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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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/

Norton FP trashes Chinese systems

Vital DLLs flagged as malware disable Windows XP across China.
Vital DLLs flagged as malware disable Windows XP across China. A serious false positive, caused by an erroneous update to Symantec's Norton Anti-virus product range issued late… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/norton-fp-trashes-chinese-systems/

Zango sues PC Tools for $35 million

'Reformed' adware shippers upset by detection and removal.
'Reformed' adware shippers upset by detection and removal. Adware and sometime spyware maker Zango has brought a suit against anti-spyware firm PC Tools complaining that the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/zango-sues-pc-tools-35-million/

New spam-fighting system for France

Junk mail blacklisting project goes live.
Junk mail blacklisting project goes live. A group of public bodies and private companies have joined forces to implement a new system allowing French email users to report spam… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/new-spam-fighting-system-france/

Estonian websites suffer wave of DoS attacks

Baltic republic accuses Russia of cyber-warfare.
Baltic republic accuses Russia of cyber-warfare. A wave of denial of service (DoS) attacks on Estonian websites has prompted the Estonian government to accuse its neighbour of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/estonian-websites-suffer-wave-dos-attacks/

Verizon acquires Cybertrust

ICSA Labs parent company subsumed.
ICSA Labs parent company subsumed.Verizon Business, a division of Verizon Communications has announced that it is set to acquire managed security services supplier Cybertrust. The… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/verizon-acquires-cybertrust/

Symantec files 8 piracy suits

Symantec pursues distributors of counterfeit software.
Symantec pursues distributors of counterfeit software.Symantec has revealed that it has filed civil lawsuits against eight US and Canadian companies accused of selling counterfeit… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/symantec-files-8-piracy-suits/

Phishing techniques and technology revealed

Serious software used to analyse phished data, and a phisher talks.
Serious software used to analyse phished data, and a phisher talks. Some insights into the workings of phishing scams were revealed this week, as a sophisticated tool designed to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/phishing-techniques-and-technology-revealed/

1.4 million Chinese infected over holiday week

May vacations bring trojan avalanche for gamers and filesharers.
May vacations bring trojan avalanche for gamers and filesharers. Chinese computers, in heavy use with many people off work for the Labour Day holiday week, have suffered a major… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/1-4-million-chinese-infected-over-holiday-week/

Latest flaws affect AV giants

Symantec, McAfee and CA all patch vulnerabilities.
Symantec, McAfee and CA all patch vulnerabilities. Three of the biggest names in the security sector, McAfee, Symantec and CA, have all revealed details of flaws in their software… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/latest-flaws-affect-av-giants/

ZOO archive issues hit security vendors

Errors handling rare format patched by four AV and anti-spam products.
Errors handling rare format patched by four AV and anti-spam products. A researcher has revealed details of flawed implementation of a somewhat archaic archive format, .zoo, which… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/zoo-archive-issues-hit-security-vendors/

Phishing moves into more new areas

Surveys, phone lines, USB sticks and call girls the latest tactics for spammers and phishers.
Surveys, phone lines, USB sticks and call girls the latest tactics for spammers and phishers. The latest social-engineering methods being put to use by phishers show no let up in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/phishing-moves-more-new-areas/

7 critical flaws patched on Patch Tuesday

May Security Bulletin covers wide range of vulnerabilities.
May Security Bulletin covers wide range of vulnerabilities.Microsoft's latest 'Patch Tuesday' security bulletin included fixes for seven vulnerabilities, all rated 'Critical' and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/7-critical-flaws-patched-patch-tuesday/

Five ISPs hosting a third of malware, says study

StopBadware survey finds small group of ISPs most to blame.
StopBadware survey finds small group of ISPs most to blame. In a recent study of almost 50,000 sites known to be hosting malware, five ISPs have been identified as repeat… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/five-isps-hosting-third-malware-says-study/

Questionable false positive file removed

Amendment to VB's April Linux comparative review.
Amendment to VB's April Linux comparative review. In Virus Bulletin's April 2007 Linux comparative review (see VB, April 2007, p.11), VB reported that ESET's product NOD32 had… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/questionable-false-positive-file-removed/

Microsoft to beat Symantec to corporate release punch

With Forefront due out soon, Symantec's latest release suffers further delay.
With Forefront due out soon, Symantec's latest release suffers further delay.Microsoft has announced the release to manufacture of Forefront Client, the corporate implementation of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/microsoft-beat-symantec-corporate-release-punch/

Law to stop spam reaching kids dubbed a failure

Utah registry to protect children's email leaks cash and addresses.
Utah registry to protect children's email leaks cash and addresses. A law enacted in the state of Utah, as well as some other states, with the aim of preventing spammers from… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/law-stop-spam-reaching-kids-dubbed-failure/

I-SPY chases SPY-ACT through approval process

Second piece of US anti-spyware legislation given go-ahead.
Second piece of US anti-spyware legislation given go-ahead. With the 'Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act' (aka SPY-ACT act) approved by a House of Representatives… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/i-spy-chases-spy-act-through-approval-process/

Botnet DoS no longer profitable

Extortion attacks fall as herders find easier money elsewhere.
Extortion attacks fall as herders find easier money elsewhere. The use of armies of botnets to carry out denial-of-service attacks on lucrative websites, as a method of extorting… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/botnet-dos-no-longer-profitable/

Touchy mail blocker upsets Gay

Content filter berates woman for using own name in mails.
Content filter berates woman for using own name in mails. A woman has complained to the New Zealand ISP Telecom after an email she sent them was bounced back to her, with a message… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/touchy-mail-blocker-upsets-gay/

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