VB Blog

VB2019 paper: Defeating APT10 compiler-level obfuscations

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Mar 13, 2020

At VB2019 in London, Carbon Black researcher Takahiro Haruyama presented a paper on defeating compiler-level obfuscations used by the APT10 group. Today we publish both Takahiro's paper and the recording of his presentation.

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VB2019 paper: Attribution is in the object: using RTF object dimensions to track APT phishing weaponizers

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Mar 12, 2020

At VB2019 in London Michael Raggi (Proofpoint) and Ghareeb Saad (Anomali) presented a paper on the 'Royal Road' exploit builder (or weaponizer) and how the properties of RTF files can be used to track weaponizers and their users. Today we publish both their paper and the recording of their presentation.

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VB2019 presentation: Nexus between OT and IT threat intelligence

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Mar 11, 2020

Operational technology, the mission critical IT in ICS, shares many similarities with traditional IT systems, but also some crucial differences. During the Threat Intelligence Practitioners’ Summit at VB2019, Dragos cyber threat intelligence analyst Selena Larson gave a keynote on these similarities and differences. Today we release the recording of her presentation.

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VB2019 paper: Kimsuky group: tracking the king of the spear-phishing

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Mar 10, 2020

In a paper presented at VB2019 in London, researchers fron the Financial Security Institute detailed the tools and activities used by the APT group 'Kimsuky', some of which they were able to analyse through OpSec failures by the group. Today, we publish their paper.

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VB2019 paper: Play fuzzing machine - hunting iOS and macOS kernel vulnerabilities automatically and smartly

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Mar 9, 2020

In a paper presented at VB2019 in London, Trend Micro researchers Lilang Wu and Moony Li explained how the hunt for vulnerabilities in MacOS and iOS operating systems can be made both smarter and more automatic. Today we publish both their paper and the recording of their presentation.

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VB2019 paper: Finding drive-by rookies using an automated active observation platform

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Mar 6, 2020

In a last-minute paper presented at VB2019 in London, Rintaro Koike (NTT Security) and Yosuke Chubachi (Active Defense Institute, Ltd) discussed the platform they have built to automatically detect and analyse exploit kits. Today we publish the recording of their presentation.

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VB2019 paper: Pulling the PKPLUG: the adversary playbook for the long-standing espionage activity of a Chinese nation state adversary

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Feb 28, 2020

The activities of China-based threat actor PKPLUG were detailed in a VB2019 paper by Palo Alto Networks researcher Alex Hinchliffe, who described the playbook of this long-standing adversary. Today we publish both Alex's paper and the recording of his presentation.

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VB2019 paper: Static analysis methods for detection of Microsoft Office exploits

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Feb 25, 2020

Today we publish the VB2019 paper and presentation by McAfee researcher Chintan Shah in which he described static analysis methods for the detection of Microsoft Office exploits.

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New paper: LokiBot: dissecting the C&C panel deployments

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Feb 17, 2020

First advertised as an information stealer and keylogger when it appeared in underground forums in 2015, LokiBot has added various capabilities over the years and has affected many users worldwide. In a new paper researcher Aditya Sood analyses the URL structure of the LokiBot C&C panels and how they have evolved over time.

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VB2019 presentation: Building secure sharing systems that treat humans as features not bugs

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Feb 14, 2020

In a presentation at VB2019 in London, Virtru's Andrea Limbago described how, by exploring data sharing challenges through a socio-technical lens, it is possible to make significant gains toward the secure sharing systems and processes that are vital for innovation and collaboration. Today we release the recording of her presentation.

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Search blog

VB2014 preview: Labelling spam through the analysis of protocol patterns

Andrei Husanu and Alexandru Trifan look at what TCP packet sizes can teach us.
Andrei Husanu and Alexandru Trifan look at what TCP packet sizes can teach us.In the weeks running up to VB2014 (the 24th Virus Bulletin International Conference), we will look at… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/preview-labelling-spam-through-analysis-protocol-patterns/

VB2014 preview: Optimized mal-ops. Hack the ad network like a boss

Researchers Vadim Kotov and Rahul Kashyap to discuss how advertisements are the new exploit kits.
Researchers Vadim Kotov and Rahul Kashyap to discuss how advertisements are the new exploit kits.In the weeks running up to VB2014 (the 24th Virus Bulletin International… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/preview-optimized-mal-ops-hack-ad-network-boss/

Guest blog: Cyber insurance, is it for you?

