VB Blog

Spammers link to site containing QR code

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Jan 10, 2012

Curious users may scan URL and end up on pharma websites.

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January issue of VB published

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Jan 1, 2012

The January issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.

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Spammers using Google open redirect

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Dec 15, 2011

Vulnerability 'not worthy of bug bounty program'.

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Compromised websites used to mine bitcoins

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Dec 13, 2011

In-the-browser botnet turns victims' CPU cycles into cash for the attackers.

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'Nitro attacks' continue

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Dec 13, 2011

PoisonIvy trojan sent attached to email warning about the same trojan.

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December issue of VB published

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Dec 1, 2011

The December issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.

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Recently discovered Java vulnerability being added to exploit kit

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Nov 28, 2011

Kit 'patched' to include latest exploit; users urged to patch their software too.

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SMS trojan targets Android users in eight western countries

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Nov 25, 2011

Will another piece of mobile malware convince Google manager of the seriousness of the threat?

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Latest VBSpam certification results published

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Nov 21, 2011

Latest VBSpam results published - full report now also available.

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IETF expedites publication of RFC describing feedback loop recommendations

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Nov 17, 2011

Document fast-tracked to be published shortly before the sad passing of its author J.D. Falk.

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Parting thoughts 1: cybersecurity as a social science

In the first of a five-part series of blog post, departing VB Editor Martijn Grooten explains why he believes cybersecurity isn't as much as technical field as we like to believe.
At the end of this month, I will step down as Editor of Virus Bulletin. This week, I will share some 'parting thoughts' in five blog posts, based on my experience working in the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/12/parting-thoughts-1-cybersecurity-social-science/

VB2020 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 VB2020 is now open and we want to hear from you!
In the October 1990 edition of Virus Bulletin (pdf), then a printed monthly magazine sent to subscribers around the world by post, the very first Virus Bulletin conference was… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/12/vb2020-call-papers-now-open/

VB2019 paper: Operation Soft Cell - a worldwide campaign against telecommunication providers

Today we publish the VB2019 paper by Cybereason researchers Mor Levi, Amit Serper and Assaf Dahan on Operation Soft Cell, a targeted attack against telecom providers around the world.
Operation Soft Cell - a worldwide campaign against telecommunication providers Read the paper (HTML) Download the paper (PDF)   In June this year, Cybereason published a blog… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/12/vb2019-paper-operation-soft-cell-worldwide-campaign-against-telecommunication-providers/

VB2019 paper: A study of Machete cyber espionage operations in Latin America

At VB2019 in London a group of researchers from the Stratosphere Lab at the Czech Technical University in Prague presented a paper in which they analysed and dissected the cyber espionage activities of an APT group in Latin America through the analysis of…
A study of Machete cyber espionage operations in Latin America Read the paper (HTML) Download the paper (PDF)       Latin America has long been a hotbed for… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/12/vb2019-paper-study-machete-cyber-espionage-operations-latin-america/

VB2019 paper: The push from fiction for increased surveillance, and its impact on privacy

In a paper presented at VB2019 in London, researchers Miriam Cihodariu (Heimdal Security) and Andrei Bogdan Brad (Code4Romania) looked at how surveillance is represented in fiction and how these representations are shaping people's attitudes to surveillan…
    Levels of anxiety over technology and interconnectedness are growing. People are becoming increasingly concerned about privacy, and wary that every gadget or app… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/12/vb2019-paper-push-fiction-increased-surveillance-and-its-impact-privacy/

VB2019 paper: Oops! It happened again!

At VB2019 in London industry veterans Righard Zwienenberg and Eddy Willems took a detailed look at the relationship between past and current cyber threats. Today, we publish both their paper and the recording of their presentation.
    Oops! It happened again! Read the paper (HTML) Download the paper (PDF)   Different forms of malware and cyber threats are constantly making the news headlines,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/12/vb2019-paper-oops-it-happened-again/

Job vacancy at VB: Security Evangelist

Virus Bulletin is recruiting for a person to be the public face of the company
Virus Bulletin is a small company with a largely remote team based all over Europe that is placed at the heart of the IT security industry. Through its product testing, annual… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/11/job-vacancy-vb-security-evangelist/

VB2019 video: Thwarting Emotet email conversation thread hijacking with clustering

At VB2019 in London, ZEROSPAM researchers Pierre-Luc Vaudry and Olivier Coutu discussed how email clustering could be used to detect malicious Emotet emails that hijacked existing email threads. Today we publish the recording of their presentation.
Having returned from its summer break, Emotet is once again being used as the first stage of many often prominent and costly malware infections. A detailed analysis of the malware… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/11/vb2019-video-thwarting-emotet-email-conversation-thread-hijacking-clustering/

VB2019 paper: A vine climbing over the Great Firewall: a long-term attack against China

