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

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/

Major seeding of Storm trojans seen

Latest wave of variants followed up by further fake warnings.
Latest wave of variants followed up by further fake warnings. Yet another wave of malware has been widely spammed out, using similar tactics to previous attacks evolving from the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/major-seeding-storm-trojans-seen/

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/

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/

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/

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/

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/

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/

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/

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/

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/

MySpace latest to sue spammer Wallace

Social site takes on notorious junk mail merchant.
Social site takes on notorious junk mail merchant. Serial spammer Sanford 'Spamford' Wallace faces yet another lawsuit, this time from hugely popular social networking site… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/myspace-latest-sue-spammer-wallace/

TJX hack thought biggest ever

Over 45 million card numbers gathered in massive breach.
Over 45 million card numbers gathered in massive breach. A report into a security breach at major US retailer TJX has revealed a lengthy and sophisticated attack which scooped vast… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/tjx-hack-thought-biggest-ever/

Fujacks writer's removal tool slated

Virus creator's anti-virus not up to scratch, says Symantec.
Virus creator's anti-virus not up to scratch, says Symantec. A cleanup tool created by the writer of the Fujacks virus, also known as the 'Panda burning incense' virus in reference… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/fujacks-writer-s-removal-tool-slated/

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