Sorin Mustaca looks at how companies trading online can insure the risks they run.
Sorin Mustaca looks at how companies trading online can insure the risks they run.Throughout its 25 year history, Virus Bulletin has regularly published technical analyses of the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/guest-blog-cyber-insurance-it-you/

Google to take tough stance on homoglyph attacks

Good idea, but unlikely to have a huge impact.
Good idea, but unlikely to have a huge impact. Ever since internationalized domain names (IDNs) were introduced in the last decade, allowing people to use non-ASCII characters in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/google-take-tough-stance-homoglyph-attacks/

VB2014 preview: P0wned by a barcode

Fabio Assolini to speak about malware targeting boletos.
Fabio Assolini to speak about malware targeting boletos.In the weeks running up to VB2014, we will look at some of the research that will be presented at the conference. In the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/preview-p0wned-barcode/

Paper: Inside the iOS/AdThief malware

75,000 jailbroken iOS devices infected with malware that steals ad revenues.
75,000 jailbroken iOS devices infected with malware that steals ad revenues. Believing that the device or operating system you use reduces your chance of being affected by malware… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/paper-inside-ios-adthief-malware/

$83k in bitcoins 'stolen' through BGP hijack

Short-lived network changes used to make miners connect to rogue pool.
Short-lived network changes used to make miners connect to rogue pool. Researchers at Dell SecureWorks have discovered an operation that used BGP hijacking to force bitcoin miners… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/83k-bitcoins-stolen-through-bgp-hijack/

Report: 15 solutions achieve VBSpam award

Despite short spike, image spam no problem for spam filters.
Despite short spike, image spam no problem for spam filters. Good news for those who need to run a spam filter (in other words: everyone who runs a mail server). For the second… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/report-15-solutions-achieve-vbspam-award/

Researchers release CryptoLocker decryption tool

Tool uses private keys found in database of victims.
Tool uses private keys found in database of victims.Please note: this blog post was written in August 2014 and refers to a particular kind of encryption-ransomware that was active… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/researchers-release-cryptolocker-decryption-tool/

Paper: IcoScript: using webmail to control malware

RAT gets instructions from Yahoo Mail address.
RAT gets instructions from Yahoo Mail address. One of the big challenges for malicious actors in operating a RAT (remote administration tool) is how to control the malware and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/paper-icoscript-using-webmail-control-malware/

August

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/

Paper: Learning about Bflient through sample analysis

Flexible module-handling mechanism allows malware to adjust functionalities at will.
Flexible module-handling mechanism allows malware to adjust functionalities at will. The history of the 'Bflient' worm goes back to the discovery of its first variants in June… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/07/paper-learning-about-bflient-through-sample-analysis/

Report: VB100 comparative review on Windows 7

29 out of 35 tested products earn VB100 award.
29 out of 35 tested products earn VB100 award. The various changes at Virus Bulletin mean that things are busier than ever in our office. Still, behind the scenes we continue to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/07/report-comparative-review-windows-7/

Call for last-minute papers for VB2014 announced

Seven speaking slots waiting to be filled with presentations on 'hot' security topics.
Seven speaking slots waiting to be filled with presentations on 'hot' security topics. Earlier this year, we announced the programme for VB2014: three days filled with excellent… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/07/call-last-minute-papers-announced/

Paper: Mayhem - a hidden threat for *nix web servers

New kind of malware has the functions of a traditional Windows bot, but can act under restricted privileges in the system.
New kind of malware has the functions of a traditional Windows bot, but can act under restricted privileges in the system. One of the main trends in malware in recent years is a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/07/paper-mayhem-hidden-threat-nix-web-servers/

Google's Project Zero to hunt for zero-days

Bugs to be reported to the vendor only, and to become public once patched.
Bugs to be reported to the vendor only, and to become public once patched.Google has created a new team, called Project Zero, whose task is to find vulnerabilities in any kind of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/07/google-s-project-zero-hunt-zero-days/

Paper: API-EPO

Raul Alvarez studies the unique EPO methodology used by the W32/Daum file infector.
Raul Alvarez studies the unique EPO methodology used by the W32/Daum file infector. A few months ago, we published an article by Fortinet's Raul Alvarez on the Expiro file… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/07/paper-api-epo/

Paper: Not old enough to be forgotten: the new chic of Visual Basic 6

Marion Marschalek looks at two Miuref binaries: one packed with Visual Basic 6 and one with C++.
Marion Marschalek looks at two Miuref binaries: one packed with Visual Basic 6 and one with C++. Two months ago, Microsoft announced it had added 'Miuref' to its Malicious Software… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/07/paper-not-old-enough-be-forgotten-new-chic-visual-basic-6/

Paper: VBA is not dead!

Gabor Szappanos looks at the resurgence of malicious VBA macros that use social engineering to activate.
Gabor Szappanos looks at the resurgence of malicious VBA macros that use social engineering to activate.Macro malware had long been assumed dead. After all, macros are disabled by… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/07/paper-vba-not-dead/

'Cyber attack on hedge fund' turns out to be internal 'scenario' used by BAE Systems

Story that appeared to be taken from fiction turns out... to have been fiction.
Story that appeared to be taken from fiction turns out... to have been fiction. Two weeks after BAE Systems reported its technicians had thwarted an attack against hedge fund… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/07/cyber-attack-hedge-fund-turns-out-be-internal-scenario-used-bae-systems/

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