VB Blog

First sponsors of VB2017 announced

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 6, 2017

We are excited to announce the first five sponsors of VB2017, companies based in Europe, Asia and North America.

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Security products and HTTPS: let's do it better

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 27, 2017

A recent paper showed that many HTTPS-intercepting security solutions have implemented TLS rather poorly. Does that mean we should avoid such solutions altogether?

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The SHA-1 hashing algorithm has been 'shattered'

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 23, 2017

Researchers from Google and CWI Amsterdam have created the first known collision of the SHA-1 hashing algorithm, making a very strong case to ditch it.

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Throwback Thursday: Once a researcher...

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Feb 23, 2017

VB was saddened to learn this week of the passing of one of the pioneers of the AV industry, Ross Greenberg. This Throwback Thursday we look back at an interview with Ross in November 1995.

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VB2017: What is happening in the threat landscape and what are we doing against it? Submit a proposal in the VB2017 CFP!

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 20, 2017

Have you analysed a new online threat? Do you know a new way to defend against such threats? Then submit an abstract in the CFP for VB2017!

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VB2016 paper: APT reports and OPSEC evolution, or: these are not the APT reports you are looking for

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 17, 2017

APT reports are great for gaining an understanding of how advanced attack groups operate - however, they can also provide free QA for the threat actors. Today, we publish a VB2016 paper by Gadi Evron (Cymmetria) and Inbar Raz (Perimeter X), who discuss what they think is wrong with many APT reports and what can be done to improve them.

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Security for your ears: recommended infosec podcasts

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 14, 2017

Industry veteran Mikko Hyppönen recently urged would-be security researchers to ditch their favourite pop music and listen to security podcasts on their commute to work instead. Virus Bulletin Editor Martijn Grooten shares his favourite security podcasts.

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VB2016 video: Getting duped: piggybacking on webcam streams for surreptitious recordings

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 10, 2017

In a presentation at VB2016, Patrick Wardle, Director of Research at Synack, discussed the possibilities of Mac malware recording the user via the webcam. Today, we publish the video of Patrick's presentation.

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We shouldn't forget those most vulnerable in our digital world

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 9, 2017

Virus Bulletin Editor Martijn Grooten calls for the security community not to forget those most vulnerable in the digital world, including political activists living under oppressive regimes, and victims of abuse.

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Throwback Thursday: A troubled world

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Feb 9, 2017

In early 1991, the world was a troubled place and conflict and violence were being reported globally on a daily basis. With this as a backdrop, the world of "indiscriminate" computer viruses which "victimise in a random and unpredictable manner" seemed relatively trivial to then Editor of VB, Edward Wilding.

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Search blog

MIME tricks beat email virus scanners

Simple encoding dodges slip malware past gateways.
Simple encoding dodges slip malware past gateways. A security researcher released a report last week claiming that some simple manipulation allowed him to get mails containing the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/mime-tricks-beat-email-virus-scanners/

Smartphone security sphere to reach $5 billion by 2011

Market analysts foresee boom in mobile threats and security market.
Market analysts foresee boom in mobile threats and security market. UK-based telecoms analyst Juniper Research has released a report predicting a steady rise in attacks on… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/smartphone-security-sphere-reach-5-billion-2011/

Adobe hit by second vulnerability

More document software security worries.
More document software security worries. PDF software giant Adobe has released details of its second vulnerability in little over a week. The first, which was discovered in the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/adobe-hit-second-vulnerability/

Anti-spyware activists condemn rogue MP3 search firm

CDT and StopBadware unite in call for action against spyware pushers.
CDT and StopBadware unite in call for action against spyware pushers. The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) and StopBadware.org have issued a joint complaint to the Federal… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/anti-spyware-activists-condemn-rogue-mp3-search-firm/

