VB Blog

VB2017 paper: Nine circles of Cerber

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Dec 15, 2017

Cerber is one of the major names in the world of ransomware, and last year, Check Point released a decryption service for the malware. Today, we publish a VB2017 paper by Check Point's Stanislav Skuratovich describing how the Cerber decryption tool worked; we have also uploaded the video of the presentation of this paper, by Or Eshed and Yaniv Balmas.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Dec 14, 2017

Dutch security firm Fox-IT deserves praise for being open about an attack on its client network. There are some important lessons to be learned about DNS security from its post-mortem.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Dec 14, 2017

For this week's Throwback Thursday, we look back at the video of a talk Level 3's Mike Benjamin gave at VB2016 in Denver, on BGP and BGP hijacks.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Dec 13, 2017

Citizen Lab's Security Planner helps you improve your online safety, based on the specific threats you are facing.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Dec 11, 2017

Today, we publish the video of the VB2017 presentation by Avast researcher Jakub Kroustek and his former colleague Előd Kironský, now at ESET, who told the story of Spora, one of of the most prominent ransomware families of 2017.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Dec 7, 2017

During recent research, Cisco Talos researchers observed the ways in which APT actors are evolving and how a reconnaissance phase is included in the infection vector in order to protect valuable zero-day exploits or malware frameworks. At VB2017 in Madrid, two of those researchers, Paul Rascagneres and Warren Mercer, presented a paper detailing five case studies that demonstrate how the infection vector is evolving. Today we publish both Paul and Warren's paper and the recording of their presentation.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Dec 1, 2017

At VB2017 in Madrid, CERT Poland researchers Maciej Kotowicz and Jarosław Jedynak presented a paper detailing their low-level analysis of five spam botnets. Today we publish their full paper.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Nov 30, 2017

We look back at the VB2016 presentation by Righard Zwienenberg (ESET) and Luis Corrons (Panda Security), in which they discussed various issues relating to anti-malware testing.

Posted by Martijn Grooten on Nov 30, 2017

As an independent body in the IT security industry, Virus Bulletin is in an ideal position to act as a global source of information both about jobs currently available in the field and about those candidates currently seeking to start or progress their career in the industry - which is why we have relaunched the VB Security Jobs Market.

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

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 c…
This blog post was put together in collaboration with VB test engineers Adrian Luca and Ionuţ Răileanu. Virus Bulletin uses email feeds provided by Abusix and Project Honey Pot.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/02/malspam-security-products-miss-emotet-ursnif-and-spammers-blunder/

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

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.
This blog post was put together in collaboration with VB test engineers Adrian Luca and Ionuţ Răileanu. Virus Bulletin uses email feeds provided by Abusix and Project Honey Pot.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/02/malspam-security-products-miss-banking-and-email-phishing-emotet-and-bushaloader/

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

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 campai…
This blog post was put together in collaboration with VB test engineers Adrian Luca and Ionuţ Răileanu. On this blog, we regularly look at those phishing and malware emails… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/02/amazon-ups-emotet-formbook-and-lokibot-look-those-phishing-and-malware-emails-bypassed-email-security-products/

From HSBC to product descriptions: the malicious emails bypassing your filters

Using data from our VBSpam lab, we looked at the malicious emails that have been missed recently by a large number of email security products.
Over a one-week period earlier this month, the average email with a malicious attachment was almost three times as likely to bypass email security products than a spam email… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/01/hsbc-product-descriptions-malicious-emails-bypassing-your-filters/

The spam that is hardest to block is often the most damaging

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. Worryingly, it is often the emails with a malicious attachment or a phishing link that are most likely to be missed.
This blog post was put together in collaboration with VB test engineers Adrian Luca and Ionuţ Răileanu. In a talk I gave at IRISSCON last year (the video of which you will find… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/01/spam-hardest-block-often-most-damaging/

$150k in cryptocurrency stolen through combined BGP-DNS hijack

A BGP hijack was used to take over some of Amazon's DNS infrastructure, which was then used to serve a phishing site to users of the MyEtherWallet service.
If the Internet is, as is often said, held together with elastic bands and pieces of Sellotape, BGP is essentially a bunch of post-it notes that serve as traffic signs. BGP… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/04/150-k-cryptocurrency-stolen-through-cominbed-bgp-dns-hijack/

