VB Blog

VB2017 paper: Offensive malware analysis: dissecting OSX/FruitFly.B via a custom C&C server

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 29, 2017

At VB2017 in Madrid, macOS malware researcher Patrick Wardle presented the details of a specific piece of Mac malware, FruitFly, which he analysed through a custom C&C server - a technique that will also be of interest for researchers of malware on other platforms. Today we publish both Patrick's paper and the recording of his presentation.

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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.

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Virus Bulletin to attend AMTSO, AVAR and Botconf

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.

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VB2017 video: FinFisher: New techniques and infection vectors revealed

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.

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Throwback Thursday: The beginning of the end(point): where we are now and where we'll be in five years

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.

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VB2017 paper: Beyond lexical and PDNS: using signals on graphs to uncover online threats at scale

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.

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Firefox 59 to make it a lot harder to use data URIs in phishing attacks

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.

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Standalone product test: FireEye Endpoint

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 16, 2017

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

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VB2017 video: Consequences of bad security in health care

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.

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Vulnerabilities play only a tiny role in the security risks that come with mobile phones

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.

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VB2017 paper: The life story of an IPT - Inept Persistent Threat actor

At VB2017 in Madrid, Polish security researcher and journalist Adam Haertlé presented a paper about a very inept persistent threat. Today, we publish both the paper and the recording of Adam's presentation.
Last Wednesday, Belgium-based Polish hacker Thomasz T. was arrested during a visit to his home country. Thomasz is believed to be the author of the Polski, Vortex, and Flotera… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/03/vb2017-paper-life-story-ipt-inept-persistent-threat-actor/

VB2017 preview: BPH exposed - RBN never left they just adapted and evolved. Did you?

We preview the VB2017 paper by Dhia Mahjoub (OpenDNS) and Jason Passwaters (Intel471) who combine an actor-centric and a network-centric approach to analysing bulletproof hosting operations.
Running a cybercriminal enterprise isn't all that easy. Try, for instance, setting up a site hosting malware and you'll find that sooner or later the provider will suspend your… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/09/vb2017-preview-bph-exposed-rbn-never-left-they-just-adapted-and-evolved-did-you/

Despite the profitability of ransomware there is a good reason why mining malware is thriving

Though ransomware is far more profitable than using a compromised PC to mine bitcoins, the global distribution of malware means that there are many botnets for which mining is the most efficient way to extract money out of a PC.
When, a few years ago, a friend and I were analysing a rather large botnet and we saw some network traffic indicating that it was engaged in Bitcoin mining, we felt rather… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/09/despite-profitability-ransomware-there-good-reason-why-mining-malware-thriving/

Throwback Thursday: Ten memorable Virus Bulletin conference presentations - part 1

In a two-part blog post series, we look back at ten memorable VB conference presentations from the past ten years.
With an excellent conference programme (and still some gaps to fill!), we have much to look forward to when it comes to VB2017, the 27th Virus Bulletin conference. But we also… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/08/throwback-thursday-ten-memorable-virus-bulletin-conference-presentations-part-1/

VB2016 paper: Modern attacks on Russian financial institutions

Today, we publish the VB2016 paper and presentation (recording) by ESET researchers Jean-Ian Boutin and Anton Cherepanov, in which they look at sophisticated attacks against Russian financial institutions.
Today, we publish the VB2016 paper "Modern attacks on Russian financial institutions" (here in HTML format and here in PDF format) by ESET researchers Jean-Ian Boutin and Anton… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/december/vb2016-paper-modern-attacks-russian-financial-institutions/

Small Talks return to the Virus Bulletin Conference

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 Andr…
VB2015 was the 25th Virus Bulletin conference and, to celebrate the occasion, we added a third stream to the programme. Dubbed "Small Talks", these talks were longer than those on… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/08/small-talks-return-virus-bulletin-conference/

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/

Paper: 3ROS exploit framework kit — one more for the infection road

Aditya K. Sood and Rohit Bansal highlight a different side of an exploit kit.
Aditya K. Sood and Rohit Bansal highlight a different side of an exploit kit. Exploit kits are a serious plague on the Internet, made worse by the fact that the online… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/11/paper-3ros-exploit-framework-kit-one-more-infection-road/

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/

Paper: Beta exploit pack: one more piece of crimeware for the infection road!

Exploit kit currently being tested focuses primarily on Flash Player exploits.
Exploit kit currently being tested focuses primarily on Flash Player exploits. Nuclear, Angler, Magnitude and Rig. Security researchers know we're talking about exploit kits (or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/06/paper-beta-exploit-pack-one-more-piece-crimeware-infection-road/

VB2014 paper: Hiding the network behind the network. Botnet proxy business model

Cristina Vatamanu and her colleagues describe how botherders keep their C&C servers hidden.
Cristina Vatamanu and her colleagues describe how botherders keep their C&C servers hidden.Over the next few months, we will be sharing VB2014 conference papers as well as video… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/paper-hiding-network-behind-network-botnet-proxy-business-model/

VB2014 paper: Exposing Android white collar criminals

Luis Corrons dives into the world of shady Android apps.
Luis Corrons dives into the world of shady Android apps.Over the next few months, we will be sharing VB2014 conference papers as well as video recordings of the presentations.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/paper-exposing-android-white-collar-criminals/

VB2014 paper: DNSSEC - how far have we come?

Nick Sullivan describes how DNSSEC uses cryptography to add authentication and integrity to DNS responses.
Nick Sullivan describes how DNSSEC uses cryptography to add authentication and integrity to DNS responses.Over the next months, we will be sharing conference papers as well as… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/paper-dnssec-how-far-have-we-come/

VB2014 paper: The evolution of webinjects

Jean-Ian Boutin looks at the increased commoditization of webinjects.
Jean-Ian Boutin looks at the increased commoditization of webinjects.Virus Bulletin has always been about sharing information, and the Virus Bulletin conference is an important… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/paper-evolution-webinjects/

Browser-based ransomware uses scare tactics to extort money

Unsophisticated scam shows the high level of commoditization of today's cybercrime.
Unsophisticated scam shows the high level of commoditization of today's cybercrime. A case of browser-based ransomware, that is currently using social engineering tactics in an… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/01/browser-based-ransomware-uses-scare-tactics-extort-money/

European Cybercrime Centre set for launch

Central cybercrime resource for EU member states.
Central cybercrime resource for EU member states. This Friday will see the doors of the new European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) officially open in The Hague. The EC3 - which will be… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/01/european-cybercrime-centre-set-launch/

Cat carries computer virus

Cat collared.
Cat collared. Japanese police have captured a cat said to be carrying a computer virus on a memory card attached to its collar. The bizarre 'arrest' came after various Japanese… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/01/cat-carries-computer-virus/

Cybercriminals offering service flooding email, phone and SMS

DDoS-type attack could seriously disrupt business.
DDoS-type attack could seriously disrupt business. A new service is being offered on underground forums where between 25,000 and 100,000 emails are being sent to an email account… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/07/cybercriminals-offering-service-flooding-email-phone-and-sms/

'Largest takedown ever' sees six arrested

Millions made through 'DNSChanger' malware.
Millions made through 'DNSChanger' malware. Six Estonian nationals have been arrested for taking part in a cybercrime ring that made money through DNS-changing malware that had… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/11/largest-takedown-ever-sees-six-arrested/

DNS poisoning attack targeting Brazilian customers

ISP employee suspected of changing DNS cache.
ISP employee suspected of changing DNS cache. Millions of Internet users in Brazil may have been exposed to malware after the DNS caches of their ISPs were modified to redirect… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/11/dns-poisoning-attack-targeting-brazilian-customers/

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