VB Blog

Paying a malware ransom is bad, but telling people never to do it is unhelpful advice

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 26, 2016

The current ransomware plague is one of the worst threats the Internet has seen and it is unlikely to go away any time soon. But telling people to never pay the ransom is unhelpful advice.

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VB2015 paper: VolatilityBot: Malicious Code Extraction Made by and for Security Researchers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 22, 2016

In his VB2015 paper, Martin Korman presented his 'VolatilyBot' tool, which extracts malicious code from packed binaries, leveraging the functionality of the Volatility Framework.

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VB2016 programme announced, registration opened

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 21, 2016

We have announced 37 papers (and four reserve papers) that will be presented at VB2016 in Denver, Colorado, USA in October. Registration for the conference has opened; make sure you register before 1 July to benefit from a 10% early bird discount.

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New tool helps ransomware victims indentify the malware family

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 15, 2016

The people behind the MalwareHunterTeam have released a tool that helps victims of ransomware identify which of more than 50 families has infected their system, something which could help them find a tool to decrypt their files.

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It's fine for vulnerabilities to have names — we just need not to take them too seriously

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 13, 2016

The PR campaign around the Badlock vulnerability backfired when it turned out that the vulnerability wasn't as serious as had been suggested. But naming vulnerabilities can actually be helpful and certainly shouldn't hurt.

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Throwback Thursday: The Number of the Beasts

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Apr 7, 2016

The Virus Bulletin Virus Prevalence Table, which ran from 1992 until 2013, gave users a regular snapshot of what was really going on in the virus (and later malware) world, recording the number of incidents of each virus reported to VB in the preceding month. In August 2000, Denis Zenkin, a self-confessed virus prevalence table junkie, shared his findings following a study of the virus prevalence tables over the preceding few years, allowing him to determine the top ten viruses of the period, the top viruses by type and the viruses of the year.

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Paper: All Your Meetings Are Belong to Us: Remote Code Execution in Apache OpenMeetings

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 30, 2016

Security researcher Andreas Lindh recently found a vulnerability in Apache OpenMeetings that could allow remote code execution on a vulnerable server. Andreas reported the vulnerability to the OpenMeetings developers and, once it had been patched, he wrote up the details.

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Throwback Thursday: 'In the Beginning was the Word...'

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Mar 24, 2016

Word and Excel’s internal file formats used to be something in which few were interested – until macro viruses came along and changed all that. In 1996, Andrew Krukov provided an overview of the new breed of viruses.

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VB2016 Call for Papers Deadline

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 18, 2016

You have until the early hours (GMT) of Monday 21 March to submit an abstract for VB2016! The VB2016 programme will be announced in the first week of April.

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How broken is SHA-1 really?

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 15, 2016

SHA-1 collisions may be found in the next few months, but that doesn't mean that fake SHA-1-based certificates will be created in the near future. Nevertheless, it is time for everyone, and those working in security in particular, to move away from outdated hash functions.

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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 2010 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/01/january-issue-vb-published/

Next VB100 comparative announced

SUSE test to challenge Linux products.
SUSE test to challenge Linux products. The latest round of VB100 testing has been announced, with a comparative to be run on Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 in January.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/12/next-comparative-announced/

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 2009 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/12/december-issue-vb-published/

VB calls for collaboration amongst anti-spam vendors

VB finds that, when it comes to spam filtering, a combined effort outperforms individual products.
VB finds that, when it comes to spam filtering, a combined effort outperforms individual products. Virus Bulletin has discovered that running several spam filters in combination… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/11/vb-calls-collaboration-amongst-anti-spam-vendors/

Anti-spam products do well in VB testing

VB announces anti-spam certification results.
VB announces anti-spam certification results.Virus Bulletin has announced that 12 products earned VBSpam awards in its latest round of comparative anti-spam testing. A total of 14… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/11/anti-spam-products-do-well-vb-testing/

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 2009 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/11/november-issue-vb-published/

VB announces next VB100 test on Windows 7

Deadline announced for first VB100 comparative on new operating system.
Deadline announced for first VB100 comparative on new operating system.VB has issued a call for submissions for the next VB100 comparative, to be run next month on Microsoft's… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/10/vb-announces-next-test-windows-7/

11 out of 26 anti-virus products fail VB100 certification

VB reveals which products failed to meet VB100 certification criteria, and updated 'RAP quadrant' showing Reactive And Proactive detection abilities.
VB reveals which products failed to meet VB100 certification criteria, and updated 'RAP quadrant' showing Reactive And Proactive detection abilities.Virus Bulletin has revealed the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/10/11-out-26-anti-virus-products-fail-certification/

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 2009 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/10/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 2009 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/09/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 2009 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/08/august-issue-vb-published/

Call for last-minute technical papers

Submissions invited for technical 'turbo' talks at VB Geneva.
Submissions invited for technical 'turbo' talks at VB Geneva. Virus Bulletin is seeking submissions from those wishing to present last-minute technical papers at VB2009. The VB… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/07/call-last-minute-technical-papers/

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 2009 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or download… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/07/july-issue-vb-published/

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 2009 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or download… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/05/may-issue-vb-published/

VB2009 conference programme announced

Schedule for Geneva security conference announced after record submissions.
Schedule for Geneva security conference announced after record submissions. Following a record number of submissions, the VB2009 conference committee is pleased to announce the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/04/conference-programme-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 2009 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/04/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 2009 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/03/march-issue-vb-published/

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 2009 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/02/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 2009 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/01/january-issue-vb-published/

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 2008 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/12/december-issue-vb-published/

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