VB Blog

Small Talks return to the Virus Bulletin Conference

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Aug 26, 2016

Following their success last year, this year a series of "Small Talks" return to the VB2016 conference programme. We are pleased to announce the details of six of these talks, covering subjects that range from the Chinese cybercriminal underground to Android security, the Tor Project, and exploit kits.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Aug 24, 2016

Research by Virus Bulletin, in which five web security products were served 54 live exploit kits, shows that the products blocked between 87 and 100 per cent of the kits.

Posted by Helen Martin on Aug 2, 2016

In 1994, along with the Olympic Games came an Olympic virus, from a group of Swedish virus authors calling themselves ‘Immortal Riot’. We look back at Mikko Hyppönen's analysis in the VB archive.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Aug 1, 2016

Announcing the VB2016 call for last-minute papers and a number of discounts on the conference registration rate.

Posted by Virus Bulletin on Jul 28, 2016

In the run up to VB2016, we invited the conference sponsors to write guest posts for our blog. In the second of this series, ESET's Matías Porolli writes about malicious Visual Basic and JavaScript gaining prevalence in Brazil.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Jul 28, 2016

The website of the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy has been compromised to inject a hidden iframe into the site's source code that serves the Neutrino exploit kit and may infect visitors with ransomware.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Jul 26, 2016

While there are no actually risks involved in using MD5s in malware analyses, it reinforces bad habits and we should all start using SHA-256 instead.

Posted by Helen Martin on Jul 21, 2016

In 2001, ‘Code Red’ caused White House administrators to change the IP address of the official White House website, and even penetrated Microsoft’s own IIS servers.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Jul 20, 2016

A new paper by FireEye researcher Ankit Anubhav provides an overview of evasion techniques applied by recently discovered malware.

Posted by Virus Bulletin on Jul 15, 2016

Recently, ESET researchers uncovered a new espionage toolkit targeting targeting Central and Eastern Europe. They provide some details in a guest post.

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We need to continue the debate on the ethics and perils of publishing security research

An article by security researcher Collin Anderson reopens the debate on whether publishing threat analyses is always in the public interest.
At VB2015 in Prague, Juan Andrés Guerro-Saade, then of Kaspersky Lab, presented an important paper on the transformation of security researchers into intelligence brokers and how… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/02/we-need-continue-debate-ethics-and-perils-publishing-security-research/

Throwback Thursday: Ten memorable Virus Bulletin conference presentations - part 2

In the second part of this two-part blog series, we look at five more memorable Virus Bulletin conference presentations.
With an excellent conference programme featuring some of the top experts in the IT security industry and covering some of the most important topics, we have much to look forward… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/08/throwback-thursday-ten-memorable-virus-bulletin-conference-presentations-part-2/

A Christmas present for the security community

As a Christmas present for the security community, we have uploaded most of the papers and videos from the VB2015 conference which took place in Prague almost 15 months ago. The Virus Bulletin crew wishes you all the best for 2017!
A botnet of Internet-connected cameras causing the largest DDoS ever; the ransomware threat that appears to get worse every day; a state-sponsored hacker group that attempted to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/december/christmas-present-security-community/

More on the Moose botnet at Botconf

At Botconf 2016 this week, GoSecure researchers Masarah Paquet-Clouston and Olivier Bilodeau presented their research on the Moose botnet - something Olivier Bilodeau previously spoke about at VB2015.
This week, several members of the Virus Bulletin team are attending Botconf 2016 in Lyon, France. Security conferences provide good opportunities to meet fellow researchers and to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/december/more-moose-botnet-botconf/

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

In his VB2015 paper, Martin Korman presented his 'VolatilyBot' tool, which extracts malicious code from packed binaries, leveraging the functionality of the Volatility Framework.
Given the sheer volume of new malware samples discovered every day, security researchers eagerly make use of tools that will help automate their research and analysis. IBM… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/02/vb2015-paper-volatilitybot-malicious-code-extraction-made-and-security-researchers/

VB2015 paper: Mobile Banking Fraud via SMS in North America: Who's Doing it and How

Though SMS may have been claimed dead many time, it is still very much alive, and quite popular among mobile phishers. At VB2015, Adaptive Mobile researcher Cathal Mc Daid presented a paper various mobile phishing campaigns targeting North American banks.
While SMS has been declared dead many times, the service remains frequently used - and abused. In a paper presented at VB2015 in Prague, Adaptive Mobile researcher Cathal Mc… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/03/vb2015-paper-mobile-banking-fraud-sms-north-america-whos-doing-it-and-how/

VB2015 paper: Will Android Trojans, Worms or Rootkits Survive in SEAndroid and Containerization?

