VB Blog

Paper: New Keylogger on the Block

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jul 5, 2016

In a new paper published by Virus Bulletin, Sophos researcher Gabor Szappanos takes a look at the KeyBase keylogger, sold as a commercial product and popular among cybercriminals who use it in Office exploit kits.

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BSides Denver to take place the day after VB2016

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 28, 2016

VB2016, the 26th International Virus Bulletin conference, is an excellent reason to go to Denver, Colorado in the first week of October. But there is another reason to come to Denver: BSides Denver, which will take place the day after VB2016, on Saturday 8 October 2016.

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VB2015 paper: DDoS Trojan: A Malicious Concept that Conquered the ELF Format

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Jun 13, 2016

In their VB2015 paper, Peter Kálnai and Jaromír Hořejší look at the current state of DDoS trojans forming covert botnets on unsuspecting systems. The paper provides a technical analysis of the most important malware families, focusing on infection methods, dynamic behaviour, C&C communication, obfuscation techniques, advanced methods of persistence and stealth, and elimination of rivals.

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Throwback Thursday: Hyppönen, that Data Fellow / Finnish Sprayer

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Jun 2, 2016

This week, well known and universally respected industry guru Mikko Hyppönen celebrates his 25th anniversary of working at F-Secure (formerly known as Data Fellows). VB takes a look back in the archives at two articles published in 1994: an "insight" into the life and work of the then rising star of the anti-virus world, and a virus analysis penned by the man himself.

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VB2015 paper: Economic Sanctions on Malware

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Jun 1, 2016

Financial pressure can be a proactive and potentially very effective tool in making our computer ecosystems safer. By cleverly employing various trust metrics and technologies such as digital signing, watermarking, and public-key infrastructure in strategically selected places, we can encourage good behaviours and punish bad ones. In his VB2015 paper, Igor Muttik analyses and gives examples of technologies (certificates, credentials, etc.) to de-incentivize bad behaviours in several ecosystems (Windows, Android, iOS).

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Virus Bulletin's job site for recruiters and job seekers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 26, 2016

Virus Bulletin has relaunched its security job vacancy service and added a new section, in which job seekers can advertise their skills and experience.

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Throwback Thursday: One_Half: The Lieutenant Commander?

Posted by   Helen Martin on   May 26, 2016

In October 1994, a new multi-partite virus appeared, using some of the techniques developed by the Dark Avenger in Commander_Bomber. As if this were not enough, the One_Half virus could also encrypt vital parts of the fixed disk. Eugene Kaspersky provided a detailed analysis.

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Advertisements on Blogspot sites lead to support scam

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 9, 2016

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.

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To make Tor work better on the web, we need to be honest about it

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 6, 2016

Many websites put barriers in front of visitors who use the Tor network. If we want to make the web more accessible through Tor, we need to be honest about why this is done, rather than cry wolf about a dislike for privacy, Martijn Grooten says.

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Paper: How It Works: Steganography Hides Malware in Image Files

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 28, 2016

A new paper by CYREN researcher Lordian Mosuela takes a close look at Gatak, or Stegoloader, a piece of malware that was discovered last year and that is controlled via malicious code embedded in a PNG image, a technique known as steganography.

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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/

Paper: Obfuscation in Android malware, and how to fight back

Axelle Apvrille and Ruchna Nigam look at both off-the-shelf products and custom obfuscation techniques.
Axelle Apvrille and Ruchna Nigam look at both off-the-shelf products and custom obfuscation techniques. After a relatively slow start, in recent years mobile malware has really… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/07/paper-obfuscation-android-malware-and-how-fight-back/

Virus Bulletin celebrates 25th birthday by making all content free

Neither subscription nor registration required to access content.
Neither subscription nor registration required to access content. Happy birthday Virus Bulletin! Today it is exactly 25 years since, in the very first issue of Virus Bulletin,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/07/celebrates-25th-birthday-making-all-content-free/

Virus Bulletin seeks security researchers

Would you like to publish your research through Virus Bulletin - or perhaps even work for us?
Would you like to publish your research through Virus Bulletin - or perhaps even work for us? As of 1 July, all Virus Bulletin content will be freely available to everyone. This… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/06/seeks-security-researchers/

June issue of VB published

The June issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The June issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The June 2014 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or download… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/06/june-issue-vb-published/

Virus Bulletin announces 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. In commemoration of the life and work of security researcher Péter Ször,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/05/announces-p-ter-sz-r-award/

May issue of VB published

The May issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The May issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The May 2014 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or download… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/05/may-issue-vb-published/

VB2014 programme and keynote announced

Exciting range of topics to be covered at VB conference in Seattle this September; Katie Moussouris to deliver keynote address.
Exciting range of topics to be covered at VB conference in Seattle this September; Katie Moussouris to deliver keynote address. Altogether, almost 150 proposals were submitted for… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/04/programme-and-keynote-announced/

April issue of VB published

The April issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The April issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The April 2014 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/04/april-issue-vb-published/

March issue of VB published

The March issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The March issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The March 2014 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/03/march-issue-vb-published/

At least 99.4% of spam blocked in recent Virus Bulletin test

All solutions on test blocked at least 99.4% of spam, but some struggled with false positive issues; survey also shows few products support DMARC.
All solutions on test blocked at least 99.4% of spam, but some struggled with false positive issues; survey also shows few products support DMARC. The results of the most recent… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/02/least-99-4-spam-blocked-recent-test/

February issue of VB published

The February issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The February issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The February 2014 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/02/february-issue-vb-published/

January issue of VB published

The January issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The January issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The January 2014 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/01/january-issue-vb-published/

VB2014: more of the same, plus something a little different

Hackers, network security researchers encouraged to submit abstracts for the conference.
Hackers, network security researchers encouraged to submit abstracts for the conference. The issuing of the call for papers for a VB conference is always an important event for us,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/12/more-same-plus-something-little-different/

December issue of VB published

The December issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The December issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The December 2013 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/12/december-issue-vb-published/

November issue of VB published

The November issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The November issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The November 2013 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/11/november-issue-vb-published/

October issue of VB published

The October issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The October issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The October 2013 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/10/october-issue-vb-published/

September issue of VB published

The September issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The September issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The September 2013 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/09/september-issue-vb-published/

August issue of VB published

The August issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The August issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The August 2013 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/08/august-issue-vb-published/

July issue of VB published

The July issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The July issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The July 2013 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or download… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/07/july-issue-vb-published/

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