VB Blog

VB2019 paper: Fantastic Information and Where to Find it: A guidebook to open-source OT reconnaissance

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 22, 2019

A VB2019 paper by FireEye researcher Daniel Kapellmann Zafra explained how open source intelligence (OSINT) can be used to learn crucial details of the inner workings of many a system. Today we publish Daniel's paper and the recording of his presentation.

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VB2019 paper: Different ways to cook a crab: GandCrab Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) analysed in depth

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 21, 2019

Though active for not much longer than a year, GandCrab had been one of the most successful ransomware operations. In a paper presented at VB2019 in London, McAfee researchers John Fokker and Alexandre Mundo looked at the malware code, its evolution and the affiliate scheme behind it. Today we publish both their paper and the recording of their presentation.

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VB2019 paper: Domestic Kitten: an Iranian surveillance program

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 18, 2019

At VB2019 in London, Check Point researchers Aseel Kayal and Lotem Finkelstein presented a paper detailing an Iranian operation they named 'Domestic Kitten' that used Android apps for targeted surveillance. Today we publish their paper and the video of their presentation.

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VB2019 video: Discretion in APT: recent APT attack on crypto exchange employees

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 18, 2019

At VB2019 in London, LINE's HeungSoo Kang explained how cryptocurrency exchanges had been attacked using Firefox zero-days. Today, we publish the video of his presentation.

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VB2019 paper: DNS on fire

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 7, 2019

In a paper presented at VB2019, Cisco Talos researchers Warren Mercer and Paul Rascagneres looked at two recent attacks against DNS infrastructure: DNSpionage and Sea Turtle. Today we publish their paper and the recording of their presentation.

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German Dridex spam campaign is unfashionably large

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 6, 2019

VB has analysed a malicious spam campaign targeting German-speaking users with obfuscated Excel malware that would likely download Dridex but that mostly stood out through its size.

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Paper: Dexofuzzy: Android malware similarity clustering method using opcode sequence

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 5, 2019

We publish a paper by researchers from ESTsecurity in South Korea, who describe a fuzzy hashing algorithm for clustering Android malware datasets.

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Emotet continues to bypass many email security products

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 4, 2019

Having returned from a summer hiatus, Emotet is back targeting inboxes and, as seen in the VBSpam test lab, doing a better job than most other malicious campaigns at bypassing email security products.

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VB2019 paper: We need to talk - opening a discussion about ethics in infosec

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 1, 2019

Those working in the field of infosec are often faced with ethical dilemmas that are impossible to avoid. Today, we publish a VB2019 paper by Kaspersky researcher Ivan Kwiatkowski looking at ethics in infosec as well as the recording of Ivan's presentation.

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Stalkerware poses particular challenges to anti-virus products

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 31, 2019

Malware used in domestic abuse situations is a growing threat, and the standard way for anti-virus products to handle such malware may not be good enough. But that doesn't mean there isn't an important role for anti-virus to play.

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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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