Today we publish a VB2019 paper from Lion Gu and Bowen Pan from the Qi An Xin Threat Intelligence Center in China in which they analysed an APT group dubbed 'Poison Vine', which targeted various government, military and research institutes in China.
A vine climbing over the Great Firewall: a long-term attack against China Read the paper (HTML) Download the paper (PDF)       The global nature of both the Virus… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/11/vb2019-paper-vine-climbing-over-great-firewall-long-term-attack-against-china/

VB2019 paper: Fantastic Information and Where to Find it: A guidebook to open-source OT reconnaissance

A VB2019 paper by FireEye researcher Daniel Kapellmann Zafra explained how open source intelligence (OSINT) can be used to learn crucial details of the inner workings of many a system. Today we publish Daniel's paper and the recording of his presentation.
Fantastic information and where to find it: a guidebook to open-source OT reconnaissance Read the paper (HTML) Download the paper (PDF)       Ever since Stuxnet was… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/11/vb2019-paper-fantastic-information-and-where-find-it-guidebook-open-source-ot-reconnaissance/

VB2019 paper: Different ways to cook a crab: GandCrab Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) analysed in depth

Though active for not much longer than a year, GandCrab had been one of the most successful ransomware operations. In a paper presented at VB2019 in London, McAfee researchers John Fokker and Alexandre Mundo looked at the malware code, its evolution and t…
Different ways to cook a crab: GandCrab ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) analysed in depth Read the paper (HTML) Download the paper (PDF)       Though active for not… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/11/vb2019-paper-different-ways-cook-crab-gandcrab-ransomware-service-raas-analysed-depth/

VB2019 paper: Domestic Kitten: an Iranian surveillance program

At VB2019 in London, Check Point researchers Aseel Kayal and Lotem Finkelstein presented a paper detailing an Iranian operation they named 'Domestic Kitten' that used Android apps for targeted surveillance. Today we publish their paper and the video of th…
Domestic Kitten: an Iranian surveillance program Read the paper (HTML) Download the paper (PDF)       In September last year, researchers at Check Point uncovered… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/11/vb2019-paper-d/

VB2019 video: Discretion in APT: recent APT attack on crypto exchange employees

At VB2019 in London, LINE's HeungSoo Kang explained how cryptocurrency exchanges had been attacked using Firefox zero-days. Today, we publish the video of his presentation.
In June, employees at cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase were targeted by emails linking to a website that used two zero-day vulnerabilities in the Firefox browser to deliver macOS… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/11/vb2019-video-discretion-apt-recent-apt-attack-crypto-exchange-employees/

VB2019 paper: DNS on fire

In a paper presented at VB2019, Cisco Talos researchers Warren Mercer and Paul Rascagneres looked at two recent attacks against DNS infrastructure: DNSpionage and Sea Turtle. Today we publish their paper and the recording of their presentation.
DNS on fire Read the paper (HTML) Download the paper (PDF)       The "phonebook of the Internet" has well outlived physical phonebooks, but that doesn't mean DNS is… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/11/vb2019-paper-dns-fire/

German Dridex spam campaign is unfashionably large

VB has analysed a malicious spam campaign targeting German-speaking users with obfuscated Excel malware that would likely download Dridex but that mostly stood out through its size.
This research was performed by Martijn Grooten, Peter Karsai and Ionuț Răileanu. On this blog we have regularly reported on the tendency among malicious spam campaigns to be… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/11/german-malspam-campaign-unfashionably-large/

Paper: Dexofuzzy: Android malware similarity clustering method using opcode sequence

We publish a paper by researchers from ESTsecurity in South Korea, who describe a fuzzy hashing algorithm for clustering Android malware datasets.
The sharp rise in Android malware in recent years has led security researchers to look for efficient ways to cluster related samples, especially since the tools used for Windows… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/11/paper-dexofuzzy-android-malware-similarity-clustering-method-using-opcode-sequence/

Emotet continues to bypass many email security products

Having returned from a summer hiatus, Emotet is back targeting inboxes and, as seen in the VBSpam test lab, doing a better job than most other malicious campaigns at bypassing email security products.
Emails with a malicious link or attachment form only a small minority of the spam that is sent every day. If it appears that such emails are more common than that, it is not just… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/11/emotet-continues-bypass-many-email-security-products/

VB2019 paper: We need to talk - opening a discussion about ethics in infosec

Those working in the field of infosec are often faced with ethical dilemmas that are impossible to avoid. Today, we publish a VB2019 paper by Kaspersky researcher Ivan Kwiatkowski looking at ethics in infosec as well as the recording of Ivan's presentatio…
We need to talk – opening a discussion about ethics in infosec Read the paper (HTML) Download the paper (PDF)       If infosec was ever a subject with little… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2019/11/vb2019-paper-we-need-talk-opening-discussion-about-ethics-infosec/

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