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.

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The threat and security product landscape in 2017

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.

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Spamhaus report shows many botnet controllers look a lot like legitimate servers

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.

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Tips on researching tech support scams

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.

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Meltdown and Spectre attacks mitigated by operating system updates

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.

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Conference review: AVAR 2017

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.

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Conference review: Botconf 2017

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.

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VB2017 videos on attacks against Ukraine

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.

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Facebook helps you determine whether emails really came from its servers

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.

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Vulnerability disclosure and botnet takedown not to be hindered by Wassenaar Arrangement

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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Botnets becoming more robust

Zeus botnet used Amazon's in-the-cloud service to control bots.
Zeus botnet used Amazon's in-the-cloud service to control bots. New reports by MessageLabs and McAfee show that botherders have learned a lesson following the take-down of McColo… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/12/botnets-becoming-more-robust/

Project Honey Pot 'celebrates' billionth spam message

Facebook about to become most phished organization.
Facebook about to become most phished organization. Few people would celebrate receiving a billion spam messages, but those at Project Honey Pot must have been a little proud when… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/12/project-honey-pot-celebrates-billionth-spam-message/

Next VB100 comparative announced

SUSE test to challenge Linux products.
SUSE test to challenge Linux products. The latest round of VB100 testing has been announced, with a comparative to be run on Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 in January.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/12/next-comparative-announced/

False positive problem hits avast! users

Human failure blamed for faulty update.
Human failure blamed for faulty update. A relatively small subsection of the massive user base for Alwil's ever-popular avast! products were hit by a string of false positives last… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/12/false-positive-problem-hits-avast-users/

IE zero-day bug fixed in Patch Tuesday updates

Serious browser bug main feature of monthly alerts, Adobe Flash issue also patched.
Serious browser bug main feature of monthly alerts, Adobe Flash issue also patched.Microsoft has released the December Patch Tuesday security bulletin, with a total of six alerts.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/12/ie-zero-day-bug-fixed-patch-tuesday-updates/

VB100 update

Post-test analysis corrects results for MS Forefront, CA.
Post-test analysis corrects results for MS Forefront, CA. In the wake of the mammoth VB100 comparative released earlier this week, the lab team have been conducting thorough… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/12/update/

December

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/12/

Legal success against notorious spammers

Atkinson to pay huge fine; Ralsky to spend years in prison.
Atkinson to pay huge fine; Ralsky to spend years in prison. US judges have sentenced two notorious spammers to a huge fine and years of imprisonment, respectively. Yesterday, a US… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/12/legal-success-against-notorious-spammers/

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 2009 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/12/december-issue-vb-published/

AV-Comparatives releases latest retrospective figures

Half of products rated top-class in proactive detection testing.
Half of products rated top-class in proactive detection testing. Independent testing lab AV-Comparatives has released its latest set of results, the semi-annual retrospective test… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/11/av-comparatives-releases-latest-retrospective-figures/

VB calls for collaboration amongst anti-spam vendors

VB finds that, when it comes to spam filtering, a combined effort outperforms individual products.
VB finds that, when it comes to spam filtering, a combined effort outperforms individual products. Virus Bulletin has discovered that running several spam filters in combination… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/11/vb-calls-collaboration-amongst-anti-spam-vendors/

ICSA Labs report reveals testing details

Certification issues unmasked in 20-year lab survey.
Certification issues unmasked in 20-year lab survey. Renowned testing and certification group ICSA Labs has released a fascinating report drawing back the curtain on its security… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/11/icsa-labs-report-reveals-testing-details/

Fortinet announces IPO

Gateway specialist releases share price projections.
Gateway specialist releases share price projections. Security firm Fortinet has announced its floatation on the Nasdaq stock market, the first IT security company to launch an IPO… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/11/fortinet-announces-ipo/

Anti-spam products do well in VB testing

VB announces anti-spam certification results.
VB announces anti-spam certification results.Virus Bulletin has announced that 12 products earned VBSpam awards in its latest round of comparative anti-spam testing. A total of 14… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/11/anti-spam-products-do-well-vb-testing/

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 2009 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/11/november-issue-vb-published/

November

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/11/

AV-Comparatives publishes malware removal test

16 products challenged to remove selection of tricky infections.
16 products challenged to remove selection of tricky infections. Independent testing body AV-Comparatives has published its latest set of test results, a comparison of how well… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/10/av-comparatives-publishes-malware-removal-test/

AMTSO members summit covers controversial issues

Expert body gets to grips with string of difficult subjects.
Expert body gets to grips with string of difficult subjects. A meeting of the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organisation (AMTSO) took place this week, with leading experts from… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/10/amtso-members-summit-covers-controversial-issues/

Bumper crop of October patch releases

Busy weeks for admins as Patch Tuesday joined by Adobe fixes, and Mozilla announces plug-in checking plans.
Busy weeks for admins as Patch Tuesday joined by Adobe fixes, and Mozilla announces plug-in checking plans. This week has seen Microsoft's monthly Patch Tuesday release of security… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/10/bumper-crop-october-patch-releases/

VB announces next VB100 test on Windows 7

Deadline announced for first VB100 comparative on new operating system.
Deadline announced for first VB100 comparative on new operating system.VB has issued a call for submissions for the next VB100 comparative, to be run next month on Microsoft's… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/10/vb-announces-next-test-windows-7/

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