VB Blog

Subtle change could see a reduction in installation of malicious Chrome extensions

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 13, 2018

Google has made a subtle change to its Chrome browser, banning the inline installation of new extensions, thus making it harder for malware authors to trick users into unwittingly installing malicious extensions.

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Paper: EternalBlue: a prominent threat actor of 2017–2018

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 11, 2018

We publish a paper by researchers from Quick Heal Security Labs in India, who study the EternalBlue and DoublePulsar exploits in full detail.

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'North Korea' a hot subject among VB2018 talks

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Jun 1, 2018

Several VB2018 papers deal explicitly or implicitly with threats that have been attributed to North Korean actors.

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Expired domain led to SpamCannibal's blacklist eating the whole world

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 31, 2018

The domain of the little-used SpamCannibal DNS blacklist had expired, resulting in it effectively listing every single IP address.

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MnuBot banking trojan communicates via SQL server

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 30, 2018

Researchers at IBM X-Force have discovered MnuBot, a banking trojan targeting users in Brazil, which is noteworthy for using SQL Server for command and control communication.

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Throwback Thursday: Giving the EICAR test file some teeth

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 24, 2018

The 68-byte EICAR test file plays as important a role today as it did 19 years ago. In this week's Throwback Thursday we look back at a VB99 conference paper in which Randy Abrams described how this 'miracle tool' worked and how it could be used.

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XMRig used in new macOS cryptominer

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 23, 2018

A new piece of cryptocurrency-mining malware on macOS has been found to use the popular XMRig miner.

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Tendency for DDoS attacks to become less volumetric fits in a wider trend

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 22, 2018

CDN provider Cloudflare reports an increase in DDoS attacks targeting layer 7 and focusing on exhausting server resources rather than sending large volumes of data. This fits in a wider trend.

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Turkish Twitter users targeted with mobile FinFisher spyware

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 15, 2018

Through fake social media accounts, users were tricked into installing an Android application that was actually a mobile version of the FinFisher spyware.

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Hide'n'Seek IoT botnet adds persistence

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 9, 2018

The Hide'n'Seek IoT botnet has received an update to make its infection persist on infected devices beyond a restart.

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Search blog

Spam-fighters coalition formed

ICSA announces cooperative forum of anti-spam developers.
ICSA announces cooperative forum of anti-spam developers.CyberTrust-owned ICSA Labs has announced the formation of the Anti-Spam Product Developers' Consortium, a grouping of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/spam-fighters-coalition-formed/

US lengthens lead as top spammer

Rivals improve record to leave US spamming rate a standout.
Rivals improve record to leave US spamming rate a standout. The US remains the world's leading source of spam, easily beating off competition from rivals China and several European… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/us-lengthens-lead-top-spammer/

New exploits emerge in wake of Patch Tuesday

Security update release cycle leads to attack release cycle.
Security update release cycle leads to attack release cycle. With the monthly 'Patch Tuesday' issue of security updates over, the now customary revelations of further… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/new-exploits-emerge-wake-patch-tuesday/

Linux/iPod proof-of-concept sighted

New minority platform joins infectable list.
New minority platform joins infectable list. Virus analysts have reported receiving samples of a proof-of-concept virus for the iPodLinux operating system, a port of the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/linux-ipod-proof-concept-sighted/

Microsoft reveals more issues on Patch Tuesday

Fix for earlier .ani patch and another Vista issue included in batch.
Fix for earlier .ani patch and another Vista issue included in batch. Five out of six vulnerabilities patched by Microsoft yesterday, in April's 'Patch Tuesday' monthly security… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/microsoft-reveals-more-issues-patch-tuesday/

Kaspersky patches series of vulnerabilities

ActiveX and overflow issues allowed remote data theft, local system attacks.
ActiveX and overflow issues allowed remote data theft, local system attacks. Several vulnerabilities have been revealed in many Kaspersky security products, including ActiveX flaws… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/kaspersky-patches-series-vulnerabilities/

UK ISP association issues spam guidelines

ISPA best practices document advises providers on spam control.
ISPA best practices document advises providers on spam control. The UK Internet Services Providers' Association (ISPA), a voluntary grouping of service providers and other Internet… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/uk-isp-association-issues-spam-guidelines/

Spam costing US companies over $70 billion per year

Survey finds junk email costs $713 per head in loss of productivity.
Survey finds junk email costs $713 per head in loss of productivity. A study into the impact of spam on US businesses has produced some startling figures for the financial impact… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/spam-costing-us-companies-over-70-billion-year/

NASA hacker loses case against extradition

UK man should face trial in States despite threats, say judges.
UK man should face trial in States despite threats, say judges. Greg McKinnon, the British hacker accused of breaking into NASA and US military networks while apparently… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/nasa-hacker-loses-case-against-extradition/

Animated cursor flaw patched out of cycle

Microsoft reacts fast to widespread zero-day exploitation.
Microsoft reacts fast to widespread zero-day exploitation.Microsoft have once again broken their monthly patching cycle to release a fix for a vulnerability which has been the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/animated-cursor-flaw-patched-out-cycle/

Swiss spam law to enforce user security

New law may penalise careless zombie hosts.
New law may penalise careless zombie hosts. New anti-spam laws come into effect in Switzerland on Sunday, imposing strict curbs on spamming and strong punishment for perpetrators.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/swiss-spam-law-enforce-user-security/

Phishing attacks reach new high

APWG releases phishing figures for January.
APWG releases phishing figures for January. Phishing attacks and password-stealing applications both reached record levels in January 2007 according to the latest report from the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/phishing-attacks-reach-new-high/

Third round for US anti-spyware bill

Anti-spyware legislation presented in US House of Representatives for third time.
Anti-spyware legislation presented in US House of Representatives for third time. Anti-spyware legislation was presented for the third time in the US House of Representatives last… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/third-round-us-anti-spyware-bill/

April

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/

April issue of VB published

The April issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The April issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The April 2007 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/april-issue-vb-published/

VB2007 conference programme revealed

VB has revealed the conference programme for VB2007, Vienna.
VB has revealed the conference programme for VB2007, Vienna. VB has revealed the conference programme for VB2007, Vienna. Once again, the three-day conference programme boasts… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/conference-programme-revealed/

Scammers launch anti-terrorist hotline

Met Police website spoofed by 419 scammers.
Met Police website spoofed by 419 scammers. Last month saw the appearance of the latest 419 scamming trick: 'anti-terrorist certificates' sold via a fake version of the London… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/scammers-launch-anti-terrorist-hotline/

Another Windows zero-day exploit seen in wild

Trojans sneaking in through animated cursor flaw.
Trojans sneaking in through animated cursor flaw. A vulnerability has been discovered in the handling of .ani files, used for animated cursors on web pages and in HTML emails, and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/another-windows-zero-day-exploit-seen-wild/

Major companies hosting spam bots

Zombies in corporate networks spotted pumping out spam.
Zombies in corporate networks spotted pumping out spam. Network security company Support Intelligence has found evidence of bot-infected zombies sending spam from within many of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/major-companies-hosting-spam-bots/

Genuine sites hacked by spammers

PHP flaws used to lend legitimate air to spam content.
PHP flaws used to lend legitimate air to spam content. Webmasters are being warned to ensure their sites are properly protected, after a wave of spams have been spotted using links… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/genuine-sites-hacked-spammers/

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