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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Overflows hit NOD32

Vulnerabilities disclosed after patching.
Vulnerabilities disclosed after patching. Two stack-overflow vulnerabilities have been disclosed in Eset's flagship NOD32 AntiVirus product, which could have been exploited to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/overflows-hit-nod32/

Norton FP trashes Chinese systems

Vital DLLs flagged as malware disable Windows XP across China.
Vital DLLs flagged as malware disable Windows XP across China. A serious false positive, caused by an erroneous update to Symantec's Norton Anti-virus product range issued late… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/norton-fp-trashes-chinese-systems/

Zango sues PC Tools for $35 million

'Reformed' adware shippers upset by detection and removal.
'Reformed' adware shippers upset by detection and removal. Adware and sometime spyware maker Zango has brought a suit against anti-spyware firm PC Tools complaining that the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/zango-sues-pc-tools-35-million/

New spam-fighting system for France

Junk mail blacklisting project goes live.
Junk mail blacklisting project goes live. A group of public bodies and private companies have joined forces to implement a new system allowing French email users to report spam… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/new-spam-fighting-system-france/

Estonian websites suffer wave of DoS attacks

Baltic republic accuses Russia of cyber-warfare.
Baltic republic accuses Russia of cyber-warfare. A wave of denial of service (DoS) attacks on Estonian websites has prompted the Estonian government to accuse its neighbour of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/estonian-websites-suffer-wave-dos-attacks/

Verizon acquires Cybertrust

ICSA Labs parent company subsumed.
ICSA Labs parent company subsumed.Verizon Business, a division of Verizon Communications has announced that it is set to acquire managed security services supplier Cybertrust. The… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/verizon-acquires-cybertrust/

Symantec files 8 piracy suits

Symantec pursues distributors of counterfeit software.
Symantec pursues distributors of counterfeit software.Symantec has revealed that it has filed civil lawsuits against eight US and Canadian companies accused of selling counterfeit… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/symantec-files-8-piracy-suits/

Latest flaws affect AV giants

Symantec, McAfee and CA all patch vulnerabilities.
Symantec, McAfee and CA all patch vulnerabilities. Three of the biggest names in the security sector, McAfee, Symantec and CA, have all revealed details of flaws in their software… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/latest-flaws-affect-av-giants/

Phishing techniques and technology revealed

Serious software used to analyse phished data, and a phisher talks.
Serious software used to analyse phished data, and a phisher talks. Some insights into the workings of phishing scams were revealed this week, as a sophisticated tool designed to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/phishing-techniques-and-technology-revealed/

1.4 million Chinese infected over holiday week

May vacations bring trojan avalanche for gamers and filesharers.
May vacations bring trojan avalanche for gamers and filesharers. Chinese computers, in heavy use with many people off work for the Labour Day holiday week, have suffered a major… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/1-4-million-chinese-infected-over-holiday-week/

ZOO archive issues hit security vendors

Errors handling rare format patched by four AV and anti-spam products.
Errors handling rare format patched by four AV and anti-spam products. A researcher has revealed details of flawed implementation of a somewhat archaic archive format, .zoo, which… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/zoo-archive-issues-hit-security-vendors/

Phishing moves into more new areas

Surveys, phone lines, USB sticks and call girls the latest tactics for spammers and phishers.
Surveys, phone lines, USB sticks and call girls the latest tactics for spammers and phishers. The latest social-engineering methods being put to use by phishers show no let up in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/phishing-moves-more-new-areas/

7 critical flaws patched on Patch Tuesday

May Security Bulletin covers wide range of vulnerabilities.
May Security Bulletin covers wide range of vulnerabilities.Microsoft's latest 'Patch Tuesday' security bulletin included fixes for seven vulnerabilities, all rated 'Critical' and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/7-critical-flaws-patched-patch-tuesday/

Five ISPs hosting a third of malware, says study

StopBadware survey finds small group of ISPs most to blame.
StopBadware survey finds small group of ISPs most to blame. In a recent study of almost 50,000 sites known to be hosting malware, five ISPs have been identified as repeat… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/five-isps-hosting-third-malware-says-study/

Questionable false positive file removed

Amendment to VB's April Linux comparative review.
Amendment to VB's April Linux comparative review. In Virus Bulletin's April 2007 Linux comparative review (see VB, April 2007, p.11), VB reported that ESET's product NOD32 had… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/questionable-false-positive-file-removed/

Microsoft to beat Symantec to corporate release punch

With Forefront due out soon, Symantec's latest release suffers further delay.
With Forefront due out soon, Symantec's latest release suffers further delay.Microsoft has announced the release to manufacture of Forefront Client, the corporate implementation of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/microsoft-beat-symantec-corporate-release-punch/

Law to stop spam reaching kids dubbed a failure

Utah registry to protect children's email leaks cash and addresses.
Utah registry to protect children's email leaks cash and addresses. A law enacted in the state of Utah, as well as some other states, with the aim of preventing spammers from… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/law-stop-spam-reaching-kids-dubbed-failure/

I-SPY chases SPY-ACT through approval process

Second piece of US anti-spyware legislation given go-ahead.
Second piece of US anti-spyware legislation given go-ahead. With the 'Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act' (aka SPY-ACT act) approved by a House of Representatives… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/i-spy-chases-spy-act-through-approval-process/

Botnet DoS no longer profitable

Extortion attacks fall as herders find easier money elsewhere.
Extortion attacks fall as herders find easier money elsewhere. The use of armies of botnets to carry out denial-of-service attacks on lucrative websites, as a method of extorting… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/botnet-dos-no-longer-profitable/

Touchy mail blocker upsets Gay

Content filter berates woman for using own name in mails.
Content filter berates woman for using own name in mails. A woman has complained to the New Zealand ISP Telecom after an email she sent them was bounced back to her, with a message… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/touchy-mail-blocker-upsets-gay/

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