VB Blog

VB2017 preview: Android reverse engineering tools: not the usual suspects

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 19, 2017

We preview the VB2017 paper by Fortinet researcher Axelle Apvrille, in which she looks at some less obvious tools for reverse engineering Android malware.

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Malicious CCleaner update points to a major weakness in our infrastructure

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 18, 2017

Researchers from Cisco Talos have found that a recent version of the widely used CCleaner tool installed malware on the machine.

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Despite the profitability of ransomware there is a good reason why mining malware is thriving

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Sep 15, 2017

Though ransomware is far more profitable than using a compromised PC to mine bitcoins, the global distribution of malware means that there are many botnets for which mining is the most efficient way to extract money out of a PC.

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VB2017 preview: Crypton - exposing malware's deepest secrets

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 14, 2017

We preview the VB2017 paper by Julia Karpin and Anna Dorfman (F5 networks), in which they present a tool to decrypt encrypted parts of malware.

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VB2017 preview: Hacktivism and website defacement: motivations, capabilities and potential threats

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 13, 2017

We preview the VB2017 paper by Marco Romagna and Niek Jan van den Hout (The Hague University of Applied Sciences), in which they thoroughly analyse the motivations and modus operandy of hacktivists.

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Three questions to ask about security product bypasses

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 13, 2017

Proof-of-concepts for bypasses of security products always sound scary, but how seriously should we take them? VB Editor Martijn Grooten lists three questions one should ask about any such bypass to determine how serious a threat it represents.

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VB2017: WHOIS and EICAR Small Talks added

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 12, 2017

Today, we announce two more 'Small Talks' for the VB2017 programme. In one of them, Neil Schwarzman will discuss the consequences of the GDPR for WHOIS and abuse research, while the other will be hosted by three members of EICAR, who will discuss its work on a trustworthiness strategy and minimum standard.

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VB2017: nine last-minute papers announced

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 11, 2017

From attacks on Ukraine's power grid to web shells, and from car hacking to ransomware: we announce the first nine 'last-minute' papers on the VB2017 programme.

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Patching is important even when it only shows the maturity of your security process

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 5, 2017

A lot of vulnerabilities that are discovered are never exploited in the wild. It is still important to patch them though.

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Massive data breach confirms what you already knew: you are getting spam

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 4, 2017

A security researcher found more than 700 million email addresses stored on a server used by a spam botnet, which gives us some insight into what the email lists used by spammers look like.

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VB2019 papers: Emotet and Ryuk

Today we publish VB2019 papers by Luca Nagy (Sophos) on Emotet and Gabriela Nicolao and Luciano Martins (Deloitte) on Ryuk, as well as the corresponding videos of their presentations.
Shinigami’s revenge: the long tail of the Ryuk malware Read the paper (HTML) Download the paper (PDF)   Exploring Emotet, an elaborate everyday enigma Read the paper… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/10/vb2019-papers-emotet-and-ryuk/

VB2019 preview: Exploring Emotet, an elaborate everyday enigma

We preview the VB2019 paper by Sophos researcher Luca Nagy, who dives deeply into the notorious Emotet malware.
Active since 2014, initially as a banking trojan, Emotet has been a plague on the Internet in recent years. Emotet's core strength is its ability to download other malware, thus… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/08/vb2019-preview-exploring-emotet-elaborate-everyday-enigma/

VB2018 paper: Office bugs on the rise

At VB2018 Sophos researcher Gábor Szappanos provided a detailed overview of Office exploit builders, and looked in particular at the widely exploited CVE-2017-0199. Today we publish his paper and release the video of his presentation.
A large portion of today's malware infections use malicious Office documents as a first-stage payload. Typically, the user is tricked into enabling macros or disabling some… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/12/vb2018-paper-office-bugs-rise/

VB2018 video: Behind the scenes of the SamSam investigation

Today we have published the video of the VB2018 presentation by Andrew Brandt (Sophos) on the SamSam ransomware, which became hot news following the indictment of its two suspected authors yesterday.
Yesterday, a federal grand jury in the US unsealed an indictment charging two Iranians with being behind the SamSam ransomware. SamSam has been one of the most successful… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/11/vb2018-video-behind-scenes-samsam-investigation/

