VB Blog

Partner with VB2018 for extra visibility among industry peers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 8, 2018

Partnering with the VB conference links your company to a successful and well-established event, demonstrates your commitment to moving the industry forward, allows you to meet potential clients, be visible to industry peers and build lasting connections.

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VB2017 paper: The router of all evil

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 7, 2018

At VB2017 in Madrid, security researcher Himanshu Anand presented a paper on malware that targets routers, looking both at the topic in general and at some individual case studies. Today we publish both the paper (co-written with Chastine Menrige) and the recording of Himanshu's presentation.

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Using Mailchimp makes malware campaigns a little bit more successful

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 6, 2018

In recent months, some malicious spam campaigns have been spreading via the systems of Mailchimp, a well-known email service provider - a tactic which may give the campaigns a slightly higher success rate.

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VB2017 video: The state of cybersecurity in Africa: Kenya

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 1, 2018

Though many of the IT security issues we face are global, there is a noticeable difference in the threats faced in various countries and regions, as well as in the ways they are dealt with. At VB2017, we heard from Tyrus Kamau about the state of cybersecurity in Kenya. Today, we publish the video of Tyrus's talk.

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A crime against statistics that is probably worse than the cyber attacks faced in County Durham

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 21, 2018

A report on the number of cyber attacks faced by UK local authorities is a good example of how the large numbers seen in many reports on security are rather meaningless.

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NCSC gives important advice on lateral movement

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 20, 2018

The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has provided helpful and practical advice on preventing and detecting lateral movement by an attacker within a network.

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What kind of people attend Virus Bulletin conferences?

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 17, 2018

If you are considering submitting a proposal for a talk to VB2018 and you're not familiar with the event, you may find it useful to know what kind of people attend the conference.

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Olympic Games target of malware, again

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 15, 2018

An unattributed malware attack has disrupted some computer systems of the 2018 Winter Olympics. In 1994, a computer virus also targeted the Winter Olympics.

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There are lessons to be learned from government websites serving cryptocurrency miners

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 12, 2018

Thousands of websites, including many sites of government organisations in the UK, the US and Sweden, were recently found to have been serving a cryptocurrency miner. More interesting than the incident itself, though, are the lessons that can be learned from it.

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We need to continue the debate on the ethics and perils of publishing security research

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 9, 2018

An article by security researcher Collin Anderson reopens the debate on whether publishing threat analyses is always in the public interest.

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Search blog

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

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 pre…
Pulling the PKPLUG: the adversary playbook for the long-standing espionage activity of a Chinese nation-state adversary Read the paper (HTML) Download the paper (PDF)    … https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2020/03/vb2019-paper-pulling-pkplug-adversary-playbook-long-standing-espionage-activity-chinese-nation-state-adversary/

VB2019 paper: Exploring the Chinese DDoS landscape

China has long been a hotbed of DDoS activities, and today we publish a VB2019 paper by Intezer researcher Nacho Sanmillan who looked at Chinese threat groups engaged in performing DDoS attacks. We have also uploaded the recording of his presentation.
Exploring the Chinese DDoS landscape Read the paper (HTML) Download the paper (PDF)       China has long been a hotbed of DDoS activities, with several groups… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/12/vb2019-paper-exploring-chinese-ddos-landscape/

Conference review: AVAR 2017

Martijn Grooten reports on the 20th AVAR conference, which took place earlier in December in Beijing, China.
The first week of December was packed with security conferences, and VB2017 speakers were busy presenting their research at no fewer than four different events: FIRST in Prague,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/12/conference-review-avar-2017/

By removing VPNs from its Chinese App Store, Apple turns its biggest security asset against its users

To comply with Chinese laws, Apple has removed all iOS VPN apps from its Chinese app store. This means that the company uses iOS's strongest security asset, its tightly controlled App Store, against its own users.
A little over a month ago, Apple's iPhone celebrated its tenth birthday. The iPhone has been one of the biggest commercial success stories ever, but it has also been a great… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/08/removing-vpns-its-chinese-app-store-apple-turns-its-biggest-security-asset-aggasnt-its-users/

Small Talks return to the Virus Bulletin Conference

Following their success last year, this year a series of "Small Talks" return to the VB2016 conference programme. We are pleased to announce the details of six of these talks, covering subjects that range from the Chinese cybercriminal underground to Andr…
VB2015 was the 25th Virus Bulletin conference and, to celebrate the occasion, we added a third stream to the programme. Dubbed "Small Talks", these talks were longer than those on… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/08/small-talks-return-virus-bulletin-conference/

