VB Blog

Paying a malware ransom is bad, but telling people never to do it is unhelpful advice

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 26, 2016

The current ransomware plague is one of the worst threats the Internet has seen and it is unlikely to go away any time soon. But telling people to never pay the ransom is unhelpful advice.

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VB2015 paper: VolatilityBot: Malicious Code Extraction Made by and for Security Researchers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 22, 2016

In his VB2015 paper, Martin Korman presented his 'VolatilyBot' tool, which extracts malicious code from packed binaries, leveraging the functionality of the Volatility Framework.

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VB2016 programme announced, registration opened

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 21, 2016

We have announced 37 papers (and four reserve papers) that will be presented at VB2016 in Denver, Colorado, USA in October. Registration for the conference has opened; make sure you register before 1 July to benefit from a 10% early bird discount.

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New tool helps ransomware victims indentify the malware family

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 15, 2016

The people behind the MalwareHunterTeam have released a tool that helps victims of ransomware identify which of more than 50 families has infected their system, something which could help them find a tool to decrypt their files.

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It's fine for vulnerabilities to have names — we just need not to take them too seriously

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 13, 2016

The PR campaign around the Badlock vulnerability backfired when it turned out that the vulnerability wasn't as serious as had been suggested. But naming vulnerabilities can actually be helpful and certainly shouldn't hurt.

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Throwback Thursday: The Number of the Beasts

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Apr 7, 2016

The Virus Bulletin Virus Prevalence Table, which ran from 1992 until 2013, gave users a regular snapshot of what was really going on in the virus (and later malware) world, recording the number of incidents of each virus reported to VB in the preceding month. In August 2000, Denis Zenkin, a self-confessed virus prevalence table junkie, shared his findings following a study of the virus prevalence tables over the preceding few years, allowing him to determine the top ten viruses of the period, the top viruses by type and the viruses of the year.

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Paper: All Your Meetings Are Belong to Us: Remote Code Execution in Apache OpenMeetings

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 30, 2016

Security researcher Andreas Lindh recently found a vulnerability in Apache OpenMeetings that could allow remote code execution on a vulnerable server. Andreas reported the vulnerability to the OpenMeetings developers and, once it had been patched, he wrote up the details.

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Throwback Thursday: 'In the Beginning was the Word...'

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Mar 24, 2016

Word and Excel’s internal file formats used to be something in which few were interested – until macro viruses came along and changed all that. In 1996, Andrew Krukov provided an overview of the new breed of viruses.

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VB2016 Call for Papers Deadline

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 18, 2016

You have until the early hours (GMT) of Monday 21 March to submit an abstract for VB2016! The VB2016 programme will be announced in the first week of April.

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How broken is SHA-1 really?

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 15, 2016

SHA-1 collisions may be found in the next few months, but that doesn't mean that fake SHA-1-based certificates will be created in the near future. Nevertheless, it is time for everyone, and those working in security in particular, to move away from outdated hash functions.

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Search blog

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/

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/

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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