VB Blog

Alleged author of creepy FruitFly macOS malware arrested

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 11, 2018

A 28-year old man from Ohio has been arrested on suspicion of having created the mysterious FruitFly malware that targeted macOS and used it to spy on its victims.

Read more  

The threat and security product landscape in 2017

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 10, 2018

At the start of the new year, Virus Bulletin looks back at the threats seen in the 2017 and at the security products that are available to help mitigate them.

Read more  

Spamhaus report shows many botnet controllers look a lot like legitimate servers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 9, 2018

Spamhaus's annual report on botnet activity shows that botherders tend to use popular, legitimate hosting providers, domain registrars and top-level domains when setting up command-and-control servers.

Read more  

Tips on researching tech support scams

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 5, 2018

As tech support scammers continue to target the computer illiterate through cold calling, VB's Martijn Grooten uses his own experience to share some advice on how to investigate such scams.

Read more  

Meltdown and Spectre attacks mitigated by operating system updates

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 4, 2018

Just four days into the new year, two serious attacks in modern processors, dubbed Meltdown and Spectre, have been discovered. The attacks can be mitigated by patches to the operating system, but anti-virus software vendors need to make sure their products are compatible with the patches.

Read more  

Conference review: AVAR 2017

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 22, 2017

Martijn Grooten reports on the 20th AVAR conference, which took place earlier in December in Beijing, China.

Read more  

Conference review: Botconf 2017

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Dec 22, 2017

Virus Bulletin researchers report back from a very interesting fifth edition of Botconf, the botnet fighting conference.

Read more  

VB2017 videos on attacks against Ukraine

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 21, 2017

(In)security is a global issue that affects countries around the world, but in recent years none has been so badly hit as Ukraine. Today, we publish the videos of two VB2017 talks about attacks that hit Ukraine particularly badly: a talk by Alexander Adamov (NioGuard) on (Not)Petya and related attacks, and another by Robert Lipovsky and Anton Cherepanov (ESET) on Industroyer.

Read more  

Facebook helps you determine whether emails really came from its servers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 21, 2017

On its website, Facebook now shows which emails it has sent you recently, thus helping you to determine which emails are real, and which should be discarded as phishing.

Read more  

Vulnerability disclosure and botnet takedown not to be hindered by Wassenaar Arrangement

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 19, 2017

Clarification in the language of the Wassenaar Arrangement, a multilateral export control regime for conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies, means those involved in vulnerability disclosure or botnet takedown won't have to worry about acquiring an export licence.

Read more  

Search blog

Bulletproof hosting firm claims legitimacy

Crime-laden Russian service threatens to sue detractors.
Crime-laden Russian service threatens to sue detractors. A notorious Russian firm offering 'bulletproof hosting' - website hosting services with a guarantee that sites will not be… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/bulletproof-hosting-firm-claims-legitimacy/

Storm botnet evolution hints at spam and DDoS renting

Latest change in tactics could mean zombie clusters for hire.
Latest change in tactics could mean zombie clusters for hire. The latest twist in the long-running 'Storm' saga, the use of encryption in communications between infected hosts and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/storm-botnet-evolution-hints-spam-and-ddos-renting/

Online fraud fighters' reputation targeted by crooks

Joe Job attack aims to blacken good name of UK crimefighter Bobbear.
Joe Job attack aims to blacken good name of UK crimefighter Bobbear. In a smear attack against UK-based online fraud-fighting website Bobbear.co.uk, spammers have sent out email… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/online-fraud-fighters-reputation-targeted-crooks/

Kaspersky fixes serious vulnerability in Online Scanner

Exploitable ActiveX control replaced in new version.
Exploitable ActiveX control replaced in new version.Kaspersky Lab has released an updated version of its popular free online scanner to remedy a vulnerability in an ActiveX control… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/kaspersky-fixes-serious-vulnerability-online-scanner/

Five to six years for $1 million porn spammers

Strong sentences for CAN-SPAM breaches, money laundering.
Strong sentences for CAN-SPAM breaches, money laundering. Two US men found guilty in June of breaching the terms of the 2003 CAN-SPAM Act, as well as numerous other charges… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/five-six-years-1-million-porn-spammers/

