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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Search blog

OneCare labels Gmail a virus

Rival webmail system flagged infected by Microsoft AV.
Rival webmail system flagged infected by Microsoft AV. A number of users of Microsoft's anti-virus product Windows Live OneCare have reported being warned of a virus infection when… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/onecare-labels-gmail-virus/

More US political spam

Voter persuasion campaign late and sloppy, says Panda
Voter persuasion campaign late and sloppy, says Panda Spam watchers at PandaLabs have spotted a campaign hoping to trick recipients into visiting a page attacking the state of US… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/more-us-political-spam/

MS releases new Sysinternals utility

Process Monitor combines filemon, regmon into unified analysis tool.
Process Monitor combines filemon, regmon into unified analysis tool.Sysinternals, now 'a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation', has released a new system analysis tool… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/ms-releases-new-sysinternals-utility/

Vista safe without AV, says Allchin

Microsoft chief confident in new security measures.
Microsoft chief confident in new security measures. During a telephone press conference, Microsoft Platform Products and Services Co-president Jim Allchin revealed that he lets his… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/vista-safe-without-av-says-allchin/

Google blog spreads Kama Sutra worm

MyWife variant mailed to 50,000 video blog watchers.
MyWife variant mailed to 50,000 video blog watchers.Google has apologised to users of its Google Video Blog, some 50,000 of whom were exposed to an email worm after three postings… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/google-blog-spreads-kama-sutra-worm/

US politicians slated for spam tactics

Report criticises leaders for election-pushing mass mail campaigns.
Report criticises leaders for election-pushing mass mail campaigns. A report from Sophos has criticised the behaviour of both major US political parties, after numerous emails… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/us-politicians-slated-spam-tactics/

AOL ICQ vulnerability revealed

Chat program remote execution flaw patched.
Chat program remote execution flaw patched. Details of a vulnerability found in AOL's ICQ instant messaging software have been released by TippingPoint. The ActiveX flaw could… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/aol-icq-vulnerability-revealed/

Email worm spams global war news

Bush and Putin still alive, no nuclear war ahead.
Bush and Putin still alive, no nuclear war ahead. An email worm is posing as news of global warfare and the death of major world leaders in an attempt to persuade recipients to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/email-worm-spams-global-war-news/

US way ahead in phishing and spam

PhishTank, Sophos stats put US at top of lists.
PhishTank, Sophos stats put US at top of lists. Statistics released by anti-phishing community project PhishTank, launched early last month, have put the US far ahead of the field… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/us-way-ahead-phishing-and-spam/

XMLHTTP zero-day exploit

ActiveX vulnerability in use by attackers.
ActiveX vulnerability in use by attackers. A new flaw in Microsoft's XML Core Services 4.0 is in active use by malicious websites, with attackers using the vulnerability to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/xmlhttp-zero-day-exploit/

FBI busts phishing gang

Arrests made in Poland and US, more expected.
Arrests made in Poland and US, more expected. A large operation carried out by the FBI against a phishing operation has resulted in a string of arrests. Four people are being held… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/fbi-busts-phishing-gang/

Adware costs Zango $3 million

Cash and promises settle deceptive practices case.
Cash and promises settle deceptive practices case. Adware giant Zango, formerly known as 180Solutions, has settled a case brought by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for $3… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/adware-costs-zango-3-million/

IE7 causing McAfee update problems

New browser version blocking install and updates.
New browser version blocking install and updates. Security settings in the new version of Microsoft's web browser, Internet Explorer 7, are causing problems for users of McAfee… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/ie7-causing-mcafee-update-problems/

New OSX parasitic virus found

Symantec report proof-of-concept file infector for Mac.
Symantec report proof-of-concept file infector for Mac. Analysts at Symantec have received samples of a proof-of-concept file infector for the Apple Mac OSX platform. The virus,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/new-osx-parasitic-virus-found/

Spam worse than postal junk mail

Survey finds emails more irritating than unwanted paper.
Survey finds emails more irritating than unwanted paper. A study carried out by researchers from the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/spam-worse-postal-junk-mail/

Wikipedia spam points to malware

Emails used archive function to lend authenticity.
Emails used archive function to lend authenticity. Popular online encyclopaedia Wikipedia has been used as a vector for malware, with a spam campaign using the site's reputation… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/wikipedia-spam-points-malware/

Academics create mobile malware

California University publishes Symbian proof of concept.
California University publishes Symbian proof of concept. A group of researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, (UCSB) have released details and source code for a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/academics-create-mobile-malware/

Spammed trojans posing as McAfee report

Campaign uses security news to bypass security.
Campaign uses security news to bypass security. A spam campaign has been spotted, with the emails claiming to come from security giant McAfee and to contain a report on recent… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/spammed-trojans-posing-mcafee-report/

Spam hits record levels in October

Image-based pump-and-dumps add to inbox bloat.
Image-based pump-and-dumps add to inbox bloat. Spam levels have continued to rise, defying general trends that would suggest a decreasing post-summer ratio, as more people at work… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/spam-hits-record-levels-october/

November issue of VB published

The November issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The November issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The November 2006 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/november-issue-vb-published/

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