VB Blog

Facebook helps you determine whether emails really came from its servers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 21, 2017

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.

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Vulnerability disclosure and botnet takedown not to be hindered by Wassenaar Arrangement

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Dec 19, 2017

Clarification in the language of the Wassenaar Arrangement, a multilateral export control regime for conventional arms and dual-use goods and technologies, means those involved in vulnerability disclosure or botnet takedown won't have to worry about acquiring an export licence.

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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.

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Attack on Fox-IT shows how a DNS hijack can break multiple layers of security

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.

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Throwback Thursday: BGP - from route hijacking to RPKI: how vulnerable is the Internet?

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.

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Security Planner gives security advice based on your threat model

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.

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VB2017 video: Spora: the saga continues a.k.a. how to ruin your research in a week

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.

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VB2017 paper: Modern reconnaissance phase on APT – protection layer

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.

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VB2017 paper: Peering into spam botnets

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.

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Throwback Thursday: Anti-malware testing undercover

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.

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More vulns in AV products

eTrust, PC Tools suffer security bugs.
eTrust, PC Tools suffer security bugs. CA's WebScan has had several security holes discovered in its ActiveX control system, while PC Tools AntiVirus has been revealed to have… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/more-vulns-av-products/

Spammers target phones

Text message spam on the rise.
Text message spam on the rise. More and more users of mobile phone SMS messaging are receiving spam, according to reports. The problem is especially serious in places like the US,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/spammers-target-phones/

Norton scares vicars

Sermon software spyware, says Symantec.
Sermon software spyware, says Symantec. Popular software used by Church of England clergy has been mislabelled as spyware by Symantec's Norton software. The software, called… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/norton-scares-vicars/

Serious vulns in Centrino wireless

Intel releases generic patches, urges users to seek specific fixes.
Intel releases generic patches, urges users to seek specific fixes. Several security flaws have been exposed in Intel's Centrino wireless technology, which could allow hackers to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/serious-vulns-centrino-wireless/

Apple releases patches - Mac debate rumbles on

Are Macs safer than Windows PCs? Oh yes they are... Oh no they're not.. etc.
Are Macs safer than Windows PCs? Oh yes they are... Oh no they're not.. etc. Spokespeople for various AV companies continue to add to the 'are Macs safer?' debate kicked off last… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/apple-releases-patches-mac-debate-rumbles/

Supermarket scammed by hacker employees

Supermarket sweep.
Supermarket sweep. In a plot mirroring the Mike Judge comedy Office Space, a team of supermarket employees in Manama created trojan software to tweak company databases and steal… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/supermarket-scammed-hacker-employees/

Rain of phish hits UK

Single botnet responsible for 8 million phishing emails.
Single botnet responsible for 8 million phishing emails. A single botnet has unleashed over 8 million phishing emails on UK targets over the last few days, according to mail… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/rain-phish-hits-uk/

Hi-tech phreaking and other VoIP woes

Security issues with VoIP technology revealed at Black Hat USA.
Security issues with VoIP technology revealed at Black Hat USA. Security issues with VoIP technology, allowing hackers to access corporate services and sell them on, as well as… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/hi-tech-phreaking-and-other-voip-woes/

Vietnamese botnet-keeper arrested

Student launched DDoS attacks 'just for fun'.
Student launched DDoS attacks 'just for fun'. A Hanoi student who used the forums he ran to recruit and control a botnet has been arrested. The as-yet-unnamed youth used the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/vietnamese-botnet-keeper-arrested/

Virus writers continue targeting Microsoft's latest ideas

Another piece of malware for MS Powershell.
Another piece of malware for MS Powershell. Another piece of malware for Microsoft's Powershell is making the news. The script virus exploits the new command shell, formerly known… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/virus-writers-continue-targeting-microsoft-s-latest-ideas/

Interpol site spoofed

Beware fake international police organizations...
Beware fake international police organizations... Practitioners of ur-phish, the 419 scam, have set up a doctored mirror of Interpol's website, as a ruse to ease victims' worries… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/interpol-site-spoofed/

BBC hypes 'more than 95% spam rate'

Shock figure drawn from dubious source.
Shock figure drawn from dubious source. The BBC online news website has published an article under the headline 'More than 95% of e-mail is "junk"'. The report, which was linked… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/bbc-hypes-more-95-spam-rate/

Security products scoop sales top ten

Strong sales for security products in June.
Strong sales for security products in June. A hefty seven of the top 10 software products sold over the counter in June were security-related, according to sales tracking… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/security-products-scoop-sales-top-ten/

F-Secure announces healthy figures

Finnish AV firm shows strong performance.
Finnish AV firm shows strong performance.F-Secure's latest financial announcement reports a 35% growth in revenues, and an 88% growth in operating profits. The success is put down… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/f-secure-announces-healthy-figures/

Symantec, McAfee suffer bugs

Norton and VirusScan afflicted.
Norton and VirusScan afflicted.Symantec has issued details of a minor bug in its Norton AV software - a recent update left some users seeing confusing messages claiming the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/symantec-mcafee-suffer-bugs/

New and revised laws

New anti-spam laws prepared and old ones revisited.
New anti-spam laws prepared and old ones revisited. One of the world's top spam-sending hot spots is currently preparing for the launch of its first anti-spam laws. Together with… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/new-and-revised-laws/

August issue of VB published

The August issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The August issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The August 2006 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/august-issue-vb-published/

August

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/

Supply of data to spammers stopped

Database thief charged.
Database thief charged. A US man has been charged with stealing a database of US physicians with the intention of selling it on to spammers. Forty-six-year-old William Bailey, Jr… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/supply-data-spammers-stopped/

More on the XP comparative

Setting the record straight.
Setting the record straight. In VB's June 2006 comparative review it was reported that the Norman product behaved badly, with repeated crashes on dealing with infected or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/more-xp-comparative/

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