Trojan spreading mobile spyware

Consumer phone-snooping tool dropped by Symbian malware.
Consumer phone-snooping tool dropped by Symbian malware. A new variant of the MultiDropper trojan targeting Symbian smartphones has included amongst its payload a 'legitimate'… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/trojan-spreading-mobile-spyware/

Free firewalls rated best in leak tests

Leakage review puts Comodo, Jetico way ahead of field.
Leakage review puts Comodo, Jetico way ahead of field. An in-depth study subjecting 23 different personal firewall products to a range of leak tests has granted two free products,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/free-firewalls-rated-best-leak-tests/

Mobile spam wave hits Europe

Multilingual SMS spams reported.
Multilingual SMS spams reported. Mobile security researchers at F-Secure have received numerous reports of SMS spams from across Europe, in a variety of languages. Links in the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/mobile-spam-wave-hits-europe/

MS Word zero-day exploit seen in wild

Microsoft warns of attacks using vulnerability.
Microsoft warns of attacks using vulnerability.Microsoft has issued a security bulletin warning of a serious vulnerability discovered in several versions of Microsoft Word and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/ms-word-zero-day-exploit-seen-wild/

EU to fund Symantec phishing studies

Security firm in consortium researching phishing prevention.
Security firm in consortium researching phishing prevention.Symantec announced yesterday an award of funding from the European Commission to pay for research into securing email… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/eu-fund-symantec-phishing-studies/

MySpace hit by worm, adware and phishing

Exploit in QuickTime file infecting social site profile pages.
Exploit in QuickTime file infecting social site profile pages. A malicious QuickTime movie file is spreading across social networking site MySpace, embedding itself in the user… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/myspace-hit-worm-adware-and-phishing/

Firm charged $1 million in rogue spyware case

Heavy fines and fees hit fake 'Spyware Cleaner' pushers.
Heavy fines and fees hit fake 'Spyware Cleaner' pushers. A Seattle court has announced a $1 million settlement in a case brought against a spyware firm, marking the first… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/firm-charged-1-million-rogue-spyware-case/

China source of huge phishing surge

Spam watchers see major jump in scam spam sent from China
Spam watchers see major jump in scam spam sent from China Analysts at email and web security firm Marshal have reported a major spike in the numbers of phishing email originating… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/china-source-huge-phishing-surge/

Vista launched, malware still a danger

New Windows version on sale, but viruses remain a threat, says Sophos
New Windows version on sale, but viruses remain a threat, says Sophos The corporate version Microsoft's long-awaited update to its Windows operating system was finally released… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/vista-launched-malware-still-danger/

In the picture?

Remember VB94?
Remember VB94? Were you at VB94 in Jersey? VB has unearthed some photos taken at the fourth Virus Bulletin Conference. To see those who were the fresh faces of the anti-virus… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/picture/

Stocking filler

Collection of 419 baiting tales.
Collection of 419 baiting tales. If you're stuck for a last-minute Christmas gift idea, Mike Berry's new book could be the answer. Mike Berry is the creator of 'scam-baiting'… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/stocking-filler/

December

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/

December issue of VB published

The December issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The December issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The December 2006 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/december-issue-vb-published/

Festive greetings

Yuletide wishes.
Yuletide wishes. The VB team wishes all Virus Bulletin readers a very happy Christmas and a prosperous and peaceful new year. This year, continuing the tradition of its Christmas… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/festive-greetings/

Anti-spammer loses case

Anti-spam activist sued in case that brings enforceability of state anti-spam laws into question.
Anti-spam activist sued in case that brings enforceability of state anti-spam laws into question. An anti-spam activist has successfully been sued in a US federal court by the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/anti-spammer-loses-case/

Vulnerability hits F-Secure gateway products

Flaw in OpenSSL could allow DoS on servers.
Flaw in OpenSSL could allow DoS on servers. A vulnerability in OpenSSL software, used to access the administration interface in some F-Secure gateway and mail protection products,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/vulnerability-hits-f-secure-gateway-products/

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