VB Blog

VB2017 video: Turning Trickbot: decoding an encrypted command-and-control channel

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 3, 2017

Trickbot, a banking trojan which appeared this year, seems to be a new, more modular, and more extensible malware descendant of the notorious Dyre botnet trojan. At VB2017, Symantec researcher Andrew Brandt presented a walkthrough of a typical Trickbot infection process, and its aftermath, as seen through the lens of a tool used to perform man-in-the-middle decryption. Today, we publish both Andrew's slides and the recording of his presentation.

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Paper: FAME - Friendly Malware Analysis Framework

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 2, 2017

Today, we publish a short paper in which CERT Société Générale presents FAME, its open source malware analysis framework.

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Ebury and Mayhem server malware families still active

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 31, 2017

Ebury and Mayhem, two families of Linux server malware, about which VB published papers back in 2014, are still active and have received recent updates.

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VB2017 paper: Crypton - exposing malware's deepest secrets

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 27, 2017

Crypton, a tool developed by F5 Networks researchers Julia Karpin and Anna Dorfman, aims to speed up the reverse engineering process by decrypting encrypted content found in a (malicious) binary. The researchers described the tool in a paper which they presented at VB2017 in Madrid. Today, we publish both the paper and the recording of their presentation.

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VB2017 paper: The sprawling market of consumer spyware

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 25, 2017

For many people, the threat of an abusive partner or ex-partner is very real - and the market for consumer spyware worryingly large. Today, we publish the recording of a presentation on the subject of consumer spyware given at VB2017 by The Daily Beast reporter Joseph Cox.

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Gábor Szappanos wins fourth Péter Szőr Award

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 23, 2017

At the VB2017 gala dinner, the fourth Péter Szőr Award was presented to Sophos researcher Gábor Szappanos for his paper "AKBuilder – the crowdsourced exploit kit".

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VB2017 paper: Walking in your enemy's shadow: when fourth-party collection becomes attribution hell

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 20, 2017

We publish the VB2017 paper and video by Kaspersky Lab researchers Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade and Costin Raiu, in which they look at fourth-party collection (spies spying on other spies' campaigns) and its implications for attribution.

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Didn't come to VB2017? Tell us why!

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 11, 2017

Virus Bulletin is a company - and a conference - with a mission: to further the research in and facilitate the fight against digital threats. To help us in this mission, we want to hear from those who didn't come to Madrid. What is your impression of the VB Conference? What did you think of this year's programme? And why couldn't you come to Madrid?

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Montreal will host VB2018

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 10, 2017

Last week, we announced the full details of VB2018, which will take place 3-5 October 2018 at the Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth hotel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

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VB2017 preview: Beyond lexical and PDNS (guest blog)

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Oct 5, 2017

In a special guest blog post, VB2017 Silver sponsor Cisco Umbrella writes about a paper that researchers Dhia Mahjoub and David Rodriguez will present at the conference this Friday.

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VB2019 call for papers closes this weekend

The call for papers for VB2019 closes on 17 March, and while we've already received many great submissions, we still want more!
This weekend the call for papers for VB2019, the 29th Virus Bulletin International Conference, will close. For those who like to submit at the very last minute, the CFP closes… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/03/vb2019-call-papers-closes-weekend/

Registration open for VB2019 ─ book your ticket now!

Registration for VB2019, the 29th Virus Bulletin International Conference, is now open, with an early bird rate available until 1 July.
Registration is now open for VB2019, the 29th Virus Bulletin International Conference, which will take place 2-4 October in London, UK. One of the longest-running security… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/03/registration-open-vb2019-book-your-ticket-now/

The VB2019 call for papers is about ... papers

When we are calling for papers for the Virus Bulletin conference as we are doing now, we really mean a written paper. But don't worry if you've never written a paper - we can help!
The Call for Papers for VB2019, the 29th Virus Bulletin Conference (London, 2-4 October) is open until Sunday 17 March. When we say "call for papers" we really put the emphasis… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/03/vb2019-call-papers-about-papers/

VB2018 video: Adware is just malware with a legal department - how we reverse engineered OSX/Pirrit, received legal threats, and survived

Amit Serper first analysed the OSX/Pirrit adware in 2016, highlighting some of its malware-like techniques, and soon afterwards started receiving legal threats from the company behind it. At VB2018 Amit gave a presentation in which he discussed both the a…
OSX/Pirrit was first analysed in 2016 by Cybereason's Amit Serper in a guest blog post for the Objective See blog. It is an interesting and technically thorough analysis of a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/03/vb2018-video-adware-just-malware-legal-department-how-we-reverse-engineered-osxpirrit-received-legal-threats-and-survived/

VB2018 paper: Anatomy of an attack: detecting and defeating CRASHOVERRIDE

In December 2016, the CRASHOVERRIDE malware framework was used to cause a blackout in Ukraine. At VB2018 in Montreal, Dragos researcher Joe Slowik presented a detailed paper on the framework, explaining how the malware works and how it targets various pro…
Anatomy of an attack: detecting and defeating CRASHOVERRIDE Read the paper (HTML) Download the paper (PDF)       If you're going to be at the RSA Conference in San… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/03/vb2018-paper-anatomy-attack-detecting-and-defeating-crashoverride/

VB2018 presentation: Levelling up: why sharing threat intelligence makes you more competitive

In a presentation at VB2018, Michael Daniel, President and CEO of the Cyber Threat Alliance, outlined exactly how threat sharing strengthens a company's competitive advantage. Today we release the recording of his presentation.
Here at VB we often talk about the importance of sharing intelligence, and many of us coming into the industry for the first time have been genuinely surprised by the willingness… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/03/vb2018-presentation-levelling-why-sharing-threat-intelligence-makes-you-more-competitive/