Facebook helps you determine whether emails really came from its servers

On its website, Facebook now shows which emails it has sent you recently, thus helping you to determine which emails are real, and which should be discarded as phishing.
There are many good reasons to criticize Facebook for its collecting of our personal data, but the company also deserves credit for being at the forefront when it comes to online… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/12/facebook-helps-you-determine-whether-emails-really-came-them/

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

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 campaign…
While a domain name is really just a short string, this string comes with a large amount of implicit metadata: the registration date; the IP address(es) the domain currently… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/11/firefox-59-make-it-lot-harder-use-data-uris-phishing-attacks/

DMARC: an imperfect solution that can make a big difference

US Senator Ron Wyden has asked the Department of Homeland Security to implement DMARC. Martijn Grooten looks at what difference this could make for phishing attacks impersonating the US federal governent.
US Senator Ron Wyden has written a letter (pdf) to the Department of Homeland Security, urging the US government to implement DMARC to "ensure hackers cannot send emails that… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2017/07/dmarc-imperfect-solution-can-make-big-difference/

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 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/

Facebook launches platform for sharing of threat intelligence

Twitter, Yahoo! amongst early participants in 'ThreatExchange'.
Twitter, Yahoo! amongst early participants in 'ThreatExchange'. When I took my first steps in the security industry, I was surprised by just how much information was shared between… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/02/facebook-launches-platform-sharing-threat-intelligence/

VB2014 paper: DMARC - how to use it to improve your email reputation

Terry Zink presents case study in which he describes setting a DMARC policy for Microsoft.
Terry Zink presents case study in which he describes setting a DMARC policy for Microsoft.Over the next few months, we will be sharing VB2014 conference papers as well as video… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/11/paper-dmarc-how-use-it-improve-your-email-reputation/

Yahoo's DMARC policy wreaks havoc among mailing lists

Collateral damage in instruction to reject emails with invalid DKIM signatures.
Collateral damage in instruction to reject emails with invalid DKIM signatures. A change in Yahoo's DMARC policy has caused frustration among operators of many mailing lists and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/04/yahoo-s-dmarc-policy-wreaks-havoc-among-mailing-lists/

Latest spam filter test shows spam catch rates have bounced back

Spam catch rates improve, but performance on phishing lags behind that on other spam.
Spam catch rates improve, but performance on phishing lags behind that on other spam. Earlier this week we published the results of the 22nd VBSpam comparative spam filter test,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/11/latest-spam-filter-test-shows-spam-catch-rates-have-bounced-back/

PayPal spam leads to exploit kit

Clicking on links leads to Blackhole rather than phishing site.
Clicking on links leads to Blackhole rather than phishing site. Fake PayPal receipts were being spammed out this morning, with links leading to a version of the Blackhole exploit… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/05/paypal-spam-leads-exploit-kit/

Significant rise in malicious spam and phishing

Over one quarter of malicious emails contain eight-year-old malware.
Over one quarter of malicious emails contain eight-year-old malware. Email security firm eleven has reported a significant rise in both malicious emails and phishing emails in the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/04/significant-rise-malicious-spam-and-phishing/

Significant rise in Chinese phishing sites

Phishers shown to care little about domain names.
Phishers shown to care little about domain names. In its latest 'Global Phishing Survey', the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) reports a significant increase in phishing sites… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/11/significant-rise-chinese-phishing-sites/

'Meta-phish' uses attached form to evade web filters

Landing page contains clear warning.
Landing page contains clear warning. A phishing email targeting Austrian credit card users evades web filters by using an attached HTML form, but thankfully the landing page on the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/10/meta-phish-uses-attached-form-evade-web-filters/

Google AdWords phishing campaign spreads

Users urged to login because of 'issues'.
Users urged to login because of 'issues'. A new phishing campaign that targets users of Google AdWords looks worryingly real, GFI reports. The phish begins with an email claiming… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2011/10/google-adwords-phishing-campaign-spreads/

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