VB Blog

VB2017 video: Turning Trickbot: decoding an encrypted command-and-control channel

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 3, 2017

Trickbot, a banking trojan which appeared this year, seems to be a new, more modular, and more extensible malware descendant of the notorious Dyre botnet trojan. At VB2017, Symantec researcher Andrew Brandt presented a walkthrough of a typical Trickbot infection process, and its aftermath, as seen through the lens of a tool used to perform man-in-the-middle decryption. Today, we publish both Andrew's slides and the recording of his presentation.

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Paper: FAME - Friendly Malware Analysis Framework

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 2, 2017

Today, we publish a short paper in which CERT Société Générale presents FAME, its open source malware analysis framework.

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Ebury and Mayhem server malware families still active

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 31, 2017

Ebury and Mayhem, two families of Linux server malware, about which VB published papers back in 2014, are still active and have received recent updates.

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VB2017 paper: Crypton - exposing malware's deepest secrets

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 27, 2017

Crypton, a tool developed by F5 Networks researchers Julia Karpin and Anna Dorfman, aims to speed up the reverse engineering process by decrypting encrypted content found in a (malicious) binary. The researchers described the tool in a paper which they presented at VB2017 in Madrid. Today, we publish both the paper and the recording of their presentation.

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VB2017 paper: The sprawling market of consumer spyware

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 25, 2017

For many people, the threat of an abusive partner or ex-partner is very real - and the market for consumer spyware worryingly large. Today, we publish the recording of a presentation on the subject of consumer spyware given at VB2017 by The Daily Beast reporter Joseph Cox.

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Gábor Szappanos wins fourth Péter Szőr Award

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 23, 2017

At the VB2017 gala dinner, the fourth Péter Szőr Award was presented to Sophos researcher Gábor Szappanos for his paper "AKBuilder – the crowdsourced exploit kit".

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VB2017 paper: Walking in your enemy's shadow: when fourth-party collection becomes attribution hell

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 20, 2017

We publish the VB2017 paper and video by Kaspersky Lab researchers Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade and Costin Raiu, in which they look at fourth-party collection (spies spying on other spies' campaigns) and its implications for attribution.

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Didn't come to VB2017? Tell us why!

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 11, 2017

Virus Bulletin is a company - and a conference - with a mission: to further the research in and facilitate the fight against digital threats. To help us in this mission, we want to hear from those who didn't come to Madrid. What is your impression of the VB Conference? What did you think of this year's programme? And why couldn't you come to Madrid?

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Montreal will host VB2018

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 10, 2017

Last week, we announced the full details of VB2018, which will take place 3-5 October 2018 at the Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth hotel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

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VB2017 preview: Beyond lexical and PDNS (guest blog)

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Oct 5, 2017

In a special guest blog post, VB2017 Silver sponsor Cisco Umbrella writes about a paper that researchers Dhia Mahjoub and David Rodriguez will present at the conference this Friday.

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Search blog

Microsoft to replace OneCare with free AV product

OneCare retirement announced, new product will be lighter on systems and pockets.
OneCare retirement announced, new product will be lighter on systems and pockets.Microsoft has announced plans to put an end to its home-user security product Live OneCare, and to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/11/microsoft-replace-onecare-free-av-product/

ICANN pulls plug on registrar favoured by cyber crooks

After a week's stay of execution, ICANN decides EstDomains will be terminated.
After a week's stay of execution, ICANN decides EstDomains will be terminated. ICANN, the organization responsible for managing the assignment of domain names and IP addresses, has… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/11/icann-pulls-plug-registrar-favoured-cyber-crooks/

Disconnection of dubious provider sees spam levels plummet

Web-hosting firm believed to be responsible for 75% of spam.
Web-hosting firm believed to be responsible for 75% of spam. Anti-spam researchers across the world reported a significant drop in the volume of spam seen after web-hosting firm… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/11/disconnection-dubious-provider-sees-spam-levels-plummet/

