VB Blog

VB2016 video: Nymaim: the Untold Story

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 8, 2017

Until very recently, the Nymaim banking trojan was a serious problem in Poland. Today, we publish the video of the VB2016 presentation by CERT Polska researchers Jarosław Jedynak and Maciej Kotowicz, in which they analyse this malware-dropper-turned-banking-trojan.

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The Living Dead Anti-Virus

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Feb 2, 2017

Should users uninstall their anti-virus products, as was recently suggested by a security expert in a widely shared article? In a guest post, security consultant Hendrik Pilz explains why he doesn't think this is a good idea.

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Paper: The journey and evolution of God Mode in 2016: CVE-2016-0189

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 31, 2017

In a new paper published by Virus Bulletin, FireEye researchers Ankit Anubhav and Manish Sardiwal analyse the 'God Mode' vulnerability CVE-2016-0189 in Microsoft Internet Explorer.

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VB2016 video: Neverquest: Crime as a Service and On the Hunt for the Big Bucks

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 30, 2017

At VB2016, Peter Kruse gave a presentation detailing the Neverquest trojan, the alleged author of which was arrested in Spain earlier this month. Today, we publish the recording of Peter's presentation.

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VB2016 paper: Great crypto failures

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 24, 2017

Crypto is hard, and malware authors often make mistakes. At VB2016, Check Point researchers Yaniv Balmas and Ben Herzog discussed the whys and hows of some of the crypto blunders made by malware authors. Today, we publish their paper and the recording of their presentation.

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Call for Papers: VB2017

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 19, 2017

We have opened the Call for Papers for VB2017. We are particularly interested in receiving submissions from those working outside the security industry itself.

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Ransomware not a problem for half of businesses

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 11, 2017

According to a report by IBM Security, 70 per cent of businesses that are the victim of a ransomware attack end up paying the ransom. However, the report also suggests that a little over half of businesses manage to avoid getting infected at all, showing they must be doing something right.

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Ransomware would be much worse if it wasn't for email security solutions

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 5, 2017

The latest VBSpam test brings good news: at least 199 out of every 200 emails containing a malicious attachment were blocked by email security solutions. All of the full solutions tested achieved a VBSpam award, with five earning a VBSpam+ award.

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Throwback Thursday: The malware battle: reflections and forecasts

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Jan 5, 2017

"Another year has come to its end and the malware battle still rages on." In January 2004, Jamz Yaneza reflected on the year just ended and pondered what the coming year would have in store for the AV industry.

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VB2016 paper: Open Source Malware Lab

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 4, 2017

At VB2016, ThreatConnect Director of Research Innovation Robert Simmons presented a paper on setting up an open source malware lab. Today, we share the accompanying paper and video.

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Search blog

Symantec warns of rigged Google search links

Advanced search options lead clickers straight to junk sites.
Advanced search options lead clickers straight to junk sites. Spammers have found a novel use for Google's advanced search options and 'I'm Feeling Lucky' function, using a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/11/symantec-warns-rigged-google-search-links/

Kaspersky teams up with Bit9

Whitelisting knowledgebase to be used in future security products.
Whitelisting knowledgebase to be used in future security products. A strategic partnership has been announced between Kaspersky Labs and application control specialist Bit9. The… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/11/kaspersky-teams-bit9/

The sound of spam

Firm reports 15 million MP3 spams in October.
Firm reports 15 million MP3 spams in October. Last month saw pump-and-dump spammers try out yet another file type for getting their message across to the gullible: MP3 audio… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/11/sound-spam/

Melissa has users CAPTCHA'd

Spammers offer strip show for correctly completed CAPTCHAs.
Spammers offer strip show for correctly completed CAPTCHAs. Spammers have spotted a new opportunity for getting humans to help them get past the CAPTCHA tests put in place to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/11/melissa-has-users-captcha-d/

E-crime unit to get government funding?

