VB Blog

VB2021 localhost call for papers: a great opportunity

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Mar 17, 2021

VB2021 localhost presents an exciting opportunity to share your research with an even wider cross section of the IT security community around the world than usual, without having to take time out of your work schedule (or budget) to travel.

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New article: Excel Formula/Macro in .xlsb?

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Mar 2, 2021

In a follow-up to an article published last week, Kurt Natvig takes us through the analysis of a new malicious sample using the .xlsb file format.

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New article: Decompiling Excel Formula (XF) 4.0 malware

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Feb 23, 2021

In a new article, researcher Kurt Natvig takes a close look at XF 4.0 malware.

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The Bagsu banker case - presentation

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Jan 29, 2021

At VB2019, CSIS researcher Benoît Ancel spoke about a quiet banking trojan actor that has been targeting German users since at least 2014.

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VB2021 call for papers - now open, to all!

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Jan 19, 2021

The call for papers for VB2021 is now open and we want to hear from you - we're planning for flexible presentation formats, so everyone is encouraged to submit, regardless of whether or not you know at this stage whether you'll be able to travel to Prague!

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In memoriam: Yonathan Klijnsma

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Jan 11, 2021

We were very sorry to learn of the passing of researcher Yonathan Klijnsma last week. Here, former VB Editor Martijn Grooten shares his memories of a talented researcher and a very kind person: this month, infosec lost a really good one.

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VB2020 localhost videos available on YouTube

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Jan 8, 2021

VB has made all VB2020 localhost presentations available on the VB YouTube channel, so you can now watch - and share - any part of the conference freely and without registration.

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VB2020 presentation & paper: 2030: backcasting the potential rise and fall of cyber threat intelligence

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Dec 8, 2020

At VB2020 localhost, threat intelligence consultant Jamie Collier used the analytical technique of backcasting to look at the rise and fall of the cyber threat intelligence industry.

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VB2020 presentation: Behind the Black Mirror: simulating attacks with mock C2 servers

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Dec 4, 2020

At VB2020 localhost, Carbon Black's Scott Knight presented an approach he and his colleagues have taken to more realistically simulate malware attacks.

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VB2020 presentation & paper: Advanced Pasta Threat: mapping threat actor usage of open-source offensive security tools

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Dec 2, 2020

At VB2020, researcher Paul Litvak revealed how he put together a comprehensive map of threat actor use of open-source offensive security tools.

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Search blog

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/

Word zero-day exploited

Trojan uses unpatched hole in office software.
Trojan uses unpatched hole in office software. At least one trojan has been seen in the wild exploiting a newly discovered vulnerability in Microsoft's Word 2000 software. The… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/word-zero-day-exploited/

Subliminal message hidden in spam

Mail campaign aims to sneak into readers' subconscious minds.
Mail campaign aims to sneak into readers' subconscious minds. A spam campaign is using the classic 'submliminal message' technique in an attempt to implant thoughts in the minds of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/subliminal-message-hidden-spam/

Nine years for spam felon

Tough sentence upheld despite free-speech claims.
Tough sentence upheld despite free-speech claims. A US man convicted two years ago under the state of Virginia's anti-spam laws has lost an appeal against his conviction. The case,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/nine-years-spam-felon/

Gromozon mystery clearing

Cleaner tool aims to remove sophisticated attack.
Cleaner tool aims to remove sophisticated attack. The shadowy blended threat known as Gromozon has slowly been gaining notoriety in recent weeks, particularly after some in-depth… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/gromozon-mystery-clearing/

Phishing on the rise

One in three malicious emails a phish, says MessageLabs.
One in three malicious emails a phish, says MessageLabs. A report on the current state of digital security has revealed that phishing scams constitute a growing danger to computer… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/phishing-rise/

Mobile snoopware labelled spyware

Future phone privacy threatened.
Future phone privacy threatened. Reports this week highlighted the problem of spyware running on mobile phones, and the consequences this could have for privacy. A commercial… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/mobile-snoopware-labelled-spyware/

New New Zealand spam laws to allow spam

Adjustments to laws may let 'non-commercial' spam continue.
Adjustments to laws may let 'non-commercial' spam continue. Recommendations have been made to dilute tough new anti-spam laws currently being debated by the New Zealand government.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/new-new-zealand-spam-laws-allow-spam/

CA in Windows FP

eTrust identifies critical file as virus.
eTrust identifies critical file as virus. A mistake at CA caused some trouble over the weekend, as its eTrust products started identifying part of the Windows local authentication… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/ca-windows-fp/

September

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/

Future browsers battle phishing

Microsoft and Mozilla's upcoming new versions to include safety measures.
Microsoft and Mozilla's upcoming new versions to include safety measures. Pre-release versions of both Mozilla FireFox 2 and Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 have been unveiled,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/future-browsers-battle-phishing/

More MS06-040 worries

Vulnerability still causing problems.
Vulnerability still causing problems. There have been further reports of malware spreading using the MS06-040 vulnerability, announced and patched three weeks ago on Microsoft's… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/more-ms06-040-worries/

AT&T hack led to spearphish

Stolen details used to trick victims out of further info.
Stolen details used to trick victims out of further info. Transaction details stolen as part of last weekend's security breach of a shopping site run by US phone giant AT&T were… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/amp-t-hack-led-spearphish/

A fine, a curfew and a treasure hunt

Round up of the month's spammer penalties.
Round up of the month's spammer penalties. Kicking off a round-up of some of the anti-spam penalties issued worldwide this month, the Chinese government has made an underwhelming… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/fine-curfew-and-treasure-hunt/

September issue of VB published

The September issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The September issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The September 2006 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/september-issue-vb-published/

Spot that spammer

Quiz tests consumers' ability to identify spam causing sites.
Quiz tests consumers' ability to identify spam causing sites. Last month, McAfee invited web users to spot the undesirable website, in an eight-question quiz entitled: 'Can you… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/spot-spammer/

Nearly VB 100%

Near misses.
Near misses. In the recent Windows XP comparative review (see VB, June 2006, p.11), VB reported that VirusBuster failed to achieve the results required for a VB 100% award. After… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/nearly-vb-100/

Testing patience

Consumer Reports does it again.
Consumer Reports does it again. After having come in for a great deal of criticism in recent weeks over its AV testing methodology (see VB, September 2006, p.2), Consumer Reports… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/testing-patience/

Worm spreads via mobiles. Maybe.

PC malware thought capable of using phones as vector.
PC malware thought capable of using phones as vector.F-Secure has reported a new worm which attempts to spread via mobile phones. The 'Mobler' worm, once activated, copies itself… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/worm-spreads-mobiles-maybe/

eBay phishing ups its game

Decent spelling and convincing design aim to trick users.
Decent spelling and convincing design aim to trick users. Users of eBay, perennial subject of phishing scams, are currently being targeted by a more than usually well-crafted… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/ebay-phishing-ups-its-game/

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