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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Meta-phishing

Phishing warning contains link to... phishing site.
Phishing warning contains link to... phishing site. The anti-malware industry can congratulate itself for there being an increasing awareness among users about phishing. Users are… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/meta-phishing/

Trend vs. ClamAV patent row hots up

Free software advocates call for boycott of Trend.
Free software advocates call for boycott of Trend. With legal proceedings ongoing between Trend Micro and gateway appliance specialist Barracuda Networks, concerning Barracuda's… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/trend-vs-clamav-patent-row-hots/

M&S joins high-street AV retail crowd

Upmarket store to match rivals in security software selling.
Upmarket store to match rivals in security software selling. Leading UK retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) has joined fellow high-street chain Woolworths and supermarket leviathan… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/m-amp-s-joins-high-street-av-retail-crowd/

Bumper Patch Tuesday short of one patch

Excel remains vulnerable as expected fix is dropped.
Excel remains vulnerable as expected fix is dropped.Microsoft has issued its monthly 'Patch Tuesday' set of security updates, with a larger than usual crop of patches for a variety… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/bumper-patch-tuesday-short-one-patch/

Over 1 per cent of search results include malicious sites

Google research paper confirms significant increase in number of malware-serving websites.
Google research paper confirms significant increase in number of malware-serving websites. Recent reports of increasing numbers of websites serving malicious content have been… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/over-1-cent-search-results-include-malicious-sites/

Storm Valentines run under way

Seasonal spam and malware barrage gets going.
Seasonal spam and malware barrage gets going. The expected run of 'Storm' spams, pushing links to their latest line of malware disguised as Valentine's messages, has begun, with… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/storm-valentines-run-under-way/

More PDF exploits seen in wild

Adobe Reader and Acrobat flaws open way for further document attacks.
Adobe Reader and Acrobat flaws open way for further document attacks. A string of vulnerabilities in Adobe's PDF viewing and editing software, disclosed late last week by Adobe and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/more-pdf-exploits-seen-wild/

Live Mail CAPTCHA system bypassed

Spammers use botnet to register accounts on popular free webmail service.
Spammers use botnet to register accounts on popular free webmail service.Spammers have written a program that cracks the CAPTCHAS used by the Windows Live Mail registration system.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/live-mail-captcha-system-bypassed/

Complex attack targets Better Business Bureau

Sophisticated scam uses personalised mails, real site redirects.
Sophisticated scam uses personalised mails, real site redirects. A highly sophisticated email phishing scam is using a redirection flaw in the website of the Better Business Bureau… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/complex-attack-targets-better-business-bureau/

FTC fines spammers over $2.5 million

Drug pushers busted for phony claims and CAN-SPAM breaches.
Drug pushers busted for phony claims and CAN-SPAM breaches. After a successful case brought by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a pharmaceuticals firm and its head have been… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/ftc-fines-spammers-over-2-5-million/

Yahoo! jukebox flaw exploits in wild

Zero day vulnerability in music system rapidly targeted.
Zero day vulnerability in music system rapidly targeted.Vulnerabilities in Yahoo! Jukebox, a free music-management system provided by Yahoo!, have been exploited by in-the-wild… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/yahoo-jukebox-flaw-exploits-wild/

Fake security blogs lead to malware

Blogger sites play on fears to draw victims to porn, trojans.
Blogger sites play on fears to draw victims to porn, trojans. According to a report from Aladdin, numerous fake security blogs have been set up on the Google-owned Blogger blogging… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/fake-security-blogs-lead-malware/

New security software testing standards body formed

AMTSO to promote cross-industry debate and higher standards in testing.
AMTSO to promote cross-industry debate and higher standards in testing. A collaborative group from across the security industry has officially been founded this week, aiming to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/new-security-software-testing-standards-body-formed/

419 scammers plead guilty in US

African trio admit attempts to defraud via spam.
African trio admit attempts to defraud via spam. Three men, two from Nigeria and a third from Senegal, entered guilty pleas in a Brooklyn, New York, courtroom last week after being… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/419-scammers-plead-guilty-us/

February issue of VB published

The February issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The February issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The February 2008 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/february-issue-vb-published/

February

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/

First virus-writing arrests in Japan

Winny worm authors brought to book - for copyright violation.
Winny worm authors brought to book - for copyright violation. Japan has seen its first ever arrests of virus writers, with three men taken into custody in Kyoto last week and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/01/first-virus-writing-arrests-japan/

Barracuda battles Trend Micro patent claims

Trend demands licensing for gateway virus scanning idea.
Trend demands licensing for gateway virus scanning idea.Barracuda Networks has announced it is fighting a legal battle against Trend Micro, who has claimed US patent rights to the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/01/barracuda-battles-trend-micro-patent-claims/

Polyglot worm spreads through MSN

Worm changes language to target wide audience.
Worm changes language to target wide audience. A new worm has been discovered that spreads through MSN Messenger. Once active, the worm opens random TCP ports to connect to an IRC… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/01/polyglot-worm-spreads-through-msn/

Ledger poisons Google

Actor's death exploited by malware writers to infect computers.
Actor's death exploited by malware writers to infect computers. The death of actor Heath Ledger on Tuesday had barely been confirmed a few hours when malicious websites started… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/01/ledger-poisons-google/

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