Storm attack strikes back

Cute kitten cards cover latest wave of malware.
Cute kitten cards cover latest wave of malware. The Storm attack has returned with yet another wave of blended attacks, with links to the drive-by download sites of the initial… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/storm-attack-strikes-back/

Word for Mac exploit spotted

Patch Tuesday flaw targeted by vulnerability.
Patch Tuesday flaw targeted by vulnerability. A vulnerability in the Apple Mac version of Microsoft Word, covered by a patch in this month's Patch Tuesday security update, has been… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/word-mac-exploit-spotted/

4 out of 5 critical issues fixed on Patch Tuesday

Expected patch omitted from monthly security update.
Expected patch omitted from monthly security update.Microsoft has announced the contents of its monthly 'Patch Tuesday' security update release, with four 'Critical' and two… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/4-out-5-critical-issues-fixed-patch-tuesday/

Spam sneaked out via YouTube systems

Entertainment site service used to send junk mails.
Entertainment site service used to send junk mails. Spammers have taken advantage of an email service provided by popular video clip site YouTube, to send out spams pushing dating… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/spam-sneaked-out-youtube-systems/

McAfee invests in encryption firm

SafeBoot acquired for $350 million.
SafeBoot acquired for $350 million.McAfee has announced the acquisition of encryption and device control specialist SafeBoot, which produces a range of security products for PCs… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/mcafee-invests-encryption-firm/

Adobe acknowledges PDF flaw, issues workaround

Registry hack provides temporary fix for vulnerability.
Registry hack provides temporary fix for vulnerability.Adobe has officially confirmed the vulnerability announced last month by researcher Petko Petkov, which could allow… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/adobe-acknowledges-pdf-flaw-issues-workaround/

US users overestimating PC security

Survey finds people are less protected than they think.
Survey finds people are less protected than they think. A joint study carried out by McAfee and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) has found that many US consumers wrongly… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/us-users-overestimating-pc-security/

Smaller vendors question rumours of impending doom

Experts deny claims that flood of threats gives bigger firms advantage.
Experts deny claims that flood of threats gives bigger firms advantage. High levels of new malware, emerging at an ever-increasing rate, may mean smaller security firms will no… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/smaller-vendors-question-rumours-impending-doom/

Sun patches serious Java flaws

Critical vulnerabilities covered by urgent patches.
Critical vulnerabilities covered by urgent patches.Sun Microsystems has issued a series of patches to fix several vulnerabilities in its popular Java software. Successful… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/sun-patches-serious-java-flaws/

What's in a number?

Latest round of spam stats.
Latest round of spam stats. According to various reports last month, spam now accounts for 83%, 85%, 91.9% or 95% of all emails received. Regardless of the inconsistencies, the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/what-s-number/

China to try e-stamping out spam

Postage stamps to become the norm for Chinese emailers?
Postage stamps to become the norm for Chinese emailers? The national Internet regulator in China has announced future plans to introduce 'e-stamp' technology in an attempt to curb… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/china-try-e-stamping-out-spam/

Wot, no comparative?

VB100 Netware comparative review delayed.
VB100 Netware comparative review delayed.VB apologises to those expecting to find a VB100 comparative review of products on Novell Netware in this month's issue. Due to illness,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/wot-no-comparative/

October

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/

Trivia

Panda reveals country with lowest level of infected PCs.
Panda reveals country with lowest level of infected PCs.Panda Security has revealed that results from its online malware-scanning tool Nanoscan indicate that computers it scanned… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/trivia/

Alarm over possible PDF flaw

Vulnerability announcement hyped to disaster level.
Vulnerability announcement hyped to disaster level. The announcement of a potentially serious vulnerability in the ubiquitous Adobe PDF document format sparked considerable media… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/alarm-over-possible-pdf-flaw/

We have placed cookies on your device in order to improve the functionality of this site, as outlined in our cookies policy. However, you may delete and block all cookies from this site and your use of the site will be unaffected. By continuing to browse this site, you are agreeing to Virus Bulletin's use of data as outlined in our privacy policy.