VB Blog

VB2016 video: Last-minute paper: Malicious proxy auto-configs: an easy way to harvest banking credentials

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 30, 2017

In a VB2016 last-minute presentation, Jaromír Horejší and Jan Širmer looked at Retefe, a trojan that has targeted banks in several European countries and used malicious proxy auto-config filesto redirect users' traffic to a server controlled by the attackers. A recording of their presentation is now available to view on our YouTube channel.

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WannaCry shows we need to understand why organizations don't patch

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 17, 2017

Perhaps the question we should be asking about WannaCry is not "why do so many organizations allow unpatched machines to exist on their networks?" but "why doesn't patching work reasonably well most of the time?"

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Modern security software is not necessarily powerless against threats like WannaCry

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 15, 2017

The WannaCry ransomware has affected many organisations around the world, making it probably the worst and most damaging of its kind. But modern security is not necessarily powerless against such threats.

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Throwback Thursday: CARO: A personal view

Posted by   Helen Martin on   May 11, 2017

This week sees the 11th International CARO Workshop taking place in Krakow, Poland – a prestigious annual meeting of anti-malware and security experts. As a founding member of CARO, Fridrik Skulason was well placed, in August 1994, to shed some light on the organization, to explain in detail CARO's main activities and functions, as well as the reasons behind its strict membership regulations.

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VB2016 paper: Uncovering the secrets of malvertising

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 10, 2017

Malicious advertising, a.k.a. malvertising, has evolved tremendously over the past few years to take a central place in some of today’s largest web-based attacks. It is by far the tool of choice for attackers to reach the masses but also to target them with infinite precision and deliver such payloads as ransomware. Today, we publish a paper presented at VB2016 in Denver by Malwarebytes researchers Jérôme Segura and Chris Boyd, in which they look at the advertising ecosystem, how it is used, and at what techniques are being utilised to spread malware

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Throwback Thursday: Tools of the DDoS Trade

Posted by   Helen Martin on   May 4, 2017

As DDoS attacks become costlier to fix and continue to increase in both number and diversity, we turn back the clock to 2000, when Aleksander Czarnowski took a look at the DDoS tools of the day.

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VB2016 paper: Building a local passiveDNS capability for malware incident response

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 4, 2017

At VB2016, Splunk researchers Kathy Wang and Steve Brant presented a Splunk app that can be used to locally collect passive DNS data. A recording of their presentation is now available to view on our YouTube channel.

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VB2016 video: Last-minute paper: A malicious OS X cocktail served from a tainted bottle

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 28, 2017

In a VB2016 last-minute presentation, ESET researchers Peter Kalnai and Martin Jirkal looked at the OS X malware threats KeRanger and Keydnap, that both spread through a compromised BitTorrent client. A recording of their presentation is now available to view on our YouTube channel.

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Consumer spyware: a serious threat with a different threat model

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 25, 2017

Consumer spyware is a growing issue and one that can have serious consequences: its use is increasingly common in domestic violence. But do our threat models consider the attacker with physical access to, and inside knowledge of the victim?

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VB2016 paper: Debugging and monitoring malware network activities with Haka

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 24, 2017

In their VB2016 paper, Stormshield researchers Benoît Ancel and Mehdi Talbi introduced Haka, an open-source language to monitor, debug and control malicious network traffic. Both their paper and the video recording of their presentation are now available to read/view on www.virusbulletin.com.

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Search blog

'Direct' cost of malware infections on the decline

Report finds direct costs from malware infections declined over last two years.
Report finds direct costs from malware infections declined over last two years. A report by Computer Economics has stated that the financial impact of malware infections fell to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/06/direct-cost-malware-infections-decline/

Spammer enters guilty plea

Admits to having spammed 1.2 million AOL customers.
Admits to having spammed 1.2 million AOL customers. A Brooklyn man has pleaded guilty to having sent spam messages to over 1.2 million AOL customers in August 2005. According to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/06/spammer-enters-guilty-plea/

Serious holes in Yahoo! Messenger

Critical vulnerabilities fully disclosed.
Critical vulnerabilities fully disclosed. Two security flaws in the popular Yahoo! Messenger communications software have been reported, with full details available online before a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/06/serious-holes-yahoo-messenger/

