VB Blog

VB2018 presentation: Levelling up: why sharing threat intelligence makes you more competitive

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Mar 1, 2019

In a presentation at VB2018, Michael Daniel, President and CEO of the Cyber Threat Alliance, outlined exactly how threat sharing strengthens a company's competitive advantage. Today we release the recording of his presentation.

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The malspam security products miss: Emotet, Ursnif, and a spammer's blunder

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 25, 2019

The set-up of the VBSpam test lab gives us a unique insight into the kinds of emails that are more likely to bypass email filters. This week we look at the malspam that was missed: a very international email with a link serving Emotet, an Italian Ursnif campaign with a password-protected ZIP and an email to which a clumsy spammer had attached a list of email addresses rather than a payload.

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VB2018 paper: The modality of mortality in domain names

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 22, 2019

Domains play a crucial role in most cyber attacks, from the very advanced to the very mundane. Today, we publish a VB2018 paper by Paul Vixie (Farsight Security) who undertook the first systematic study into the lifetimes of newly registered domains.

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VB2018 paper: Analysing compiled binaries using logic

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 20, 2019

Constraint programming is a lesser-known technique that is becoming increasingly popular among malware analysts. In a paper presented at VB2018 Thaís Moreira Hamasaki presented an overview of the technique and explained how it can be applied to the analysis of (potentially) malicious binaries. Today, we publish both Thaís' paper and the video of her presentation.

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Virus Bulletin encourages experienced speakers and newcomers alike to submit proposals for VB2019

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 19, 2019

With a little less than a month before the deadline of the call for papers for VB2019, Virus Bulletin encourages submissions from experienced speakers and newcomers alike.

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VB2018 paper: Internet balkanization: why are we raising borders online?

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Feb 13, 2019

At VB2018 in Montreal, Ixia researcher Stefan Tanase presented a thought-provoking paper on the current state of the Internet and the worrying tendency towards raising borders and restricting the flow of information. Today we publish both his paper and the recording of his presentation.

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The malspam security products miss: banking and email phishing, Emotet and Bushaloader

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 11, 2019

The set-up of the VBSpam test lab gives us a unique insight into the kinds of emails that are more likely to bypass email filters. This week we look at the malspam that was missed: banking and email phishing, Emotet and Bushaloader.

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VB2018 paper: Where have all the good hires gone?

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Feb 8, 2019

The cybersecurity skills gap has been described as one of the biggest challenges facing IT leaders today. At VB2018 in Montreal, ESET's Lysa Myers outlined some of the things the industry can do to help address the problem. Today we publish Lysa's paper and the recording of her presentation.

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Preview: Nullcon 2019

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 5, 2019

We look forward the Nullcon 2019 conference in Goa, India, at which VB Editor Martijn Grooten will give a talk on the state of malware.

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From Amazon to Emotet: a look at those phishing and malware emails that bypassed email security products

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 3, 2019

We see a lot of spam in the VBSpam test lab, and we also see how well such emails are being blocked by email security products. Recently some of the emails that bypassed security products included a broken Amazon phishing campaign, a large fake UPS campaign and malicious emails carrying Emotet and Lokibot.

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'Olympic' emails contain malicious XLS attachments

Malware writers sprint to use vulnerabilities before next Patch Tuesday.
Malware writers sprint to use vulnerabilities before next Patch Tuesday. Security researchers have reported seeing emails containing XLS attachments designed to exploit a yet… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/03/olympic-emails-contain-malicious-xls-attachments/

Bumper Patch Tuesday short of one patch

Excel remains vulnerable as expected fix is dropped.
Excel remains vulnerable as expected fix is dropped.Microsoft has issued its monthly 'Patch Tuesday' set of security updates, with a larger than usual crop of patches for a variety… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/bumper-patch-tuesday-short-one-patch/

More PDF exploits seen in wild

Adobe Reader and Acrobat flaws open way for further document attacks.
Adobe Reader and Acrobat flaws open way for further document attacks. A string of vulnerabilities in Adobe's PDF viewing and editing software, disclosed late last week by Adobe and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/more-pdf-exploits-seen-wild/

Yahoo! jukebox flaw exploits in wild

Zero day vulnerability in music system rapidly targeted.
Zero day vulnerability in music system rapidly targeted.Vulnerabilities in Yahoo! Jukebox, a free music-management system provided by Yahoo!, have been exploited by in-the-wild… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/02/yahoo-jukebox-flaw-exploits-wild/

Microsoft alert on Excel vulnerability

Targeted exploitation of zero-day flaw seen in wild.
Targeted exploitation of zero-day flaw seen in wild.Microsoft has issued a security advisory on an unresolved vulnerability in its Excel software, which has been reported as a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/01/microsoft-alert-excel-vulnerability/

