VB Blog

Paper: New Keylogger on the Block

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jul 5, 2016

In a new paper published by Virus Bulletin, Sophos researcher Gabor Szappanos takes a look at the KeyBase keylogger, sold as a commercial product and popular among cybercriminals who use it in Office exploit kits.

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BSides Denver to take place the day after VB2016

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 28, 2016

VB2016, the 26th International Virus Bulletin conference, is an excellent reason to go to Denver, Colorado in the first week of October. But there is another reason to come to Denver: BSides Denver, which will take place the day after VB2016, on Saturday 8 October 2016.

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VB2015 paper: DDoS Trojan: A Malicious Concept that Conquered the ELF Format

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Jun 13, 2016

In their VB2015 paper, Peter Kálnai and Jaromír Hořejší look at the current state of DDoS trojans forming covert botnets on unsuspecting systems. The paper provides a technical analysis of the most important malware families, focusing on infection methods, dynamic behaviour, C&C communication, obfuscation techniques, advanced methods of persistence and stealth, and elimination of rivals.

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Throwback Thursday: Hyppönen, that Data Fellow / Finnish Sprayer

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Jun 2, 2016

This week, well known and universally respected industry guru Mikko Hyppönen celebrates his 25th anniversary of working at F-Secure (formerly known as Data Fellows). VB takes a look back in the archives at two articles published in 1994: an "insight" into the life and work of the then rising star of the anti-virus world, and a virus analysis penned by the man himself.

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VB2015 paper: Economic Sanctions on Malware

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Jun 1, 2016

Financial pressure can be a proactive and potentially very effective tool in making our computer ecosystems safer. By cleverly employing various trust metrics and technologies such as digital signing, watermarking, and public-key infrastructure in strategically selected places, we can encourage good behaviours and punish bad ones. In his VB2015 paper, Igor Muttik analyses and gives examples of technologies (certificates, credentials, etc.) to de-incentivize bad behaviours in several ecosystems (Windows, Android, iOS).

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Virus Bulletin's job site for recruiters and job seekers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 26, 2016

Virus Bulletin has relaunched its security job vacancy service and added a new section, in which job seekers can advertise their skills and experience.

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Throwback Thursday: One_Half: The Lieutenant Commander?

Posted by   Helen Martin on   May 26, 2016

In October 1994, a new multi-partite virus appeared, using some of the techniques developed by the Dark Avenger in Commander_Bomber. As if this were not enough, the One_Half virus could also encrypt vital parts of the fixed disk. Eugene Kaspersky provided a detailed analysis.

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Advertisements on Blogspot sites lead to support scam

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 9, 2016

Support scam pop-ups presented through malicious advertisements show that, next to vulnerable end points, gullible users remain an easy source of money for online criminals.

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To make Tor work better on the web, we need to be honest about it

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 6, 2016

Many websites put barriers in front of visitors who use the Tor network. If we want to make the web more accessible through Tor, we need to be honest about why this is done, rather than cry wolf about a dislike for privacy, Martijn Grooten says.

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Paper: How It Works: Steganography Hides Malware in Image Files

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 28, 2016

A new paper by CYREN researcher Lordian Mosuela takes a close look at Gatak, or Stegoloader, a piece of malware that was discovered last year and that is controlled via malicious code embedded in a PNG image, a technique known as steganography.

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VB100 procedure review

Test procedures clarified.
Test procedures clarified.VB has reviewed the test procedures for the VB100 comparative testing and certification program. An updated version of the VB100 procedures document is… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/procedure-review/

May issue of VB published

The May issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The May issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The May 2007 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or download… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/may-issue-vb-published/

Erratum: VB100 Linux comparative

Dr.Web results corrected.
Dr.Web results corrected. Upon closer analysis of the latest set of VB100 test results (see VB, April 2007, p.11) VB has regrettably discovered some errors in the detection figures… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/erratum-linux-comparative/

Websense snaps up SurfControl

$400m for British web-filtering company.
$400m for British web-filtering company. US firm Websense has sealed a $400m cash deal to acquire British web-filtering company SurfControl. The 700-pence-per-share price paid by… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/websense-snaps-surfcontrol/

