VB Blog

VB2018 presentation: Levelling up: why sharing threat intelligence makes you more competitive

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Mar 1, 2019

In a presentation at VB2018, Michael Daniel, President and CEO of the Cyber Threat Alliance, outlined exactly how threat sharing strengthens a company's competitive advantage. Today we release the recording of his presentation.

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The malspam security products miss: Emotet, Ursnif, and a spammer's blunder

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 25, 2019

The set-up of the VBSpam test lab gives us a unique insight into the kinds of emails that are more likely to bypass email filters. This week we look at the malspam that was missed: a very international email with a link serving Emotet, an Italian Ursnif campaign with a password-protected ZIP and an email to which a clumsy spammer had attached a list of email addresses rather than a payload.

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VB2018 paper: The modality of mortality in domain names

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 22, 2019

Domains play a crucial role in most cyber attacks, from the very advanced to the very mundane. Today, we publish a VB2018 paper by Paul Vixie (Farsight Security) who undertook the first systematic study into the lifetimes of newly registered domains.

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VB2018 paper: Analysing compiled binaries using logic

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 20, 2019

Constraint programming is a lesser-known technique that is becoming increasingly popular among malware analysts. In a paper presented at VB2018 Thaís Moreira Hamasaki presented an overview of the technique and explained how it can be applied to the analysis of (potentially) malicious binaries. Today, we publish both Thaís' paper and the video of her presentation.

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Virus Bulletin encourages experienced speakers and newcomers alike to submit proposals for VB2019

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 19, 2019

With a little less than a month before the deadline of the call for papers for VB2019, Virus Bulletin encourages submissions from experienced speakers and newcomers alike.

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VB2018 paper: Internet balkanization: why are we raising borders online?

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Feb 13, 2019

At VB2018 in Montreal, Ixia researcher Stefan Tanase presented a thought-provoking paper on the current state of the Internet and the worrying tendency towards raising borders and restricting the flow of information. Today we publish both his paper and the recording of his presentation.

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The malspam security products miss: banking and email phishing, Emotet and Bushaloader

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 11, 2019

The set-up of the VBSpam test lab gives us a unique insight into the kinds of emails that are more likely to bypass email filters. This week we look at the malspam that was missed: banking and email phishing, Emotet and Bushaloader.

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VB2018 paper: Where have all the good hires gone?

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Feb 8, 2019

The cybersecurity skills gap has been described as one of the biggest challenges facing IT leaders today. At VB2018 in Montreal, ESET's Lysa Myers outlined some of the things the industry can do to help address the problem. Today we publish Lysa's paper and the recording of her presentation.

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Preview: Nullcon 2019

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 5, 2019

We look forward the Nullcon 2019 conference in Goa, India, at which VB Editor Martijn Grooten will give a talk on the state of malware.

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From Amazon to Emotet: a look at those phishing and malware emails that bypassed email security products

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 3, 2019

We see a lot of spam in the VBSpam test lab, and we also see how well such emails are being blocked by email security products. Recently some of the emails that bypassed security products included a broken Amazon phishing campaign, a large fake UPS campaign and malicious emails carrying Emotet and Lokibot.

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Vulnerability reported in IE

ActiveX flaw opens another hole in MS browser.
ActiveX flaw opens another hole in MS browser. Yet another bug has been found in Microsoft's browser Internet Explorer, only days after a previous problem was patched for the third… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/vulnerability-reported-ie/

Symantec hit by vulnerabilities

Two flaws in alert handling unveiled.
Two flaws in alert handling unveiled. Two separate vulnerabilites in the alert notification handling systems of Symantec products have been reported this week. Symantec Client… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/symantec-hit-vulnerabilities/

Chain letter email reaps addresses

Fake research a harvesting trick by spammers.
Fake research a harvesting trick by spammers. An email widely spammed out in recent days claiming to be part of a research project into email use is in fact a scam designed to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/chain-letter-email-reaps-addresses/

Spamhaus fined $11.7 million for blocking spam

US judgement meaningless, says UK anti-spam project.
US judgement meaningless, says UK anti-spam project. An Illinois court has passed a judgement demanding UK-based spam advisory organisation Spamhaus pay $11.7 million in damages to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/spamhaus-fined-11-7-million-blocking-spam/

