VB Blog

VB2017 paper: Nine circles of Cerber

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 15, 2017

Cerber is one of the major names in the world of ransomware, and last year, Check Point released a decryption service for the malware. Today, we publish a VB2017 paper by Check Point's Stanislav Skuratovich describing how the Cerber decryption tool worked; we have also uploaded the video of the presentation of this paper, by Or Eshed and Yaniv Balmas.

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Attack on Fox-IT shows how a DNS hijack can break multiple layers of security

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 14, 2017

Dutch security firm Fox-IT deserves praise for being open about an attack on its client network. There are some important lessons to be learned about DNS security from its post-mortem.

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Throwback Thursday: BGP - from route hijacking to RPKI: how vulnerable is the Internet?

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 14, 2017

For this week's Throwback Thursday, we look back at the video of a talk Level 3's Mike Benjamin gave at VB2016 in Denver, on BGP and BGP hijacks.

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Security Planner gives security advice based on your threat model

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 13, 2017

Citizen Lab's Security Planner helps you improve your online safety, based on the specific threats you are facing.

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VB2017 video: Spora: the saga continues a.k.a. how to ruin your research in a week

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 11, 2017

Today, we publish the video of the VB2017 presentation by Avast researcher Jakub Kroustek and his former colleague Előd Kironský, now at ESET, who told the story of Spora, one of of the most prominent ransomware families of 2017.

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VB2017 paper: Modern reconnaissance phase on APT – protection layer

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 7, 2017

During recent research, Cisco Talos researchers observed the ways in which APT actors are evolving and how a reconnaissance phase is included in the infection vector in order to protect valuable zero-day exploits or malware frameworks. At VB2017 in Madrid, two of those researchers, Paul Rascagneres and Warren Mercer, presented a paper detailing five case studies that demonstrate how the infection vector is evolving. Today we publish both Paul and Warren's paper and the recording of their presentation.

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VB2017 paper: Peering into spam botnets

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 1, 2017

At VB2017 in Madrid, CERT Poland researchers Maciej Kotowicz and Jarosław Jedynak presented a paper detailing their low-level analysis of five spam botnets. Today we publish their full paper.

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Throwback Thursday: Anti-malware testing undercover

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 30, 2017

We look back at the VB2016 presentation by Righard Zwienenberg (ESET) and Luis Corrons (Panda Security), in which they discussed various issues relating to anti-malware testing.

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Virus Bulletin relaunches VB Security Jobs Market for both employers and job seekers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 30, 2017

As an independent body in the IT security industry, Virus Bulletin is in an ideal position to act as a global source of information both about jobs currently available in the field and about those candidates currently seeking to start or progress their career in the industry - which is why we have relaunched the VB Security Jobs Market.

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VB2017 paper: Offensive malware analysis: dissecting OSX/FruitFly.B via a custom C&C server

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 29, 2017

At VB2017 in Madrid, macOS malware researcher Patrick Wardle presented the details of a specific piece of Mac malware, FruitFly, which he analysed through a custom C&C server - a technique that will also be of interest for researchers of malware on other platforms. Today we publish both Patrick's paper and the recording of his presentation.

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Search blog

Study promotes challenge-response for anti-spam

Interactive system rated best blocker in questioned survey.
Interactive system rated best blocker in questioned survey. A study of anti-spam systems, using a bespoke scale to rate protection offered, has found the challenge-response method… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/study-promotes-challenge-response-anti-spam/

Ransomware returns

Trojan hides personal data, demands money with menaces.
Trojan hides personal data, demands money with menaces. A new version of a ransomware trojan has been sighted, recalling the warnings of two years ago when similar items first… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/ransomware-returns/

Microsoft files adware system patent

Ads could be targeted at users based on local system data.
Ads could be targeted at users based on local system data.Microsoft has filed a patent application for a new method of targeting advertising, using information on the contents of a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/microsoft-files-adware-system-patent/

MessageLabs may be next takeover target

Managed services provider thought ripe for acquisition.
Managed services provider thought ripe for acquisition. Managed security specialist MessageLabs has been labelled a likely candidate for takeover by one of the industry giants, in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/messagelabs-may-be-next-takeover-target/

