VB Blog

VB2017 paper: Offensive malware analysis: dissecting OSX/FruitFly.B via a custom C&C server

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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Tizi Android malware highlights the importance of security patches for high-risk users

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 28, 2017

Researchers from Google have taken down 'Tizi', an Android malware family, that used nine already patched vulnerabilities to obtain root on infected devices.

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Virus Bulletin to attend AMTSO, AVAR and Botconf

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 27, 2017

Next week, Virus Bulletin researchers will be attending the AMTSO meeting and AVAR conference in Beijing, China, as well as the 5th edition of the Botconf conference in Montpellier, France.

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VB2017 video: FinFisher: New techniques and infection vectors revealed

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 24, 2017

Today, we publish the video of the VB2017 presentation by ESET researcher Filip Kafka, who looked at recent changes in the FinFisher government malware, including its infection vectors.

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Throwback Thursday: The beginning of the end(point): where we are now and where we'll be in five years

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 23, 2017

We look back at the VB2016 presentation by Adrian Sanabria on the state of endpoint security, both now and in the future.

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VB2017 paper: Beyond lexical and PDNS: using signals on graphs to uncover online threats at scale

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 22, 2017

At VB2017 in Madrid, Cisco Umbrella (OpenDNS) researchers Dhia Mahjoub and David Rodriguez presented a new approach to detecting infected machines using graphs to detect botnet traffic at scale. Today we publish both Dhia and David's paper and the recording of their presentation.

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

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 21, 2017

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 campaigns - a lot less attractive.

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Standalone product test: FireEye Endpoint

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 16, 2017

Virus Bulletin ran a standalone test on FireEye's Endpoint Security solution.

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VB2017 video: Consequences of bad security in health care

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 13, 2017

Jelena Milosevic, a nurse with a passion for IT security, is uniquely placed to witness poor security practices in the health care sector, and to fully understand the consequences. Today, we publish the recording of a presentation given by Jelena at VB2017 in Madrid, in which she shared her inside view of security in hospitals.

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Vulnerabilities play only a tiny role in the security risks that come with mobile phones

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 9, 2017

Both bad news (all devices were pwnd) and good news (pwning is increasingly difficult) came from the most recent mobile Pwn2Own competition. But the practical security risks that come with using mobile phones have little to do with vulnerabilities.

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Small Talks return to the Virus Bulletin Conference

Following their success last year, this year a series of "Small Talks" return to the VB2016 conference programme. We are pleased to announce the details of six of these talks, covering subjects that range from the Chinese cybercriminal underground to Andr…
VB2015 was the 25th Virus Bulletin conference and, to celebrate the occasion, we added a third stream to the programme. Dubbed "Small Talks", these talks were longer than those on… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/08/small-talks-return-virus-bulletin-conference/

VB2015 paper: Will Android Trojans, Worms or Rootkits Survive in SEAndroid and Containerization?

Sophos researchers Rowland Yu and William Lee look at whether recent security enhancements to Android, such as SEAndroid and containerization, will be enough to defeat future malware threats.
Google's Android operating system may have a bit of a bad reputation when it comes to security, but it's worth noting that recent versions of the operating system have been… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2016/02/vb2015-paper-will-android-trojans-worms-or-rootkits-survive-seandroid-and-containerization/

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/

Stagefright vulnerability leaves 950 million Android devices vulnerable to remote code execution

The operating system has been patched, but it is unclear whether users will receive those patches.
The operating system has been patched, but it is unclear whether users will receive those patches. Researchers at mobile security firm Zimperium have discovered a remote code… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/07/stagefright-vulnerability-leaves-950-million-android-devices-vulnerable-remote-code-execution/

VB2014 paper: Leaving our ZIP undone: how to abuse ZIP to deliver malware apps

Gregory Panakkal explains that there are different ways of looking at APK files - and that sometimes that can have unintended consequences.
Gregory Panakkal explains that there are different ways of looking at APK files - and that sometimes that can have unintended consequences.Since the close of the VB2014 conference… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/03/paper-leaving-our-zip-undone-how-abuse-zip-deliver-malware-apps/

The VB2014 presentation you never saw. Early launch Android malware: your phone is 0wned

Malicious apps may have more privileges than security software.
Malicious apps may have more privileges than security software. There are many people without whom a Virus Bulletin conference wouldn't be possible: the VB team, the crew from Cue… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/presentation-you-never-saw-early-launch-android-malware-your-phone-0wned/

