VB Blog

Paper: New Keylogger on the Block

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jul 5, 2016

In a new paper published by Virus Bulletin, Sophos researcher Gabor Szappanos takes a look at the KeyBase keylogger, sold as a commercial product and popular among cybercriminals who use it in Office exploit kits.

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BSides Denver to take place the day after VB2016

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 28, 2016

VB2016, the 26th International Virus Bulletin conference, is an excellent reason to go to Denver, Colorado in the first week of October. But there is another reason to come to Denver: BSides Denver, which will take place the day after VB2016, on Saturday 8 October 2016.

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VB2015 paper: DDoS Trojan: A Malicious Concept that Conquered the ELF Format

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Jun 13, 2016

In their VB2015 paper, Peter Kálnai and Jaromír Hořejší look at the current state of DDoS trojans forming covert botnets on unsuspecting systems. The paper provides a technical analysis of the most important malware families, focusing on infection methods, dynamic behaviour, C&C communication, obfuscation techniques, advanced methods of persistence and stealth, and elimination of rivals.

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Throwback Thursday: Hyppönen, that Data Fellow / Finnish Sprayer

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Jun 2, 2016

This week, well known and universally respected industry guru Mikko Hyppönen celebrates his 25th anniversary of working at F-Secure (formerly known as Data Fellows). VB takes a look back in the archives at two articles published in 1994: an "insight" into the life and work of the then rising star of the anti-virus world, and a virus analysis penned by the man himself.

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VB2015 paper: Economic Sanctions on Malware

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Jun 1, 2016

Financial pressure can be a proactive and potentially very effective tool in making our computer ecosystems safer. By cleverly employing various trust metrics and technologies such as digital signing, watermarking, and public-key infrastructure in strategically selected places, we can encourage good behaviours and punish bad ones. In his VB2015 paper, Igor Muttik analyses and gives examples of technologies (certificates, credentials, etc.) to de-incentivize bad behaviours in several ecosystems (Windows, Android, iOS).

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Virus Bulletin's job site for recruiters and job seekers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 26, 2016

Virus Bulletin has relaunched its security job vacancy service and added a new section, in which job seekers can advertise their skills and experience.

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Throwback Thursday: One_Half: The Lieutenant Commander?

Posted by   Helen Martin on   May 26, 2016

In October 1994, a new multi-partite virus appeared, using some of the techniques developed by the Dark Avenger in Commander_Bomber. As if this were not enough, the One_Half virus could also encrypt vital parts of the fixed disk. Eugene Kaspersky provided a detailed analysis.

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Advertisements on Blogspot sites lead to support scam

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 9, 2016

Support scam pop-ups presented through malicious advertisements show that, next to vulnerable end points, gullible users remain an easy source of money for online criminals.

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To make Tor work better on the web, we need to be honest about it

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 6, 2016

Many websites put barriers in front of visitors who use the Tor network. If we want to make the web more accessible through Tor, we need to be honest about why this is done, rather than cry wolf about a dislike for privacy, Martijn Grooten says.

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Paper: How It Works: Steganography Hides Malware in Image Files

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 28, 2016

A new paper by CYREN researcher Lordian Mosuela takes a close look at Gatak, or Stegoloader, a piece of malware that was discovered last year and that is controlled via malicious code embedded in a PNG image, a technique known as steganography.

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Search blog

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/

House of Lords warns of e-crime fears

Report recommends harder, smarter fight against online dangers.
Report recommends harder, smarter fight against online dangers. A major report by the Science and Technology Committee of the UK's House of Lords has found the internet to be rife… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/house-lords-warns-e-crime-fears/

Serious flaws patched in Norton 2006 products

Symantec users warned of vulnerabilities.
Symantec users warned of vulnerabilities. Users of Symantec's popular Norton AntiVirus and Norton Internet Security products are being urged to ensure they are running the latest… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/serious-flaws-patched-norton-2006-products/

57% of spam scam sites hosted in US

Study investigates sites and servers linked to from spam.
Study investigates sites and servers linked to from spam. A detailed investigation into the distribution and usage of webservers to host the various 'scams' pushed by spam… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/57-spam-scam-sites-hosted-us/

