VB Blog

VB2016 Call for Papers - Frequently Asked Questions

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 11, 2016

Are you interested in submitting an abstract for VB2016? We've answered some frequently asked questions about the Call for Papers, which closes next week.

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Throwback Thursday: Hash Woes

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Mar 10, 2016

This Throwback Thursday we go back to 2004, when the entire crypto community was abuzz with the news that a group of Chinese researchers had demonstrated flaws in a whole set of hash functions - VB took a closer look to clarify the situation and draw lessons from the incident.

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VB2015 paper: Mobile Banking Fraud via SMS in North America: Who's Doing it and How

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 2, 2016

Though SMS may have been claimed dead many time, it is still very much alive, and quite popular among mobile phishers. At VB2015, Adaptive Mobile researcher Cathal Mc Daid presented a paper various mobile phishing campaigns targeting North American banks.

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Throwback Thursday: Viruses on the Internet

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Feb 25, 2016

This Throwback Thursday VB heads back to 1996 when - long before the days of driveby downloads and exploit kits - VB published a report on the state of viruses on the Internet.

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RSA and BSides San Francisco

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 24, 2016

Next week, Virus Bulletin Editor Martijn Grooten will attend the RSA conference in San Francisco, where he will give a talk entitled "How Broken Is Our Crypto Really?" He will also speak at BSides San Francisco, where he will give a talk entitled "Elliptic Curve Cryptography for Those Who are Afraid of Mathematics".

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Virus Bulletin publishes first web filter test report

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 19, 2016

After a lot of preparation, Virus Bulletin is proud to have published the first "VBWeb" comparative web filter test report, in which products' ability to block web-based malware and drive-by downloads was tested. Fortinet's FortiGuard appliance was the first product to achieve a VBWeb certification.

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VB2015 paper: Will Android Trojans, Worms or Rootkits Survive in SEAndroid and Containerization?

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 18, 2016

Sophos researchers Rowland Yu and William Lee look at whether recent security enhancements to Android, such as SEAndroid and containerization, will be enough to defeat future malware threats.

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First six VB2016 sponsors announced

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 17, 2016

Virus Bulletin is excited to announce the first six sponsors for VB2016, the 26th international Virus Bulletin conference, which will take place in Denver, Colorado, USA 5-7 October 2016.

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VB2015 paper: Sizing cybercrime: incidents and accidents, hints and allegations

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 11, 2016

Cybercrime is big. But how big is it really? In a paper presented at VB2015 and together with the presentation video published on our website today, ESET researcher Stephen Cobb looks at previous studies that attempt the size of cybercrime and asks why we need such data and what can be done better.

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Throwback Thursday: The Thin Blue Line

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Feb 11, 2016

This Throwback Thursday, VB heads back to 1994 when UK Fraud Squad detectives started making inroads into the most puzzling 'Whodunnit' since the Great Train Robbery. Had an outbreak of computer crime swept Britain? No, it was all part of a police training program.

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Search blog

Users of online banking 'should have adequate protection'

New UK banking code says customers who keep their PCs secure will not be responsible for losses due to online theft.
New UK banking code says customers who keep their PCs secure will not be responsible for losses due to online theft. A new banking code launched earlier this week by the British'… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/04/users-online-banking-should-have-adequate-protection/

Average spam message size at record low

No decrease of bandwidth usage as number of spam messages keeps increasing.
No decrease of bandwidth usage as number of spam messages keeps increasing. The average size of spam messages has decreased to a record low of just over 2KB, security company… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/04/average-spam-message-size-record-low/

Less than 30 per cent of smartphone users have AV installed

Experts disagree on the need for specialist mobile AV protection.
Experts disagree on the need for specialist mobile AV protection. In a poll only 19% of visitors to the VB website said they had anti-malware protection on their mobile phone.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/04/less-30-cent-smartphone-users-have-av-installed/

April

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/04/

Almost 90% of Americans feel safe online

Users' confidence does not match up with percentage of properly protected users.
Users' confidence does not match up with percentage of properly protected users. Research by StopBadware.org shows that 88% of Americans say they feel safe online, despite the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/04/almost-90-americans-feel-safe-online/

