VB Blog

48 hours after initial reports, many mysteries remain around the latest ransomware/wiper threat

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 29, 2017

Whether you call it Petya, NotPetya, Nyetya or Petna, there are still many mysteries surrounding the malware that has been causing havoc around the world.

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VB2017 Early Bird discount to expire this week

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 28, 2017

This week, the Early Bird discount for VB2017 comes to an end - so, for a 10% saving on the cost of full price registration, make sure you register now!

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VB2016 paper: Steam stealers: it's all fun and games until someone's account gets hijacked

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 23, 2017

Last year, Kaspersky Lab researcher Santiago Pontiroli and PwC's Bart Parys presented a VB2016 paper analysing the malicious threats faced by users of the Steam online gaming platform, and highlighting how organized criminals are making money with these profitable schemes. Today, we publish the paper.

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Research paper shows it may be possible to distinguish malware traffic using TLS

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 22, 2017

Researchers at Cisco have published a paper describing how it may be possible to use machine learning to distinguish malware command-and-control traffic using TLS from regular enterprise traffic, and to classify malware families based on their encrypted C&C traffic.

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Is CVE-2017-0199 the new CVE-2012-0158?

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 20, 2017

After five years of exploitation in a wide variety of attacks, CVE-2012-0158 may have found a successor in CVE-2017-0199, which is taking the Office exploit scene by storm.

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Review: BSides London 2017

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 19, 2017

Virus Bulletin was a proud sponsor of BSides London 2017 - Martijn Grooten reports on a great event.

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VB2017: one of the most international security conferences

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 15, 2017

It is well known that the problem of cybersecurity is a global one that affects users worldwide - but it's also one that has some unique local flavours. With speakers representing at least 24 countries, VB2017 is one of the most international security conferences on the circuit, allowing attendees to hear the viewpoints of experts from around the world. Register before 1 July and receive a 10% Early Bird discount.

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VB2016 paper: Diving into Pinkslipbot's latest campaign

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 12, 2017

Qakbot or Qbot, is a banking trojan that makes the news every once in a while and was the subject of a VB2016 paper by Intel Security researchers Sanchit Karve, Guilherme Venere and Mark Olea. In it, they provided a detailed analysis of the Pinkslipbot/Qakbot trojan and its then latest campaign. Their full paper is now available to download or read online.

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Book review: Spam: A Shadow History of the Internet

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 2, 2017

VB Editor Martijn Grooten reviews Finn Brunton's book 'Spam: A Shadow History of the Internet'.

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Virus Bulletin to sponsor BSides London

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 1, 2017

Virus Bulletin is proud to be a Silver sponsor of BSides London next week; we look forward to the event and to meeting many security professionals.

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AV-Test.org issues latest round of testing results

Symantec and Microsoft outdo Trend and McAfee in live tests.
Symantec and Microsoft outdo Trend and McAfee in live tests. Independent testing organisation AV-Test.org has released its latest round of test results in a simplified format,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/08/av-test-org-issues-latest-round-testing-results/

Extra-large crop of updates for Patch Tuesday

Fourteen security alerts from Microsoft join two from Adobe.
Fourteen security alerts from Microsoft join two from Adobe.Microsoft's monthly Patch Tuesday security bulletins came out this week, featuring a chunky 14 separate alerts with many… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/08/extra-large-crop-updates-patch-tuesday/

Patches come thick and fast in major update spree

Monthly and out-of-band issues flood admins' to-do lists.
Monthly and out-of-band issues flood admins' to-do lists. The release of this month's Patch Tuesday security bulletins from Microsoft, with a fairly average 10 alerts covering 34… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/06/patches-come-thick-and-fast-major-update-spree/

Patch Tuesday release includes 13 bulletins

26 vulnerabilities featured in sizeable update set.
26 vulnerabilities featured in sizeable update set. After a relatively quiet January, administrators are faced with a hefty workload this week as Microsoft's monthly Patch Tuesday… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2010/02/patch-tuesday-release-includes-13-bulletins/

IE zero-day bug fixed in Patch Tuesday updates

Serious browser bug main feature of monthly alerts, Adobe Flash issue also patched.
Serious browser bug main feature of monthly alerts, Adobe Flash issue also patched.Microsoft has released the December Patch Tuesday security bulletin, with a total of six alerts.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/12/ie-zero-day-bug-fixed-patch-tuesday-updates/