May

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/

Google advert exploit attack analysed

Video demonstrates malware infiltration via ads for legitimate sites.
Video demonstrates malware infiltration via ads for legitimate sites. Details continue to emerge of a serious attack using the Google Adwords advertising system to lure… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/google-advert-exploit-attack-analysed/

DoS attacks support political unrest

Estonia rioting backed up by attacks on government websites.
Estonia rioting backed up by attacks on government websites. Severe rioting in Estonia, sparked by anger over the removal of a Russian monument from a prominent war memorial, has… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/dos-attacks-support-political-unrest/

Massive lawsuit brought against spam harvesters

Harvesting detection project aims to prosecute address abusers.
Harvesting detection project aims to prosecute address abusers. A community project dedicated to gathering information on the collection of email addresses for spamming purposes… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/massive-lawsuit-brought-against-spam-harvesters/

Email this!

VB stops spammer in his tracks.
VB stops spammer in his tracks. A stark reminder of the ingenuity of spammers was received by VB's web team last month thanks to a brief incident involving the VB web server.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/email/

A new generation of Panda

Panda sells majority shareholding.
Panda sells majority shareholding. Spanish security vendor Panda Software has announced the sale of 75% of its shareholding to southern European investment group Investindustrial… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/new-generation-panda/

Theft spam, fraud and web threats may rival ad spam

Spring threat reports show rise in spying, zombies, spear-phishing and cracked websites.
Spring threat reports show rise in spying, zombies, spear-phishing and cracked websites. A series of reports released in recent weeks, surveying the latest developments in spam and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/theft-spam-fraud-and-web-threats-may-rival-ad-spam/

Experts predict no let-up in malcode development

Kaspersky and Russinovich warn of growth in Vista, non-Windows malware.
Kaspersky and Russinovich warn of growth in Vista, non-Windows malware. Security experts have been making predictions for the future of malware and anti-malware developments, with… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/experts-predict-no-let-malcode-development/

Governments making moves to combat cybercrime

Laws and agencies beginning to target online fraud and ID theft.
Laws and agencies beginning to target online fraud and ID theft. With profits from fraud using privileged personal data stolen via phishing or spyware rocketing and making the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/governments-making-moves-combat-cybercrime/

Latest VB100 comparative announced

Windows XP products to be tested for June issue.
Windows XP products to be tested for June issue. VB has announced the next round of VB100% comparative testing, to be run on the Microsoft Windows XP platform. Submissions of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/latest-comparative-announced/

McAfee VirusScan vulnerability found, patched

Multibyte character overflow issue breaches on-access defences.
Multibyte character overflow issue breaches on-access defences. A vulnerability has been reported in the on-access component of McAfee's flagship VirusScan product, which could be… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/mcafee-virusscan-vulnerability-found-patched/

Dr.Web Linux VB100 update

Dr.Web test results recalculated.
Dr.Web test results recalculated. Upon closer analysis of the latest set of VB100 test results VB has regrettably discovered some errors in the detection figures shown for Doctor… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/dr-web-linux-update/

Mobile-to-human virus scare hits Asian nations

Rumours of killer mobile malware travel from Pakistan to Afghanistan.
Rumours of killer mobile malware travel from Pakistan to Afghanistan. The effects of a possible prank which sparked considerable public panic in one country have travelled to a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/mobile-human-virus-scare-hits-asian-nations/

Worms exploiting Windows DNS flaw

Zero-day vulnerability quickly used to transmit attacks.
Zero-day vulnerability quickly used to transmit attacks. The zero-day vulnerability in Microsoft's DNS server service, reported last week just after the release of the monthly… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/worms-exploiting-windows-dns-flaw/

Sexy pics push Skype malware

Messaging attack hides behind photo of girl in stilettos.
Messaging attack hides behind photo of girl in stilettos. More malware has been reported spreading through the Skype API, sending links to itself to addresses gathered from… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/sexy-pics-push-skype-malware/

New exploits emerge in wake of Patch Tuesday

Security update release cycle leads to attack release cycle.
Security update release cycle leads to attack release cycle. With the monthly 'Patch Tuesday' issue of security updates over, the now customary revelations of further… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/new-exploits-emerge-wake-patch-tuesday/

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