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

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/

Woolworths to join UK AV market

Retail chain set to issue own-label software range.
Retail chain set to issue own-label software range. Major UK high street retailer Woolworths is set to follow supermarket giant Tesco in releasing its own-brand range of software… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/woolworths-join-uk-av-market/

Huge haul of ID data stolen by trojan

Smart Russian spyware gathered info 'unnoticed' for 54 days.
Smart Russian spyware gathered info 'unnoticed' for 54 days. According to researchers at SecureWorks, a sophisticated trojan which spread through browser exploits, harvested… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/huge-haul-id-data-stolen-trojan/

Search, link and trackback spam flooding web

Blogs, social sites and search results rivaling email for junk ads.
Blogs, social sites and search results rivaling email for junk ads. Email, long the most popular and lucrative means of getting advertising in front of computer users, is being… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/search-link-and-trackback-spam-flooding-web/

Malware danger and profitability rising

Symantec, FBI reports show general increases in money-driven threats.
Symantec, FBI reports show general increases in money-driven threats. Two major new reports on computer security issues have shown a steady rise in just about every aspect of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/malware-danger-and-profitability-rising/

MS admits serious problems with OneCare

Detection failures and other issues confirmed, improvements promised.
Detection failures and other issues confirmed, improvements promised.Microsoft's Windows Live OneCare, hit by a series of public relations difficulties recently with failures in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/ms-admits-serious-problems-onecare/

RSA to provide trojan removal services

Anti-fraud system provides avenue for reporting and stopping targeted attacks.
Anti-fraud system provides avenue for reporting and stopping targeted attacks. Security firm RSA has announced a new system to block spyware and phishing fraud, by taking down… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/rsa-provide-trojan-removal-services/

Yet more vulnerabilities in major security products

Serious McAfee buffer overflow flaws join yet another Trend UPX issue.
Serious McAfee buffer overflow flaws join yet another Trend UPX issue. Several vulnerabilities have been found in McAfee's ePolicy Orchestrator management tool, which could be… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/yet-more-vulnerabilities-major-security-products/

No fanfare for Windows Server 2003 SP2

Major update release emerges in mysterious silence.
Major update release emerges in mysterious silence.Microsoft has released a new service pack for its Windows Server 2003 platform, almost entirely without warning or promotion. The… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/no-fanfare-windows-server-2003-sp2/

Trend takes over HijackThis

Popular free spyware-spotting tool acquired by security giant.
Popular free spyware-spotting tool acquired by security giant.Trend Micro has announced the acquisition of HijackThis, the popular freely available tool designed to reveal hidden… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/trend-takes-over-hijackthis/

UK bankers show 44% rise in online theft

APACS study records major increase in phishing fraud earnings.
APACS study records major increase in phishing fraud earnings. UK banking payments body APACS has released its latest figures for credit card and other types of banking fraud,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/uk-bankers-show-44-rise-online-theft/

OneCare causing Outlook havoc

Old mailbox deletion bug resurfaces, upsets users
Old mailbox deletion bug resurfaces, upsets usersMicrosoft's Windows Live OneCare has been the cause of considerable frustration to its users recently, with an issue with the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/onecare-causing-outlook-havoc/

SEC halts trading in spammed stocks

Share trading in 35 pumped and dumped companies suspended.
Share trading in 35 pumped and dumped companies suspended. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced yesterday that it had suspended trading in the stocks of 35… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/sec-halts-trading-spammed-stocks/

New Zealand passes anti-spam law

As bulk emailing is regulated in NZ, Canada hears calls for similar laws.
As bulk emailing is regulated in NZ, Canada hears calls for similar laws. The New Zealand government announced last week the final passing of a law to control spam originating in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/new-zealand-passes-anti-spam-law/

March Patch Tuesday cancelled

MS announces no security patches this month.
MS announces no security patches this month. With several known vulnerabilities still affecting Windows and other products, Microsoft has announced that there will be no security… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/march-patch-tuesday-cancelled/

Report on TLD DNS DDoS attack released

Fact sheet on web root server bombardment published by ICANN.
Fact sheet on web root server bombardment published by ICANN. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the body responsible for controlling the DNS system… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/report-tld-dns-ddos-attack-released/

Gromozon hijacks Italian MSN searches

Link bombing pushes blended spyware attack to top of popular search results.
Link bombing pushes blended spyware attack to top of popular search results. The gang behind the sophisticated Gromozon blended threat, also known as LinkOptimizer, is thought to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/gromozon-hijacks-italian-msn-searches/

OneCare fails another detection test

Microsoft product found not up to scratch in AV-Comparatives review.
Microsoft product found not up to scratch in AV-Comparatives review. Respected testing organisation AV-Comparatives has released the results of its latest in-depth test of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/03/onecare-fails-another-detection-test/

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