Kaspersky shuffles structure ready for IPO

Corporate reshaping prepares company for floatation.
Corporate reshaping prepares company for floatation. Russian security experts Kaspersky Lab have announced the setting up of a board of directors to run the company, as a step… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/kaspersky-shuffles-structure-ready-ipo/

Worries of Storm forming massive botnet

DDoS danger looms as infection levels boom.
DDoS danger looms as infection levels boom. Repeated waves of the 'Storm' trojan attacks continue to be spammed out, with the latest using more eCards to hook in still more… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/worries-storm-forming-massive-botnet/

Pharmacy spammer gets 30 years

'Rizler' convicted on drugs, conspiracy and money laundering charges.
'Rizler' convicted on drugs, conspiracy and money laundering charges. Notorious pharmaceuticals spammer Christopher 'Rizler' Smith was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment last week,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/pharmacy-spammer-gets-30-years/

AOL drops Kaspersky for McAfee

Web giant changes provider of free security software for members.
Web giant changes provider of free security software for members. Giant ISP and web services provider AOL is offering a free, special edition version of McAfee security software to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/aol-drops-kaspersky-mcafee/

Malware and phishing cost US users $7 billion in two years

Survey finds 1 in 4 risk of being hit by viruses, spyware and scams.
Survey finds 1 in 4 risk of being hit by viruses, spyware and scams. US consumer watchdog Consumer Reports has unveiled its annual 'State of the Net' study, showing serious numbers… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/malware-and-phishing-cost-us-users-7-billion-two-years/

Major pump-and-dump campaign floods inboxes

Heavy stock scam barrage ups spam levels 30%.
Heavy stock scam barrage ups spam levels 30%. A major PDF pump-and-dump campaign has been reported, with massive numbers of mails spammed out. According to spam watchers at Sophos,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/major-pump-and-dump-campaign-floods-inboxes/

AV market growth and predictions

Analysts report on industry growth and predict future growth.
Analysts report on industry growth and predict future growth. According to analyst firm Frost & Sullivan, the worldwide market for anti-virus solutions reached US$4.68 billion in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/av-market-growth-and-predictions/

August

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/

Security for critical infrastructures

DHS details security requirements for automated control systems.
DHS details security requirements for automated control systems. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has laid out a set of security requirements for automated control… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/security-critical-infrastructures/

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 2007 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/august-issue-vb-published/

Spammers sentenced

Sentences for first US spammer to be convicted under CAN-SPAM and Australian mobile phone marketers.
Sentences for first US spammer to be convicted under CAN-SPAM and Australian mobile phone marketers. The first US spammer to be convicted under the 2003 CAN-SPAM Act was… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/spammers-sentenced/

Worm trashes music files

MP3s targeted for destruction.
MP3s targeted for destruction. A new worm has been spotted attempting to delete .mp3 music files from infected systems and attached devices. Once a machine is compromised, the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/worm-trashes-music-files/

Trojans and worms hiding behind games

Mario latest lure to hook victims on malware.
Mario latest lure to hook victims on malware. Social engineering techniques used to trick computer users into running malicious code on their systems concentrate around simple… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/trojans-and-worms-hiding-behind-games/

Spreadsheets latest spam message carriers

XLS files follow PDFs as junk email ad vector.
XLS files follow PDFs as junk email ad vector. After the image spam deluge and the recent wave of spams carrying their messages in PDF files, the latest trend seems to be… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/spreadsheets-latest-spam-message-carriers/

Series of products hit by vulnerabilities

Researcher finds flaws in ESET, Panda and Norman AV software.
Researcher finds flaws in ESET, Panda and Norman AV software. Researcher Sergio Alvarez has reported on vulnerabilities found in a string of anti-virus products this week, with… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/series-products-hit-vulnerabilities/

VB2007 - call for last-minute presentations

Virus Bulletin is seeking submissions from those wishing to present last-minute technical papers at VB2007 in Vienna.
Virus Bulletin is seeking submissions from those wishing to present last-minute technical papers at VB2007 in Vienna. Virus Bulletin is seeking submissions from those wishing to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/call-last-minute-presentations/

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