Security industry future looks solid, say analysts

Reports predict revenues will continue rising.
Reports predict revenues will continue rising. Analyst firm Global Industry Analysts (GIA) has released its latest report on the future of the IT security market, predicting… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/security-industry-future-looks-solid-say-analysts/

Sony sues maker of MediaMax DRM system

CD protection developer accused of damaging Sony name.
CD protection developer accused of damaging Sony name.Sony BMG, the division of the Sony group embroiled in a long-running scandal after releasing a number of CDs using suspect… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/sony-sues-maker-mediamax-drm-system/

Japan to tighten spam laws

Proposals to further restrict email and phone spamming.
Proposals to further restrict email and phone spamming. The Japanese Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry is planning a series of improvements to current anti-spam… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/japan-tighten-spam-laws/

26 phishing arrests in Italy

Police swoop on Poste Italiane spam scam gangs.
Police swoop on Poste Italiane spam scam gangs. In a first for Italy, the Guardia Di Finanza has made 26 arrests from two separate groups of phishing fraudsters, in the culmination… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/26-phishing-arrests-italy/

Symantec, AVG suffer problems

Vulnerabilities and false positives strike major products.
Vulnerabilities and false positives strike major products.Symantec users have been warned of some serious issues with archive handling, across a wide range of software produced by… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/symantec-avg-suffer-problems/

Microsoft opens security 'portal'

New site carries prevalence data, updates and malware resources.
New site carries prevalence data, updates and malware resources. Security teams at Microsoft have been busy this week, with the full unveiling of the Microsoft Malware Protection… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/microsoft-opens-security-portal/

Controversy over IE-to-Firefox exploit

MS and Mozilla in row over blame for cross-browser attack.
MS and Mozilla in row over blame for cross-browser attack. An exploit which involves browsing to a malicious website using Internet Explorer, but then launches an attack via a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/controversy-over-ie-firefox-exploit/

7 flaws fixed in July Patch Tuesday release

Critical patches issued for Excel, Active Directory and .NET.
Critical patches issued for Excel, Active Directory and .NET.Microsoft has released a total of seven patches in its monthly 'Patch Tuesday' security update, with three of the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/7-flaws-fixed-july-patch-tuesday-release/

SEC brings case against pump-and-dump spammers

Scam spotted after spammed mail sent to SEC lawyer.
Scam spotted after spammed mail sent to SEC lawyer. Two men from Texas have been charged with a range of spam and fraud offences after a 20-month campaign using botnets to spam… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/sec-brings-case-against-pump-and-dump-spammers/

Spoof Spamhaus ads spammed out

Mail campaign claims to promote spam fighters.
Mail campaign claims to promote spam fighters. Spam-fighting organisation Spamhaus has been subjected to an attack on its reputation this week, with a sizeable campaign of spams… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/spoof-spamhaus-ads-spammed-out/

Fake malware infection alerts spammed out

Latest spam run masquerades as malware warning and fix.
Latest spam run masquerades as malware warning and fix. The group behind last week's Fourth of July spams are thought to be behind another campaign this week, with messages… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/fake-malware-infection-alerts-spammed-out/

Google buys Postini

Managed security service snapped up by giant.
Managed security service snapped up by giant. Ever-expanding web giant Google has continued its growth into both security and software-as-service spheres with the $625 million… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/google-buys-postini/

Trojan using webmail to send spam

Captcha systems possibly cracked to automate account creation.
Captcha systems possibly cracked to automate account creation.BitDefender has reported a new trojan attempting to bypass security measures on leading webmail systems Hotmail and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/trojan-using-webmail-send-spam/

Kaspersky sues Rising

Feuding AV firms to fight it out in court.
Feuding AV firms to fight it out in court.Kaspersky's Chinese subsidiary has brought a court case against local rival Rising, after an escalating war of words between the two… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/kaspersky-sues-rising/

Battle over Blackberry spyware threat

Spy tool for popular device claims to be legitimate.
Spy tool for popular device claims to be legitimate. The expansion of the FlexiSpy mobile device snooping software, originally available only for the Symbian platform but with… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/battle-over-blackberry-spyware-threat/

Fourth of July targeted by trojan spam

Celebration card emails carry links to malware.
Celebration card emails carry links to malware. A further wave of greetings-card spam has been widely seeded, in the wake of considerable Storm Worm activity in the last week, with… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/07/fourth-july-targeted-trojan-spam/

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