VB Blog

VB2020 update - currently business as usual

Posted by Virus Bulletin on Mar 16, 2020

Here at VB we are keeping a close eye on the global situation regarding the COVID-19 outbreak and the various travel restrictions and health advice, but in the meantime planning and arrangements for VB2020 are going ahead as usual, including the selection of papers.

Posted by Virus Bulletin on Mar 13, 2020

At VB2019 in London, Carbon Black researcher Takahiro Haruyama presented a paper on defeating compiler-level obfuscations used by the APT10 group. Today we publish both Takahiro's paper and the recording of his presentation.

Posted by Virus Bulletin on Mar 12, 2020

At VB2019 in London Michael Raggi (Proofpoint) and Ghareeb Saad (Anomali) presented a paper on the 'Royal Road' exploit builder (or weaponizer) and how the properties of RTF files can be used to track weaponizers and their users. Today we publish both their paper and the recording of their presentation.

Posted by Virus Bulletin on Mar 11, 2020

Operational technology, the mission critical IT in ICS, shares many similarities with traditional IT systems, but also some crucial differences. During the Threat Intelligence Practitioners’ Summit at VB2019, Dragos cyber threat intelligence analyst Selena Larson gave a keynote on these similarities and differences. Today we release the recording of her presentation.

Posted by Virus Bulletin on Mar 10, 2020

In a paper presented at VB2019 in London, researchers fron the Financial Security Institute detailed the tools and activities used by the APT group 'Kimsuky', some of which they were able to analyse through OpSec failures by the group. Today, we publish their paper.

Posted by Virus Bulletin on Mar 9, 2020

In a paper presented at VB2019 in London, Trend Micro researchers Lilang Wu and Moony Li explained how the hunt for vulnerabilities in MacOS and iOS operating systems can be made both smarter and more automatic. Today we publish both their paper and the recording of their presentation.

Posted by Virus Bulletin on Mar 6, 2020

In a last-minute paper presented at VB2019 in London, Rintaro Koike (NTT Security) and Yosuke Chubachi (Active Defense Institute, Ltd) discussed the platform they have built to automatically detect and analyse exploit kits. Today we publish the recording of their presentation.

Posted by Virus Bulletin on Feb 28, 2020

The activities of China-based threat actor PKPLUG were detailed in a VB2019 paper by Palo Alto Networks researcher Alex Hinchliffe, who described the playbook of this long-standing adversary. Today we publish both Alex's paper and the recording of his presentation.

Posted by Virus Bulletin on Feb 25, 2020

Today we publish the VB2019 paper and presentation by McAfee researcher Chintan Shah in which he described static analysis methods for the detection of Microsoft Office exploits.

Posted by Helen Martin on Feb 17, 2020

First advertised as an information stealer and keylogger when it appeared in underground forums in 2015, LokiBot has added various capabilities over the years and has affected many users worldwide. In a new paper researcher Aditya Sood analyses the URL structure of the LokiBot C&C panels and how they have evolved over time.

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VB2018 paper: Little Brother is watching – we know all your secrets!

At VB2018 in Montreal, researchers from Fraunhofer SIT looked at privacy vulnerabilities in legitimate Android family-tracking apps that leaked location data. Today, we publish both their paper and the video of their presentation.
The use of mobile spyware to spy on (ex-)partners is an underreported problem, despite the prevalence of such apps and their use in cases of domestic violence. At VB2017 in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/02/vb2018-paper-little-brother-watching-we-know-all-your-secrets/

Threat intelligence teams should consider recruiting journalists

Threat intelligence teams would do well to recruit journalists, whose experience is crucial in today's threat landscape.
These aren't easy times for journalists. Last week's laying off of dozens of journalists at BuzzFeed, including its full national security desk, contributed to more than 1,000… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/01/threat-intelligence-teams-should-consider-recruiting-journalists/

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/

VB2018 paper: Inside Formbook infostealer

The Formbook information-stealing trojan may not be APT-grade malware, but its continuing spread means it can still be effective. At VB2018 in Montreal, Gabriela Nicolao, a researcher from Deloitte in Argentina, presented a short paper in which she looked…
The Formbook information-stealing trojan has been spread by a number of recent spam campaigns. The malware was advertised in hacking forums as long ago as January 2016, but wasn't… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/01/vb2018-paper-inside-formbook-infostealer/

The VB2019 CFP - how the selection procedure works

With the VB2019 Call for Papers having opened last week, we explain how the selection procedure works, which may help you during your abstract submission.
Last week, we opened the call for papers for VB2019, which is to take place 2-4 October in London, UK. The deadline for the call for papers is Sunday 17 March. We are often… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/01/vb2019-cfp-how-selection-procedure-works/

VB2018 paper: From Hacking Team to hacked team to…?

