VB Blog

Paper: How It Works: Steganography Hides Malware in Image Files

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 28, 2016

A new paper by CYREN researcher Lordian Mosuela takes a close look at Gatak, or Stegoloader, a piece of malware that was discovered last year and that is controlled via malicious code embedded in a PNG image, a technique known as steganography.

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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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Symbian SMS pest highlighted

Mobile exploit attack disables messaging.
Mobile exploit attack disables messaging. A presentation at a popular hacking forum has brought much attention to a flaw in the SMS processing in some versions of the Symbian… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2009/01/symbian-sms-pest-highlighted/

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/

Patch Tuesday released closely followed by emergency update

Bumper crop of patches plus further fix leave known holes open.
Bumper crop of patches plus further fix leave known holes open. This month's 'Patch Tuesday' security bulletin from Microsoft contained eight separate updates, two more than… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/12/patch-tuesday-released-closely-followed-emergency-update/

Worm targets MS08-067 vulnerability

Exploit attack patches flaw once system penetrated.
Exploit attack patches flaw once system penetrated. A worm has been seen taking advantage of the vulnerability in Microsoft's Windows Server Service, patched out-of-cycle last… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/12/worm-targets-ms08-067-vulnerability/

Two updates in Microsoft's November's patch release

Just two updates released by Microsoft this month: one rated critical, one important.
Just two updates released by Microsoft this month: one rated critical, one important.Microsoft has issued two updates in the November round of its monthly patch release cycle, one… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/11/two-updates-microsoft-s-november-s-patch-release/

Microsoft issues emergency patch

Out-of-cycle update fixes serious, wormable flaw.
Out-of-cycle update fixes serious, wormable flaw.Microsoft has issued an emergency update to cover a serious vulnerability in the Windows Server service, breaking its usual monthly… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/10/microsoft-issues-emergency-patch/

Vulnerability test raises hackles

Secunia suite trial slates lack of PoC detection, but test methods called into question.
Secunia suite trial slates lack of PoC detection, but test methods called into question. Vulnerability specialist Secunia published the results of a trial of internet security… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/10/vulnerability-test-raises-hackles/

Four critical updates this Patch Tuesday

11 updates to be issued by Microsoft in October's monthly patch release: 4 critical.
11 updates to be issued by Microsoft in October's monthly patch release: 4 critical.Microsoft has prepared a total of 11 updates for the October round of its monthly patch release… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/10/four-critical-updates-patch-tuesday/

Four critical updates in Patch Tuesday release

Monthly security update small but vital.
Monthly security update small but vital.Microsoft has released its monthly 'Patch Tuesday' batch of security updates, with only four items on the list but all of them marked… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/09/four-critical-updates-patch-tuesday-release/

Trend OfficeScan flaws labelled highly critical

Web-delivered products at risk of allowing remote access.
Web-delivered products at risk of allowing remote access. A set of vulnerabilities have been reported in Trend Micro's Officescan product, which have been flagged with the 'Highly… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/08/trend-officescan-flaws-labelled-highly-critical/

DNS flaw exploitation danger growing

Slow patchers targeted by sophisticated attacks.
Slow patchers targeted by sophisticated attacks. The serious vulnerability in the implementation of DNS systems has been targeted by malicious attacks, as security watchers have… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/08/dns-flaw-exploitation-danger-growing/

Patch Tuesday sees serious DNS flaws fixed

Nothing marked critical, but some very important patches issued.
Nothing marked critical, but some very important patches issued.Microsoft's latest 'Patch Tuesday' round of security updates for once contains no bulletins marked as 'critical',… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/07/patch-tuesday-sees-serious-dns-flaws-fixed/

Macs under attack from trojan double whammy

Two new threats in a week spark worries of approaching Mac malware era.
Two new threats in a week spark worries of approaching Mac malware era. Users of Apple Mac systems, who have so far only suffered from minimal attention from malware creators, may… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/06/macs-under-attack-trojan-double-whammy/

Microsoft releases latest Patch Tuesday fixes

7 vulnerabilities, 3 critical, addressed in June security update.
7 vulnerabilities, 3 critical, addressed in June security update.Microsoft has issued its monthly 'Patch Tuesday' set of security fixes, with seven separate areas covered of which… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/06/microsoft-releases-latest-patch-tuesday-fixes/

Microsoft increases pressure on Apple to fix Safari blended threat

'Carpet bombing' vulnerability more serious than Apple claims, MS warns.
'Carpet bombing' vulnerability more serious than Apple claims, MS warns.Microsoft, whose Internet Explorer has come under frequent criticism for security vulnerabilities, has… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/06/microsoft-increases-pressure-apple-fix-safari-blended-threat/

Latest Patch Tuesday update released

Microsoft announces five 'critical' vulnerabilities need fixing.
Microsoft announces five 'critical' vulnerabilities need fixing.Microsoft has issued its monthly 'Patch Tuesday' security bulletin, with five 'critical' and three 'important'… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/04/latest-patch-tuesday-update-released/

Latest Patch Tuesday release

March's Patch Tuesday sees four 'critical' updates.
March's Patch Tuesday sees four 'critical' updates.Microsoft has released its monthly 'Patch Tuesday' security bulletin. This month the bulletin features four 'critical' updates,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/03/latest-patch-tuesday-release/

Cisco announces 'Patch Wednesdays'

Cisco set to embark on regular release cycle.
Cisco set to embark on regular release cycle. Following a trend set by Microsoft's monthly 'Patch Tuesdays' and Oracle's quarterly security updates, networking giant Cisco has… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/03/cisco-announces-patch-wednesdays/

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