VB Blog

Paper: New Keylogger on the Block

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jul 5, 2016

In a new paper published by Virus Bulletin, Sophos researcher Gabor Szappanos takes a look at the KeyBase keylogger, sold as a commercial product and popular among cybercriminals who use it in Office exploit kits.

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BSides Denver to take place the day after VB2016

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 28, 2016

VB2016, the 26th International Virus Bulletin conference, is an excellent reason to go to Denver, Colorado in the first week of October. But there is another reason to come to Denver: BSides Denver, which will take place the day after VB2016, on Saturday 8 October 2016.

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VB2015 paper: DDoS Trojan: A Malicious Concept that Conquered the ELF Format

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Jun 13, 2016

In their VB2015 paper, Peter Kálnai and Jaromír Hořejší look at the current state of DDoS trojans forming covert botnets on unsuspecting systems. The paper provides a technical analysis of the most important malware families, focusing on infection methods, dynamic behaviour, C&C communication, obfuscation techniques, advanced methods of persistence and stealth, and elimination of rivals.

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Throwback Thursday: Hyppönen, that Data Fellow / Finnish Sprayer

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Jun 2, 2016

This week, well known and universally respected industry guru Mikko Hyppönen celebrates his 25th anniversary of working at F-Secure (formerly known as Data Fellows). VB takes a look back in the archives at two articles published in 1994: an "insight" into the life and work of the then rising star of the anti-virus world, and a virus analysis penned by the man himself.

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VB2015 paper: Economic Sanctions on Malware

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Jun 1, 2016

Financial pressure can be a proactive and potentially very effective tool in making our computer ecosystems safer. By cleverly employing various trust metrics and technologies such as digital signing, watermarking, and public-key infrastructure in strategically selected places, we can encourage good behaviours and punish bad ones. In his VB2015 paper, Igor Muttik analyses and gives examples of technologies (certificates, credentials, etc.) to de-incentivize bad behaviours in several ecosystems (Windows, Android, iOS).

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Virus Bulletin's job site for recruiters and job seekers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 26, 2016

Virus Bulletin has relaunched its security job vacancy service and added a new section, in which job seekers can advertise their skills and experience.

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Throwback Thursday: One_Half: The Lieutenant Commander?

Posted by   Helen Martin on   May 26, 2016

In October 1994, a new multi-partite virus appeared, using some of the techniques developed by the Dark Avenger in Commander_Bomber. As if this were not enough, the One_Half virus could also encrypt vital parts of the fixed disk. Eugene Kaspersky provided a detailed analysis.

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Advertisements on Blogspot sites lead to support scam

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 9, 2016

Support scam pop-ups presented through malicious advertisements show that, next to vulnerable end points, gullible users remain an easy source of money for online criminals.

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To make Tor work better on the web, we need to be honest about it

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 6, 2016

Many websites put barriers in front of visitors who use the Tor network. If we want to make the web more accessible through Tor, we need to be honest about why this is done, rather than cry wolf about a dislike for privacy, Martijn Grooten says.

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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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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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