SQL attack hacks wide range of sites

CA among victims of major attack linking sites to malware.
CA among victims of major attack linking sites to malware. Huge numbers of legitimate websites - perhaps as many as 100,000 according to some reports - fell victim to hackers… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2008/01/sql-attack-hacks-wide-range-sites/

Four IE bugs fixed by Patch Tuesday release

Seven updates, three critical in monthly security update.
Seven updates, three critical in monthly security update.Microsoft has released its monthly 'Patch Tuesday' security bulletin, featuring seven updates of which three are marked… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/12/four-ie-bugs-fixed-patch-tuesday-release/

Grisoft acquires Exploit Prevention Labs

AVG to incorporate LinkScanner in further consolidation of security offerings.
AVG to incorporate LinkScanner in further consolidation of security offerings.Grisoft, developer of the AVG security product whose free version is widely deployed on home-user… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/12/grisoft-acquires-exploit-prevention-labs/

SANS issues vulnerability top 20

Annual study of security risks finds software and humans present dangers.
Annual study of security risks finds software and humans present dangers. The SANS Institute has released its annual survey of vulnerabilities putting computer systems and networks… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/11/sans-issues-vulnerability-top-20/

QuickTime flaw could open Windows PCs to hackers

Firefox users most vulnerable; Internet Explorer users should be wary too.
Firefox users most vulnerable; Internet Explorer users should be wary too. Polish security researcher Krystian Kloskowski has published a proof-of-concept exploit for a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/11/quicktime-flaw-could-open-windows-pcs-hackers/

Five-year-old design flaw found in all Windows versions

Microsoft engineers spend Thanksgiving holidays writing patch.
Microsoft engineers spend Thanksgiving holidays writing patch. During the Kiwicon conference earlier this month, ethical hacker Beau Butler from New Zealand disclosed a design flaw… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/11/five-year-old-design-flaw-found-all-windows-versions/

Two fixes released on lightweight Patch Tuesday

Monthly security update covers just couple of dangers.
Monthly security update covers just couple of dangers.Microsoft has released its monthly 'Patch Tuesday' security bulletin, with only two patches issued, one rated 'Important' and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/11/two-fixes-released-lightweight-patch-tuesday/

PDF trojan exploits Adobe flaw

Reader/Acrobat vulnerability targeted day after patch release.
Reader/Acrobat vulnerability targeted day after patch release. A vulnerability in Adobe's popular PDF-viewing software Adobe Reader and editing suite Acrobat, first reported a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/pdf-trojan-exploits-adobe-flaw/

RealPlayer zero-day flaw exploited

Manufacturer responds rapidly to serious security hole.
Manufacturer responds rapidly to serious security hole. A zero-day vulnerability in the popular media playing system RealPlayer was spotted being exploited in the wild late last… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/realplayer-zero-day-flaw-exploited/

Kaspersky fixes serious vulnerability in Online Scanner

Exploitable ActiveX control replaced in new version.
Exploitable ActiveX control replaced in new version.Kaspersky Lab has released an updated version of its popular free online scanner to remedy a vulnerability in an ActiveX control… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/kaspersky-fixes-serious-vulnerability-online-scanner/

Word for Mac exploit spotted

Patch Tuesday flaw targeted by vulnerability.
Patch Tuesday flaw targeted by vulnerability. A vulnerability in the Apple Mac version of Microsoft Word, covered by a patch in this month's Patch Tuesday security update, has been… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/word-mac-exploit-spotted/

4 out of 5 critical issues fixed on Patch Tuesday

Expected patch omitted from monthly security update.
Expected patch omitted from monthly security update.Microsoft has announced the contents of its monthly 'Patch Tuesday' security update release, with four 'Critical' and two… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/4-out-5-critical-issues-fixed-patch-tuesday/

Adobe acknowledges PDF flaw, issues workaround

Registry hack provides temporary fix for vulnerability.
Registry hack provides temporary fix for vulnerability.Adobe has officially confirmed the vulnerability announced last month by researcher Petko Petkov, which could allow… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/adobe-acknowledges-pdf-flaw-issues-workaround/

Sun patches serious Java flaws

Critical vulnerabilities covered by urgent patches.
Critical vulnerabilities covered by urgent patches.Sun Microsystems has issued a series of patches to fix several vulnerabilities in its popular Java software. Successful… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/sun-patches-serious-java-flaws/

Alarm over possible PDF flaw

Vulnerability announcement hyped to disaster level.
Vulnerability announcement hyped to disaster level. The announcement of a potentially serious vulnerability in the ubiquitous Adobe PDF document format sparked considerable media… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/10/alarm-over-possible-pdf-flaw/

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