April Storm

April Fools' Day emails contain new variant of infamous worm.
April Fools' Day emails contain new variant of infamous worm. Security researchers report a new wave of spam emails being sent out. The emails, which use subject lines such as… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/04/april-storm/

April issue of VB published

The April issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The April issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The April 2008 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/04/april-issue-vb-published/

From Simple Mail to Hypertext

HTTP and FTP take over from SMTP as common malware spreading methods.
HTTP and FTP take over from SMTP as common malware spreading methods.A report from F-Secure has highlighted the recent shift in malware spreading methods from email to web-based… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/03/simple-mail-hypertext/

Microsoft acquires Komoku

Anti-rootkit software to become part of Forefront and OneCare.
Anti-rootkit software to become part of Forefront and OneCare. Just before Easter, Microsoft announced it had acquired Komoku, a Maryland-based company that builds anti-rootkit… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/03/microsoft-acquires-komoku/

Access flaw exploited via Word

Microsoft's employees hunting vulnerabilities instead of Easter eggs.
Microsoft's employees hunting vulnerabilities instead of Easter eggs. A buffer overrun vulnerability in Microsoft's Jet Database Engine, the underlying database behind Microsoft… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/03/access-flaw-exploited-word/

Hoax email warns about 'nasty virus'

Phony advice causes removal of site from search engines.
Phony advice causes removal of site from search engines. Over the last few days an email, written in German, has been seen circulating warning users about a 'nasty virus' that is… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/03/hoax-email-warns-about-nasty-virus/

Legitimate program becomes trojan downloader

Website of FlashGet attacked; malicious 'update' automatically downloaded.
Website of FlashGet attacked; malicious 'update' automatically downloaded. By hacking into the website of popular Windows download manager FlashGet, cybercriminals have managed to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/03/legitimate-program-becomes-trojan-downloader/

More 'trusted sites' carrying iframe danger

Big wave of website infections could affect tens of thousands of sites, Trend Micro latest victim.
Big wave of website infections could affect tens of thousands of sites, Trend Micro latest victim. Earlier this week McAfee reported a major outbreak of website infections, with as… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/03/more-trusted-sites-carrying-iframe-danger/

AV-test.org issues latest figures

In-depth testing covers multiple factors.
In-depth testing covers multiple factors. Independent testing body AV-Test.org has released its latest set of results, with a large group of products tested against a number of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/03/av-test-org-issues-latest-figures/

EU agency research advises sweeping security improvements

ISPs and developers should be held to account, says report.
ISPs and developers should be held to account, says report. A research paper commissioned by the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) has called for major… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/03/eu-agency-research-advises-sweeping-security-improvements/

Latest Patch Tuesday release

March's Patch Tuesday sees four 'critical' updates.
March's Patch Tuesday sees four 'critical' updates.Microsoft has released its monthly 'Patch Tuesday' security bulletin. This month the bulletin features four 'critical' updates,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/03/latest-patch-tuesday-release/

Cisco announces 'Patch Wednesdays'

Cisco set to embark on regular release cycle.
Cisco set to embark on regular release cycle. Following a trend set by Microsoft's monthly 'Patch Tuesdays' and Oracle's quarterly security updates, networking giant Cisco has… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/03/cisco-announces-patch-wednesdays/

Latest AV-Comparatives results released

Detection test shows most products improving.
Detection test shows most products improving. Testers at AV-Comparatives have released their latest set of results, with 16 products pitted against a massive set of over 1.6… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/03/latest-av-comparatives-results-released/

'Olympic' emails contain malicious XLS attachments

Malware writers sprint to use vulnerabilities before next Patch Tuesday.
Malware writers sprint to use vulnerabilities before next Patch Tuesday. Security researchers have reported seeing emails containing XLS attachments designed to exploit a yet… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/03/olympic-emails-contain-malicious-xls-attachments/

IE8 to include malware filtering

New features list includes upgrade to security provision.
New features list includes upgrade to security provision. The next version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser, IE8, could include malware detection as standard, in an… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/03/ie8-include-malware-filtering/

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