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Throwback Thursday: The Politics of Anti-Virus

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Nov 10, 2016

President-elect of the United States Donald Trump made a number of promises about cybersecurity during his electoral campaign. What comes of those pledges remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: there will be a team of hard-working, dedicated individuals working behind the scenes to protect the computer systems of Federal government agencies, as there have been for years. Back in 1999, VB published a report describing a day in the life of the Affiliated Computer Services Government Solutions Group (ACS GSG) - the group responsible for providing full service computer support to US Federal government agencies across the United States.

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VB2016 paper: The TAO of Automated Iframe Injectors - Building Drive-by Platforms For Fun

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 18, 2016

We publish Aditya K. Sood's VB2016 paper on the use of iframe injectors by cybercriminals to deliver drive-by downloads.

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“Cybersecurity is, at its core, a people problem,” says VB2016 keynote speaker

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Sep 26, 2016

An interview with VB2016’s keynote speaker Christine Whalley - Director, Governance and IT Risk Management at Pfizer

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Throwback Thursday: Following the Breadcrumbs

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Sep 22, 2016

In 1999, Christine Orshesky described how one large organization decided to find out how and where the viruses within it were being obtained so it could do more to protect its networks.

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VB2016 preview: Cryptography mistakes in malware

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 15, 2016

At VB2016, two talks will discuss mistakes made by malware authors in cryptographic implementations. Ben Herzog and Yaniv Balmas will present a paper in which they look at a number of these mistakes, while Malwarebytes researcher hasherezade will present a last-minute paper on making use of some of these mistakes to crack ransomware.

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GPS technology is more at risk from cyber attack than ever before, security expert demonstrates at VB2016

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Sep 14, 2016

Next month at VB2016, HPE Security's Oleg Petrovsky will speak about attacks on GPS. We conducted a short interview with Oleg and asked him about GPS, about the conference, and about his ultimate dinner party.

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BSides Denver: Join and Support the Security Community

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 13, 2016

If you are coming to VB2016 in Denver, why not spend an extra day in the Mile-High City and join the free BSides Denver conference, which takes place on Saturday?

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VB2016 'Last-Minute' Papers Announced

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 13, 2016

We are excited to announce the addition of the "last-minute" papers to the VB2016 programme: nine presentations covering hot research topics, from OS X attacks to exotic APTs, breaking ransomware and the current state of BGP.

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VB2016 preview: Debugging and Monitoring Malware Network Activities with Haka

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 12, 2016

In a VB2016 paper, Stormshield researchers Benoit Ancel and Mehdi Talbi will present a paper on Haka, a tool that can be used to monitor and debug malware's network communications.

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Paper: Behavioural Detection and Prevention of Malware on OS X

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 12, 2016

In a new paper published through Virus Bulletin, Vincent Van Mieghem presents a novel method for detecting malware on Mac OS X, based on the system calls used by malicious software.

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Throwback Thursday: What DDoS it all Mean?

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to March 2000, when DDoS attacks were a newly emerging menace.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to March 2000, when DDoS attacks were a newly emerging menace. Today, DDoS attacks are a well-known form of cyber abuse — indeed,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/11/throwback-thursday-what-ddos-it-all-mean/

Throwback Thursday: Inside Sony's rootkit

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back ten years, when the discovery of a rootkit ignited a firestorm of criticism for Sony.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back ten years, when the discovery of a rootkit ignited a firestorm of criticism for Sony. Rootkits are common among modern malware, and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/11/throwback-thursday-inside-sony-s-rootkit/

Throwback Thursday: Memetic Mass Mailers: Time to Classify Hoaxes as Malware?

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to July 2002, when virus hoaxes were wreaking havoc in homes and organizations worldwide.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to July 2002, when virus hoaxes were wreaking havoc in homes and organizations worldwide. Virus hoaxes — false reports or warnings… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/10/throwback-thursday-memetic-mass-mailers-time-classify-hoaxes-malware/

Throwback Thursday: The real virus problem

Anti-virus and security related articles provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to February 2004 when, in order to get a gauge of the "real" virus problem, Jim Bates presented the findings of a survey of UK… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/10/throwback-thursday-real-virus-problem/

Throwback Thursday: Misguided or malevolent? New trends in virus writing

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to February 2004 when Stuart Taylor wondered whether there was truly a criminal element entering virus writing.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to February 2004 when Stuart Taylor wondered whether there was truly a criminal element entering virus writing. These days, no one… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/10/throwback-thursday-misguided-or-malevolent-new-trends-virus-writing/