Gábor Szappanos wins fourth Péter Szőr Award

At the VB2017 gala dinner, the fourth Péter Szőr Award was presented to Sophos researcher Gábor Szappanos for his paper "AKBuilder – the crowdsourced exploit kit".
Every year, during the Virus Bulletin Conference gala dinner, we celebrate the life and works of Péter Szőr, the brilliant security researcher who passed away so sadly in 2013. We… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/10/gabor-szappanos-wins-fourth-peter-szor-award/

Paper: New Keylogger on the Block

In a new paper published by Virus Bulletin, Sophos researcher Gabor Szappanos takes a look at the KeyBase keylogger, sold as a commercial product and popular among cybercriminals who use it in Office exploit kits.
Keyloggers have long been a popular tool for cybercriminals, something made worse by the fact that many of them are sold commercially. Today, we publish a paper (here as a PDF)… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/07/paper-new-keylogger-block/

VB2015 paper: Will Android Trojans, Worms or Rootkits Survive in SEAndroid and Containerization?

Sophos researchers Rowland Yu and William Lee look at whether recent security enhancements to Android, such as SEAndroid and containerization, will be enough to defeat future malware threats.
Google's Android operating system may have a bit of a bad reputation when it comes to security, but it's worth noting that recent versions of the operating system have been… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/02/vb2015-paper-will-android-trojans-worms-or-rootkits-survive-seandroid-and-containerization/

Sophos red flags Google Analytics

Popular analytics tool mistakenly flagged as 'high risk'.
Popular analytics tool mistakenly flagged as 'high risk'. Security firm Sophos had an embarrassing moment this morning when its scanner flagged Google Analytics as malicious.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/06/sophos-red-flags-google-analytics/

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/

Sophos bought up by investment firm

APAX Partners acquires major stake in $830 million company.
APAX Partners acquires major stake in $830 million company.Sophos has announced that a majority share of the company will be sold to major private investment firm APAX Partners, in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/05/sophos-bought-investment-firm/

AV protection free for aliens

Klingon language scanner given away.
Klingon language scanner given away. After last summer saw malware making its way into space, it seemed like only a matter of time before alien races would need protection from the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/05/av-protection-free-aliens/

Tough weekend for AV giants as FPs and DNS issues hit

Trend false alert cripples users' systems, Sophos sites taken out by DNS mixup.
Trend false alert cripples users' systems, Sophos sites taken out by DNS mixup. Two of the larger security firms, Trend Micro and Sophos, had a busy weekend cleaning up after… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/09/tough-weekend-av-giants-fps-and-dns-issues-hit/

Sophos makes move to buy Utimaco

€217 million bid launched for encryption specialist.
€217 million bid launched for encryption specialist. Security light-heavyweight Sophos has issued official notice of its intention to buy German encryption firm Utimaco, in a share… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/07/sophos-makes-move-buy-utimaco/

41 months plus hefty fine for botherder

Cross-border operation brings adware crook to book.
Cross-border operation brings adware crook to book. A Florida man has been sentenced to 41 months in prison and fined $65,000 (approx. £32,000) after implanting bot software on… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/06/41-months-plus-hefty-fine-botherder/

Almost half of users think virus-writing contests are a good idea

Shocking survey results disappoint security experts.
Shocking survey results disappoint security experts. Nearly half of the respondents in a Virus Bulletin poll said they thought that virus-writing contests are a useful way of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/05/almost-half-users-think-virus-writing-contests-are-good-idea/

Sophos announces plans to float

Listing on London Stock Exchange expected soon.
Listing on London Stock Exchange expected soon. The long-anticipated floatation of Sophos, one of the biggest privately owned security firms, has been announced this week, with the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/11/sophos-announces-plans-float/

Minor flaws patched in Sophos AV

Security vulnerabilities found and fixed.
Security vulnerabilities found and fixed. Two separate flaws have been reported in Sophos's anti-virus engine, affecting most of its product range and allowing security bypass and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/09/minor-flaws-patched-sophos-av/

Phish poses as Sophos malware alert

Fake security alarm lures users to spoofed site.
Fake security alarm lures users to spoofed site. A phishing email recently spammed out uses the name of security firm Sophos to lend credence to a fake malware alert, designed to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/phish-poses-sophos-malware-alert/

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