VB Blog

Tizi Android malware highlights the importance of security patches for high-risk users

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Nov 28, 2017

Researchers from Google have taken down 'Tizi', an Android malware family, that used nine already patched vulnerabilities to obtain root on infected devices.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Nov 27, 2017

Next week, Virus Bulletin researchers will be attending the AMTSO meeting and AVAR conference in Beijing, China, as well as the 5th edition of the Botconf conference in Montpellier, France.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Nov 24, 2017

Today, we publish the video of the VB2017 presentation by ESET researcher Filip Kafka, who looked at recent changes in the FinFisher government malware, including its infection vectors.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Nov 23, 2017

We look back at the VB2016 presentation by Adrian Sanabria on the state of endpoint security, both now and in the future.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Nov 22, 2017

At VB2017 in Madrid, Cisco Umbrella (OpenDNS) researchers Dhia Mahjoub and David Rodriguez presented a new approach to detecting infected machines using graphs to detect botnet traffic at scale. Today we publish both Dhia and David's paper and the recording of their presentation.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Nov 21, 2017

Firefox developer Mozilla has announced that, as of version 59 of the browser, many kinds of data URIs, which provide a way to create "domainless web content", will not be rendered in the browser, thus making this trick - used in various phishing campaigns - a lot less attractive.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Nov 16, 2017

Virus Bulletin ran a standalone test on FireEye's Endpoint Security solution.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Nov 13, 2017

Jelena Milosevic, a nurse with a passion for IT security, is uniquely placed to witness poor security practices in the health care sector, and to fully understand the consequences. Today, we publish the recording of a presentation given by Jelena at VB2017 in Madrid, in which she shared her inside view of security in hospitals.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Nov 9, 2017

Both bad news (all devices were pwnd) and good news (pwning is increasingly difficult) came from the most recent mobile Pwn2Own competition. But the practical security risks that come with using mobile phones have little to do with vulnerabilities.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Nov 8, 2017

At VB2017 in Madrid, industry veteran and ESET Senior Research Fellow David Harley presented a paper on the state of security software testing. Today we publish David's paper in both HTML and PDF format.

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VB2019 London - join us for the most international threat intelligence conference!

VB calls on organisations and individuals involved in threat intelligence from around the world to participate in next year's Virus Bulletin conference.
If you see cybersecurity as a battle between attackers and defenders, then there are enough good news stories to demonstrate that the former aren't necessarily winning. But the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/12/vb2019-london-join-us-most-international-threat-intelligence-conference/

VB2018 paper: Hide'n'Seek: an adaptive peer-to-peer IoT botnet

2018 has seen an increase in the variety of botnets living on the Internet of Things - such as Hide'N'Seek, which is notable for its use of peer-to-peer for command-and-control communication. Today, we publish the VB2018 paper by Bitdefender researchers A…
Until recently IoT botnets mostly consisted of Mirai and its many descendants. However, during 2018 we have seen an increase in the variety of botnets living on the Internet of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/12/vb2018-paper-hidenseek-adaptive-peer-peer-iot-botnet/

VB2018 video: Behind the scenes of the SamSam investigation

Today we have published the video of the VB2018 presentation by Andrew Brandt (Sophos) on the SamSam ransomware, which became hot news following the indictment of its two suspected authors yesterday.
Yesterday, a federal grand jury in the US unsealed an indictment charging two Iranians with being behind the SamSam ransomware. SamSam has been one of the most successful… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/11/vb2018-video-behind-scenes-samsam-investigation/

VB2018 paper: Since the hacking of Sony Pictures

The Lazarus Group, which became (in)famous through the Sony Pictures breach and the WannaCry attack, is still very much active and targeting financial institutions around the world. Today we publish the VB2018 paper by AhnLab researcher Minseok (Jacky) Ch…
Recent activity shows that the Lazarus Group, which became (in)famous through the Sony Pictures breach and the WannaCry attack, is still very much active and targeting financial… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/11/vb2018-paper-hacking-sony-pictures/

VB2018 video: Shedding skin - Turla's fresh faces

Today, we have published the video of a VB2018 presentation by Kaspersky Lab researchers Kurt Baumgartner and Mike Scott, who looked at the latest activity of the Turla group.
"Capable, well-resourced, and they go back decades." The Turla threat group doesn't make the news as much as some other Russian-speaking APT groups, but it is one of the most… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/11/vb2018-video-shedding-skin-turlas-fresh-faces/

VB2018 video: Triada: the past, the present and the (hopefully not existing) future

Today we publish the video of the VB2018 presentation by Google researcher Lukasz Siewierski on the Triada Android malware and Google's work with OEMs to remove it from infected devices.
From NotPetya to Shadowpad, supply chain attacks have become a serious and hard-to-fight security problem. One prominent type of supply chain attack involves the pre-installation… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/11/vb2018-video-triada-past-present-and-hopefully-not-existing-future/

VB2018 paper: Uncovering the wholesale industry of social media fraud: from botnet to bulk reseller panels

Today, we publish the VB2018 paper by Masarah Paquet-Clouston (GoSecure) who looked at the supply chain behind social media fraud.
On the day of the 2018 US mid-term elections, there will be few who are not aware of the activity of botnets on social media and how these, allegedly, have tried to influence… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/11/vb2018-paper-uncovering-wholesale-industry-social-media-fraud-botnet-bulk-reseller-panels/

VB2018 paper: Now you see it, now you don't: wipers in the wild

Today, we publish the VB2018 paper from Saher Naumaan (BAE Systems) who looks at malware variants that contain a wiper functionality. We also publish the recording of her presentation.
Early computer viruses were often destructive in nature, but once criminals learned about the money they could make from malware, they realised that destructiveness hurt their… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/11/vb2018-paper-now-you-see-it-now-you-dont-wipers-wild/

VB2018 paper: Who wasn’t responsible for Olympic Destroyer?

