VB Blog

Paper: How It Works: Steganography Hides Malware in Image Files

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 28, 2016

A new paper by CYREN researcher Lordian Mosuela takes a close look at Gatak, or Stegoloader, a piece of malware that was discovered last year and that is controlled via malicious code embedded in a PNG image, a technique known as steganography.

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Paying a malware ransom is bad, but telling people never to do it is unhelpful advice

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 26, 2016

The current ransomware plague is one of the worst threats the Internet has seen and it is unlikely to go away any time soon. But telling people to never pay the ransom is unhelpful advice.

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VB2015 paper: VolatilityBot: Malicious Code Extraction Made by and for Security Researchers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 22, 2016

In his VB2015 paper, Martin Korman presented his 'VolatilyBot' tool, which extracts malicious code from packed binaries, leveraging the functionality of the Volatility Framework.

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VB2016 programme announced, registration opened

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 21, 2016

We have announced 37 papers (and four reserve papers) that will be presented at VB2016 in Denver, Colorado, USA in October. Registration for the conference has opened; make sure you register before 1 July to benefit from a 10% early bird discount.

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New tool helps ransomware victims indentify the malware family

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 15, 2016

The people behind the MalwareHunterTeam have released a tool that helps victims of ransomware identify which of more than 50 families has infected their system, something which could help them find a tool to decrypt their files.

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It's fine for vulnerabilities to have names — we just need not to take them too seriously

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 13, 2016

The PR campaign around the Badlock vulnerability backfired when it turned out that the vulnerability wasn't as serious as had been suggested. But naming vulnerabilities can actually be helpful and certainly shouldn't hurt.

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Throwback Thursday: The Number of the Beasts

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Apr 7, 2016

The Virus Bulletin Virus Prevalence Table, which ran from 1992 until 2013, gave users a regular snapshot of what was really going on in the virus (and later malware) world, recording the number of incidents of each virus reported to VB in the preceding month. In August 2000, Denis Zenkin, a self-confessed virus prevalence table junkie, shared his findings following a study of the virus prevalence tables over the preceding few years, allowing him to determine the top ten viruses of the period, the top viruses by type and the viruses of the year.

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Paper: All Your Meetings Are Belong to Us: Remote Code Execution in Apache OpenMeetings

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 30, 2016

Security researcher Andreas Lindh recently found a vulnerability in Apache OpenMeetings that could allow remote code execution on a vulnerable server. Andreas reported the vulnerability to the OpenMeetings developers and, once it had been patched, he wrote up the details.

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Throwback Thursday: 'In the Beginning was the Word...'

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Mar 24, 2016

Word and Excel’s internal file formats used to be something in which few were interested – until macro viruses came along and changed all that. In 1996, Andrew Krukov provided an overview of the new breed of viruses.

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VB2016 Call for Papers Deadline

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Mar 18, 2016

You have until the early hours (GMT) of Monday 21 March to submit an abstract for VB2016! The VB2016 programme will be announced in the first week of April.

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Search blog

Cybercrime rivals real-world crime rates

Researchers estimate 3 million online crimes committed in UK last year.
Researchers estimate 3 million online crimes committed in UK last year. A research group has issued a report estimating levels of cybercrime in the UK during 2006, finding that an… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/09/cybercrime-rivals-real-world-crime-rates/

China denies Pentagon hacking claims

'Hacked by Chinese' row rumbles on.
'Hacked by Chinese' row rumbles on. The Chinese government has vigorously denied accusations, made in a report in UK newspaper The Financial Times on Monday, that Chinese hackers… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/09/china-denies-pentagon-hacking-claims/

MS gaining fast in AV-Comparatives tests

Detection rates up 7% in six months, more improvement predicted.
Detection rates up 7% in six months, more improvement predicted.AV-Comparatives have released the results of their latest test of detection rates, pitting 17 scanners already known… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/09/ms-gaining-fast-av-comparatives-tests/

APWG and FTC combine to fight ID fraud

Agencies join forces to release safety guidance documents.
Agencies join forces to release safety guidance documents. The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have pooled their resources and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/09/apwg-and-ftc-combine-fight-id-fraud/