VB100 update

Post-test analysis corrects results for MS Forefront, CA.
Post-test analysis corrects results for MS Forefront, CA. In the wake of the mammoth VB100 comparative released earlier this week, the lab team have been conducting thorough… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/12/update/

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/

Bumper crop of October patch releases

Busy weeks for admins as Patch Tuesday joined by Adobe fixes, and Mozilla announces plug-in checking plans.
Busy weeks for admins as Patch Tuesday joined by Adobe fixes, and Mozilla announces plug-in checking plans. This week has seen Microsoft's monthly Patch Tuesday release of security… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/10/bumper-crop-october-patch-releases/

Microsoft steps into free AV market

Security Essentials release creates expected storm of words.
Security Essentials release creates expected storm of words.Microsoft's release of its free Security Essentials product this week sparked the expected barrage of views and opinions… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/10/microsoft-steps-free-av-market/

Patch Tuesday brings little relief from browser exploits

Six fixes issued, but new IE zero day emerges along with Firefox flaw.
Six fixes issued, but new IE zero day emerges along with Firefox flaw.Microsoft has issued its monthly 'Patch Tuesday' security update, with some serious browser flaws patched, but… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/07/patch-tuesday-brings-little-relief-browser-exploits/

Another IE zero day exploited

Second DirectShow vulnerability in six weeks labelled 'extremely critical'.
Second DirectShow vulnerability in six weeks labelled 'extremely critical'.Microsoft has issued an advisory on a serious vulnerability in an ActiveX control in its Internet… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/07/another-ie-zero-day-exploited/

Eight fixes for April Patch Tuesday release

Five critical updates in latest monthly patch release.
Five critical updates in latest monthly patch release. The April Patch Tuesday release from Microsoft, revealed this week, contained five updates rated 'critical', as well as two… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/04/eight-fixes-april-patch-tuesday-release/

AV-Comparatives releases latest detection figures

Large collection test shows major improvement from AV giants.
Large collection test shows major improvement from AV giants. Independent testing organisation AV-Comparatives has released its latest bi-annual detection test figures, with 17… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/03/av-comparatives-releases-latest-detection-figures/

March Patch Tuesday followed by PDF viewer patches

Major kernel issue and PDF problems fixed, spreadsheet software remains vulnerable.
Major kernel issue and PDF problems fixed, spreadsheet software remains vulnerable.Microsoft released the March security bulletin this week, with the monthly Patch Tuesday updates… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/03/march-patch-tuesday-followed-pdf-viewer-patches/

MS forms anti-Conficker alliance

Industry group to combine efforts, reward offered.
Industry group to combine efforts, reward offered.Microsoft has announced a collaborative effort to combat the Conficker (aka Downadup) botnet, the widespread infection making… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/02/ms-forms-anti-conficker-alliance/

IE fixed as usual in Patch Tuesday release

Browser should be treated as special case, say some.
Browser should be treated as special case, say some. The February 'Patch Tuesday' security bulletin from Microsoft this week contained four patches, two of them marked 'Critical',… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/02/ie-fixed-usual-patch-tuesday-release/

MS report finds phishing revenues overhyped

Huge earnings may be myth, say researchers.
Huge earnings may be myth, say researchers. A report from Microsoft analysing the potential income of phishers claims that the amounts taken from duped victims of online scams may… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/01/ms-report-finds-phishing-revenues-overhyped/

MS to release out-of-band patch for critical IE vulnerability

Users advised to patch ASAP.
Users advised to patch ASAP.Microsoft is set to release an emergency out-of-band patch for the vulnerability in its Internet Explorer browser reported last week. Attacks via the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/12/ms-release-out-band-patch-critical-ie-vulnerability/

IE zero-day danger growing

Large numbers of users vulnerable to unpatched problem.
Large numbers of users vulnerable to unpatched problem. The as-yet unpatched vulnerability in Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, reported last week and coinciding with the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/12/ie-zero-day-danger-growing/

FTC goes after scareware scammers

Courts crack down on pushers of rogue anti-malware.
Courts crack down on pushers of rogue anti-malware. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced a successful move to persuade a US district court to shut down a major… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/12/ftc-goes-after-scareware-scammers/

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