UK government responds to House of Lords call for better policing of the Internet.
UK government responds to House of Lords call for better policing of the Internet. The UK government has indicated that it may set up a new national police unit dedicated to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/11/e-crime-unit-get-government-funding/

Phishing trojan targets Mac OSX

DNS hijack disguised as codec threatens Apple systems.
DNS hijack disguised as codec threatens Apple systems. A new trojan affecting Apple's Mac OSX operating system - a relative rarity in the malware world - has been seen in the wild.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/11/phishing-trojan-targets-mac-osx/

VB100 NetWare update

Updated results for VB100 NetWare comparative.
Updated results for VB100 NetWare comparative.VB regrets that some erroneous results were recorded for Symantec AntiVirus 10 in last month's comparative review on Novell NetWare… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/11/netware-update/

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 2007 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/11/november-issue-vb-published/

Supermarket sweep

Phishers almost get away with $10m scam.
Phishers almost get away with $10m scam. Court documents have revealed that phishers nearly managed a whopping $10 million supermarket (bank account) sweep earlier this year.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/11/supermarket-sweep/

November

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/11/

FTC demands more power against spyware

Prosecutions and fines needed to deter badware makers.
Prosecutions and fines needed to deter badware makers. Representatives of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the consumer protection body which has seen some success in the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/ftc-demands-more-power-against-spyware/

McAfee acquires website trust mark firm

ScanAlert certification system bought for $51 million.
ScanAlert certification system bought for $51 million.McAfee has bought ScanAlert, the firm behind the 'Hacker Safe' trust mark logo, carried by some 75,000 websites to indicate… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/mcafee-acquires-website-trust-mark-firm/

Storm spams promise spooky Halloween

Tricks not treats as skeleton game emails link to attack.
Tricks not treats as skeleton game emails link to attack. The 'Storm' attack has once again taken advantage of a popular cultural occasion to spam out the latest wave of links to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/storm-spams-promise-spooky-halloween/

Trend Micro invests in leak-prevention firm

Further data security added to portfolio.
Further data security added to portfolio. Security giant Trend Micro has acquired California-based data leak prevention specialist Provilla, to add its data protection technologies… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/trend-micro-invests-leak-prevention-firm/

Microsoft unveils January-June threat report

Security analysis shows rise in vulnerabilities, trojans and scamware.
Security analysis shows rise in vulnerabilities, trojans and scamware.Microsoft has released its latest 'Security Intelligence Report', covering the first half of 2007, showing a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/microsoft-unveils-january-june-threat-report/

Spyware maker Direct Revenue closes doors

Notorious company forced out of business by legal actions.
Notorious company forced out of business by legal actions. After numerous lawsuits and fines, adware and spyware maker Direct Revenue is no more. The firm behind a swathe of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/spyware-maker-direct-revenue-closes-doors/

PDF trojan exploits Adobe flaw

Reader/Acrobat vulnerability targeted day after patch release.
Reader/Acrobat vulnerability targeted day after patch release. A vulnerability in Adobe's popular PDF-viewing software Adobe Reader and editing suite Acrobat, first reported a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/pdf-trojan-exploits-adobe-flaw/

RealPlayer zero-day flaw exploited

Manufacturer responds rapidly to serious security hole.
Manufacturer responds rapidly to serious security hole. A zero-day vulnerability in the popular media playing system RealPlayer was spotted being exploited in the wild late last… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/realplayer-zero-day-flaw-exploited/

Latest VB100 announced

Windows 2000 Professional products to be tested.
Windows 2000 Professional products to be tested. VB has issued a call for submissions for the latest VB100 comparative review, which will measure the performance of products for… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/latest-announced/

Pump-and-dumpers move on to MP3 spam

Audio files latest stock pushing tactic.
Audio files latest stock pushing tactic. Pump-and-dump spammers have moved on from image spam, PDF spam and Excel spreadsheet spam to try out yet another file type: MP3 audio… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/pump-and-dumpers-move-mp3-spam/

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