VB Blog

Virus Bulletin at RSA

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 13, 2018

Next week, VB Editor Martijn Grooten will be at the RSA Conference in San Francisco.

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Broad-ranging and international VB2018 programme announced

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 11, 2018

VB is excited to reveal the details of an interesting and diverse programme for VB2018, the 28th Virus Bulletin International Conference, which takes place 3-5 October in Montreal, Canada.

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Netflix issue shows email verification really does matter

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 10, 2018

A clever trick taking advantage of the fact that Gmail ignores dots in email addresses could be used to trick someone into paying for your Netflix subscription - demonstrating the importance of confirmed opt-in.

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VB2017 paper: Exploring the virtual worlds of advergaming

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 10, 2018

At VB2017 in Madrid, Malwarebytes' Chris Boyd presented a paper in which he looked at various aspects of advergaming, from unreadable EULAs to fake programs that promise to block ads. Today, we publish both the paper and the recording of Chris's presentation.

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New paper: Distinguishing between malicious app collusion and benign app collaboration: a machine-learning approach

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 27, 2018

Two or more mobile apps, viewed independently, may not appear to be malicious - but in combination, they could become harmful by exchanging information with one another and by performing malicious activities together. Today, we publish a new paper by a group of researchers affiliated with various UK universities and companies, which looks at how machine-learning methods can be used to detect app collusions.

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VB2016 paper: Wild Android collusions

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 26, 2018

At VB2016 in Denver, Jorge Blasco presented a paper (co-written with Thomas M. Chen, Igor Muttik and Markus Roggenbach), in which he discussed the concept of app collusion - where two (or more) apps installed on the same device work together to collect and extract data from the device - and presented discoveries of colluding code in many in-the-wild apps. Today, we publish both the paper and the recording of Jorge's presentation.

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VB2017 paper: The life story of an IPT - Inept Persistent Threat actor

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 19, 2018

At VB2017 in Madrid, Polish security researcher and journalist Adam Haertlé presented a paper about a very inept persistent threat. Today, we publish both the paper and the recording of Adam's presentation.

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Five reasons to submit a VB2018 paper this weekend

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 16, 2018

The call for papers for VB2018 closes on 18 March, and while we've already received many great submissions, we still want more! Here are five reasons why you should submit a paper this weekend.

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First partners of VB2018 announced

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 15, 2018

We are excited to announce the first six companies to partner with VB2018.

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VB2018: looking for technical and non-technical talks

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 9, 2018

We like to pick good, solid technical talks for the VB conference programme, but good talks don't have to be technical and we welcome less technical submissions just as much.

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Search blog

Spyware firms charged $2 million

FTC takes cash, bans from future naughtiness.
FTC takes cash, bans from future naughtiness.Enternet Media and ConSpy & Co., the companies behind products including Miracle Search and EliteBar, have been forced to pay out over… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/spyware-firms-charged-2-million/

Subliminal message hidden in spam

Mail campaign aims to sneak into readers' subconscious minds.
Mail campaign aims to sneak into readers' subconscious minds. A spam campaign is using the classic 'submliminal message' technique in an attempt to implant thoughts in the minds of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/subliminal-message-hidden-spam/

Nine years for spam felon

Tough sentence upheld despite free-speech claims.
Tough sentence upheld despite free-speech claims. A US man convicted two years ago under the state of Virginia's anti-spam laws has lost an appeal against his conviction. The case,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/nine-years-spam-felon/

Word zero-day exploited

Trojan uses unpatched hole in office software.
Trojan uses unpatched hole in office software. At least one trojan has been seen in the wild exploiting a newly discovered vulnerability in Microsoft's Word 2000 software. The… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/word-zero-day-exploited/

Phishing on the rise

One in three malicious emails a phish, says MessageLabs.
One in three malicious emails a phish, says MessageLabs. A report on the current state of digital security has revealed that phishing scams constitute a growing danger to computer… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/phishing-rise/

Gromozon mystery clearing

Cleaner tool aims to remove sophisticated attack.
Cleaner tool aims to remove sophisticated attack. The shadowy blended threat known as Gromozon has slowly been gaining notoriety in recent weeks, particularly after some in-depth… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/gromozon-mystery-clearing/

CA in Windows FP

eTrust identifies critical file as virus.
eTrust identifies critical file as virus. A mistake at CA caused some trouble over the weekend, as its eTrust products started identifying part of the Windows local authentication… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/ca-windows-fp/

Mobile snoopware labelled spyware

Future phone privacy threatened.
Future phone privacy threatened. Reports this week highlighted the problem of spyware running on mobile phones, and the consequences this could have for privacy. A commercial… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/mobile-snoopware-labelled-spyware/

New New Zealand spam laws to allow spam

Adjustments to laws may let 'non-commercial' spam continue.
Adjustments to laws may let 'non-commercial' spam continue. Recommendations have been made to dilute tough new anti-spam laws currently being debated by the New Zealand government.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/new-new-zealand-spam-laws-allow-spam/

A fine, a curfew and a treasure hunt

Round up of the month's spammer penalties.
Round up of the month's spammer penalties. Kicking off a round-up of some of the anti-spam penalties issued worldwide this month, the Chinese government has made an underwhelming… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/fine-curfew-and-treasure-hunt/

September issue of VB published

The September issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The September issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The September 2006 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/september-issue-vb-published/

Spot that spammer

Quiz tests consumers' ability to identify spam causing sites.
Quiz tests consumers' ability to identify spam causing sites. Last month, McAfee invited web users to spot the undesirable website, in an eight-question quiz entitled: 'Can you… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/spot-spammer/

Nearly VB 100%

Near misses.
Near misses. In the recent Windows XP comparative review (see VB, June 2006, p.11), VB reported that VirusBuster failed to achieve the results required for a VB 100% award. After… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/nearly-vb-100/

Testing patience

Consumer Reports does it again.
Consumer Reports does it again. After having come in for a great deal of criticism in recent weeks over its AV testing methodology (see VB, September 2006, p.2), Consumer Reports… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/testing-patience/

Worm spreads via mobiles. Maybe.

PC malware thought capable of using phones as vector.
PC malware thought capable of using phones as vector.F-Secure has reported a new worm which attempts to spread via mobile phones. The 'Mobler' worm, once activated, copies itself… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/worm-spreads-mobiles-maybe/

September

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/

Future browsers battle phishing

Microsoft and Mozilla's upcoming new versions to include safety measures.
Microsoft and Mozilla's upcoming new versions to include safety measures. Pre-release versions of both Mozilla FireFox 2 and Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 have been unveiled,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/future-browsers-battle-phishing/

More MS06-040 worries

Vulnerability still causing problems.
Vulnerability still causing problems. There have been further reports of malware spreading using the MS06-040 vulnerability, announced and patched three weeks ago on Microsoft's… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/more-ms06-040-worries/

AT&T hack led to spearphish

Stolen details used to trick victims out of further info.
Stolen details used to trick victims out of further info. Transaction details stolen as part of last weekend's security breach of a shopping site run by US phone giant AT&T were… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/amp-t-hack-led-spearphish/

Phone companies' security shaken

As T-Mobile hacker is convicted, AT&T reveals break-in.
As T-Mobile hacker is convicted, AT&T reveals break-in. A 23-year-old Oregon resident has been sentenced to a year of 'home detention', after being convicted of hacking into the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/phone-companies-security-shaken/

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