VB Blog

Quick impressions from BSides Budapest

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Mar 8, 2017

At Virus Bulletin, we love the BSides concept and we have attended several of the BSides events around the world. So when Peter Karsai, who is soon to join the VB team, offered to write about his experience at BSides Budapest, we jumped at the chance to publish his post.

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First sponsors of VB2017 announced

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 6, 2017

We are excited to announce the first five sponsors of VB2017, companies based in Europe, Asia and North America.

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Security products and HTTPS: let's do it better

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 27, 2017

A recent paper showed that many HTTPS-intercepting security solutions have implemented TLS rather poorly. Does that mean we should avoid such solutions altogether?

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The SHA-1 hashing algorithm has been 'shattered'

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 23, 2017

Researchers from Google and CWI Amsterdam have created the first known collision of the SHA-1 hashing algorithm, making a very strong case to ditch it.

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Throwback Thursday: Once a researcher...

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Feb 23, 2017

VB was saddened to learn this week of the passing of one of the pioneers of the AV industry, Ross Greenberg. This Throwback Thursday we look back at an interview with Ross in November 1995.

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VB2017: What is happening in the threat landscape and what are we doing against it? Submit a proposal in the VB2017 CFP!

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 20, 2017

Have you analysed a new online threat? Do you know a new way to defend against such threats? Then submit an abstract in the CFP for VB2017!

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VB2016 paper: APT reports and OPSEC evolution, or: these are not the APT reports you are looking for

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 17, 2017

APT reports are great for gaining an understanding of how advanced attack groups operate - however, they can also provide free QA for the threat actors. Today, we publish a VB2016 paper by Gadi Evron (Cymmetria) and Inbar Raz (Perimeter X), who discuss what they think is wrong with many APT reports and what can be done to improve them.

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Security for your ears: recommended infosec podcasts

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 14, 2017

Industry veteran Mikko Hyppönen recently urged would-be security researchers to ditch their favourite pop music and listen to security podcasts on their commute to work instead. Virus Bulletin Editor Martijn Grooten shares his favourite security podcasts.

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VB2016 video: Getting duped: piggybacking on webcam streams for surreptitious recordings

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 10, 2017

In a presentation at VB2016, Patrick Wardle, Director of Research at Synack, discussed the possibilities of Mac malware recording the user via the webcam. Today, we publish the video of Patrick's presentation.

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We shouldn't forget those most vulnerable in our digital world

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 9, 2017

Virus Bulletin Editor Martijn Grooten calls for the security community not to forget those most vulnerable in the digital world, including political activists living under oppressive regimes, and victims of abuse.

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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/

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/

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/

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/

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