VB Blog

VB2018 paper: Little Brother is watching – we know all your secrets!

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 1, 2019

At VB2018 in Montreal, researchers from Fraunhofer SIT looked at privacy vulnerabilities in legitimate Android family-tracking apps that leaked location data. Today, we publish both their paper and the video of their presentation.

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Threat intelligence teams should consider recruiting journalists

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 29, 2019

Threat intelligence teams would do well to recruit journalists, whose experience is crucial in today's threat landscape.

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From HSBC to product descriptions: the malicious emails bypassing your filters

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 28, 2019

Using data from our VBSpam lab, we looked at the malicious emails that have been missed recently by a large number of email security products.

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VB2018 paper: Inside Formbook infostealer

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 25, 2019

The Formbook information-stealing trojan may not be APT-grade malware, but its continuing spread means it can still be effective. At VB2018 in Montreal, Gabriela Nicolao, a researcher from Deloitte in Argentina, presented a short paper in which she looked at Formbook's background and history and analysed a sample of the malware. Today, we publish Gabriela's paper.

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The VB2019 CFP - how the selection procedure works

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 24, 2019

With the VB2019 Call for Papers having opened last week, we explain how the selection procedure works, which may help you during your abstract submission.

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VB2018 paper: From Hacking Team to hacked team to…?

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 18, 2019

Today we publish the VB2018 paper and video by ESET researcher Filip Kafka, who looked at the new malware by Hacking Team, after the company had recovered from the 2015 breach.

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The spam that is hardest to block is often the most damaging

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 17, 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. Worryingly, it is often the emails with a malicious attachment or a phishing link that are most likely to be missed.

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Throwback Thursday: We're all doomed

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Jan 17, 2019

Mydoom turns 15 this month, and is still being seen in email attachments. This Throwback Thursday we look back to March 2004, when Gabor Szappanos tracked the rise of W32/Mydoom.

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VB2019 call for papers - now open!

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 15, 2019

Have you analysed a new online threat? Do you know a new way to defend against such threats? Are you tasked with securing systems and fending off attacks? The call for papers for VB2019 is now open and we want to hear from you!

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VB2018 paper: Unpacking the packed unpacker: reversing an Android anti-analysis library

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 14, 2019

Today, we publish a VB2018 paper by Google researcher Maddie Stone in which she looks at one of the most interesting anti-analysis native libraries in the Android ecosystem. We also release the recording of Maddie's presentation.

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Tor exit node found to turn downloaded binaries into malware

Tor provides anonymity, not security, hence using HTTPS is essential.
Tor provides anonymity, not security, hence using HTTPS is essential. A security researcher has discovered a Tor exit node that was modifying binaries downloaded through it on the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/tor-exit-node-found-turn-downloaded-binaries-malware/

VB2014 paper: Exposing Android white collar criminals

Luis Corrons dives into the world of shady Android apps.
Luis Corrons dives into the world of shady Android apps.Over the next few months, we will be sharing VB2014 conference papers as well as video recordings of the presentations.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/paper-exposing-android-white-collar-criminals/

Black Hat Europe - day 2

IPv6 versus IDPS, XSS in WYSIWYG editors, and reflected file downloads.
IPv6 versus IDPS, XSS in WYSIWYG editors, and reflected file downloads. After a busy first day, I was somewhat glad that the talks on the second day of Black Hat Europe appealed… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/black-hat-europe-day-2/

Black Hat Europe - day 1

Programme packed with interesting talks.
Programme packed with interesting talks. Though the prestige of Black Hat Europe doesn't compare to that of its American parent conference, and the event certainly doesn't dominate… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/black-hat-europe-day-1/

VB2014 paper: DNSSEC - how far have we come?

