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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Patch Tuesday brings little relief from browser exploits

Six fixes issued, but new IE zero day emerges along with Firefox flaw.
Six fixes issued, but new IE zero day emerges along with Firefox flaw.Microsoft has issued its monthly 'Patch Tuesday' security update, with some serious browser flaws patched, but… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/07/patch-tuesday-brings-little-relief-browser-exploits/

Korea DDoS surge mired in hype and confusion

Rows rumble on over sources and targets of botnet attacks.
Rows rumble on over sources and targets of botnet attacks. Last week's gush of denial-of-service attacks has sparked considerable excitement and argument, with rumours of possible… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/07/korea-ddos-surge-mired-hype-and-confusion/

URL shorteners experience surge of popularity among spammers

More than 2.2% of spam contains shortened URLs.
More than 2.2% of spam contains shortened URLs. URL shortening services have proven recently to be popular not just among microbloggers in need of shorter URLs, but also among… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/07/url-shorteners-experience-surge-popularity-among-spammers/

Serious false positive hits users of old McAfee engines

Batch of system files wrongly flagged as malware, current versions not affected.
Batch of system files wrongly flagged as malware, current versions not affected. An update released by McAfee last week resulted in problems around the world, as some vital system… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/07/serious-false-positive-hits-users-old-mcafee-engines/

Another IE zero day exploited

Second DirectShow vulnerability in six weeks labelled 'extremely critical'.
Second DirectShow vulnerability in six weeks labelled 'extremely critical'.Microsoft has issued an advisory on a serious vulnerability in an ActiveX control in its Internet… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/07/another-ie-zero-day-exploited/

Keyloggers used to loot US county

$415,000 sneaked from local government funds.
$415,000 sneaked from local government funds. A Kentucky county has suffered losses of $415,000 after keylogging malware infiltrated its computer systems, allowing cybercriminals… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/07/keyloggers-used-loot-us-county/

VB announces latest VBSpam certification results

Two products achieve top level VBSpam Platinum award.
Two products achieve top level VBSpam Platinum award. Virus Bulletin has announced the results of its second comparative review of anti-spam products, revealing two top-level… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/07/vb-announces-latest-vbspam-certification-results/

July

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/07/

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 2009 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or download… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/07/july-issue-vb-published/

DKIM usage shows significant growth

US banks urged to use authentication method
US banks urged to use authentication method In a report on its website, Internet giant Cisco states it has been seeing almost 700,000 non-spam messages that contain valid DKIM… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/06/dkim-usage-shows-significant-growth/

June

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/06/

Latest AV-Comparatives results released

Retrospective figures follow up February test.
Retrospective figures follow up February test. Independent testing body AV-Comparatives have issued their latest set of retrospective test figures, completing the round of testing… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/05/latest-av-comparatives-results-released/

Cyber-security organisations link up to foster collaboration

ASC, NCSA and StopBadware form 'chain of trust' initiative.
ASC, NCSA and StopBadware form 'chain of trust' initiative. Three major groups focused on issues of cyber security - the Anti-Spyware Coalition (ASC), the US National Cyber… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/05/cyber-security-organisations-link-foster-collaboration/

AV protection free for aliens

Klingon language scanner given away.
Klingon language scanner given away. After last summer saw malware making its way into space, it seemed like only a matter of time before alien races would need protection from the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/05/av-protection-free-aliens/

Gumblar compromise growth continues

Dominant web threat infecting still more vulnerable sites.
Dominant web threat infecting still more vulnerable sites. A major web compromise, estimated by some to represent over 40% of infected web pages last week, has continued growing in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/05/gumblar-compromise-growth-continues/

McAfee to acquire Solidcore

Whitelisting firm to be assimilated by security giant.
Whitelisting firm to be assimilated by security giant.McAfee has announced the acquisition of whitelisting firm Solidcore in a deal reported to be worth a base rate of $33 million,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/05/mcafee-acquire-solidcore/

Security experts pool ideas at European conferences

Research and expertise shared at CARO and AMTSO meetings.
Research and expertise shared at CARO and AMTSO meetings. Last week saw two major gatherings of top security and anti-malware experts from across the globe, as the third annual… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/05/security-experts-pool-ideas-european-conferences/

Security holes trouble vendors

Vulnerabilities fixed in McAfee website and Google Chrome; patch expected for Adobe Reader.
Vulnerabilities fixed in McAfee website and Google Chrome; patch expected for Adobe Reader. A range of vulnerabilities have been causing headaches recently for companies… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/05/security-holes-trouble-vendors/

May

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/05/

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 2009 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or download… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/05/may-issue-vb-published/

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