VB Blog

A Christmas present for the security community

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 24, 2016

As a Christmas present for the security community, we have uploaded most of the papers and videos from the VB2015 conference which took place in Prague almost 15 months ago. The Virus Bulletin crew wishes you all the best for 2017!

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Paper: Spreading techniques used by malware

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 21, 2016

In a new paper published by Virus Bulletin, Acalvio researcher Abhishek Singh discusses some of the techniques used by malware to increase its impact by spreading further.

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VB2016 video: On the StrongPity waterhole attacks targeting Italian and Belgian encryption users

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 20, 2016

At VB2016, Kaspersky Lab researcher Kurt Baumgartner delivered a presentation on the StrongPity watering hole attacks that targeted users of encryption technologies, and which were recently featured in a report by Microsoft. Today, we share the video of Kurt's presentation.

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Conference review: Botconf 2016

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 20, 2016

Three members of the Virus Bulletin team attended the Botconf 2016 conference in Lyon, France last month, enjoying talks on subjects that ranged from state-sponsored attacks to exploit kits, and from banking trojans to cyber insurance.

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Throwback Thursday: Adjust Your Attitude!

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Dec 15, 2016

"Most of you reading this article have the technical skill but do you have the people skills?" In 2000, James Wolfe urged security experts to sell themselves and their services.

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VB2016 paper: Modern attacks on Russian financial institutions

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 12, 2016

Today, we publish the VB2016 paper and presentation (recording) by ESET researchers Jean-Ian Boutin and Anton Cherepanov, in which they look at sophisticated attacks against Russian financial institutions.

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More on the Moose botnet at Botconf

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 2, 2016

At Botconf 2016 this week, GoSecure researchers Masarah Paquet-Clouston and Olivier Bilodeau presented their research on the Moose botnet - something Olivier Bilodeau previously spoke about at VB2015.

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VB2016 paper: Defeating sandbox evasion: how to increase successful emulation rate in your virtualized environment

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 2, 2016

Today, we publish the VB2016 paper and presentation (recording) by Check Point Software researchers Alexander Chailytko and Stanislav Skuratovich, which focuses on the techniques used by malware to detect virtual environments, and provides detailed technical descriptions of what can be done to defeat them.

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VB2016 paper: Mobile applications: a backdoor into the Internet of Things?

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 29, 2016

While the Internet of Things blossoms with newly connected objects every day, the security and privacy of these objects is often overlooked, making the IoT a major security concern. Unfortunately, reverse-engineering so-called smart devices is not an easy task. In her VB2016 paper, Axelle Apvrille presented a novel way of analysing smart devices: by looking at the accompanying mobile app. Today, we publish both Axelle’s paper and the video recording of her VB2016 presentation.

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VB2016 paper: Wave your false flags! Deception tactics muddying attribution in targeted attacks

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 21, 2016

Today, we publish the VB2016 paper and presentation (recording) by Kaspersky Lab researchers Juan Andrés Guerrero-Saade and Brian Bartholomew, in which they look at some of the deception tactics used in targeted attacks.

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Search blog

Vulnerability reported in IE

ActiveX flaw opens another hole in MS browser.
ActiveX flaw opens another hole in MS browser. Yet another bug has been found in Microsoft's browser Internet Explorer, only days after a previous problem was patched for the third… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/vulnerability-reported-ie/

Symantec hit by vulnerabilities

Two flaws in alert handling unveiled.
Two flaws in alert handling unveiled. Two separate vulnerabilites in the alert notification handling systems of Symantec products have been reported this week. Symantec Client… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/symantec-hit-vulnerabilities/

Chain letter email reaps addresses

Fake research a harvesting trick by spammers.
Fake research a harvesting trick by spammers. An email widely spammed out in recent days claiming to be part of a research project into email use is in fact a scam designed to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/chain-letter-email-reaps-addresses/

Spamhaus fined $11.7 million for blocking spam

US judgement meaningless, says UK anti-spam project.
US judgement meaningless, says UK anti-spam project. An Illinois court has passed a judgement demanding UK-based spam advisory organisation Spamhaus pay $11.7 million in damages to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/spamhaus-fined-11-7-million-blocking-spam/

