VB Blog

VB2017 paper: Offensive malware analysis: dissecting OSX/FruitFly.B via a custom C&C server

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 29, 2017

At VB2017 in Madrid, macOS malware researcher Patrick Wardle presented the details of a specific piece of Mac malware, FruitFly, which he analysed through a custom C&C server - a technique that will also be of interest for researchers of malware on other platforms. Today we publish both Patrick's paper and the recording of his presentation.

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Tizi Android malware highlights the importance of security patches for high-risk users

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 28, 2017

Researchers from Google have taken down 'Tizi', an Android malware family, that used nine already patched vulnerabilities to obtain root on infected devices.

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Virus Bulletin to attend AMTSO, AVAR and Botconf

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 27, 2017

Next week, Virus Bulletin researchers will be attending the AMTSO meeting and AVAR conference in Beijing, China, as well as the 5th edition of the Botconf conference in Montpellier, France.

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VB2017 video: FinFisher: New techniques and infection vectors revealed

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 24, 2017

Today, we publish the video of the VB2017 presentation by ESET researcher Filip Kafka, who looked at recent changes in the FinFisher government malware, including its infection vectors.

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Throwback Thursday: The beginning of the end(point): where we are now and where we'll be in five years

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 23, 2017

We look back at the VB2016 presentation by Adrian Sanabria on the state of endpoint security, both now and in the future.

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VB2017 paper: Beyond lexical and PDNS: using signals on graphs to uncover online threats at scale

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 22, 2017

At VB2017 in Madrid, Cisco Umbrella (OpenDNS) researchers Dhia Mahjoub and David Rodriguez presented a new approach to detecting infected machines using graphs to detect botnet traffic at scale. Today we publish both Dhia and David's paper and the recording of their presentation.

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Firefox 59 to make it a lot harder to use data URIs in phishing attacks

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 21, 2017

Firefox developer Mozilla has announced that, as of version 59 of the browser, many kinds of data URIs, which provide a way to create "domainless web content", will not be rendered in the browser, thus making this trick - used in various phishing campaigns - a lot less attractive.

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Standalone product test: FireEye Endpoint

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 16, 2017

Virus Bulletin ran a standalone test on FireEye's Endpoint Security solution.

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VB2017 video: Consequences of bad security in health care

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 13, 2017

Jelena Milosevic, a nurse with a passion for IT security, is uniquely placed to witness poor security practices in the health care sector, and to fully understand the consequences. Today, we publish the recording of a presentation given by Jelena at VB2017 in Madrid, in which she shared her inside view of security in hospitals.

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Vulnerabilities play only a tiny role in the security risks that come with mobile phones

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 9, 2017

Both bad news (all devices were pwnd) and good news (pwning is increasingly difficult) came from the most recent mobile Pwn2Own competition. But the practical security risks that come with using mobile phones have little to do with vulnerabilities.

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Search blog

Ransom attacks hit webmail

Accounts held hostage by data-stealing extortionists.
Accounts held hostage by data-stealing extortionists. Following the wave of 'ransomware' attacks first spotted in the summer of 2005, online extortionists have picked another… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/ransom-attacks-hit-webmail/

Patch Tuesday leaves Word open to attack

Old and new zero-day vulnerabilities to remain unpatched.
Old and new zero-day vulnerabilities to remain unpatched.Microsoft's monthly Patch Tuesday update release sees seven security patches for Windows operating systems and products,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/patch-tuesday-leaves-word-open-attack/

Sophos vulnerabilities found, patched

Fixes issued for archive handling problems.
Fixes issued for archive handling problems. Researchers working with Tipping Point's Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) program have released details of two vulnerabilities in the Sophos… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/sophos-vulnerabilities-found-patched/

MIME tricks beat email virus scanners

Simple encoding dodges slip malware past gateways.
Simple encoding dodges slip malware past gateways. A security researcher released a report last week claiming that some simple manipulation allowed him to get mails containing the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/mime-tricks-beat-email-virus-scanners/

