VB Blog

VB2018 paper: Little Brother is watching – we know all your secrets!

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 1, 2019

At VB2018 in Montreal, researchers from Fraunhofer SIT looked at privacy vulnerabilities in legitimate Android family-tracking apps that leaked location data. Today, we publish both their paper and the video of their presentation.

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Threat intelligence teams should consider recruiting journalists

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 29, 2019

Threat intelligence teams would do well to recruit journalists, whose experience is crucial in today's threat landscape.

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From HSBC to product descriptions: the malicious emails bypassing your filters

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 28, 2019

Using data from our VBSpam lab, we looked at the malicious emails that have been missed recently by a large number of email security products.

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VB2018 paper: Inside Formbook infostealer

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 25, 2019

The Formbook information-stealing trojan may not be APT-grade malware, but its continuing spread means it can still be effective. At VB2018 in Montreal, Gabriela Nicolao, a researcher from Deloitte in Argentina, presented a short paper in which she looked at Formbook's background and history and analysed a sample of the malware. Today, we publish Gabriela's paper.

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The VB2019 CFP - how the selection procedure works

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 24, 2019

With the VB2019 Call for Papers having opened last week, we explain how the selection procedure works, which may help you during your abstract submission.

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VB2018 paper: From Hacking Team to hacked team to…?

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 18, 2019

Today we publish the VB2018 paper and video by ESET researcher Filip Kafka, who looked at the new malware by Hacking Team, after the company had recovered from the 2015 breach.

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The spam that is hardest to block is often the most damaging

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 17, 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. Worryingly, it is often the emails with a malicious attachment or a phishing link that are most likely to be missed.

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Throwback Thursday: We're all doomed

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Jan 17, 2019

Mydoom turns 15 this month, and is still being seen in email attachments. This Throwback Thursday we look back to March 2004, when Gabor Szappanos tracked the rise of W32/Mydoom.

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VB2019 call for papers - now open!

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 15, 2019

Have you analysed a new online threat? Do you know a new way to defend against such threats? Are you tasked with securing systems and fending off attacks? The call for papers for VB2019 is now open and we want to hear from you!

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VB2018 paper: Unpacking the packed unpacker: reversing an Android anti-analysis library

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 14, 2019

Today, we publish a VB2018 paper by Google researcher Maddie Stone in which she looks at one of the most interesting anti-analysis native libraries in the Android ecosystem. We also release the recording of Maddie's presentation.

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News by email

New twice-monthly email newsletter dedicated to news and technical information about the spam and anti-spam arena launched.
New twice-monthly email newsletter dedicated to news and technical information about the spam and anti-spam arena launched. Last month saw the inaugural issue of a twice-monthly… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/news-email/

VB2005 call for papers

Virus Bulletin is seeking submissions from those wishing to present at VB2005 in Dublin - so set aside some time between the season's festive parties to get writing!
Virus Bulletin is seeking submissions from those wishing to present at VB2005 in Dublin - so set aside some time between the season's festive parties to get writing! Virus… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/call-papers/

FBI's virus blunder

Virus infection nearly blew the cover on a secret FBI fraud investigation two years ago.
Virus infection nearly blew the cover on a secret FBI fraud investigation two years ago. It has come to light that a virus infection nearly blew the cover on a secret FBI fraud… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/fbi-s-virus-blunder/

Spam-reporting trial

Australia's latest anti-spam initiative
Australia's latest anti-spam initiative The Australian Communications Authority (ACA) is teaming up with Internet Service Provider Pacific Internet and software company… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/spam-reporting-trial/

December

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/

Australia to protect critical computer systems

Vulnerability assessment for country's critical infrastructure systems
Vulnerability assessment for country's critical infrastructure systems The Australian government is to spend more than 8 million dollars on a project that will identify and fix… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/11/australia-protect-critical-computer-systems/

Lycos turns hippy on spam

'Make love not spam'
'Make love not spam' Lycos Europe has come up with an interesting new way for its users to feel they are getting their own back on spammers. Lycos is encouraging its users to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/11/lycos-turns-hippy-spam/

Spam survey

Do women hate spam more than men? Are humans better at identifying spam than computers? Make your contribution to (anti-)spam research...
Do women hate spam more than men? Are humans better at identifying spam than computers? Make your contribution to (anti-)spam research... John Graham-Cumming, author of POPFile… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/11/spam-survey/

Standardised malware naming for the new year

An end to the virus-naming problem?
An end to the virus-naming problem? A new initiative that aims to standardise malware naming may be in operation as early as January 2005. The US Department of Homeland… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/11/standardised-malware-naming-new-year/

Most spammed

Think you've got it bad? Spare a thought for Bill.
Think you've got it bad? Spare a thought for Bill. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is the world's most spammed email recipient. The (let's face it, not entirely surprising) fact… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/11/most-spammed/

29A virus writer sentenced

Member of notorious virus-writing group found guilty.
Member of notorious virus-writing group found guilty. A Russian virus writer has been found guilty of creating viruses and fined the somewhat paltry sum of 3,000 roubles. Eugene… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/11/29a-virus-writer-sentenced/

Latest VGrep

The latest version of the virus name lookup tool - VGrep, is now available.
The latest version of the virus name lookup tool - VGrep, is now available. VGrep is a system produced in an attempt to clear up some of the confusion surrounding the naming of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/11/latest-vgrep/

November

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/11/

Phishy goings on

Fewer than five zombie network operators are responsible for all Internet phishing attacks worldwide according to CipherTrust...
Fewer than five zombie network operators are responsible for all Internet phishing attacks worldwide according to CipherTrust... According to Commtouch Software the US, UK,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/phishy-goings/

Storms put the wind up spammers

Significant decline in the volume of spam messages seen in the days immediately following the three recent hurricanes.
Significant decline in the volume of spam messages seen in the days immediately following the three recent hurricanes. Email security firm FrontBridge Technologies Inc. reported… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/storms-put-wind-spammers/

Spam becomes a collectors' item

British man sets up his own Museum of Spam.
British man sets up his own Museum of Spam. Just in case you hadn't already seen enough spam in your inbox, or in case your spam filter is so efficient that you find yourself… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/spam-becomes-collectors-item/

November issue released

The Virus Bulletin November issue is on its way.
The Virus Bulletin November issue is on its way. It's that time of the month again... If you are a subscriber to Virus Bulletin, you should be receiving your November issue… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/november-issue-released/

Dial a detection

Guidance issued on how to deal with rogue Internet diallers ('porn diallers')
Guidance issued on how to deal with rogue Internet diallers ('porn diallers') UK telecoms watchdog the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/dial-detection/

Spam gets the sniffles

Spammers seize the opportunity to cash in on the US flu vaccine problem.
Spammers seize the opportunity to cash in on the US flu vaccine problem. Not only has the shortage of flu vaccine been something of a political hot potato in the run up to the US… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/spam-gets-sniffles/

Trial of virus writer postponed

Sasser author made to wait.
Sasser author made to wait. The trial of self-confessed virus writer Sven Jaschan has been postponed until next year. The 18-year-old, who confessed earlier this year to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/10/trial-virus-writer-postponed/

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