Sony DRM/AOL combo breaks computers

Anti-spyware tool attacks rootkit, kills CD drive.
Anti-spyware tool attacks rootkit, kills CD drive. An alert has been issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas, warning that an anti-spyware product from AOL has a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/sony-drm-aol-combo-breaks-computers/

ISP wins $11 million from spammers

Judgement in EarthLink lawsuit grants heavy payout.
Judgement in EarthLink lawsuit grants heavy payout. US ISP giant EarthLink, a regular champion of the CAN-SPAM Act, has won yet another case against a spammer. The judgement passed… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/isp-wins-11-million-spammers/

Patch Tuesday light on patches

MS patches previous patches, but not Word exploit.
MS patches previous patches, but not Word exploit.Microsoft's monthly 'Patch Tuesday' release of security fixes has been relatively quiet, with only three new bugs repaired, in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/patch-tuesday-light-patches/

Barclays phish spammed widely

64% of recent phishes targeting global brand.
64% of recent phishes targeting global brand. Reports from Panda Software warn of a major phishing campaign targeting users of Barclays online banking, causing a 30% rise in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/barclays-phish-spammed-widely/

Star sites host most malware

Celebrities bigger lure than sex, says McAfee.
Celebrities bigger lure than sex, says McAfee. A report on adware and spyware from McAfee has stated that celebrity sites, rather than those pushing pornography or other widely… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/star-sites-host-most-malware/

Zotob authors jailed

One year, two years for worm writing duo.
One year, two years for worm writing duo. Courts in Morocco have convicted two men accused of having a hand in the creation and distribution of the 'Zotob' worm, which struck… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/zotob-authors-jailed/

Fake news site carries trojan

Conspiracy warning spam points to exploit web page.
Conspiracy warning spam points to exploit web page. A spam campaign is directing Australian readers to a faked news site designed to drop a trojan. The initial mails carry a stark… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/fake-news-site-carries-trojan/

Phishing records broken in July

Highest ever numbers of phishing sites and brands, reports APWG.
Highest ever numbers of phishing sites and brands, reports APWG. 154 brands were recorded as targets for phishing attempts in July, according to the Anti Phishing Working Group… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/phishing-records-broken-july/

Spearphishers track eBay trades

Auction losers tempted by second-chance phishes.
Auction losers tempted by second-chance phishes. As part of the general trend of more focused phishing, users of online auction house eBay are reporting phishes directly targeting… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/spearphishers-track-ebay-trades/

Botnet keepers rake in adware cash

Zombie herder makes $430 per day from single piece of adware.
Zombie herder makes $430 per day from single piece of adware. According to research by the German Honeynet Project, a botnet controller who installed adware including DollarRevenue… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/botnet-keepers-rake-adware-cash/

More AV products suffer flaws

Vulnerabilities found in AntiVir and avast!.
Vulnerabilities found in AntiVir and avast!. Security defects in two anti-virus products have been reported by security watch company Secunia in the last week. While the AntiVir… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/more-av-products-suffer-flaws/

Samsung site hosting malware

Websense reports trojans found on electronics giant's servers.
Websense reports trojans found on electronics giant's servers. A US-hosted website belonging to Samsung Telecommunications America, a subsidiary of South Korean electronics giant… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/samsung-site-hosting-malware/

Zango not guilty on spyware charges

Spyware bad, adware OK, says court.
Spyware bad, adware OK, says court. Adware-supported 'online media company' Zango has had accusations of using spyware dashed by a Chicago, Illinois court. The class action case,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/zango-not-guilty-spyware-charges/

Phishers cast nets less wide

More scams hitting fewer targets, says report.
More scams hitting fewer targets, says report. According to RSA Security's August report on online fraud, the number of brands attacked by phishing scams fell by 20% last month,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/phishers-cast-nets-less-wide/

'Magic Quadrant' study unveiled

AV industry future revealed - must do better.
AV industry future revealed - must do better. Industry analyst and predictor Gartner has released its annual 'Magic Quadrant' study of the current state and likely future of the AV… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/magic-quadrant-study-unveiled/

MS sues UK spammer

Civil action avoids spam law technicalities.
Civil action avoids spam law technicalities.Microsoft has sued and reached an out-of-court settlement with UK spammer Paul Fox, after apparently despairing of finding any success… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/ms-sues-uk-spammer/

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