VB Blog

Paying a malware ransom is bad, but telling people never to do it is unhelpful advice

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 26, 2016

The current ransomware plague is one of the worst threats the Internet has seen and it is unlikely to go away any time soon. But telling people to never pay the ransom is unhelpful advice.

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VB2015 paper: VolatilityBot: Malicious Code Extraction Made by and for Security Researchers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 22, 2016

In his VB2015 paper, Martin Korman presented his 'VolatilyBot' tool, which extracts malicious code from packed binaries, leveraging the functionality of the Volatility Framework.

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VB2016 programme announced, registration opened

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 21, 2016

We have announced 37 papers (and four reserve papers) that will be presented at VB2016 in Denver, Colorado, USA in October. Registration for the conference has opened; make sure you register before 1 July to benefit from a 10% early bird discount.

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New tool helps ransomware victims indentify the malware family

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 15, 2016

The people behind the MalwareHunterTeam have released a tool that helps victims of ransomware identify which of more than 50 families has infected their system, something which could help them find a tool to decrypt their files.

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It's fine for vulnerabilities to have names — we just need not to take them too seriously

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 13, 2016

The PR campaign around the Badlock vulnerability backfired when it turned out that the vulnerability wasn't as serious as had been suggested. But naming vulnerabilities can actually be helpful and certainly shouldn't hurt.

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Throwback Thursday: The Number of the Beasts

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Apr 7, 2016

The Virus Bulletin Virus Prevalence Table, which ran from 1992 until 2013, gave users a regular snapshot of what was really going on in the virus (and later malware) world, recording the number of incidents of each virus reported to VB in the preceding month. In August 2000, Denis Zenkin, a self-confessed virus prevalence table junkie, shared his findings following a study of the virus prevalence tables over the preceding few years, allowing him to determine the top ten viruses of the period, the top viruses by type and the viruses of the year.

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Paper: All Your Meetings Are Belong to Us: Remote Code Execution in Apache OpenMeetings

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 30, 2016

Security researcher Andreas Lindh recently found a vulnerability in Apache OpenMeetings that could allow remote code execution on a vulnerable server. Andreas reported the vulnerability to the OpenMeetings developers and, once it had been patched, he wrote up the details.

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Throwback Thursday: 'In the Beginning was the Word...'

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Mar 24, 2016

Word and Excel’s internal file formats used to be something in which few were interested – until macro viruses came along and changed all that. In 1996, Andrew Krukov provided an overview of the new breed of viruses.

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VB2016 Call for Papers Deadline

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 18, 2016

You have until the early hours (GMT) of Monday 21 March to submit an abstract for VB2016! The VB2016 programme will be announced in the first week of April.

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How broken is SHA-1 really?

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 15, 2016

SHA-1 collisions may be found in the next few months, but that doesn't mean that fake SHA-1-based certificates will be created in the near future. Nevertheless, it is time for everyone, and those working in security in particular, to move away from outdated hash functions.

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Search blog

Spammer's free speech defence fails

Appeal against conviction turned down.
Appeal against conviction turned down. US spammer Jeremy Jaynes, the first spammer convicted in a felony case, has had his last appeal against the conviction, brought on freedom of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/03/spammer-s-free-speech-defence-fails/

Cybercriminals charged in New Zealand, Korea

Law closes in on alleged botnet master and rogue anti-spyware maker.
Law closes in on alleged botnet master and rogue anti-spyware maker. Police in New Zealand have charged an 18-year-old in connection with a botnet he is suspected of building and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/03/cybercriminals-charged-new-zealand-korea/

'Search engines should do more to fight malware'

85% of users think that search engines should be doing more.
85% of users think that search engines should be doing more. According to a recent poll, 85% of visitors to the VB website think that search engines should be doing more to fight… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/03/search-engines-should-do-more-fight-malware/

Showy malware pushes rogue anti-malware product

MonaRonaDona trojan leads searchers to remover scam.
MonaRonaDona trojan leads searchers to remover scam. An infection which advertises its presence using the name 'MonaRonaDona' is leading victims to search for a cure - and many of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/03/showy-malware-pushes-rogue-anti-malware-product/

