VB Blog

VB2019 paper: Fantastic Information and Where to Find it: A guidebook to open-source OT reconnaissance

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 22, 2019

A VB2019 paper by FireEye researcher Daniel Kapellmann Zafra explained how open source intelligence (OSINT) can be used to learn crucial details of the inner workings of many a system. Today we publish Daniel's paper and the recording of his presentation.

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VB2019 paper: Different ways to cook a crab: GandCrab Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) analysed in depth

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 21, 2019

Though active for not much longer than a year, GandCrab had been one of the most successful ransomware operations. In a paper presented at VB2019 in London, McAfee researchers John Fokker and Alexandre Mundo looked at the malware code, its evolution and the affiliate scheme behind it. Today we publish both their paper and the recording of their presentation.

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VB2019 paper: Domestic Kitten: an Iranian surveillance program

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 18, 2019

At VB2019 in London, Check Point researchers Aseel Kayal and Lotem Finkelstein presented a paper detailing an Iranian operation they named 'Domestic Kitten' that used Android apps for targeted surveillance. Today we publish their paper and the video of their presentation.

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VB2019 video: Discretion in APT: recent APT attack on crypto exchange employees

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 18, 2019

At VB2019 in London, LINE's HeungSoo Kang explained how cryptocurrency exchanges had been attacked using Firefox zero-days. Today, we publish the video of his presentation.

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VB2019 paper: DNS on fire

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 7, 2019

In a paper presented at VB2019, Cisco Talos researchers Warren Mercer and Paul Rascagneres looked at two recent attacks against DNS infrastructure: DNSpionage and Sea Turtle. Today we publish their paper and the recording of their presentation.

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German Dridex spam campaign is unfashionably large

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 6, 2019

VB has analysed a malicious spam campaign targeting German-speaking users with obfuscated Excel malware that would likely download Dridex but that mostly stood out through its size.

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Paper: Dexofuzzy: Android malware similarity clustering method using opcode sequence

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 5, 2019

We publish a paper by researchers from ESTsecurity in South Korea, who describe a fuzzy hashing algorithm for clustering Android malware datasets.

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Emotet continues to bypass many email security products

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 4, 2019

Having returned from a summer hiatus, Emotet is back targeting inboxes and, as seen in the VBSpam test lab, doing a better job than most other malicious campaigns at bypassing email security products.

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VB2019 paper: We need to talk - opening a discussion about ethics in infosec

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 1, 2019

Those working in the field of infosec are often faced with ethical dilemmas that are impossible to avoid. Today, we publish a VB2019 paper by Kaspersky researcher Ivan Kwiatkowski looking at ethics in infosec as well as the recording of Ivan's presentation.

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Stalkerware poses particular challenges to anti-virus products

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 31, 2019

Malware used in domestic abuse situations is a growing threat, and the standard way for anti-virus products to handle such malware may not be good enough. But that doesn't mean there isn't an important role for anti-virus to play.

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Zitmo trojan for Android defeats two-factor authentication

Malware intercepts TANs sent via SMS.
Malware intercepts TANs sent via SMS. A new variant of the Zitmo trojan has been discovered that infects mobile devices running the Android platform and which intercepts SMS… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/07/zitmo-trojan-android-defeats-two-factor-authentication/

DroidKungFu command and control server may be mobile device

Android trojan makes use of root exploit.
Android trojan makes use of root exploit. Researchers at Fortinet have discovered a command and control server for the 'DroidKungFu' Android trojan that appears to be a mobile… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/06/droidkungfu-command-and-control-server-may-be-mobile-device/

Exploit kit targets customers of air travel websites

SpyEye configuration intercepts personal data submitted to legitimate websites.
SpyEye configuration intercepts personal data submitted to legitimate websites. Security researchers have uncovered a version of the 'SpyEye' trojan that steals credit card and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/06/exploit-kit-targets-customers-air-travel-websites/

Banking malware hosted on Amazon's cloud servers

Trojan targets mostly Brazilian banks.
Trojan targets mostly Brazilian banks. Researchers have discovered malware hosted on Amazon Web Services that steals victims' bank account data. Acting as a rootkit, the malware… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/06/banking-malware-hosted-amazon-s-cloud-servers/

Spammers use unicode trick to manipulate file names

Windows executable appears to be Word document.
Windows executable appears to be Word document. An unicode trick that reverses the order of some characters has been used by spammers to disguise malicious attachments as harmless… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/05/spammers-use-unicode-trick-manipulate-file-names/

