VB Blog

Paying a malware ransom is bad, but telling people never to do it is unhelpful advice

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 26, 2016

The current ransomware plague is one of the worst threats the Internet has seen and it is unlikely to go away any time soon. But telling people to never pay the ransom is unhelpful advice.

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VB2015 paper: VolatilityBot: Malicious Code Extraction Made by and for Security Researchers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 22, 2016

In his VB2015 paper, Martin Korman presented his 'VolatilyBot' tool, which extracts malicious code from packed binaries, leveraging the functionality of the Volatility Framework.

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VB2016 programme announced, registration opened

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 21, 2016

We have announced 37 papers (and four reserve papers) that will be presented at VB2016 in Denver, Colorado, USA in October. Registration for the conference has opened; make sure you register before 1 July to benefit from a 10% early bird discount.

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New tool helps ransomware victims indentify the malware family

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 15, 2016

The people behind the MalwareHunterTeam have released a tool that helps victims of ransomware identify which of more than 50 families has infected their system, something which could help them find a tool to decrypt their files.

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It's fine for vulnerabilities to have names — we just need not to take them too seriously

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 13, 2016

The PR campaign around the Badlock vulnerability backfired when it turned out that the vulnerability wasn't as serious as had been suggested. But naming vulnerabilities can actually be helpful and certainly shouldn't hurt.

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Throwback Thursday: The Number of the Beasts

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Apr 7, 2016

The Virus Bulletin Virus Prevalence Table, which ran from 1992 until 2013, gave users a regular snapshot of what was really going on in the virus (and later malware) world, recording the number of incidents of each virus reported to VB in the preceding month. In August 2000, Denis Zenkin, a self-confessed virus prevalence table junkie, shared his findings following a study of the virus prevalence tables over the preceding few years, allowing him to determine the top ten viruses of the period, the top viruses by type and the viruses of the year.

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Paper: All Your Meetings Are Belong to Us: Remote Code Execution in Apache OpenMeetings

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 30, 2016

Security researcher Andreas Lindh recently found a vulnerability in Apache OpenMeetings that could allow remote code execution on a vulnerable server. Andreas reported the vulnerability to the OpenMeetings developers and, once it had been patched, he wrote up the details.

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Throwback Thursday: 'In the Beginning was the Word...'

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Mar 24, 2016

Word and Excel’s internal file formats used to be something in which few were interested – until macro viruses came along and changed all that. In 1996, Andrew Krukov provided an overview of the new breed of viruses.

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VB2016 Call for Papers Deadline

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 18, 2016

You have until the early hours (GMT) of Monday 21 March to submit an abstract for VB2016! The VB2016 programme will be announced in the first week of April.

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How broken is SHA-1 really?

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 15, 2016

SHA-1 collisions may be found in the next few months, but that doesn't mean that fake SHA-1-based certificates will be created in the near future. Nevertheless, it is time for everyone, and those working in security in particular, to move away from outdated hash functions.

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A third of anti-malware products fail to secure Vista Business Edition, Virus Bulletin reveals

VB urges industry to work harder at quality assurance.
VB urges industry to work harder at quality assurance. Virus Bulletin has revealed that, out of 54 anti-malware products tested, 19 failed to reach the standard required for VB100… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/08/third-anti-malware-products-fail-secure-vista-business-edition-reveals/

Firefox 4 crack spreads trojan

'Cracked' versions of free software used to spread malware
'Cracked' versions of free software used to spread malware In a new malware campaign, users are told they can download a free crack of the Firefox 4 browser, only to find… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/08/firefox-4-crack-spreads-trojan/

August

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/08/

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 2010 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/08/august-issue-vb-published/

July issue of VB published

The July issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The July issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The July 2010 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or download… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/07/july-issue-vb-published/

July

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/07/

Microsoft sues alleged spammer for gaming Hotmail's spam filter

Messages marked as 'not spam' from phony web mail accounts.
Messages marked as 'not spam' from phony web mail accounts. Connecticut spammer Boris Mizhen and several companies controlled by him have been sued by Microsoft for sending… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/06/microsoft-sues-alleged-spammer-gaming-hotmail-s-spam-filter/

Patches come thick and fast in major update spree

Monthly and out-of-band issues flood admins' to-do lists.
Monthly and out-of-band issues flood admins' to-do lists. The release of this month's Patch Tuesday security bulletins from Microsoft, with a fairly average 10 alerts covering 34… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/06/patches-come-thick-and-fast-major-update-spree/

Latest VB100 announced

Solutions for Windows Vista to be put through their paces.
Solutions for Windows Vista to be put through their paces. The latest round of VB100 testing has been announced, with a comparative to be run on Microsoft's Windows Vista in July.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/06/latest-announced/

June

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/06/

June issue of VB published

The June issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The June issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The June 2010 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or download… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/06/june-issue-vb-published/

ESET buys COMDOM

Security vendor strengthens anti-spam capabilities.
Security vendor strengthens anti-spam capabilities. Slovakian security vendor ESET has announced the acquisition of Slovakian anti-spam firm COMDOM Software. The anti-spam firm's… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/05/eset-buys-comdom/

Symantec to acquire VeriSign business

Vendor splashes out more cash on authentication.
Vendor splashes out more cash on authentication.Symantec, the AV vendor with a reputation for snapping up other companies, has announced its purchase of VeriSign's authentication… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/05/symantec-acquire-verisign-business/

Mariposa bot herders apply for job with security firm

Applicants weren't successful, but may not see prison either.
Applicants weren't successful, but may not see prison either.Panda Labs' Luis Corrons believed he was the victim if a practical joke when two people who had been involved in the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/05/mariposa-bot-herders-apply-job-security-firm/

Contract spam serving malware

Recipients made to believe they have been sent emails accidentally.
Recipients made to believe they have been sent emails accidentally. In a new campaign, spammers are sending out emails that have appear to have contracts attached to them, but… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/05/contract-spam-serving-malware/

McAfee offers payments to cover FP cleanup costs

Compensation for faulty update victims could set precedent.
Compensation for faulty update victims could set precedent. Victims of the erroneous McAfee DAT update last month are being offered cash payments to cover costs incurred in fixing… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/05/mcafee-offers-payments-cover-fp-cleanup-costs/

Sophos bought up by investment firm

APAX Partners acquires major stake in $830 million company.
APAX Partners acquires major stake in $830 million company.Sophos has announced that a majority share of the company will be sold to major private investment firm APAX Partners, in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/05/sophos-bought-investment-firm/

Symantec buys key pair of encryption firms

PGP and GuardianEdge snapped up in surprise dual acquisition.
PGP and GuardianEdge snapped up in surprise dual acquisition.Symantec has announced the acquisition of two separate firms specialising in encryption and email security. The deals… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/05/symantec-buys-key-pair-encryption-firms/

May

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/05/

May issue of VB published

The May issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The May issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The May 2010 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or download… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/05/may-issue-vb-published/

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