March issue of VB published

The March issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The March issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The March 2008 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/03/march-issue-vb-published/

March

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/03/

Gmail CAPTCHA cracked

Twenty per cent success rate sufficient to create thousands of spam accounts.
Twenty per cent success rate sufficient to create thousands of spam accounts.Gmail has become the latest free webmail service to have its CAPTCHAs cracked by spammers. Following… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/gmail-captcha-cracked/

Trend Micro buys email encryption firm

UK company taken over by security giant.
UK company taken over by security giant. Global security superpower Trend Micro has invested in a small email encryption firm based in Bristol, UK. The company, Identum, emerged… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/trend-micro-buys-email-encryption-firm/

Malware going local

Report sees trend toward greater localisation of threats.
Report sees trend toward greater localisation of threats.McAfee's latest Sage report focuses on increased localisation in malware, with spam, phishing and malcode all showing great… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/malware-going-local/

Botnet-herding team arrested in Quebec

Gang held for managing million-machine zombie net.
Gang held for managing million-machine zombie net. Canadian police have announced the arrests of up to 17 people in Quebec, in connection with a major botnet operation thought to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/botnet-herding-team-arrested-quebec/

Vista SP1 clashing with AV products

Service Pack causing issues for several security suites.
Service Pack causing issues for several security suites.Microsoft has released details of several software products that are known to have problems running in conjunction with… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/vista-sp1-clashing-av-products/

ITV site carried scareware ads

Rogue security product pushed by ads on several UK TV sites.
Rogue security product pushed by ads on several UK TV sites. Several UK television-related websites, including those of major broadcaster ITV and listings guide Radio Times, have… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/itv-site-carried-scareware-ads/

Habbo trojan steals passwords

Extension decorates your room... with malware.
Extension decorates your room... with malware. A trojan has been discovered that masquerades as an extension to social networking site Habbo, formerly known as Habbo Hotel. The… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/habbo-trojan-steals-passwords/

Vish implanted in phishing warning

Doctored bank alert includes phony phone number.
Doctored bank alert includes phony phone number. A spammed-out email has been spotted posing as a phishing warning from US credit union Kessler Federal, with some very sensible… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/vish-implanted-phishing-warning/

VB reveals new website design

Glossary, comments and mobile website among new additions.
Glossary, comments and mobile website among new additions. Regular visitors to VB may have noticed that the site has a fresh new look as well as some changes and additions to its… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/vb-reveals-new-website-design/

Japanese super-spammer arrested

Tokyo man sent 2.2 billion emails.
Tokyo man sent 2.2 billion emails. A 25-year-old man was arrested in Tokyo last week, suspected of sending 2.2 billion spam emails. Yukio Shiina was picked up by police on Friday,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/japanese-super-spammer-arrested/

VB100 test on Windows Vista SP1 announced

Products to be tested on new update to Vista platform.
Products to be tested on new update to Vista platform. VB has issued a call for submissions for the latest VB100 comparative review, which will test the performance of products… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/test-windows-vista-sp1-announced/

Microsoft research revives 'friendly worm' ideas

Malware techniques proposed as update-spreading method.
Malware techniques proposed as update-spreading method. A group of Microsoft researchers have put forward proposals to use worm techniques to spread patches and updates across… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/microsoft-research-revives-friendly-worm-ideas/

Software and OS developers should take responsibility for security

While 51% of users say computer security should be the responsibility of the user, nearly a third of users feel it is up to software and OS developers.
While 51% of users say computer security should be the responsibility of the user, nearly a third of users feel it is up to software and OS developers. According to a recent poll,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/software-and-os-developers-should-take-responsibility-security/

Phishers phishing phishers' phishes

Scam software secretly sending stolen data to creators.
Scam software secretly sending stolen data to creators.Phishing researchers have uncovered code buried in phishing software kits, sold by developers to less technically aware… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/phishers-phishing-phishers-phishes/

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