Today we publish the VB2018 paper and video by ESET researcher Filip Kafka, who looked at the new malware by Hacking Team, after the company had recovered from the 2015 breach.
It is good practice not to mock or laugh at hacking victims. But when the victim is a company that itself is in the business of hacking and has a habit of selling its products and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/01/vb2018-paper-hacking-team-hacked-team/

Throwback Thursday: We're all doomed

Mydoom turns 15 this month, and is still being seen in email attachments. This Throwback Thursday we look back to March 2004, when Gabor Szappanos tracked the rise of W32/Mydoom.
When a daily sports paper compares a national soccer crisis with the spread of an Internet worm, you know that the worm has had an enormous impact on everyday life. This was the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/01/throwback-thursday-were-all-doomed1/

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/

VB2019 call for papers - now open!

Have you analysed a new online threat? Do you know a new way to defend against such threats? Are you tasked with securing systems and fending off attacks? The call for papers for VB2019 is now open and we want to hear from you!
The call for papers for VB2019, the 29th Virus Bulletin International Conference, which will take place in London, UK, 2-4 October 2019, is now open! We welcome submissions on… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/01/vb2019-call-papers-now-open/

VB2018 paper: Unpacking the packed unpacker: reversing an Android anti-analysis library

Today, we publish a VB2018 paper by Google researcher Maddie Stone in which she looks at one of the most interesting anti-analysis native libraries in the Android ecosystem. We also release the recording of Maddie's presentation.
Though still relatively new (the first VB conference paper on Android malware was presented in 2011), malware targeting the Android mobile operating system has evolved quickly, in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/01/vb2018-paper-unpacking-packed-unpacker-reversing-android-anti-analysis-library/

January

https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/01/

2019

https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/

VB2018 paper: Draw me like one of your French APTs – expanding our descriptive palette for cyber threat actors

Today, we publish the VB2018 paper by Chronicle researcher Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade, who argues we should change the way we talk about APT actors.
IT security research stumbled into the world of nation-state intelligence operations more or less by accident. In a now classic VB2015 paper, Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade discussed… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/01/vb2018-paper-draw-me-one-your-french-apts-expanding-our-descriptive-palette-cyber-threat-actors/

Book Review: Cyber Wars

VB Editor Martijn Grooten reviews Charles Arthur's Cyber Wars, which looks at seven prominent hacks and attacks, and the lessons we can learn from them.
At a recent security conference, one speaker asked how many of the audience remembered the 2007 Storm Worm. Only about half the members of the audience of malware researchers… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/12/book-review-cyber-wars/

VB2018 paper: Office bugs on the rise

At VB2018 Sophos researcher Gábor Szappanos provided a detailed overview of Office exploit builders, and looked in particular at the widely exploited CVE-2017-0199. Today we publish his paper and release the video of his presentation.
A large portion of today's malware infections use malicious Office documents as a first-stage payload. Typically, the user is tricked into enabling macros or disabling some… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/12/vb2018-paper-office-bugs-rise/

VB2018 video: The Big Bang Theory by APT-C-23

Today, we release the video of the VB2018 presentation by Check Point researcher Aseel Kayal, who connected the various dots relating to campaigns by the APT-C-23 threat group.
The APT-C-23 group, which targets users in the Middle East and in particular in the State of Palestine, was named and first reported on by 360 in a Chinese language blog post in… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/12/vb2018-video-big-bang-theory-apt-c-23/

VB2019 London - join us for the most international threat intelligence conference!

VB calls on organisations and individuals involved in threat intelligence from around the world to participate in next year's Virus Bulletin conference.
If you see cybersecurity as a battle between attackers and defenders, then there are enough good news stories to demonstrate that the former aren't necessarily winning. But the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/12/vb2019-london-join-us-most-international-threat-intelligence-conference/

VB2018 paper: Tracking Mirai variants

Today, we publish the VB2018 paper by Qihoo 360 researchers Ya Liu and Hui Wang, on extracting data from variants of the Mirai botnet to classify and track variants.
The leaking or publishing of malware source code often leads to multiple spin-off families based on the code. Never has this been more clear than in the case of the Mirai Internet… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/12/vb2018-paper-tracking-mirai-variants/

VB2018 paper: Hide'n'Seek: an adaptive peer-to-peer IoT botnet

2018 has seen an increase in the variety of botnets living on the Internet of Things - such as Hide'N'Seek, which is notable for its use of peer-to-peer for command-and-control communication. Today, we publish the VB2018 paper by Bitdefender researchers A…
Until recently IoT botnets mostly consisted of Mirai and its many descendants. However, during 2018 we have seen an increase in the variety of botnets living on the Internet of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/12/vb2018-paper-hidenseek-adaptive-peer-peer-iot-botnet/

December

https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2018/12/

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