systems had already revoked trust in Dutch CA. Dutch certificate authority Diginotar was declared bankrupt by a Dutch court this morning. Diginotar made the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/09/diginotar-declared-bankrupt/

Confirmed newsletter subscriptions half as likely to be blocked

Good practice means good performance.
Good practice means good performance. Newsletters that do not confirm their subscriptions are twice as likely to be blocked by spam filters as those that do, Virus Bulletin has… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/09/confirmed-newsletter-subscriptions-half-likely-be-blocked/

Windows Help Files used in targeted attacks

Files with code-executing properties attached to emails.
Files with code-executing properties attached to emails. Researchers at Symantec have discovered Windows Help Files being used in targeted attacks. Such help files, which use the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/09/windows-help-files-used-targeted-attacks/

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 September VBSpam comparative review have been announced. This month's VBSpam test sees 23… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/09/latest-vbspam-certification-results-published/

Iranians spied on using rogue DigiNotar certificates

Fake certificates signed for CIA, Mossad, Google, Facebook.
Fake certificates signed for CIA, Mossad, Google, Facebook. It is likely that Iranian Internet users have been spied on following a hack discovered at Dutch certificate authority… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/09/iranians-spied-using-rogue-diginotar-certificates/

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