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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Latest VGrep

The latest version of the virus name lookup tool - VGrep, is now available.
The latest version of the virus name lookup tool - VGrep, is now available. VGrep is a system produced in an attempt to clear up some of the confusion surrounding the naming of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/latest-vgrep/

No deal for AOL employee

Judge refuses to accept guilty plea.
Judge refuses to accept guilty plea. A federal judge has refused to accept the guilty plea of a former AOL employee charged with selling the company's customer email list to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/no-deal-aol-employee/

Teen brought to book for Randex

British teenager sentenced.
British teenager sentenced. A 16-year-old British teenager has been given a six-month suspended sentence for his part in distributing the Randex worm. A total of four suspects… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/teen-brought-book-randex/

Deal for AOL employee

AOL worker accused of selling customer email lists offered deal.
AOL worker accused of selling customer email lists offered deal. A former AOL employee charged with selling the company's customer email list to spammers has been offered a plea… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/deal-aol-employee/

Trend ousts McAfee on Hotmail

Trend Micro to take over from McAfee as new provider of virus scanning for MSN.
Trend Micro to take over from McAfee as new provider of virus scanning for MSN. Trend Micro has announced that it is to be the new provider of virus scanning for Microsoft's MSN… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/trend-ousts-mcafee-hotmail/

ISP wins $1 billion against spammers

Largest judgement against spammers to date.
Largest judgement against spammers to date. A company in Iowa has been awarded a total of more than $1 billion in what is believed to be the largest judgement to date against… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/isp-wins-1-billion-against-spammers/

Virus Bulletin RSS feeds now support Live Bookmarks

Virus Bulletin RSS feeds now support 'Live bookmarks' allowing you to browse our latest headlines directly from your browsers bookmarks menu.
Virus Bulletin RSS feeds now support 'Live bookmarks' allowing you to browse our latest headlines directly from your browsers bookmarks menu. The Virus Bulletin RSS feeds now… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/rss-feeds-now-support-live-bookmarks/

GIANT purchase for Microsoft

Microsoft buys anti-spyware provider.
Microsoft buys anti-spyware provider. Microsoft announced yesterday that it has acquired anti-spyware firm GIANT Company Software Inc. Microsoft says it plans to use… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/giant-purchase-microsoft/

Anti-spam law 'unconstitutional'

Judge says Maryland anti-spam law is flawed.
Judge says Maryland anti-spam law is flawed. A judge has ruled that Maryland's anti-spam law is flawed because it violates the commerce clause of the US Constitution. The… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/anti-spam-law-unconstitutional/

Symantec to acquire Veritas?

Just in time for Christmas?
Just in time for Christmas? Symantec may be close to acquiring data storage firm Veritas, according to reports circulating on the Internet. AV firm Symantec, which has something… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/symantec-acquire-veritas/

Spyware-led investigations

Australian police given power to use spyware.
Australian police given power to use spyware. Police in Australia have been awarded the right to use spyware for evidence-gathering, thanks to a new law passed last week. Under… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/spyware-led-investigations/

DDoS stunt over

Lycos ends its 'make love not spam' campaign - but not before the file had been trojanised...
Lycos ends its 'make love not spam' campaign - but not before the file had been trojanised... Lycos has announced that it has ended its controversial 'Make Love not Spam'… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/ddos-stunt-over/

More spammers for the slammer?

Microsoft continues to make good use of its legal resources.
Microsoft continues to make good use of its legal resources. Microsoft has filed seven new lawsuits against spammers. The company is suing the individuals (who currently remain… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/more-spammers-slammer/

Hotmail originator turns to anti-spam

Sabeer Bhatia, the man behind Hotmail, has announced that he has invested in an anti-spam company
Sabeer Bhatia, the man behind Hotmail, has announced that he has invested in an anti-spam company Sabeer Bhatia, the man behind Hotmail, has announced that he has invested in an… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/hotmail-originator-turns-anti-spam/

Errata - Windows Server 2003 comparative review

VB regrets that three mistakes crept into the Comparative review published in the November issue.
VB regrets that three mistakes crept into the Comparative review published in the November issue. The mistakes were as follows: The version number for Sophos Anti Virus should… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/errata-windows-server-2003-comparative-review/

Academic research journal

Announcement and first call for papers of the European Research Journal in Computer Virology
Announcement and first call for papers of the European Research Journal in Computer Virology October saw the announcement and first call for papers of the European Research… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/academic-research-journal/

Most-spammed sees end in sight

Bill Gates says he hopes to have the spam problem under control within two years - again.
Bill Gates says he hopes to have the spam problem under control within two years - again. The world's most spammed email recipient, Bill Gates, said last month that he hopes to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/most-spammed-sees-end-sight/

News by email

New twice-monthly email newsletter dedicated to news and technical information about the spam and anti-spam arena launched.
New twice-monthly email newsletter dedicated to news and technical information about the spam and anti-spam arena launched. Last month saw the inaugural issue of a twice-monthly… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/news-email/

VB2005 call for papers

Virus Bulletin is seeking submissions from those wishing to present at VB2005 in Dublin - so set aside some time between the season's festive parties to get writing!
Virus Bulletin is seeking submissions from those wishing to present at VB2005 in Dublin - so set aside some time between the season's festive parties to get writing! Virus… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/call-papers/

FBI's virus blunder

Virus infection nearly blew the cover on a secret FBI fraud investigation two years ago.
Virus infection nearly blew the cover on a secret FBI fraud investigation two years ago. It has come to light that a virus infection nearly blew the cover on a secret FBI fraud… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2004/12/fbi-s-virus-blunder/

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