VB Blog

Alleged author of creepy FruitFly macOS malware arrested

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 11, 2018

A 28-year old man from Ohio has been arrested on suspicion of having created the mysterious FruitFly malware that targeted macOS and used it to spy on its victims.

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The threat and security product landscape in 2017

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 10, 2018

At the start of the new year, Virus Bulletin looks back at the threats seen in the 2017 and at the security products that are available to help mitigate them.

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Spamhaus report shows many botnet controllers look a lot like legitimate servers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 9, 2018

Spamhaus's annual report on botnet activity shows that botherders tend to use popular, legitimate hosting providers, domain registrars and top-level domains when setting up command-and-control servers.

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Tips on researching tech support scams

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 5, 2018

As tech support scammers continue to target the computer illiterate through cold calling, VB's Martijn Grooten uses his own experience to share some advice on how to investigate such scams.

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Meltdown and Spectre attacks mitigated by operating system updates

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 4, 2018

Just four days into the new year, two serious attacks in modern processors, dubbed Meltdown and Spectre, have been discovered. The attacks can be mitigated by patches to the operating system, but anti-virus software vendors need to make sure their products are compatible with the patches.

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Conference review: AVAR 2017

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 22, 2017

Martijn Grooten reports on the 20th AVAR conference, which took place earlier in December in Beijing, China.

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Conference review: Botconf 2017

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Dec 22, 2017

Virus Bulletin researchers report back from a very interesting fifth edition of Botconf, the botnet fighting conference.

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VB2017 videos on attacks against Ukraine

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 21, 2017

(In)security is a global issue that affects countries around the world, but in recent years none has been so badly hit as Ukraine. Today, we publish the videos of two VB2017 talks about attacks that hit Ukraine particularly badly: a talk by Alexander Adamov (NioGuard) on (Not)Petya and related attacks, and another by Robert Lipovsky and Anton Cherepanov (ESET) on Industroyer.

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Facebook helps you determine whether emails really came from its servers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 21, 2017

On its website, Facebook now shows which emails it has sent you recently, thus helping you to determine which emails are real, and which should be discarded as phishing.

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Vulnerability disclosure and botnet takedown not to be hindered by Wassenaar Arrangement

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 19, 2017

Clarification in the language of the Wassenaar Arrangement, a multilateral export control regime for conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies, means those involved in vulnerability disclosure or botnet takedown won't have to worry about acquiring an export licence.

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APWG and FTC combine to fight ID fraud

Agencies join forces to release safety guidance documents.
Agencies join forces to release safety guidance documents. The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have pooled their resources and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/09/apwg-and-ftc-combine-fight-id-fraud/

Sender authentication checks on the rise

SPF records creep into top ten content triggers checked by ISPs.
SPF records creep into top ten content triggers checked by ISPs. A report by email marketing software provider Lyris has revealed that use of the Sender Policy Framework (SPF)… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/09/sender-authentication-checks-rise/

Unsafe computing in abundance

Reports and statistics on unsafe computing practices.
Reports and statistics on unsafe computing practices. Last month saw a flurry of reports and statistics on unsafe computing practices. To kick off, almost a quarter of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/09/unsafe-computing-abundance/

September

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/09/

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 2007 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/09/september-issue-vb-published/

YouTube latest Storm hook

Fake video links aim to pull in yet more victims.
Fake video links aim to pull in yet more victims. The never-ending stream of 'Storm' attacks continued over the weekend with a new tactic - the latest spammed email campaign… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/youtube-latest-storm-hook/

Sony in more rootkit rows

Accusations of sneakiness and unsafe practices hit media giants again.
Accusations of sneakiness and unsafe practices hit media giants again.Sony has been tangled up in two separate rootkit scares in the past few days, with a brief outcry over hidden… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/sony-more-rootkit-rows/

FBI-led panel to provide insight into international fight against cybercrime

International law enforcement agencies set to join forces at VB2007 in Vienna.
International law enforcement agencies set to join forces at VB2007 in Vienna. International law enforcement agencies are set to join forces at the VB2007 anti-malware conference… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/fbi-led-panel-provide-insight-international-fight-against-cybercrime/

String of vulnerabilities found in ServerProtect

Several minor holes patched in Trend Micro corporate product.
Several minor holes patched in Trend Micro corporate product. A series of security issues have been reported in Trend Micro's ServerProtect server-level product, which could allow… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/string-vulnerabilities-found-serverprotect/

Four charged with writing Fujacks

Malware authors and sellers appear in Chinese court.
Malware authors and sellers appear in Chinese court. Four men have appeared in a public court in Hubei Province, China, charged with writing, selling and spreading the W32/Fujacks… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/four-charged-writing-fujacks/

Latest VB100 announced

Novell NetWare server products to be tested.
Novell NetWare server products to be tested. VB has issued a call for submissions for the latest VB100 comparative review, which will measure the performance of products for the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/latest-announced/

AVK tops latest AV-Test charts

Top four beat 99% in large collection scan.
Top four beat 99% in large collection scan. Testers at AV-Test.org have run 29 products over a massive collection of malware samples, with detection rates measured against 874,822… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/avk-tops-latest-av-test-charts/

Latest Storm barrage offers site memberships

New tactic provides logins to special-interest sites.
New tactic provides logins to special-interest sites. The 'Storm' attack has changed tactic yet again, with the latest set of spams providing login details to a wide selection of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/latest-storm-barrage-offers-site-memberships/

Monster haul of data reaped from job site

Trojan gathers 1.6 million sets of jobseeker records.
Trojan gathers 1.6 million sets of jobseeker records. Researchers at Symantec have reported discovering a server carrying 1.6 million entries from the popular jobseeking website… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/monster-haul-data-reaped-job-site/

Phish poses as Sophos malware alert

Fake security alarm lures users to spoofed site.
Fake security alarm lures users to spoofed site. A phishing email recently spammed out uses the name of security firm Sophos to lend credence to a fake malware alert, designed to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/phish-poses-sophos-malware-alert/

ClamAV taken over by Sourcefire

Snort maker buys into open-source AV.
Snort maker buys into open-source AV. Open-source anti-virus product ClamAV has been acquired by Sourcefire, the US-based company behind leading open-source intrusion detection… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/clamav-taken-over-sourcefire/

14 flaws fixed in bumper Patch Tuesday

Critical remote execution and hijack holes closed.
Critical remote execution and hijack holes closed.Microsoft's monthly 'Patch Tuesday' security bulletin includes nine separate bulletins this month, covering a total of 14… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/14-flaws-fixed-bumper-patch-tuesday/

Storm e-card malware keeps on coming

No end to flood of fake friendly greetings.
No end to flood of fake friendly greetings. A further wave of e-cards carrying links to 'Storm' malware (various labelled Nuwar, Peacomm, Dorf, Zhelatin) has been hitting inboxes… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/storm-e-card-malware-keeps-coming/

Webcam zero-day in Yahoo! Messenger

Video chat invites pose vulnerability danger.
Video chat invites pose vulnerability danger. A zero-day vulnerability has been reported in the webcam module of Yahoo! Messenger, allowing attackers remote access to systems open… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/webcam-zero-day-yahoo-messenger/

AV testing practices questioned

Professional and amateur tests criticised.
Professional and amateur tests criticised. Last week, IT industry commentator and renowned anti-anti-virus writer Robin Bloor released a typically inflammatory article implying… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/av-testing-practices-questioned/

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