VB Blog

Five tips for submitting to Calls for Papers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Aug 9, 2017

With the VB2017 Call for Papers out, here are five tips to increase your chances of getting your submission accepted.

Read more  

The WannaCry kill switch wasn't inserted to make someone a hero

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Aug 8, 2017

Following the arrest of WannaCry hero Marcus Hutchings, suggestions have been made that he was behind the WannaCry malware itself, and that he inserted the kill switch to make himself a hero. This seems highly unlikely.

Read more  

Throwback Thursday: Ten memorable Virus Bulletin conference presentations - part 1

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Aug 3, 2017

In a two-part blog post series, we look back at ten memorable VB conference presentations from the past ten years.

Read more  

Worms wiggling inside your networks are a lot harder to stop

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Aug 3, 2017

The authors of the Trickbot banking trojan seem to have taken note of the use of SMB by WannaCry and (Not)Petya and have added an (experimental) module that uses SMB for lateral movement.

Read more  

VB2017 drinks reception to be hosted in Madrid's unique Geographic Club

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Aug 1, 2017

To give those attending VB2017 Madrid a chance to experience a little bit of the host city, the VB2017 drinks reception will be held at the unique and fascinating Geographic Club.

Read more  

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

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Aug 1, 2017

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.

Read more  

VB2017 Small Talks and reserve papers announced

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jul 28, 2017

Today we announce the first two Small Talks for the VB2017 programme: ENISA will provide its perspective on the WannaCry outbreak and the lessons learned from it, while David Harley will talk about the past and present of security product testing.

Read more  

NoMoreRansom's first birthday demonstrates importance of collaboration

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jul 27, 2017

This week the NoMoreRansom project celebrated its first birthday. It has already helped many victims of ransomware with advice and tools and is an excellent example of collaboration between private and public partners in IT security.

Read more  

VB2017 call for last-minute papers opened

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jul 26, 2017

Today, we open the call for last-minute papers for VB2017. Submit before 3 September to have your abstract considered for one of the ten slots reserved for 'hot' research.

Read more  

Five reasons to come to VB2017 in Madrid

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jul 25, 2017

We're not ones to make bold claims about our conference, and we suggest you ask past attendees for their opinion, but here are five reasons why we think you should come to VB2017 in Madrid.

Read more  

Search blog

VB2019 paper: Spoofing in the reeds with Rietspoof

In a VB2019 paper Avast researchers Jan Sirmer, Luigino Camastra and Adolf Středa revealed full details of the Rietspoof malware. Today we publish their paper and the recording of the presentation given by Jan and Luigino in London.
Spoofing in the reeds with Rietspoof Read the paper (HTML) Download the paper (PDF)     The Call for Papers for VB2020 in Dublin is open! Submit your abstract before… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2020/01/vb2019-paper-spoofing-reeds-rietspoof/

VB2017 video: Spora: the saga continues a.k.a. how to ruin your research in a week

Today, we publish the video of the VB2017 presentation by Avast researcher Jakub Kroustek and his former colleague Előd Kironský, now at ESET, who told the story of Spora, one of of the most prominent ransomware families of 2017.
First discovered at the beginning of the year, the Spora ransomware has become one of of the most prominent ransomware families of 2017, especially in Russia, a region it appears… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/12/vb2017-video-spora-saga-continues-k-how-ruin-your-research-week/

Malicious CCleaner update points to a major weakness in our infrastructure

Researchers from Cisco Talos have found that a recent version of the widely used CCleaner tool installed malware on the machine.
For the security community, 2017 might well be called the year of the update: two of the biggest security stories – the WannaCry outbreak and the Equifax breach – involved… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/09/malicious-ccleaner-update-points-major-weakness-our-infrastructure/

Avast acquires AVG for $1.3bn

Anti-virus vendor Avast has announced the acquisition of its rival AVG for 1.3 billion US dollars.
There was interesting news in the anti-virus world yesterday, as Avast announced the acquisition of its competitor AVG. Both companies were founded in the Czech Republic and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/07/avast-acquires-avg-13bn/

Avast launches bug bounty programme

Security firm offers reward for info on bugs.
Security firm offers reward for info on bugs. Security firm Avast Software, producer of the popular avast! free anti-virus solution, has announced a bug bounty programme to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/01/avast-launches-bug-bounty-programme/

774,000 Avast! pirates on 14-user licence

Wildly popular free solution not good enough for some.
Wildly popular free solution not good enough for some. Leading provider of free anti-malware products Avast Software has spotted that a single 14-user licence key, issued last… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/12/774-000-avast-pirates-14-user-licence/

Sophos joins free home AV crowd with Mac release

Business-focused firm takes first step into home-user arena.
Business-focused firm takes first step into home-user arena.Sophos has announced the release of a home-user edition of its Mac anti-malware solution, which is being given away free… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/11/sophos-joins-free-home-av-crowd-mac-release/

Avast gets $100m investment boost

Growth equity firm invests in Czech firm
Growth equity firm invests in Czech firmAvast Software, the Czech anti-malware firm famous for its free avast! software, has announced that growth equity investor Summit Partners… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/08/avast-gets-100m-investment-boost/

False positive problem hits avast! users

Human failure blamed for faulty update.
Human failure blamed for faulty update. A relatively small subsection of the massive user base for Alwil's ever-popular avast! products were hit by a string of false positives last… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/12/false-positive-problem-hits-avast-users/

We have placed cookies on your device in order to improve the functionality of this site, as outlined in our cookies policy. However, you may delete and block all cookies from this site and your use of the site will be unaffected. By continuing to browse this site, you are agreeing to Virus Bulletin's use of data as outlined in our privacy policy.