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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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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