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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Major seeding of Storm trojans seen

Latest wave of variants followed up by further fake warnings.
Latest wave of variants followed up by further fake warnings. Yet another wave of malware has been widely spammed out, using similar tactics to previous attacks evolving from the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/major-seeding-storm-trojans-seen/

Spam-fighters coalition formed

ICSA announces cooperative forum of anti-spam developers.
ICSA announces cooperative forum of anti-spam developers.CyberTrust-owned ICSA Labs has announced the formation of the Anti-Spam Product Developers' Consortium, a grouping of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/spam-fighters-coalition-formed/

US lengthens lead as top spammer

Rivals improve record to leave US spamming rate a standout.
Rivals improve record to leave US spamming rate a standout. The US remains the world's leading source of spam, easily beating off competition from rivals China and several European… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/us-lengthens-lead-top-spammer/

Linux/iPod proof-of-concept sighted

New minority platform joins infectable list.
New minority platform joins infectable list. Virus analysts have reported receiving samples of a proof-of-concept virus for the iPodLinux operating system, a port of the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/linux-ipod-proof-concept-sighted/

Microsoft reveals more issues on Patch Tuesday

Fix for earlier .ani patch and another Vista issue included in batch.
Fix for earlier .ani patch and another Vista issue included in batch. Five out of six vulnerabilities patched by Microsoft yesterday, in April's 'Patch Tuesday' monthly security… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/microsoft-reveals-more-issues-patch-tuesday/

UK ISP association issues spam guidelines

ISPA best practices document advises providers on spam control.
ISPA best practices document advises providers on spam control. The UK Internet Services Providers' Association (ISPA), a voluntary grouping of service providers and other Internet… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/uk-isp-association-issues-spam-guidelines/

Kaspersky patches series of vulnerabilities

ActiveX and overflow issues allowed remote data theft, local system attacks.
ActiveX and overflow issues allowed remote data theft, local system attacks. Several vulnerabilities have been revealed in many Kaspersky security products, including ActiveX flaws… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/kaspersky-patches-series-vulnerabilities/

Swiss spam law to enforce user security

New law may penalise careless zombie hosts.
New law may penalise careless zombie hosts. New anti-spam laws come into effect in Switzerland on Sunday, imposing strict curbs on spamming and strong punishment for perpetrators.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/swiss-spam-law-enforce-user-security/

Spam costing US companies over $70 billion per year

Survey finds junk email costs $713 per head in loss of productivity.
Survey finds junk email costs $713 per head in loss of productivity. A study into the impact of spam on US businesses has produced some startling figures for the financial impact… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/spam-costing-us-companies-over-70-billion-year/

NASA hacker loses case against extradition

UK man should face trial in States despite threats, say judges.
UK man should face trial in States despite threats, say judges. Greg McKinnon, the British hacker accused of breaking into NASA and US military networks while apparently… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/nasa-hacker-loses-case-against-extradition/

Animated cursor flaw patched out of cycle

Microsoft reacts fast to widespread zero-day exploitation.
Microsoft reacts fast to widespread zero-day exploitation.Microsoft have once again broken their monthly patching cycle to release a fix for a vulnerability which has been the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/animated-cursor-flaw-patched-out-cycle/

VB2007 conference programme revealed

VB has revealed the conference programme for VB2007, Vienna.
VB has revealed the conference programme for VB2007, Vienna. VB has revealed the conference programme for VB2007, Vienna. Once again, the three-day conference programme boasts… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/conference-programme-revealed/

Scammers launch anti-terrorist hotline

Met Police website spoofed by 419 scammers.
Met Police website spoofed by 419 scammers. Last month saw the appearance of the latest 419 scamming trick: 'anti-terrorist certificates' sold via a fake version of the London… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/scammers-launch-anti-terrorist-hotline/

Phishing attacks reach new high

APWG releases phishing figures for January.
APWG releases phishing figures for January. Phishing attacks and password-stealing applications both reached record levels in January 2007 according to the latest report from the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/phishing-attacks-reach-new-high/

Third round for US anti-spyware bill

Anti-spyware legislation presented in US House of Representatives for third time.
Anti-spyware legislation presented in US House of Representatives for third time. Anti-spyware legislation was presented for the third time in the US House of Representatives last… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/third-round-us-anti-spyware-bill/

April

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/

April issue of VB published

The April issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The April issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The April 2007 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/april-issue-vb-published/

TJX hack thought biggest ever

Over 45 million card numbers gathered in massive breach.
Over 45 million card numbers gathered in massive breach. A report into a security breach at major US retailer TJX has revealed a lengthy and sophisticated attack which scooped vast… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/tjx-hack-thought-biggest-ever/

Fujacks writer's removal tool slated

Virus creator's anti-virus not up to scratch, says Symantec.
Virus creator's anti-virus not up to scratch, says Symantec. A cleanup tool created by the writer of the Fujacks virus, also known as the 'Panda burning incense' virus in reference… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/fujacks-writer-s-removal-tool-slated/

Another Windows zero-day exploit seen in wild

Trojans sneaking in through animated cursor flaw.
Trojans sneaking in through animated cursor flaw. A vulnerability has been discovered in the handling of .ani files, used for animated cursors on web pages and in HTML emails, and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/another-windows-zero-day-exploit-seen-wild/

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