Sender authentication checks on the rise

SPF records creep into top ten content triggers checked by ISPs.
SPF records creep into top ten content triggers checked by ISPs. A report by email marketing software provider Lyris has revealed that use of the Sender Policy Framework (SPF)… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/09/sender-authentication-checks-rise/

Unsafe computing in abundance

Reports and statistics on unsafe computing practices.
Reports and statistics on unsafe computing practices. Last month saw a flurry of reports and statistics on unsafe computing practices. To kick off, almost a quarter of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/09/unsafe-computing-abundance/

September

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/09/

September issue of VB published

The September issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The September issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The September 2007 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/09/september-issue-vb-published/

YouTube latest Storm hook

Fake video links aim to pull in yet more victims.
Fake video links aim to pull in yet more victims. The never-ending stream of 'Storm' attacks continued over the weekend with a new tactic - the latest spammed email campaign… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/youtube-latest-storm-hook/

Sony in more rootkit rows

Accusations of sneakiness and unsafe practices hit media giants again.
Accusations of sneakiness and unsafe practices hit media giants again.Sony has been tangled up in two separate rootkit scares in the past few days, with a brief outcry over hidden… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/sony-more-rootkit-rows/

FBI-led panel to provide insight into international fight against cybercrime

International law enforcement agencies set to join forces at VB2007 in Vienna.
International law enforcement agencies set to join forces at VB2007 in Vienna. International law enforcement agencies are set to join forces at the VB2007 anti-malware conference… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/fbi-led-panel-provide-insight-international-fight-against-cybercrime/

String of vulnerabilities found in ServerProtect

Several minor holes patched in Trend Micro corporate product.
Several minor holes patched in Trend Micro corporate product. A series of security issues have been reported in Trend Micro's ServerProtect server-level product, which could allow… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/string-vulnerabilities-found-serverprotect/

Four charged with writing Fujacks

Malware authors and sellers appear in Chinese court.
Malware authors and sellers appear in Chinese court. Four men have appeared in a public court in Hubei Province, China, charged with writing, selling and spreading the W32/Fujacks… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/four-charged-writing-fujacks/

Latest VB100 announced

Novell NetWare server products to be tested.
Novell NetWare server products to be tested. VB has issued a call for submissions for the latest VB100 comparative review, which will measure the performance of products for the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/latest-announced/

AVK tops latest AV-Test charts

Top four beat 99% in large collection scan.
Top four beat 99% in large collection scan. Testers at AV-Test.org have run 29 products over a massive collection of malware samples, with detection rates measured against 874,822… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/avk-tops-latest-av-test-charts/

Latest Storm barrage offers site memberships

New tactic provides logins to special-interest sites.
New tactic provides logins to special-interest sites. The 'Storm' attack has changed tactic yet again, with the latest set of spams providing login details to a wide selection of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/latest-storm-barrage-offers-site-memberships/

Monster haul of data reaped from job site

Trojan gathers 1.6 million sets of jobseeker records.
Trojan gathers 1.6 million sets of jobseeker records. Researchers at Symantec have reported discovering a server carrying 1.6 million entries from the popular jobseeking website… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/monster-haul-data-reaped-job-site/

Phish poses as Sophos malware alert

Fake security alarm lures users to spoofed site.
Fake security alarm lures users to spoofed site. A phishing email recently spammed out uses the name of security firm Sophos to lend credence to a fake malware alert, designed to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/phish-poses-sophos-malware-alert/

ClamAV taken over by Sourcefire

Snort maker buys into open-source AV.
Snort maker buys into open-source AV. Open-source anti-virus product ClamAV has been acquired by Sourcefire, the US-based company behind leading open-source intrusion detection… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/clamav-taken-over-sourcefire/

14 flaws fixed in bumper Patch Tuesday

Critical remote execution and hijack holes closed.
Critical remote execution and hijack holes closed.Microsoft's monthly 'Patch Tuesday' security bulletin includes nine separate bulletins this month, covering a total of 14… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/08/14-flaws-fixed-bumper-patch-tuesday/

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