VB Blog

Preview: Nullcon 2019

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 5, 2019

We look forward the Nullcon 2019 conference in Goa, India, at which VB Editor Martijn Grooten will give a talk on the state of malware.

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From Amazon to Emotet: a look at those phishing and malware emails that bypassed email security products

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 3, 2019

We see a lot of spam in the VBSpam test lab, and we also see how well such emails are being blocked by email security products. Recently some of the emails that bypassed security products included a broken Amazon phishing campaign, a large fake UPS campaign and malicious emails carrying Emotet and Lokibot.

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VB2018 paper: Little Brother is watching – we know all your secrets!

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Feb 1, 2019

At VB2018 in Montreal, researchers from Fraunhofer SIT looked at privacy vulnerabilities in legitimate Android family-tracking apps that leaked location data. Today, we publish both their paper and the video of their presentation.

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Threat intelligence teams should consider recruiting journalists

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 29, 2019

Threat intelligence teams would do well to recruit journalists, whose experience is crucial in today's threat landscape.

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From HSBC to product descriptions: the malicious emails bypassing your filters

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 28, 2019

Using data from our VBSpam lab, we looked at the malicious emails that have been missed recently by a large number of email security products.

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VB2018 paper: Inside Formbook infostealer

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 25, 2019

The Formbook information-stealing trojan may not be APT-grade malware, but its continuing spread means it can still be effective. At VB2018 in Montreal, Gabriela Nicolao, a researcher from Deloitte in Argentina, presented a short paper in which she looked at Formbook's background and history and analysed a sample of the malware. Today, we publish Gabriela's paper.

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The VB2019 CFP - how the selection procedure works

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 24, 2019

With the VB2019 Call for Papers having opened last week, we explain how the selection procedure works, which may help you during your abstract submission.

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VB2018 paper: From Hacking Team to hacked team to…?

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 18, 2019

Today we publish the VB2018 paper and video by ESET researcher Filip Kafka, who looked at the new malware by Hacking Team, after the company had recovered from the 2015 breach.

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The spam that is hardest to block is often the most damaging

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jan 17, 2019

We see a lot of spam in the VBSpam test lab, and we also see how well such emails are being blocked by email security products. Worryingly, it is often the emails with a malicious attachment or a phishing link that are most likely to be missed.

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Throwback Thursday: We're all doomed

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Jan 17, 2019

Mydoom turns 15 this month, and is still being seen in email attachments. This Throwback Thursday we look back to March 2004, when Gabor Szappanos tracked the rise of W32/Mydoom.

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Search blog

AVG, F-PROT suffer vulnerabilities

Reports of buffer overflows and other problems.
Reports of buffer overflows and other problems. A series of vulnerabilities have been discovered and patched in Grisoft's AVG Antivirus. Several issues with archive handling could… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/avg-f-prot-suffer-vulnerabilities/

Mobile firewalls released

Trend, F-Secure add extra layer to smartphone security.
Trend, F-Secure add extra layer to smartphone security. Two new products have been unveiled this week offering firewall protection for smartphones and PDAs, with both Trend Micro… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/mobile-firewalls-released/

Courts shut down spyware pushers

Media Motor operation frozen by FTC case.
Media Motor operation frozen by FTC case. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has brought a case against the spyware operation Media Motor, with the company and its affiliates… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/courts-shut-down-spyware-pushers/

Russians dominate spammer top ten

Half of ten worst spammers from former USSR.
Half of ten worst spammers from former USSR. This week's list of the top ten 'worst spammers and spam gangs', released by spam fighters Spamhaus, is dominated by eastern Europeans,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/russians-dominate-spammer-top-ten/

Forefront Client reaches beta

Microsoft corporate security product goes into public test.
Microsoft corporate security product goes into public test.Microsoft's long-awaited corporate security suite, Forefront Client Security, has been released to public beta. The new… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/forefront-client-reaches-beta/