Spam barrages take down filters, networks

Report shows increase in spam bombardment attacks.
Report shows increase in spam bombardment attacks.MessageLabs' monthly report on the latest trends in spam has warned of an alarming rise in 'spam spikes', targeted attacks which… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/06/spam-barrages-take-down-filters-networks/

Amero case sent for retrial

Spyware popup teacher told earlier trial was flawed.
Spyware popup teacher told earlier trial was flawed. Connecticut temporary teaching assistant Julie Amero, convicted of exposing minors to danger when a classroom computer she had… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/06/amero-case-sent-retrial/

Microsoft details 'Stirling' integrated suite

Comprehensive security product promised in next-gen Forefront.
Comprehensive security product promised in next-gen Forefront.Microsoft, whose Forefront corporate anti-malware system is the latest step in a continuing onslaught on the security… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/06/microsoft-details-stirling-integrated-suite/

Online malware dangers analysed

Google, McAfee release webserver, search result figures.
Google, McAfee release webserver, search result figures. Two reports out this week have revealed some interesting statistics on the security dangers involved in browsing the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/06/online-malware-dangers-analysed/

CA struck by vulnerability

CAB handling issue affects swathe of products.
CAB handling issue affects swathe of products. Two flaws related to the handling of CAB archive files by the CA anti-virus engine have been reported, rendering products across CA's… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/06/ca-struck-vulnerability/

Pestilent spammer arrested

Another 'spam king' locked up.
Another 'spam king' locked up. A man described by anti-spam organisation Spamhaus as 'one of the most persistent professional spammers' was arrested in Seattle late last month… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/06/pestilent-spammer-arrested/

Anti-spam laws take hold in Hong Kong

Tough new controls aim at stamping out spam.
Tough new controls aim at stamping out spam. Hong Kong has become the latest place to see the introduction of anti-spam laws, with the first phase of a two-stage process coming… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/06/anti-spam-laws-take-hold-hong-kong/

June issue of VB published

The June issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The June issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The June 2007 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or download… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/06/june-issue-vb-published/

Vulnerabilities galore

May was a month of flaw revelations, with vulnerabilities being disclosed in the products of no fewer than nine security vendors.
May was a month of flaw revelations, with vulnerabilities being disclosed in the products of no fewer than nine security vendors. May was a month of flaw revelations, with… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/06/vulnerabilities-galore/

June

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/06/

Vulnerabilities strike more AV firms, and Mac too

F-Secure and Authentium patch holes, while Samba flaws worry Apple users.
F-Secure and Authentium patch holes, while Samba flaws worry Apple users. Users of Mac OS X, used to a cosy sense of security, have been warned of possible penetration vectors… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/06/vulnerabilities-strike-more-av-firms-and-mac-too/

Symantec sued for false positive

Chinese FP issue leads to court case.
Chinese FP issue leads to court case. A Chinese lawyer has begun court proceedings against security firm Symantec, claiming damages as a result of the widely-publicised false… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/06/symantec-sued-false-positive/

Another 'Spam King' arrested

Spammer brought to book after 4-year campaign.
Spammer brought to book after 4-year campaign. A Seattle man was indicted yesterday on numerous charges of fraud and deception in relation to a campaign of spamming dating back to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/06/another-spam-king-arrested/

Google buys into security

Google makes stealth purchase of security firm.
Google makes stealth purchase of security firm. Search and entertainment giant Google completed the purchase of Internet security firm GreenBorder Technologies in mid-May - but… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/google-buys-security/

Google stashing adware on Dell systems, says OpenDNS founder

Toolbar partnership accused of devious spyware tactics.
Toolbar partnership accused of devious spyware tactics. The partnership between search giant Google and hardware behemoth Dell, which has led to the popular Google Toolbar being… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/google-stashing-adware-dell-systems-says-opendns-founder/

Overflows hit NOD32

Vulnerabilities disclosed after patching.
Vulnerabilities disclosed after patching. Two stack-overflow vulnerabilities have been disclosed in Eset's flagship NOD32 AntiVirus product, which could have been exploited to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/overflows-hit-nod32/

IETF accepts DKIM specification as proposed standard

Email authentication system moves to approval stage.
Email authentication system moves to approval stage. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the body overseeing the technical running of the Internet, has accepted a new… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/ietf-accepts-dkim-specification-proposed-standard/

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