ISP wins $11 million from spammers

Judgement in EarthLink lawsuit grants heavy payout.
Judgement in EarthLink lawsuit grants heavy payout. US ISP giant EarthLink, a regular champion of the CAN-SPAM Act, has won yet another case against a spammer. The judgement passed… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/isp-wins-11-million-spammers/

Sony DRM/AOL combo breaks computers

Anti-spyware tool attacks rootkit, kills CD drive.
Anti-spyware tool attacks rootkit, kills CD drive. An alert has been issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas, warning that an anti-spyware product from AOL has a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/sony-drm-aol-combo-breaks-computers/

Patch Tuesday light on patches

MS patches previous patches, but not Word exploit.
MS patches previous patches, but not Word exploit.Microsoft's monthly 'Patch Tuesday' release of security fixes has been relatively quiet, with only three new bugs repaired, in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/patch-tuesday-light-patches/

Barclays phish spammed widely

64% of recent phishes targeting global brand.
64% of recent phishes targeting global brand. Reports from Panda Software warn of a major phishing campaign targeting users of Barclays online banking, causing a 30% rise in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/barclays-phish-spammed-widely/

Star sites host most malware

Celebrities bigger lure than sex, says McAfee.
Celebrities bigger lure than sex, says McAfee. A report on adware and spyware from McAfee has stated that celebrity sites, rather than those pushing pornography or other widely… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/star-sites-host-most-malware/

Zotob authors jailed

One year, two years for worm writing duo.
One year, two years for worm writing duo. Courts in Morocco have convicted two men accused of having a hand in the creation and distribution of the 'Zotob' worm, which struck… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/zotob-authors-jailed/

Fake news site carries trojan

Conspiracy warning spam points to exploit web page.
Conspiracy warning spam points to exploit web page. A spam campaign is directing Australian readers to a faked news site designed to drop a trojan. The initial mails carry a stark… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/fake-news-site-carries-trojan/

Phishing records broken in July

Highest ever numbers of phishing sites and brands, reports APWG.
Highest ever numbers of phishing sites and brands, reports APWG. 154 brands were recorded as targets for phishing attempts in July, according to the Anti Phishing Working Group… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/phishing-records-broken-july/

Spearphishers track eBay trades

Auction losers tempted by second-chance phishes.
Auction losers tempted by second-chance phishes. As part of the general trend of more focused phishing, users of online auction house eBay are reporting phishes directly targeting… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/spearphishers-track-ebay-trades/

Botnet keepers rake in adware cash

Zombie herder makes $430 per day from single piece of adware.
Zombie herder makes $430 per day from single piece of adware. According to research by the German Honeynet Project, a botnet controller who installed adware including DollarRevenue… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/botnet-keepers-rake-adware-cash/

More AV products suffer flaws

Vulnerabilities found in AntiVir and avast!.
Vulnerabilities found in AntiVir and avast!. Security defects in two anti-virus products have been reported by security watch company Secunia in the last week. While the AntiVir… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/more-av-products-suffer-flaws/

Samsung site hosting malware

Websense reports trojans found on electronics giant's servers.
Websense reports trojans found on electronics giant's servers. A US-hosted website belonging to Samsung Telecommunications America, a subsidiary of South Korean electronics giant… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/samsung-site-hosting-malware/

Zango not guilty on spyware charges

Spyware bad, adware OK, says court.
Spyware bad, adware OK, says court. Adware-supported 'online media company' Zango has had accusations of using spyware dashed by a Chicago, Illinois court. The class action case,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/zango-not-guilty-spyware-charges/

Phishers cast nets less wide

More scams hitting fewer targets, says report.
More scams hitting fewer targets, says report. According to RSA Security's August report on online fraud, the number of brands attacked by phishing scams fell by 20% last month,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/phishers-cast-nets-less-wide/

'Magic Quadrant' study unveiled

AV industry future revealed - must do better.
AV industry future revealed - must do better. Industry analyst and predictor Gartner has released its annual 'Magic Quadrant' study of the current state and likely future of the AV… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/magic-quadrant-study-unveiled/

MS sues UK spammer

Civil action avoids spam law technicalities.
Civil action avoids spam law technicalities.Microsoft has sued and reached an out-of-court settlement with UK spammer Paul Fox, after apparently despairing of finding any success… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/ms-sues-uk-spammer/

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