VB Blog

VB2017 preview: Beyond lexical and PDNS (guest blog)

Posted by Virus Bulletin on Oct 5, 2017

In a special guest blog post, VB2017 Silver sponsor Cisco Umbrella writes about a paper that researchers Dhia Mahjoub and David Rodriguez will present at the conference this Friday.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Oct 2, 2017

The recently discovered malicious CCleaner version has become one of the biggest security stories of 2017. Two researchers from Avast, the company that had recently acquired CCleaner developer Piriform, will share the results of their investigations at VB2017 in Madrid this week.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Oct 2, 2017

We preview the VB2017 paper by Kaspersky Lab researchers Juan Andrés Guerrero-Saade and Costin Raiu on fourth-party collection and its implications for attack attribution.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Sep 29, 2017

We preview Patrick Wardle's VB2017 paper, in which the Synack researcher analyses the mysterious OSX/FruitFly malware by setting up a custom C&C server.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Sep 28, 2017

More than 50 security industry experts will present conference papers to their peers at VB2017 next week, and there are several papers on the programme with a certain newsworthiness. There is still time for cybersecurity journalists to apply for a press pass.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Sep 25, 2017

We preview the VB2017 paper by Dhia Mahjoub (OpenDNS) and Jason Passwaters (Intel471) who combine an actor-centric and a network-centric approach to analysing bulletproof hosting operations.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Sep 22, 2017

As has become tradition, VB2017 will once again see a security industry table football tournament. Register your team now for some great fun and adrenaline-filled matches in between sessions in Madrid!

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Sep 21, 2017

Greater Manchester Police is one of many organizations still running Windows XP on some of its systems. This is bad practice, but the case against running XP is far more subtle than we often pretend it is.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Sep 21, 2017

Researchers from ESET have found a new way in which the FinSpy/FinFisher 'government spyware' can infect users, details of which they will present at VB2017 in Madrid.

Posted by Virus Bulletin on Sep 20, 2017

Activity monitoring by security products in general, and HTTPS traffic inspection in particular, are sensitive issues in the security community. There is a time and a place for them, VB's Martijn Grooten argues, but only when they are done right.

Previous1...2930313233...215Next

Search blog

VB2014 paper: Quantifying maliciousness in Alexa top-ranked domains

Paul Royal looks at malware served through the most popular websites.
Paul Royal looks at malware served through the most popular websites. Though VB2014 took place nine months ago, most of the papers presented during the conference remain very… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/06/paper-quantifying-maliciousness-alexa-top-ranked-domains/

VB2014 paper: Swipe away, we're watching you

Hong Kei Chan and Liang Huang describe the various aspects and the evolution of point-of-sale malware.
Hong Kei Chan and Liang Huang describe the various aspects and the evolution of point-of-sale malware.Since the close of the VB2014 conference in Seattle in October, we have been… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/04/paper-swipe-away-we-re-watching-you/

Paper: a timeline of mobile botnets

Ruchna Nigam provides an overview of more than 60 mobile malware families.
Ruchna Nigam provides an overview of more than 60 mobile malware families. The rise of mobile malware is still a relatively recent thing, with the first actual mobile botnets not… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/03/paper-timeline-mobile-botnets/

Facebook launches platform for sharing of threat intelligence

Twitter, Yahoo! amongst early participants in 'ThreatExchange'.
Twitter, Yahoo! amongst early participants in 'ThreatExchange'. When I took my first steps in the security industry, I was surprised by just how much information was shared between… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/02/facebook-launches-platform-sharing-threat-intelligence/

VB2014 paper: P0wned by a barcode: stealing money from offline users

Fabio Assolini explains how cybercriminals are targeting boletos.
Fabio Assolini explains how cybercriminals are targeting boletos.Since the close of the VB2014 conference in Seattle in October, we have been sharing VB2014 conference papers as… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/02/paper-p0wned-barcode-stealing-money-offline-users/

Conference review: Botconf 2014

Second edition of 'botnet fighting conference' another great success.
Second edition of 'botnet fighting conference' another great success. I had been looking forward to the second edition of the Botconf conference ever since I came back from the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/12/conference-review-botconf-2014/

Macro malware on the rise again

Users taught that having to enable enhanced security features is no big deal.
Users taught that having to enable enhanced security features is no big deal. When I joined Virus Bulletin almost eight years ago, macro viruses were already a thing of the past,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/11/macro-malware-rise-again/

VB2014 paper: Methods of malware persistence on Mac OS X

'KnockKnock' tool made available to the public.
'KnockKnock' tool made available to the public.Over the next few months, we will be sharing VB2014 conference papers as well as video recordings of the presentations. Today, we… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/paper-methods-malware-persistence-mac-os-x/

Tor exit node found to turn downloaded binaries into malware

Tor provides anonymity, not security, hence using HTTPS is essential.
Tor provides anonymity, not security, hence using HTTPS is essential. A security researcher has discovered a Tor exit node that was modifying binaries downloaded through it on the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/tor-exit-node-found-turn-downloaded-binaries-malware/

Windows zero-day used in targeted attacks

Vulnerability used to download BlackEnergy trojan - as discussed during VB2014.
Vulnerability used to download BlackEnergy trojan - as discussed during VB2014. Today is going to be a busy day for system administrators: they were already on high alert following… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/windows-zero-day-used-targeted-attacks/

Shellshock used to spread Mayhem

Malware switched to more effective Perl installer.
Malware switched to more effective Perl installer. One of the most prominent discussion topics during VB2014 was the 'Shellshock' vulnerability (CVE-2014-6271) in the popular Bash… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/shellshock-used-spread-mayhem/

Paper: The Hulk

Raul Alvarez studies cavity file infector.
Raul Alvarez studies cavity file infector. Most file infectors increase the length of the infected file, as the malicious code is added as a new section of the host file, or to the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/paper-hulk/

Malicious ads served on java.com

If you do need to run plug-ins, make sure you enable click-to-play.
If you do need to run plug-ins, make sure you enable click-to-play. Last week, we published a blog previewing the VB2014 paper 'Optimized mal-ops. Hack the ad network like a boss'… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/malicious-ads-served-java-com/

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/

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/

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/

NCA issues alert on CryptoLocker ransomware

Malware demands $1,000 ransom to decrypt files.
Malware demands $1,000 ransom to decrypt files. This weekend, the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) issued an alert about the 'CryptoLocker' ransomware - following a similar alert… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/11/nca-issues-alert-cryptolocker-ransomware/

Open letter asks AV companies for openness on surveillance malware

Old issue has become hot topic again following Snowden revelations.
Old issue has become hot topic again following Snowden revelations. A group of experts in privacy and digital rights has sent an open letter (pdf) to a number of anti-virus… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/10/open-letter-asks-av-companies-openness-surveillance-malware/

Thousands of websites affected by nameserver hijack redirecting visitors to malware

DNS caching causes attack to have a long tail.
DNS caching causes attack to have a long tail. Yesterday, visitors to thousands of Dutch websites were served an 'under construction' page that, through a hidden iframe, was… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/08/thousands-websites-affected-nameserver-hijack-redirecting-visitors-malware/

« Previous 1234567 Next »