VB Blog

We are more ready for IPv6 email than we may think

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 21, 2018

Though IPv6 is gradually replacing IPv4 on the Internet's network layer, email is lagging behind, the difficulty in blocking spam sent over IPv6 cited as a reason not to move. But would we really have such a hard time blocking spam sent over IPv6?

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Subtle change could see a reduction in installation of malicious Chrome extensions

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 13, 2018

Google has made a subtle change to its Chrome browser, banning the inline installation of new extensions, thus making it harder for malware authors to trick users into unwittingly installing malicious extensions.

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Paper: EternalBlue: a prominent threat actor of 2017–2018

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 11, 2018

We publish a paper by researchers from Quick Heal Security Labs in India, who study the EternalBlue and DoublePulsar exploits in full detail.

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'North Korea' a hot subject among VB2018 talks

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Jun 1, 2018

Several VB2018 papers deal explicitly or implicitly with threats that have been attributed to North Korean actors.

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Expired domain led to SpamCannibal's blacklist eating the whole world

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 31, 2018

The domain of the little-used SpamCannibal DNS blacklist had expired, resulting in it effectively listing every single IP address.

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MnuBot banking trojan communicates via SQL server

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 30, 2018

Researchers at IBM X-Force have discovered MnuBot, a banking trojan targeting users in Brazil, which is noteworthy for using SQL Server for command and control communication.

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Throwback Thursday: Giving the EICAR test file some teeth

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 24, 2018

The 68-byte EICAR test file plays as important a role today as it did 19 years ago. In this week's Throwback Thursday we look back at a VB99 conference paper in which Randy Abrams described how this 'miracle tool' worked and how it could be used.

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XMRig used in new macOS cryptominer

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 23, 2018

A new piece of cryptocurrency-mining malware on macOS has been found to use the popular XMRig miner.

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Tendency for DDoS attacks to become less volumetric fits in a wider trend

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 22, 2018

CDN provider Cloudflare reports an increase in DDoS attacks targeting layer 7 and focusing on exhausting server resources rather than sending large volumes of data. This fits in a wider trend.

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Turkish Twitter users targeted with mobile FinFisher spyware

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 15, 2018

Through fake social media accounts, users were tricked into installing an Android application that was actually a mobile version of the FinFisher spyware.

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Search blog

Questionable false positive file removed

Amendment to VB's April Linux comparative review.
Amendment to VB's April Linux comparative review. In Virus Bulletin's April 2007 Linux comparative review (see VB, April 2007, p.11), VB reported that ESET's product NOD32 had… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/questionable-false-positive-file-removed/

Botnet DoS no longer profitable

Extortion attacks fall as herders find easier money elsewhere.
Extortion attacks fall as herders find easier money elsewhere. The use of armies of botnets to carry out denial-of-service attacks on lucrative websites, as a method of extorting… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/botnet-dos-no-longer-profitable/

Touchy mail blocker upsets Gay

Content filter berates woman for using own name in mails.
Content filter berates woman for using own name in mails. A woman has complained to the New Zealand ISP Telecom after an email she sent them was bounced back to her, with a message… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/touchy-mail-blocker-upsets-gay/

Erratum: VB100 Linux comparative

Dr.Web results corrected.
Dr.Web results corrected. Upon closer analysis of the latest set of VB100 test results (see VB, April 2007, p.11) VB has regrettably discovered some errors in the detection figures… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/erratum-linux-comparative/

Websense snaps up SurfControl

$400m for British web-filtering company.
$400m for British web-filtering company. US firm Websense has sealed a $400m cash deal to acquire British web-filtering company SurfControl. The 700-pence-per-share price paid by… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/websense-snaps-surfcontrol/

May

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/

Google advert exploit attack analysed

Video demonstrates malware infiltration via ads for legitimate sites.
Video demonstrates malware infiltration via ads for legitimate sites. Details continue to emerge of a serious attack using the Google Adwords advertising system to lure… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/google-advert-exploit-attack-analysed/

DoS attacks support political unrest

Estonia rioting backed up by attacks on government websites.
Estonia rioting backed up by attacks on government websites. Severe rioting in Estonia, sparked by anger over the removal of a Russian monument from a prominent war memorial, has… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/dos-attacks-support-political-unrest/

Massive lawsuit brought against spam harvesters

Harvesting detection project aims to prosecute address abusers.
Harvesting detection project aims to prosecute address abusers. A community project dedicated to gathering information on the collection of email addresses for spamming purposes… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/massive-lawsuit-brought-against-spam-harvesters/

Email this!

VB stops spammer in his tracks.
VB stops spammer in his tracks. A stark reminder of the ingenuity of spammers was received by VB's web team last month thanks to a brief incident involving the VB web server.… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/email/

A new generation of Panda

Panda sells majority shareholding.
Panda sells majority shareholding. Spanish security vendor Panda Software has announced the sale of 75% of its shareholding to southern European investment group Investindustrial… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/new-generation-panda/

VB100 procedure review

Test procedures clarified.
Test procedures clarified.VB has reviewed the test procedures for the VB100 comparative testing and certification program. An updated version of the VB100 procedures document is… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/procedure-review/

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 2007 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or download… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/05/may-issue-vb-published/

Experts predict no let-up in malcode development

Kaspersky and Russinovich warn of growth in Vista, non-Windows malware.
Kaspersky and Russinovich warn of growth in Vista, non-Windows malware. Security experts have been making predictions for the future of malware and anti-malware developments, with… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/experts-predict-no-let-malcode-development/

Governments making moves to combat cybercrime

Laws and agencies beginning to target online fraud and ID theft.
Laws and agencies beginning to target online fraud and ID theft. With profits from fraud using privileged personal data stolen via phishing or spyware rocketing and making the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/governments-making-moves-combat-cybercrime/

Theft spam, fraud and web threats may rival ad spam

Spring threat reports show rise in spying, zombies, spear-phishing and cracked websites.
Spring threat reports show rise in spying, zombies, spear-phishing and cracked websites. A series of reports released in recent weeks, surveying the latest developments in spam and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/theft-spam-fraud-and-web-threats-may-rival-ad-spam/

Latest VB100 comparative announced

Windows XP products to be tested for June issue.
Windows XP products to be tested for June issue. VB has announced the next round of VB100% comparative testing, to be run on the Microsoft Windows XP platform. Submissions of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/latest-comparative-announced/

McAfee VirusScan vulnerability found, patched

Multibyte character overflow issue breaches on-access defences.
Multibyte character overflow issue breaches on-access defences. A vulnerability has been reported in the on-access component of McAfee's flagship VirusScan product, which could be… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/mcafee-virusscan-vulnerability-found-patched/

Dr.Web Linux VB100 update

Dr.Web test results recalculated.
Dr.Web test results recalculated. Upon closer analysis of the latest set of VB100 test results VB has regrettably discovered some errors in the detection figures shown for Doctor… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/dr-web-linux-update/

Mobile-to-human virus scare hits Asian nations

Rumours of killer mobile malware travel from Pakistan to Afghanistan.
Rumours of killer mobile malware travel from Pakistan to Afghanistan. The effects of a possible prank which sparked considerable public panic in one country have travelled to a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2007/04/mobile-human-virus-scare-hits-asian-nations/

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