Smartphone security sphere to reach $5 billion by 2011

Market analysts foresee boom in mobile threats and security market.
Market analysts foresee boom in mobile threats and security market. UK-based telecoms analyst Juniper Research has released a report predicting a steady rise in attacks on… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/smartphone-security-sphere-reach-5-billion-2011/

Anti-spyware activists condemn rogue MP3 search firm

CDT and StopBadware unite in call for action against spyware pushers.
CDT and StopBadware unite in call for action against spyware pushers. The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) and StopBadware.org have issued a joint complaint to the Federal… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/anti-spyware-activists-condemn-rogue-mp3-search-firm/

Adobe hit by second vulnerability

More document software security worries.
More document software security worries. PDF software giant Adobe has released details of its second vulnerability in little over a week. The first, which was discovered in the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/adobe-hit-second-vulnerability/

Free firewalls rated best in leak tests

Leakage review puts Comodo, Jetico way ahead of field.
Leakage review puts Comodo, Jetico way ahead of field. An in-depth study subjecting 23 different personal firewall products to a range of leak tests has granted two free products,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/free-firewalls-rated-best-leak-tests/

Mobile spam wave hits Europe

Multilingual SMS spams reported.
Multilingual SMS spams reported. Mobile security researchers at F-Secure have received numerous reports of SMS spams from across Europe, in a variety of languages. Links in the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/mobile-spam-wave-hits-europe/

Trojan spreading mobile spyware

Consumer phone-snooping tool dropped by Symbian malware.
Consumer phone-snooping tool dropped by Symbian malware. A new variant of the MultiDropper trojan targeting Symbian smartphones has included amongst its payload a 'legitimate'… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/trojan-spreading-mobile-spyware/

MS Word zero-day exploit seen in wild

Microsoft warns of attacks using vulnerability.
Microsoft warns of attacks using vulnerability.Microsoft has issued a security bulletin warning of a serious vulnerability discovered in several versions of Microsoft Word and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/ms-word-zero-day-exploit-seen-wild/

MySpace hit by worm, adware and phishing

Exploit in QuickTime file infecting social site profile pages.
Exploit in QuickTime file infecting social site profile pages. A malicious QuickTime movie file is spreading across social networking site MySpace, embedding itself in the user… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/myspace-hit-worm-adware-and-phishing/

Firm charged $1 million in rogue spyware case

Heavy fines and fees hit fake 'Spyware Cleaner' pushers.
Heavy fines and fees hit fake 'Spyware Cleaner' pushers. A Seattle court has announced a $1 million settlement in a case brought against a spyware firm, marking the first… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/firm-charged-1-million-rogue-spyware-case/

EU to fund Symantec phishing studies

Security firm in consortium researching phishing prevention.
Security firm in consortium researching phishing prevention.Symantec announced yesterday an award of funding from the European Commission to pay for research into securing email… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/eu-fund-symantec-phishing-studies/

Vista launched, malware still a danger

New Windows version on sale, but viruses remain a threat, says Sophos
New Windows version on sale, but viruses remain a threat, says Sophos The corporate version Microsoft's long-awaited update to its Windows operating system was finally released… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/vista-launched-malware-still-danger/

China source of huge phishing surge

Spam watchers see major jump in scam spam sent from China
Spam watchers see major jump in scam spam sent from China Analysts at email and web security firm Marshal have reported a major spike in the numbers of phishing email originating… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/china-source-huge-phishing-surge/

Stocking filler

Collection of 419 baiting tales.
Collection of 419 baiting tales. If you're stuck for a last-minute Christmas gift idea, Mike Berry's new book could be the answer. Mike Berry is the creator of 'scam-baiting'… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/stocking-filler/

December

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/

December issue of VB published

The December issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The December issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The December 2006 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/december-issue-vb-published/

Festive greetings

Yuletide wishes.
Yuletide wishes. The VB team wishes all Virus Bulletin readers a very happy Christmas and a prosperous and peaceful new year. This year, continuing the tradition of its Christmas… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/12/festive-greetings/

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