VB Blog

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

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Mar 1, 2019

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.

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

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 25, 2019

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 campaign with a password-protected ZIP and an email to which a clumsy spammer had attached a list of email addresses rather than a payload.

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VB2018 paper: The modality of mortality in domain names

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 22, 2019

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.

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VB2018 paper: Analysing compiled binaries using logic

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 20, 2019

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 analysis of (potentially) malicious binaries. Today, we publish both Thaís' paper and the video of her presentation.

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

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 19, 2019

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.

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

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Feb 13, 2019

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 the recording of his presentation.

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

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 11, 2019

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.

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VB2018 paper: Where have all the good hires gone?

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Feb 8, 2019

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 and the recording of her presentation.

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Preview: Nullcon 2019

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 5, 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.

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

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 3, 2019

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 campaign and malicious emails carrying Emotet and Lokibot.

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Search blog

Virus writers continue targeting Microsoft's latest ideas

Another piece of malware for MS Powershell.
Another piece of malware for MS Powershell. Another piece of malware for Microsoft's Powershell is making the news. The script virus exploits the new command shell, formerly known… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/virus-writers-continue-targeting-microsoft-s-latest-ideas/

Apple releases patches - Mac debate rumbles on

Are Macs safer than Windows PCs? Oh yes they are... Oh no they're not.. etc.
Are Macs safer than Windows PCs? Oh yes they are... Oh no they're not.. etc. Spokespeople for various AV companies continue to add to the 'are Macs safer?' debate kicked off last… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/apple-releases-patches-mac-debate-rumbles/

Supermarket scammed by hacker employees

Supermarket sweep.
Supermarket sweep. In a plot mirroring the Mike Judge comedy Office Space, a team of supermarket employees in Manama created trojan software to tweak company databases and steal… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/supermarket-scammed-hacker-employees/

Rain of phish hits UK

Single botnet responsible for 8 million phishing emails.
Single botnet responsible for 8 million phishing emails. A single botnet has unleashed over 8 million phishing emails on UK targets over the last few days, according to mail… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/rain-phish-hits-uk/

Hi-tech phreaking and other VoIP woes

Security issues with VoIP technology revealed at Black Hat USA.
Security issues with VoIP technology revealed at Black Hat USA. Security issues with VoIP technology, allowing hackers to access corporate services and sell them on, as well as… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/hi-tech-phreaking-and-other-voip-woes/

F-Secure announces healthy figures

Finnish AV firm shows strong performance.
Finnish AV firm shows strong performance.F-Secure's latest financial announcement reports a 35% growth in revenues, and an 88% growth in operating profits. The success is put down… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/f-secure-announces-healthy-figures/

Symantec, McAfee suffer bugs

Norton and VirusScan afflicted.
Norton and VirusScan afflicted.Symantec has issued details of a minor bug in its Norton AV software - a recent update left some users seeing confusing messages claiming the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/symantec-mcafee-suffer-bugs/

Interpol site spoofed

Beware fake international police organizations...
Beware fake international police organizations... Practitioners of ur-phish, the 419 scam, have set up a doctored mirror of Interpol's website, as a ruse to ease victims' worries… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/interpol-site-spoofed/

BBC hypes 'more than 95% spam rate'

Shock figure drawn from dubious source.
Shock figure drawn from dubious source. The BBC online news website has published an article under the headline 'More than 95% of e-mail is "junk"'. The report, which was linked… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/bbc-hypes-more-95-spam-rate/

Security products scoop sales top ten

Strong sales for security products in June.
Strong sales for security products in June. A hefty seven of the top 10 software products sold over the counter in June were security-related, according to sales tracking… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/security-products-scoop-sales-top-ten/

Market consolidation

Mergers in the anti-spam market.
Mergers in the anti-spam market. Anti-spam and messaging security company CipherTrust announced last month that it is to be acquired by Secure Computing.CipherTrust - which… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/market-consolidation/

Anti-phishing best practices

Anti-phishing recommendations for ISPs and mailbox providers.
Anti-phishing recommendations for ISPs and mailbox providers. A new set of best practices to combat phishing has been released by the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/anti-phishing-best-practices/

Linux magazine prints rootkit how-to

Arming sys admins with all they need to know to write a rootkit...
Arming sys admins with all they need to know to write a rootkit... Imaginatively named magazine for Linux users Linux Magazine has published an article entitled 'How to write a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/linux-magazine-prints-rootkit-how/

New and revised laws

New anti-spam laws prepared and old ones revisited.
New anti-spam laws prepared and old ones revisited. One of the world's top spam-sending hot spots is currently preparing for the launch of its first anti-spam laws. Together with… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/new-and-revised-laws/

August issue of VB published

The August issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The August issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The August 2006 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/august-issue-vb-published/

August

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/

Supply of data to spammers stopped

Database thief charged.
Database thief charged. A US man has been charged with stealing a database of US physicians with the intention of selling it on to spammers. Forty-six-year-old William Bailey, Jr… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/supply-data-spammers-stopped/

More on the XP comparative

Setting the record straight.
Setting the record straight. In VB's June 2006 comparative review it was reported that the Norman product behaved badly, with repeated crashes on dealing with infected or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/more-xp-comparative/

Sysinternals goes the Microsoft way

Microsoft acquires company behind the Sysinternals range of freeware tools.
Microsoft acquires company behind the Sysinternals range of freeware tools.Microsoft announced the acquisition last month of privately held Winternals Software LP - the company… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/sysinternals-goes-microsoft-way/

Phone phishes

Watch out for fake SMS messages.
Watch out for fake SMS messages. A sneaky new phishing technique emerged last month, in which initial contact is made with victims via SMS text message. In the attack, an SMS… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/07/phone-phishes/

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