Two updates in Microsoft's November's patch release

Just two updates released by Microsoft this month: one rated critical, one important.
Just two updates released by Microsoft this month: one rated critical, one important.Microsoft has issued two updates in the November round of its monthly patch release cycle, one… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/11/two-updates-microsoft-s-november-s-patch-release/

Riders on a Storm

Researchers hijack botnet - and find spam success rates lower than previously believed.
Researchers hijack botnet - and find spam success rates lower than previously believed. Less than 1 in 12 million spam emails sent through the infamous Storm botnet led to a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/11/riders-storm/

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 2008 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/11/november-issue-vb-published/

November

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/11/

Microsoft issues emergency patch

Out-of-cycle update fixes serious, wormable flaw.
Out-of-cycle update fixes serious, wormable flaw.Microsoft has issued an emergency update to cover a serious vulnerability in the Windows Server service, breaking its usual monthly… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/10/microsoft-issues-emergency-patch/

US ISPs urged to snoop on traffic

NY Attorny General promotes deep packet inspection to AOL.
NY Attorny General promotes deep packet inspection to AOL. ISPs in the US are coming under increasing pressure to impose deep probing of all their customers' traffic, with the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/10/us-isps-urged-snoop-traffic/

McAfee false positive flags Vista component

Innocent file labelled trojan.
Innocent file labelled trojan.McAfee has updated one of its detections after a faulty update led to an integral component of the Windows Vista operating system being falsely… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/10/mcafee-false-positive-flags-vista-component/

Sarkozy bank account raided by cybercrooks

Hackers steal from French president - phish suspected.
Hackers steal from French president - phish suspected. French president Nicolas Sarkozy has had his funds stolen from his bank account, apparently after a phishing email tricked… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/10/sarkozy-bank-account-raided-cybercrooks/

Latest VB100 announced

Products for 64-bit Vista to be put through paces.
Products for 64-bit Vista to be put through paces. VB has announced the latest round of VB100 testing, with products running on the 64-bit version of Microsoft's Windows Vista to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/10/latest-announced/

Security dominates software sales charts

AV, IS and anti-spyware products represent nine of last month's top 20 bestsellers.
AV, IS and anti-spyware products represent nine of last month's top 20 bestsellers. Sales of security products remain very strong despite economic conditions, according to market… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/10/security-dominates-software-sales-charts/

Ham disguised as spam

Webshop makes mass-mailing look like phishing scam.
Webshop makes mass-mailing look like phishing scam. An email addressed to 'Dear customer', in which a user is asked to check their account details, using a link that does not lead… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/10/ham-disguised-spam/

Vulnerability test raises hackles

Secunia suite trial slates lack of PoC detection, but test methods called into question.
Secunia suite trial slates lack of PoC detection, but test methods called into question. Vulnerability specialist Secunia published the results of a trial of internet security… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/10/vulnerability-test-raises-hackles/

Researchers urge anti-phishing companies to share data

Estimate over $300 million lost annually because data is not shared.
Estimate over $300 million lost annually because data is not shared. Researchers have revealed malicious websites are often active for longer than they ought to be due to a lack of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/10/researchers-urge-anti-phishing-companies-share-data/

Four critical updates this Patch Tuesday

11 updates to be issued by Microsoft in October's monthly patch release: 4 critical.
11 updates to be issued by Microsoft in October's monthly patch release: 4 critical.Microsoft has prepared a total of 11 updates for the October round of its monthly patch release… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/10/four-critical-updates-patch-tuesday/

VB2008 photos online

VB delegates at work, rest and play in Ottawa.
VB delegates at work, rest and play in Ottawa. A selection of photographs from the VB2008 conference in Ottawa is now available to browse online. The photographs can be searched by… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/10/photos-online/

MessageLabs acquired by Symantec

Acquisition deal valued at $695m.
Acquisition deal valued at $695m. Security industry heavyweight Symantec has announced a definitive agreement to acquire software-as-a-service security specialist MessageLabs.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/10/messagelabs-acquired-symantec/

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 2008 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/10/october-issue-vb-published/

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