Nick Sullivan describes how DNSSEC uses cryptography to add authentication and integrity to DNS responses.
Nick Sullivan describes how DNSSEC uses cryptography to add authentication and integrity to DNS responses.Over the next months, we will be sharing conference papers as well as… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/paper-dnssec-how-far-have-we-come/

POODLE attack forces the Internet to move away from SSL 3.0

Users and administrators urged to stop supporting the protocol, or at least to prevent downgrade attacks.
Users and administrators urged to stop supporting the protocol, or at least to prevent downgrade attacks. After Heartbleed and Shellshock, or the SSL/TLS attacks CRIME and BEAST,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/poodle-attack-forces-internet-move-away-ssl-3-0/

Report: 15 solutions achieve VBSpam award

Surprisingly, the presence of more URLs doesn't necessarily make spam easier to block.
Surprisingly, the presence of more URLs doesn't necessarily make spam easier to block. Yet again, we have good news for those who need to run a spam filter (in other words:… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/report-15-solutions-achieve-vbspam-award/

Windows zero-day used in targeted attacks

Vulnerability used to download BlackEnergy trojan - as discussed during VB2014.
Vulnerability used to download BlackEnergy trojan - as discussed during VB2014. Today is going to be a busy day for system administrators: they were already on high alert following… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/windows-zero-day-used-targeted-attacks/

VB2014 paper: The evolution of webinjects

Jean-Ian Boutin looks at the increased commoditization of webinjects.
Jean-Ian Boutin looks at the increased commoditization of webinjects.Virus Bulletin has always been about sharing information, and the Virus Bulletin conference is an important… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/paper-evolution-webinjects/

Paper: The Hulk

Raul Alvarez studies cavity file infector.
Raul Alvarez studies cavity file infector. Most file infectors increase the length of the infected file, as the malicious code is added as a new section of the host file, or to the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/paper-hulk/

Shellshock used to spread Mayhem

Malware switched to more effective Perl installer.
Malware switched to more effective Perl installer. One of the most prominent discussion topics during VB2014 was the 'Shellshock' vulnerability (CVE-2014-6271) in the popular Bash… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/shellshock-used-spread-mayhem/

October

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/

VB2014: Slides day three

Thanks all for a fantastic conference and see you in Prague... or in Denver!
Thanks all for a fantastic conference and see you in Prague... or in Denver! Two days ago, a lively panel discussion closed what we can only describe as a fantastic conference. For… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/09/slides-day-three/

'Windigo' research wins first annual Péter Szőr award

The first of many awards to commemorate brilliant researcher.
The first of many awards to commemorate brilliant researcher. When, in November last year, we heard of the passing of Péter Szőr, we wanted to do something to keep the memory of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/09/windigo-research-wins-first-annual-p-ter-sz-r-award/

VB2014: Slides day two

Another day of excellent presentations.
Another day of excellent presentations. The second day of VB2014 was just as successful as the first one, and saw 22 interesting presentations, divided over two parallel streams,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/09/slides-day-two/

VB2014: Slides day one

Almost £1,300 donated to WWF!
Almost £1,300 donated to WWF! The inaugural Virus Bulletin conference was held in 1991, making it one of the oldest security conferences in the world. It is also one of very few… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/09/slides-day-one/

VB2014 previews: an overview

Fourteen blog posts look ahead at the 24th Virus Bulletin conference.
Fourteen blog posts look ahead at the 24th Virus Bulletin conference. In just a few more hours, delegates will be able to collect their VB2014 badges before the conference really… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/09/previews-overview/

VB2014 preview: Tech Support Scams 2.0: an inside look into the evolution of the classic Microsoft tech support scam

Jérôme Segura looks at recent developments in malicious cold calls.
Jérôme Segura looks at recent developments in malicious cold calls.In the weeks running up to VB2014 (the 24th Virus Bulletin International Conference), we are looking at some of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/09/preview-tech-support-scams-2-0-inside-look-evolution-classic-microsoft-tech-support-scam/

VB2014 preview: Ubiquitous Flash, ubiquitous exploits and ubiquitous mitigation

Chun Feng and Elia Florio look at exploits targeting domain memory opcode in Adobe Flash.
Chun Feng and Elia Florio look at exploits targeting domain memory opcode in Adobe Flash.In the weeks running up to VB2014 (the 24th Virus Bulletin International Conference), we… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/09/preview-ubiquitous-flash-ubiquitous-exploits-and-ubiquitous-mitigation/

VB2014: frequently asked questions

Some useful information for those attending VB2014 - or those interested in attending.
Some useful information for those attending VB2014 - or those interested in attending.I haven't registered yet, but I'd like to attend. Can I still register? Yes, you can. Use our… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/09/frequently-asked-questions/

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