Throwback Thursday: The First International Virus Bulletin Conference

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to October 1991 to take a look back at the first ever VB Conference: VB'91 in Jersey.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to October 1991 to take a look back at the first ever VB Conference: VB'91 in Jersey. With VB2015, the 25th Virus Bulletin… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/09/throwback-thursday-first-international-conference/

Throwback Thursday: Virus Writer and Distributors 'Attributable Viruses'

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to July 1990, when VB looked at virus origins and some of the rare cases of attributable viruses.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to July 1990, when VB looked at virus origins and some of the rare cases of attributable viruses. This week saw the confession of a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/09/throwback-thursday-virus-writer-and-distributors-attributable-viruses/

Paper: Custom packer defeats multiple automation systems

Combination of anti-automation, anti-VM and anti-reverse engineering to make researchers' lives harder.
Combination of anti-automation, anti-VM and anti-reverse engineering to make researchers' lives harder. Ever since the number of new malware samples became so large we could no… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/09/paper-custom-packer-defeats-multiple-automation-systems/

Throwback Thursday: Computer Viruses: Electronically Transmitted Disease?

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to March 2003, when VB reported on a piece of research investigating the psychological toll inflicted by computer viruses.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to March 2003, when VB reported on a piece of research investigating the psychological toll inflicted by computer viruses. One could… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/09/throwback-thursday-computer-viruses-electronically-transmitted-disease/

Throwback Thursday: Safe Hex in the 21st Century

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to July 2000, when we were already being warned that virus scanners were no longer enough.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to July 2000, when we were already being warned that virus scanners were no longer enough. How many times have we heard commentators… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/08/throwback-thursday-safe-hex-21st-century/

Throwback Thursday: The Virus Analyst Headache

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to April 1999, when the average virus analyst had to manually process around ten or more viruses per day, and the growing complexity and volume of viruses was proving a headache.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to April 1999, when the average virus analyst had to manually process around ten or more viruses per day, and the growing complexity… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/08/throwback-thursday-virus-analyst-headache/

Throwback Thursday: IT Security Breaches: The 1994 NCC Survey

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to November 1994, when VB asked: what is the nature of the real virus problem, and how much does it cost?
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to November 1994, when VB asked: what is the nature of the real virus problem, and how much does it cost? Year after year, we see… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/08/throwback-thursday-it-security-breaches-1994-ncc-survey/

Throwback Thursday: Palm Breach

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to July 2000, when concerns were growing about malicious threats to the Palm Personal Digital Assistant.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to July 2000, when concerns were growing about malicious threats to the Palm Personal Digital Assistant. In the 1980s, no one left… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/08/throwback-thursday-palm-breach/

Throwback Thursday: Riotous Assembly

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to January 1994, shortly after Cyber Riot had emerged as the first virus capable of infecting the Windows kernel.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to January 1994, shortly after Cyber Riot had emerged as the first virus capable of infecting the Windows kernel. Today, malware… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/07/throwback-thursday-riotous-assembly/

Throwback Thursday: Sizewell B: Fact or Fiction?

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to 1993, when VB asked the key question: could a virus compromise safety at one of Britain's nuclear power plants?
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to 1993, when VB asked the key question: could a virus compromise safety at one of Britain's nuclear power plants? 2010 saw the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/07/throwback-thursday-sizewell-b-fact-or-fiction/

Throwback Thursday: What You Pay For...

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to 1996, when VB looked at what was available to protect your computer free of charge.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to 1996, when VB looked at what was available to protect your computer free of charge. Today, the 'freemium' business model is a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/07/throwback-thursday-what-you-pay/

Throwback Thursday: Cabirn Fever

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to 2004, when the first worm to spread from mobile phone to mobile phone appeared.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to 2004, when the first worm to spread from mobile phone to mobile phone appeared. Since it first appeared almost exactly 11 years… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/07/throwback-thursday-cabirn-fever/

Throwback Thursday: The Updating Game

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to 1997, when automatic updates of AV software were not the norm.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to 1997, when automatic updates of AV software were not the norm. We all know that the malware scene has changed almost beyond… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/07/throwback-thursday-updating-game/

Nominations opened for second Péter Ször Award

'Brilliant mind and a true gentleman' commemorated through annual award for technical security research.
'Brilliant mind and a true gentleman' commemorated through annual award for technical security research. During VB2014 in Seattle, we presented the first annual Péter Ször Award to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/06/nominations-opened-second-p-ter-sz-r-award/

Throwback Thursday: KAOS on the Superhighway?

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to 1994, when KAOS4 was discovered on the Internet.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to 1994, when KAOS4 was discovered on the Internet. A new virus has been found on the Internet — today, this is an unfortunate fact… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/06/throwback-thursday-kaos-superhighway/

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