WireLurker malware infects iOS devices through OS X

Non-jailbroken devices infected via enterprise provisioning program.
Non-jailbroken devices infected via enterprise provisioning program. Researchers at Palo Alto Networks have published a research paper (PDF) analysing the 'WireLurker' malware that… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/11/wirelurker-malware-infects-ios-devices-through-os-x/

Hundreds of APTs linked to Chinese Army department

'Unit 61398' employs hundreds of people.
'Unit 61398' employs hundreds of people. A new report by security firm Mandiant links a large number of cyber-espionage cases to a department of the Chinese army. The report is… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/02/hundreds-apts-linked-chinese-army-department/

Significant rise in Chinese phishing sites

Phishers shown to care little about domain names.
Phishers shown to care little about domain names. In its latest 'Global Phishing Survey', the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) reports a significant increase in phishing sites… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/11/significant-rise-chinese-phishing-sites/

Chinese whispers of malware writing and bribery in the industry

As China corruption scandals rumble on, more rumours of malware writers in AV firms surface.
As China corruption scandals rumble on, more rumours of malware writers in AV firms surface. Several recent stories in the media have revolved around China and malware writers,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/12/chinese-whispers-malware-writing-and-bribery-industry/

More than 1 million Chinese phones infected with malware

Mobile botnet sending out SMS spam.
Mobile botnet sending out SMS spam. Over one million mobile phones in China have been infected with malware and are sending out SMS spam, the Shanghai Daily reports. Masquerading… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/11/more-1-million-chinese-phones-infected-malware/

Spammers move from China to Russia

Stricter rules on registering .cn domains leads to increase in malicious .ru domains.
Stricter rules on registering .cn domains leads to increase in malicious .ru domains. A change in the rules of the organization responsible for registering .cn domains has resulted… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/02/spammers-move-china-russia/

China hosting over half of malicious sites

StopBadware.org report highlights Chinese dominance in web malware.
StopBadware.org report highlights Chinese dominance in web malware. A report from StopBadware.org released last week found that 52% of malicious websites were hosted in China, with… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/06/china-hosting-over-half-malicious-sites/

China-Tibet row spills over into malware attacks

Both sides of debate targeted to spread malicious code.
Both sides of debate targeted to spread malicious code. With the political row over China's involvement in Tibet continuing to make the headlines, cybercriminals have been as quick… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/04/china-tibet-row-spills-over-malware-attacks/

UK spooks spooked by possible Chinese hacking

MI5 warns of suspected corporate espionage onslaught.
MI5 warns of suspected corporate espionage onslaught. The UK security service MI5 has issued an alert to 300 leading firms, warning them to ensure best possible security measures… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/12/uk-spooks-spooked-possible-chinese-hacking/

Infected Seagate hard drives sold in Taiwan

External Maxtor disks shipped carrying autorun datastealer.
External Maxtor disks shipped carrying autorun datastealer. A shipment of Maxtor external hard drives, produced in Thailand by US-based Seagate and sold in Taiwan, has been found… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/11/infected-seagate-hard-drives-sold-taiwan/

Fujacks/Panda virus authors sentenced, offered job

Fujacks author put away for four years.
Fujacks author put away for four years. Four men who were charged last month with writing, selling and spreading the W32/Fujacks virus and worm (a.k.a. the 'Panda burning… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/09/fujacks-panda-virus-authors-sentenced-offered-job/

China denies Pentagon hacking claims

'Hacked by Chinese' row rumbles on.
'Hacked by Chinese' row rumbles on. The Chinese government has vigorously denied accusations, made in a report in UK newspaper The Financial Times on Monday, that Chinese hackers… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/09/china-denies-pentagon-hacking-claims/

Four charged with writing Fujacks

Malware authors and sellers appear in Chinese court.
Malware authors and sellers appear in Chinese court. Four men have appeared in a public court in Hubei Province, China, charged with writing, selling and spreading the W32/Fujacks… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/four-charged-writing-fujacks/

China steps up fight against spammers

Blacklist aims to reduce massive spamming levels.
Blacklist aims to reduce massive spamming levels. Chinese web organisation the Internet Society of China (ISC) has announced the setting up of a central anti-spam blacklist, to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/06/china-steps-fight-against-spammers/

Symantec sued for false positive

Chinese FP issue leads to court case.
Chinese FP issue leads to court case. A Chinese lawyer has begun court proceedings against security firm Symantec, claiming damages as a result of the widely-publicised false… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/06/symantec-sued-false-positive/

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