OneCare labels Gmail a virus

Rival webmail system flagged infected by Microsoft AV.
Rival webmail system flagged infected by Microsoft AV. A number of users of Microsoft's anti-virus product Windows Live OneCare have reported being warned of a virus infection when… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/onecare-labels-gmail-virus/

MS releases new Sysinternals utility

Process Monitor combines filemon, regmon into unified analysis tool.
Process Monitor combines filemon, regmon into unified analysis tool.Sysinternals, now 'a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation', has released a new system analysis tool… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/ms-releases-new-sysinternals-utility/

Vista safe without AV, says Allchin

Microsoft chief confident in new security measures.
Microsoft chief confident in new security measures. During a telephone press conference, Microsoft Platform Products and Services Co-president Jim Allchin revealed that he lets his… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/vista-safe-without-av-says-allchin/

More US political spam

Voter persuasion campaign late and sloppy, says Panda
Voter persuasion campaign late and sloppy, says Panda Spam watchers at PandaLabs have spotted a campaign hoping to trick recipients into visiting a page attacking the state of US… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/more-us-political-spam/

AOL ICQ vulnerability revealed

Chat program remote execution flaw patched.
Chat program remote execution flaw patched. Details of a vulnerability found in AOL's ICQ instant messaging software have been released by TippingPoint. The ActiveX flaw could… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/aol-icq-vulnerability-revealed/

Email worm spams global war news

Bush and Putin still alive, no nuclear war ahead.
Bush and Putin still alive, no nuclear war ahead. An email worm is posing as news of global warfare and the death of major world leaders in an attempt to persuade recipients to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/email-worm-spams-global-war-news/

Google blog spreads Kama Sutra worm

MyWife variant mailed to 50,000 video blog watchers.
MyWife variant mailed to 50,000 video blog watchers.Google has apologised to users of its Google Video Blog, some 50,000 of whom were exposed to an email worm after three postings… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/google-blog-spreads-kama-sutra-worm/

US politicians slated for spam tactics

Report criticises leaders for election-pushing mass mail campaigns.
Report criticises leaders for election-pushing mass mail campaigns. A report from Sophos has criticised the behaviour of both major US political parties, after numerous emails… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/us-politicians-slated-spam-tactics/

XMLHTTP zero-day exploit

ActiveX vulnerability in use by attackers.
ActiveX vulnerability in use by attackers. A new flaw in Microsoft's XML Core Services 4.0 is in active use by malicious websites, with attackers using the vulnerability to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/xmlhttp-zero-day-exploit/

US way ahead in phishing and spam

PhishTank, Sophos stats put US at top of lists.
PhishTank, Sophos stats put US at top of lists. Statistics released by anti-phishing community project PhishTank, launched early last month, have put the US far ahead of the field… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/us-way-ahead-phishing-and-spam/

FBI busts phishing gang

Arrests made in Poland and US, more expected.
Arrests made in Poland and US, more expected. A large operation carried out by the FBI against a phishing operation has resulted in a string of arrests. Four people are being held… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/fbi-busts-phishing-gang/

Adware costs Zango $3 million

Cash and promises settle deceptive practices case.
Cash and promises settle deceptive practices case. Adware giant Zango, formerly known as 180Solutions, has settled a case brought by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for $3… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/adware-costs-zango-3-million/

Spam worse than postal junk mail

Survey finds emails more irritating than unwanted paper.
Survey finds emails more irritating than unwanted paper. A study carried out by researchers from the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/spam-worse-postal-junk-mail/

Wikipedia spam points to malware

Emails used archive function to lend authenticity.
Emails used archive function to lend authenticity. Popular online encyclopaedia Wikipedia has been used as a vector for malware, with a spam campaign using the site's reputation… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/wikipedia-spam-points-malware/

IE7 causing McAfee update problems

New browser version blocking install and updates.
New browser version blocking install and updates. Security settings in the new version of Microsoft's web browser, Internet Explorer 7, are causing problems for users of McAfee… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/ie7-causing-mcafee-update-problems/

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