Sophos researchers Rowland Yu and William Lee look at whether recent security enhancements to Android, such as SEAndroid and containerization, will be enough to defeat future malware threats.
Google's Android operating system may have a bit of a bad reputation when it comes to security, but it's worth noting that recent versions of the operating system have been… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/02/vb2015-paper-will-android-trojans-worms-or-rootkits-survive-seandroid-and-containerization/

VB2015 paper: Sizing cybercrime: incidents and accidents, hints and allegations

Cybercrime is big. But how big is it really? In a paper presented at VB2015 and together with the presentation video published on our website today, ESET researcher Stephen Cobb looks at previous studies that attempt the size of cybercrime and asks why we…
How big is cybercrime? Various attempts have been made to measure the size of cybercrime around the world, or in individual countries, but how reliable are the methodologies… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/02/vb2015-paper-sizing-cybercrime-incidents-and-accidents-hints-and-allegations/

VB2015 video: TurlaSat: The Fault in our Stars

In a presentation at VB2015 in Prague, Kaspersky Lab researcher Kurt Baumgartner talked about Turla's extraplanetary activities: the malware used (and abused) satellite Internet connections for command and control communication.
Kurt Baumgartner talks about Turla's extraplanetary activities. Despite the hype around the subject, the tools used by most so-called APT groups are surprisingly mundane. But… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/02/vb2015-video-fault-our-stars/

Security vendors should embrace those hunting bugs in their products

When interviewed by the Risky Business podcast last week, VB Editor Martijn Grooten talked about the security of security products and said that many vendors are embracing the work done by Tavis Ormandy and others - as they should.
Security software is software too — and it will have flaws. Last week, I was interviewed for the Risky Business podcast. I really enjoyed the experience, not just because I've… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/02/security-vendors-should-embrace-those-hunting-bugs-their-products/

VB2015 paper: Effectively testing APT defences

Simon Edwards discusses how to test the potentially untestable.
Simon Edwards discusses how to test the potentially untestable. Like the term or loathe it, APTs have given rise to a new generation of security products that protect against these… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/01/paper-effectively-testing-apt-defences/

VB2015 paper: The ethics and perils of APT research: an unexpected transition into intelligence brokerage

Juan Andrés Guerrero-Saade discusses the perils and ethical conundrums that arise as the industry enters a new playing field.
Juan Andrés Guerrero-Saade discusses the perils and ethical conundrums that arise as the industry enters a new playing field. Many security researchers have been part of the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/01/paper-ethics-and-perils-apt-research-unexpected-transition-intelligence-brokerage/

VB2015 paper: Digital 'Bian Lian' (face changing): the Skeleton Key malware

Microsoft, Dell SecureWorks researchers analyse malware targeting Active Directory servers.
Microsoft, Dell SecureWorks researchers analyse malware targeting Active Directory servers. A year ago, researchers from Dell SecureWorks discovered a new kind of malware, dubbed… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/01/paper-digital-bian-lian-face-changing-skeleton-key-malware/

VB2015 video: Making a dent in Russian mobile banking phishing

Sebastian Porst explains what Google has done to protect users from phishing apps targeting Russian banks.
Sebastian Porst explains what Google has done to protect users from phishing apps targeting Russian banks. In the last few years, mobile malware has evolved from a mostly… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/12/video-making-dent-russian-mobile-banking-phishing/

The Internet of Bad Things, Observed

In his VB2015 keynote address, Ross Anderson described attacks against EMV cards.
In his VB2015 keynote address, Ross Anderson described attacks against EMV cards. The VB2015 opening keynote by Ross Anderson could hardly have been more timely. In his talk "The… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/11/internet-bad-things-observed/

VB2015 'Steganoprague' competition

Use your steganography-detection skills and win a pile of books.
Use your steganography-detection skills and win a pile of books. As VB2015 is about to begin, we announce the second part of the 'Steganoprague' competition. In this part, you will… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/09/steganoprague-competition/

Researchers seek ransomware samples for their generic solution

VB2015 presentation to include demonstration of technique against recent samples.
VB2015 presentation to include demonstration of technique against recent samples. 'The scary hack that's on the rise' is how Wired's Kim Zetter described ransomware in an overview… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/09/researchers-seek-ransomware-samples-their-generic-solution/

VB2015 last-minute papers announced

Ten talks covering hot research added to the VB2015 programme.
Ten talks covering hot research added to the VB2015 programme. There are just over two weeks to go until more than 400 security professionals descend on Prague for VB2015, the 25th… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/09/last-minute-papers-announced/

VB2015: some important information

Last-minute papers, steganography competition and foosball tournament.
Last-minute papers, steganography competition and foosball tournament. We're just a little over a month away from the beginning of VB2015, the 25th Virus Bulletin International… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/08/some-important-information/

VB2015 preview: advanced persistent threats

Several conference papers to deal with targeted attacks.
Several conference papers to deal with targeted attacks. There was a time when analyses of malware and viruses at the Virus Bulletin conference used the number of infections as a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/08/preview-advanced-persistent-threats/

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