The malspam security products miss: Emotet, Ursnif, and a spammer's blunder

The set-up of the VBSpam test lab gives us a unique insight into the kinds of emails that are more likely to bypass email filters. This week we look at the malspam that was missed: a very international email with a link serving Emotet, an Italian Ursnif c…
This blog post was put together in collaboration with VB test engineers Adrian Luca and Ionuţ Răileanu. Virus Bulletin uses email feeds provided by Abusix and Project Honey Pot.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/02/malspam-security-products-miss-emotet-ursnif-and-spammers-blunder/

VB2018 paper: The modality of mortality in domain names

Domains play a crucial role in most cyber attacks, from the very advanced to the very mundane. Today, we publish a VB2018 paper by Paul Vixie (Farsight Security) who undertook the first systematic study into the lifetimes of newly registered domains.
The modality of mortality in domain names Read the paper (HTML) Download the paper (PDF)       Have you carried out research that furthers our understanding of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/02/vb2018-paper-modality-mortality-domain-names/

VB2018 paper: Analysing compiled binaries using logic

Constraint programming is a lesser-known technique that is becoming increasingly popular among malware analysts. In a paper presented at VB2018 Thaís Moreira Hamasaki presented an overview of the technique and explained how it can be applied to the analys…
Analysing compiled binaries using logic Read the paper (HTML) Download the paper (PDF)   Static analysis of malware is usually "done by a person (a security analyst) who… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/02/vb2018-paper-analysing-compiled-binaries-using-logic/

Virus Bulletin encourages experienced speakers and newcomers alike to submit proposals for VB2019

With a little less than a month before the deadline of the call for papers for VB2019, Virus Bulletin encourages submissions from experienced speakers and newcomers alike.
There is a little less than a month left until the deadline (17 March) of the call for papers for VB2019, the 29th Virus Bulletin International Conference. Over almost three… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/02/virus-bulletin-encourages-experienced-speakers-and-newcomers-alike-submit-proposals-vb2019/

VB2018 paper: Internet balkanization: why are we raising borders online?

At VB2018 in Montreal, Ixia researcher Stefan Tanase presented a thought-provoking paper on the current state of the Internet and the worrying tendency towards raising borders and restricting the flow of information. Today we publish both his paper and th…
Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the world wide web, said "I hope we use the Net to cross barriers and connect cultures". Yet increasingly we are seeing barriers being raised not… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/02/vb2018-paper-internet-balkanization-why-are-we-raising-borders-online/

The malspam security products miss: banking and email phishing, Emotet and Bushaloader

The set-up of the VBSpam test lab gives us a unique insight into the kinds of emails that are more likely to bypass email filters. This week we look at the malspam that was missed: banking and email phishing, Emotet and Bushaloader.
This blog post was put together in collaboration with VB test engineers Adrian Luca and Ionuţ Răileanu. Virus Bulletin uses email feeds provided by Abusix and Project Honey Pot.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/02/malspam-security-products-miss-banking-and-email-phishing-emotet-and-bushaloader/

VB2018 paper: Where have all the good hires gone?

The cybersecurity skills gap has been described as one of the biggest challenges facing IT leaders today. At VB2018 in Montreal, ESET's Lysa Myers outlined some of the things the industry can do to help address the problem. Today we publish Lysa's paper a…
    Did you see we have opened the Call for Papers for VB2019 in London? Submit your abstract before 17 March for a chance to make it onto the programme of one of the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/02/vb2018-paper-where-have-all-good-hires-gone/

Preview: Nullcon 2019

We look forward the Nullcon 2019 conference in Goa, India, at which VB Editor Martijn Grooten will give a talk on the state of malware.
Does it matter that the number of new malware samples keeps growing? What does the meteoric rise in cryptocurrency malware indicate? Why is there barely any malware on iOS? Which… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/02/preview-nullcon-2019/

From Amazon to Emotet: a look at those phishing and malware emails that bypassed email security products

We see a lot of spam in the VBSpam test lab, and we also see how well such emails are being blocked by email security products. Recently some of the emails that bypassed security products included a broken Amazon phishing campaign, a large fake UPS campai…
This blog post was put together in collaboration with VB test engineers Adrian Luca and Ionuţ Răileanu. On this blog, we regularly look at those phishing and malware emails… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/02/amazon-ups-emotet-formbook-and-lokibot-look-those-phishing-and-malware-emails-bypassed-email-security-products/

VB2018 paper: Little Brother is watching – we know all your secrets!

At VB2018 in Montreal, researchers from Fraunhofer SIT looked at privacy vulnerabilities in legitimate Android family-tracking apps that leaked location data. Today, we publish both their paper and the video of their presentation.
The use of mobile spyware to spy on (ex-)partners is an underreported problem, despite the prevalence of such apps and their use in cases of domestic violence. At VB2017 in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/02/vb2018-paper-little-brother-watching-we-know-all-your-secrets/

Threat intelligence teams should consider recruiting journalists

Threat intelligence teams would do well to recruit journalists, whose experience is crucial in today's threat landscape.
These aren't easy times for journalists. Last week's laying off of dozens of journalists at BuzzFeed, including its full national security desk, contributed to more than 1,000… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/01/threat-intelligence-teams-should-consider-recruiting-journalists/

From HSBC to product descriptions: the malicious emails bypassing your filters

Using data from our VBSpam lab, we looked at the malicious emails that have been missed recently by a large number of email security products.
Over a one-week period earlier this month, the average email with a malicious attachment was almost three times as likely to bypass email security products than a spam email… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/01/hsbc-product-descriptions-malicious-emails-bypassing-your-filters/

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