VB2014 paper: Exposing Android white collar criminals

Luis Corrons dives into the world of shady Android apps.
Luis Corrons dives into the world of shady Android apps.Over the next few months, we will be sharing VB2014 conference papers as well as video recordings of the presentations.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/paper-exposing-android-white-collar-criminals/

Black Hat Europe - day 1

Programme packed with interesting talks.
Programme packed with interesting talks. Though the prestige of Black Hat Europe doesn't compare to that of its American parent conference, and the event certainly doesn't dominate… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/black-hat-europe-day-1/

Paper: Obfuscation in Android malware, and how to fight back

Axelle Apvrille and Ruchna Nigam look at both off-the-shelf products and custom obfuscation techniques.
Axelle Apvrille and Ruchna Nigam look at both off-the-shelf products and custom obfuscation techniques. After a relatively slow start, in recent years mobile malware has really… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/07/paper-obfuscation-android-malware-and-how-fight-back/

Cheap Android phone comes shipped with spyware

Trojan masquerades as Google Play app; cannot be removed.
Trojan masquerades as Google Play app; cannot be removed. Researchers at German security firm G Data have discovered Android smartphones that come shipped with spyware. The phone… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/06/cheap-android-phone-comes-shipped-spyware/

VB2013 speaker spotlight

We speak to VB2013 presenter Rowland Yu about Android malware, his research interests, and what he aims to bring to VB2013.
We speak to VB2013 presenter Rowland Yu about Android malware, his research interests, and what he aims to bring to VB2013. The VB2013 conference takes place next month (2-4… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/09/speaker-spotlight-yu/

'Mobile Thursday' at the VB conference

Record number of presentations dedicated to threats affecting smartphones.
Record number of presentations dedicated to threats affecting smartphones. The significant increase in mobile threats is reflected in the VB2013 programme, which includes seven… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/09/mobile-thursday-vb-conference/

VB2013 speaker spotlight

We speak to VB2013 presenters Axelle Apvrille and Karine de Pontevès about their research interests and what they aim to bring to VB2013.
We speak to VB2013 presenters Axelle Apvrille and Karine de Pontevès about their research interests and what they aim to bring to VB2013. The VB2013 conference takes place this… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/07/speaker-spotlight-apvrille-de-ponteves/

VB2013 speaker spotlight

We speak to VB2013 presenter Samir Mody about his research interests and what he aims to bring to VB2013.
We speak to VB2013 presenter Samir Mody about his research interests and what he aims to bring to VB2013. The VB2013 conference takes place this autumn (2-4 October) in Berlin,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/07/speaker-spotlight-mody/

Compromised Yahoo! accounts continue to spread Android malware

Problem likely to be on Yahoo!'s side.
Problem likely to be on Yahoo!'s side. In recent weeks, we have noticed an uptick in the amount of spam sent from compromised Yahoo! accounts; we have reasons to believe the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/06/compromised-yahoo-accounts-continue-spread-android-malware/

AV Test releases Android test data

30 mobile solutions tested for malware protection and speed hit.
30 mobile solutions tested for malware protection and speed hit. Independent test organization AV-Test has released its latest report, covering the Andriod platform. This major… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/06/av-test-releases-android-test-data/

Commoditization increasingly seen in mobile malware

Number of malicious samples and families increase, as Android remains most popular mobile platform.
Number of malicious samples and families increase, as Android remains most popular mobile platform. As the number of mobile malware samples in existence continues to grow faster… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/05/commoditization-increasingly-seen-mobile-malware/

Spam link sends Android users to trojan proxy

Meanwhile, desktop users sent to (relatively harmless) weight-loss site.
Meanwhile, desktop users sent to (relatively harmless) weight-loss site. Links found in certain spam emails which redirect desktop users to a phony weight-loss website, have been… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/03/spam-link-sends-android-users-trojan-proxy/

Android malware served via compromised websites

Malware downloaded automatically, but requires user permission to be installed.
Malware downloaded automatically, but requires user permission to be installed. Researchers at mobile security company Lookout have discovered a number of compromised websites that… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/05/android-malware-served-compromised-websites/

Android malware hides inside JPG image

New LeNa variant no longer depends on rooted devices.
New LeNa variant no longer depends on rooted devices. Researchers at Lookout have discovered a new version of the 'LeNa' trojan for Android that does not require user interaction… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2012/04/android-malware-hides-inside-jpg-image/

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