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.

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VB2019 paper: Defeating APT10 compiler-level obfuscations

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.

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VB2019 paper: Attribution is in the object: using RTF object dimensions to track APT phishing weaponizers

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.

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VB2019 presentation: Nexus between OT and IT threat intelligence

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.

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VB2019 paper: Kimsuky group: tracking the king of the spear-phishing

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.

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VB2019 paper: Play fuzzing machine - hunting iOS and macOS kernel vulnerabilities automatically and smartly

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.

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VB2019 paper: Finding drive-by rookies using an automated active observation platform

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.

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VB2019 paper: Pulling the PKPLUG: the adversary playbook for the long-standing espionage activity of a Chinese nation state adversary

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.

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VB2019 paper: Static analysis methods for detection of Microsoft Office exploits

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.

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New paper: LokiBot: dissecting the C&C panel deployments

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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Search blog

Vulnerabilities could trigger payload in emails upon receiving or opening

Flaws in IBM Notes and Exim/Dovecot easy to mitigate.
Flaws in IBM Notes and Exim/Dovecot easy to mitigate. Two recently discovered vulnerabilities in mail processing software could give an attacker access to a targeted system without… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/05/vulnerabilities-could-trigger-payload-emails-upon-receiving-or-opening/

Opposition activists in Asia and Africa targeted by spyware developed by Western companies

Mozilla angry about use of its brand and logo.
Mozilla angry about use of its brand and logo. A new report has been released on the commercialization of digital spying, which thoroughly analyses a number of pieces of spyware… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/05/opposition-activists-asia-and-africa-targeted-spyware-developed-western-companies/

VB100 XP comparative features new speed vs. detection graph

At-a-glance chart shows both detection rates and impact on system performance.
At-a-glance chart shows both detection rates and impact on system performance. The results of the latest VB100 comparative review were released recently, covering 40 products on… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/05/xp-comparative-features-new-speed-vs-detection-graph/

WordPress pingback used for DDoS attacks

Millions of sites could potentially be used in attack.
Millions of sites could potentially be used in attack. Security firm Incapsula reports that it has discovered a DDoS attack on a gaming website using thousands of legitimate… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/05/wordpress-pingback-used-ddos-attacks/

May issue of VB published

The May issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The May issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The May 2013 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or download… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/05/may-issue-vb-published/

May

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/05/

Apache binaries replaced by stealth malcious ones

Malicious servers opening backdoors, performing redirects.
Malicious servers opening backdoors, performing redirects. Researchers at ESET and Sucuri have discovered a modified Apache binary that is used on hundreds of web servers to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/04/apache-binaries-replaced-stealth-malcious-ones/

Dutchman arrested in Spain for DDoS attacks on Spamhaus

Suspect drove around in 'mobile bunker' to co-ordinate attacks.
Suspect drove around in 'mobile bunker' to co-ordinate attacks. Police in Spain have arrested a 35-year-old Dutchman, believed to be responsible for the DDoS attacks on Spamhaus… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/04/dutchman-arrested-spain-ddos-attacks-spamhaus/

Cybercriminals quick to exploit emerging news

Malicious emails appear a matter of hours after news of explosions in the US.
Malicious emails appear a matter of hours after news of explosions in the US. It would have come as little surprise to anyone in the security industry that within hours of this… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/04/cybercriminals-quick-exploit-emerging-news/

Different focus on spam needed

What happens before the filter doesn't matter too much.
What happens before the filter doesn't matter too much. It is surprisingly difficult to get accurate figures for the amount of spam that is sent globally, yet everyone agrees that… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/04/different-focus-spam-needed/

VB2013 programme announced

Exciting range of topics to be covered at VB conference in Berlin this October.
Exciting range of topics to be covered at VB conference in Berlin this October. The VB conference selection committee have been busily assessing more than 150 proposals submitted… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/04/programme-announced/

AV-Comparatives reveals detection and protection reports

Figures released for long-term real-world tests and large-scale scanning measures.
Figures released for long-term real-world tests and large-scale scanning measures. Hot on the heels of the recent report from AV-Test, the latest sets of figures from Austrian… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/04/av-comparatives-reveals-detection-and-protection-reports/

AV-Test releases first Windows 8 test stats

Corporate and consumer products rated against Windows Defender baseline.
Corporate and consumer products rated against Windows Defender baseline. Independent testing house AV-Test.org has released its first set of figures for solutions run on Windows 8,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/04/av-test-releases-first-windows-8-test-stats/

April issue of VB published

The April issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The April issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The April 2013 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/04/april-issue-vb-published/

April

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/04/

Catch rates drop in latest VBSpam tests

Spam more of a challenge for majority of products.
Spam more of a challenge for majority of products. The results of VB's latest spam filter test show that spam has become more difficult to filter - with 15 of the 19 products… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/03/catch-rates-drop-latest-vbspam-tests/

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/

March

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/03/

March issue of VB published

The March issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The March issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The March 2013 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/03/march-issue-vb-published/

VB data supports Google's claim to having reduced compromised accounts

Internet giant may indeed do something right; Yahoo! has a real problem.
Internet giant may indeed do something right; Yahoo! has a real problem. Internet giant Google claims that a 'complex risk analysis' using 'more than 120 variables' has reduced the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2013/02/vb-data-supports-google-s-claim-having-reduced-compromised-accounts/

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