Cisco Talos researchers Paul Rascagnères and Warren Mercer were among the first to write about the Olympic Destroyer, the malware that targeted the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games. Today, we publish the paper they presented at VB2018 about the malwa…
It may be hard to believe, but it was only eight months ago that the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games were targeted by malware named Olympic Destroyer. Though not the first… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/10/who-wasnt-responsible-olympic-destroyer/

VB2018 paper: From drive-by download to drive-by mining: understanding the new paradigm

Today, we publish the VB2018 paper by Malwarebytes researcher Jérôme Segura, in which he details the shift from exploit kits to drive-by mining. We also publish the video of his VB2018 presentation.
When it comes to web-based threats, Malwarebytes researcher Jérôme Segura is one of the people to follow. His quarterly reviews of the exploit kit landscape are an essential read… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/10/vb2018-paper-drive-download-drive-mining-understanding-new-paradigm/

The Virus Bulletin conference returns home: VB2019 to take place in London

In 2019, the Virus Bulletin conference is set to return home, with VB2019 taking place in London, UK.
In July 1989, the first ever Virus Bulletin magazine was published from its home in Oxfordshire, UK – a monthly publication focusing on the emerging threat of computer viruses.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/10/virus-bulletin-conference-returns-home-vb2019-take-place-london/

VB2018 preview: Workshops

Workshops make their VB Conference debut during VB2018, giving delegates the opportunity to learn the basics of kernel-level malware analysis, Android reverse-engineering and artificial intelligence.
The Virus Bulletin Conference is first and foremost a place to learn: about new threats, about the tools used to detect and fight them, and to learn about (and get to know) the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/09/vb2018-preview-workshops/

VB2018 preview: Anatomy of an attack: detecting and defeating CRASHOVERRIDE

In today's blog post, we preview the VB2018 paper by Dragos Inc.'s Joe Slowik, who looks at the CRASHOVERRIDE malware, the first (publicly known) malware designed to impact electric grid operations.
One of the many highlights of last year's Virus Bulletin Conference was a last-minute paper by ESET researchers Anton Cherepanov and Robert Lipovsky on Industroyer, 'the first… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/09/vb2018-preview-anatomy-attack-detecting-and-defeating-crashoverride/

VB2018 preview: Cyber Threat Alliance

In today's blog post we look at a report on illicit cryptocurrency mining by the Cyber Threat Alliance and also look forward to the VB2018 talk by the CTA's CEO Michael Daniel.
Last week, the Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA) published a report on the illicit mining of cryptocurrencies. The report is notable for two reasons: first because it is exceptionally… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/09/vb2018-preview-cyber-threat-alliance/

VB2018 preview: hacking cars

In recent years, car hacking has evolved from a mostly theoretical research field involving giggling researchers and scared journalists, to one that actually concerns car owners and manufacturers. On today's blog we preview two VB2018 papers, by Inbar Raz…
In recent years, car hacking has evolved from a mostly theoretical research field involving giggling researchers and scared journalists, to one that actually concerns car owners… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/09/vb2018-preview-hacking-cars/

VB2018 preview: commercial spyware and its use by governments

Today, we preview three VB2018 presentations that look at threats against civil society in general and the use of commercial spyware by governments for this purpose in particular.
Yesterday, a new report by Citizen Lab looked at NSO Group's Pegasus spyware and its global use. The report is worth a read, for the political implications of the findings, for… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/09/vb2018-preview-commercial-spyware-and-its-use-governments/

VB2018 preview: Wipers in the wild

Today we preview the VB2018 paper by Saher Naumaan (BAE Systems Applied Intelligence) on the use of wipers in APT attacks.
Some of the earliest computer viruses deleted data and sometimes even rendered computers unusable. But as malware increasingly became a tool used for criminal or (geo)political… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/09/vb2018-preview-wipers-wild/

VB2018 preview: IoT botnets

The VB2018 programme is packed with a wide range of security topics featuring speakers from all around the world. Today we preview two of them: one by Qihoo 360 researchers on tracking variants of Mirai and one by researchers from Bitdefender on the peer-…
For a long time IoT-botnets were just one of those things security professionals warned about. Then, with the appearance of Mirai in 2016, they became a reality. Mirai's… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/09/vb2018-preview-iot-botnets/

VB2018: last-minute talks announced

We are excited to announce the final additions to the VB2018 programme in the form of 10 'last-minute' papers covering up-to-the-minute research and hot topics and two more invited talks.
With a little over three weeks to go until the start of VB2018, 28th Virus Bulletin Conference, we are excited to announce ten last-minute talks that cover hot research. … https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/09/vb2018-last-minute-talks-announced/

VB2018 preview: Since the hacking of Sony Pictures

At VB2018, AhnLab researcher Minseok Cha will look at activities of the Lazarus Group on the Korean peninsula going back as early as April 2011.
Yesterday, the US Justice Department brought charges against an alleged hacker for the North Korean government. The man, Park Jin Hyok, is accused of being connected with the 2014… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/09/vb2018-preview-hacking-sony-pictures/

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