VB Blog

VB2019 paper: Fantastic Information and Where to Find it: A guidebook to open-source OT reconnaissance

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 22, 2019

A VB2019 paper by FireEye researcher Daniel Kapellmann Zafra explained how open source intelligence (OSINT) can be used to learn crucial details of the inner workings of many a system. Today we publish Daniel's paper and the recording of his presentation.

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VB2019 paper: Different ways to cook a crab: GandCrab Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) analysed in depth

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 21, 2019

Though active for not much longer than a year, GandCrab had been one of the most successful ransomware operations. In a paper presented at VB2019 in London, McAfee researchers John Fokker and Alexandre Mundo looked at the malware code, its evolution and the affiliate scheme behind it. Today we publish both their paper and the recording of their presentation.

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VB2019 paper: Domestic Kitten: an Iranian surveillance program

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 18, 2019

At VB2019 in London, Check Point researchers Aseel Kayal and Lotem Finkelstein presented a paper detailing an Iranian operation they named 'Domestic Kitten' that used Android apps for targeted surveillance. Today we publish their paper and the video of their presentation.

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VB2019 video: Discretion in APT: recent APT attack on crypto exchange employees

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 18, 2019

At VB2019 in London, LINE's HeungSoo Kang explained how cryptocurrency exchanges had been attacked using Firefox zero-days. Today, we publish the video of his presentation.

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VB2019 paper: DNS on fire

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 7, 2019

In a paper presented at VB2019, Cisco Talos researchers Warren Mercer and Paul Rascagneres looked at two recent attacks against DNS infrastructure: DNSpionage and Sea Turtle. Today we publish their paper and the recording of their presentation.

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German Dridex spam campaign is unfashionably large

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 6, 2019

VB has analysed a malicious spam campaign targeting German-speaking users with obfuscated Excel malware that would likely download Dridex but that mostly stood out through its size.

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Paper: Dexofuzzy: Android malware similarity clustering method using opcode sequence

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 5, 2019

We publish a paper by researchers from ESTsecurity in South Korea, who describe a fuzzy hashing algorithm for clustering Android malware datasets.

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Emotet continues to bypass many email security products

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 4, 2019

Having returned from a summer hiatus, Emotet is back targeting inboxes and, as seen in the VBSpam test lab, doing a better job than most other malicious campaigns at bypassing email security products.

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VB2019 paper: We need to talk - opening a discussion about ethics in infosec

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 1, 2019

Those working in the field of infosec are often faced with ethical dilemmas that are impossible to avoid. Today, we publish a VB2019 paper by Kaspersky researcher Ivan Kwiatkowski looking at ethics in infosec as well as the recording of Ivan's presentation.

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Stalkerware poses particular challenges to anti-virus products

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 31, 2019

Malware used in domestic abuse situations is a growing threat, and the standard way for anti-virus products to handle such malware may not be good enough. But that doesn't mean there isn't an important role for anti-virus to play.

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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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