Zeus source code leaked

Banking trojan among the most advanced of its kind.
Banking trojan among the most advanced of its kind. Researchers at Danish security firm CSIS have discovered that the full source code of the Zeus crime kit has been leaked to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/05/zeus-source-code-leaked/

Scammers take advantage of Epsilon data breach

Trojan hidden as security tool for affected customers.
Trojan hidden as security tool for affected customers. Scammers are currently taking advantage of the data breach that affected email security provider Epsilon recently, by… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/04/scammers-take-advantage-epsilon-data-breach/

Ransom trojan demands Windows re-activation

Criminals make money through calls to supposedly free phone number.
Criminals make money through calls to supposedly free phone number. A new piece of ransomware has been discovered that shows the PC user a blue screen and asks them to re-activate… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/04/ransom-trojan-demands-windows-re-activation/

'Job application' contains malicious attachment

$150,000 lost via banking trojan.
$150,000 lost via banking trojan. An unidentified US company has learned the hard way that email attachments - even to those that appear to be solicited - may contain malware. The… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/01/job-application-contains-malicious-attachment/

Eight Zeus-related money mules arrested

Arrests in US and Moldova show that cybercriminals aren't immune to the law.
Arrests in US and Moldova show that cybercriminals aren't immune to the law. Police in the US state of Wisconsin have arrested two Moldovan citizens who they believe have worked as… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/11/eight-zeus-related-money-mules-arrested/

Malicious tweets link to fake TweetDeck update

Twitter resets passwords for accounts that appear to have been hacked.
Twitter resets passwords for accounts that appear to have been hacked.Twitter users who recently clicked on links in tweets urging them to upgrade their version of TweetDeck - the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/09/malicious-tweets-link-fake-tweetdeck-update/

Android SMS trojan goes wild

Premium-rate text scam shows growing cracks in smart phone security.
Premium-rate text scam shows growing cracks in smart phone security. The first known SMS trojan affecting smart phones running Google's Android operating system has been observed… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/08/android-sms-trojan-goes-wild/

Firefox 4 crack spreads trojan

'Cracked' versions of free software used to spread malware
'Cracked' versions of free software used to spread malware In a new malware campaign, users are told they can download a free crack of the Firefox 4 browser, only to find… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/08/firefox-4-crack-spreads-trojan/

Warrant issued for arrest of cyclist turned hacker

Cyclist accused of planting trojan at dope testing lab.
Cyclist accused of planting trojan at dope testing lab. A French judge has issued a warrant for the arrest of US cyclist Floyd Landis in connection with a computer hacking case.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/02/warrant-issued-arrest-cyclist-turned-hacker/

Out-of-band patch release from Adobe

Unscheduled update released by Adobe.
Unscheduled update released by Adobe.Adobe has released an unscheduled patch for its Reader and Acrobat programs to address some critical flaws. The software company's fixes… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/02/out-band-patch-release-adobe/

Yxe trojan infecting mobile phones

Symbian software-signing slipup certifies SMS spambot.
Symbian software-signing slipup certifies SMS spambot. A new trojan, the first of its kind, is affecting users of the Symbian mobile operating system by spreading itself via text… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/07/yxe-trojan-infecting-mobile-phones/

Keyloggers used to loot US county

$415,000 sneaked from local government funds.
$415,000 sneaked from local government funds. A Kentucky county has suffered losses of $415,000 after keylogging malware infiltrated its computer systems, allowing cybercriminals… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/07/keyloggers-used-loot-us-county/

Microsoft issues emergency patch

Out-of-cycle update fixes serious, wormable flaw.
Out-of-cycle update fixes serious, wormable flaw.Microsoft has issued an emergency update to cover a serious vulnerability in the Windows Server service, breaking its usual monthly… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/10/microsoft-issues-emergency-patch/

Malware reaches space station

Autorun worm found on non-critical systems.
Autorun worm found on non-critical systems. US space agency NASA has confirmed reports that laptops in use on the international space station have been found to have been infected… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/08/malware-reaches-space-station/

Best Western database hack exposes info on 8m customers

Hotel chain data heist latest in string of major security leaks.
Hotel chain data heist latest in string of major security leaks. The global hotel chain Best Western has had its network security breached, leading to full details of thousands of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/08/best-western-database-hack-exposes-info-8m-customers/

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