VB Blog

Throwback Thursday: Ten memorable Virus Bulletin conference presentations - part 2

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Aug 10, 2017

In the second part of this two-part blog series, we look at five more memorable Virus Bulletin conference presentations.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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VB2017 paper: Exploring the virtual worlds of advergaming

At VB2017 in Madrid, Malwarebytes' Chris Boyd presented a paper in which he looked at various aspects of advergaming, from unreadable EULAs to fake programs that promise to block ads. Today, we publish both the paper and the recording of Chris's presentat…
At VB2016 in Denver, Malwarebytes researchers Jérôme Segura and Chris Boyd presented a paper on malicious advertising, or malvertising. At the end of the paper, as they looked at… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/04/vb2017-paper-exploring-virtual-worlds-advergaming/

VB2016 paper: Uncovering the secrets of malvertising

Malicious advertising, a.k.a. malvertising, has evolved tremendously over the past few years to take a central place in some of today’s largest web-based attacks. It is by far the tool of choice for attackers to reach the masses but also to target them wi…
In his VB2014 paper, Bromium researcher Vadim Kotov sketched the possibilities for malicious actors to use web ads to spread exploit kits. Unsurprisingly, malicious actors also… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/may/vb2016-paper-uncovering-secrets-malvertising/

VB2016 preview: Uncovering the Secrets of Malvertising

Malvertising, in which legitimate ad networks are abused to silently infect users with malware, has become a real plague in recent years. A VB2016 paper by Malwarebytes researchers Jérôme Segura and Chris Boyd will look at the issue.
Two years ago, at VB2014, Bromium researcher Vadim Kotov presented a paper in which he looked at various possibilities for cybercriminals to leverage ad networks to spread… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/september/vb2016-preview-uncovering-secrets-malvertising/

Advertisements on Blogspot sites lead to support scam

Support scam pop-ups presented through malicious advertisements show that, next to vulnerable end points, gullible users remain an easy source of money for online criminals.
In our research for the VBWeb tests, in which we measure the ability of security products to block malicious web traffic, we recently noticed some sites hosted on Google's… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/05/advertisements-blogspot-sites-lead-support-scam/

Let's Encrypt certificate used in malversiting

We'd better get used to a world where malicious traffic is encrypted too.
We'd better get used to a world where malicious traffic is encrypted too. According to some people, myself included, Let's Encrypt was one of the best things that happened to the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/01/let-s-encrypt-certificate-used-malversiting/

Adobe to patch Flash Player zero-day next week

Patch due next week as malvertising leads to Bedep trojan downloader.
Patch due next week as malvertising leads to Bedep trojan downloader. As the news of a zero-day vulnerability in Adobe's Flash Player actively being exploited reached the security… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/01/adobe-patch-flash-player-zero-day-next-week/

VB2014 paper: Optimized mal-ops. Hack the ad network like a boss

Why buying ad space makes perfect sense for those wanting to spread malware.
Why buying ad space makes perfect sense for those wanting to spread malware.Over the next few months, we will be sharing VB2014 conference papers as well as video recordings of the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/11/paper-optimized-mal-ops-hack-ad-network-boss/

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: Optimized mal-ops. Hack the ad network like a boss

Researchers Vadim Kotov and Rahul Kashyap to discuss how advertisements are the new exploit kits.
Researchers Vadim Kotov and Rahul Kashyap to discuss how advertisements are the new exploit kits.In the weeks running up to VB2014 (the 24th Virus Bulletin International… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/08/preview-optimized-mal-ops-hack-ad-network-boss/

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