VB Blog

VB2016 paper: Mobile applications: a backdoor into the Internet of Things?

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 29, 2016

While the Internet of Things blossoms with newly connected objects every day, the security and privacy of these objects is often overlooked, making the IoT a major security concern. Unfortunately, reverse-engineering so-called smart devices is not an easy task. In her VB2016 paper, Axelle Apvrille presented a novel way of analysing smart devices: by looking at the accompanying mobile app. Today, we publish both Axelle’s paper and the video recording of her VB2016 presentation.

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VB2016 paper: Wave your false flags! Deception tactics muddying attribution in targeted attacks

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Nov 21, 2016

Today, we publish the VB2016 paper and presentation (recording) by Kaspersky Lab researchers Juan Andrés Guerrero-Saade and Brian Bartholomew, in which they look at some of the deception tactics used in targeted attacks.

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Throwback Thursday: The Politics of Anti-Virus

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Nov 10, 2016

President-elect of the United States Donald Trump made a number of promises about cybersecurity during his electoral campaign. What comes of those pledges remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: there will be a team of hard-working, dedicated individuals working behind the scenes to protect the computer systems of Federal government agencies, as there have been for years. Back in 1999, VB published a report describing a day in the life of the Affiliated Computer Services Government Solutions Group (ACS GSG) - the group responsible for providing full service computer support to US Federal government agencies across the United States.

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VB2016 paper: The TAO of Automated Iframe Injectors - Building Drive-by Platforms For Fun

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Oct 18, 2016

We publish Aditya K. Sood's VB2016 paper on the use of iframe injectors by cybercriminals to deliver drive-by downloads.

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“Cybersecurity is, at its core, a people problem,” says VB2016 keynote speaker

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Sep 26, 2016

An interview with VB2016’s keynote speaker Christine Whalley - Director, Governance and IT Risk Management at Pfizer

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Throwback Thursday: Following the Breadcrumbs

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Sep 22, 2016

In 1999, Christine Orshesky described how one large organization decided to find out how and where the viruses within it were being obtained so it could do more to protect its networks.

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VB2016 preview: Cryptography mistakes in malware

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 15, 2016

At VB2016, two talks will discuss mistakes made by malware authors in cryptographic implementations. Ben Herzog and Yaniv Balmas will present a paper in which they look at a number of these mistakes, while Malwarebytes researcher hasherezade will present a last-minute paper on making use of some of these mistakes to crack ransomware.

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GPS technology is more at risk from cyber attack than ever before, security expert demonstrates at VB2016

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Sep 14, 2016

Next month at VB2016, HPE Security's Oleg Petrovsky will speak about attacks on GPS. We conducted a short interview with Oleg and asked him about GPS, about the conference, and about his ultimate dinner party.

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BSides Denver: Join and Support the Security Community

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 13, 2016

If you are coming to VB2016 in Denver, why not spend an extra day in the Mile-High City and join the free BSides Denver conference, which takes place on Saturday?

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VB2016 'Last-Minute' Papers Announced

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 13, 2016

We are excited to announce the addition of the "last-minute" papers to the VB2016 programme: nine presentations covering hot research topics, from OS X attacks to exotic APTs, breaking ransomware and the current state of BGP.

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Search blog

New OSX parasitic virus found

Symantec report proof-of-concept file infector for Mac.
Symantec report proof-of-concept file infector for Mac. Analysts at Symantec have received samples of a proof-of-concept file infector for the Apple Mac OSX platform. The virus,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/new-osx-parasitic-virus-found/

Spammed trojans posing as McAfee report

Campaign uses security news to bypass security.
Campaign uses security news to bypass security. A spam campaign has been spotted, with the emails claiming to come from security giant McAfee and to contain a report on recent… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/spammed-trojans-posing-mcafee-report/

Academics create mobile malware

California University publishes Symbian proof of concept.
California University publishes Symbian proof of concept. A group of researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, (UCSB) have released details and source code for a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/academics-create-mobile-malware/

Sender ID specification released

Microsoft reveals all as part of its Open Specification Promise.
Microsoft reveals all as part of its Open Specification Promise.Microsoft has made its Sender ID Framework specification available as part of its recent Open Specification Promise,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/sender-id-specification-released/

New anti-spam group formed

StopSpamAlliance unites international bodies.
StopSpamAlliance unites international bodies. A group of international agencies and organisations have teamed up to launch StopSpamAlliance.org, designed to be a centralised base… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/new-anti-spam-group-formed/

Phish check interface

Developer interface for checking phishy URLs.
Developer interface for checking phishy URLs. The people behind PhishTank, a collaborative clearing house for data and information about phishing, have revealed a simplified… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/phish-check-interface/

Spam hits record levels in October

Image-based pump-and-dumps add to inbox bloat.
Image-based pump-and-dumps add to inbox bloat. Spam levels have continued to rise, defying general trends that would suggest a decreasing post-summer ratio, as more people at work… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/spam-hits-record-levels-october/

November issue of VB published

The November issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download.
The November issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to download. The November 2006 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online or… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/november-issue-vb-published/

News round-up

October's goings on in the AV industry.
October's goings on in the AV industry. Despite no major malware outbreaks having occurred during last month's VB conference (as has almost seemed a tradition in the past),… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/news-round/

November

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/

Spamhaus rests easy

US judge rules against suspending Spamhaus domain.
US judge rules against suspending Spamhaus domain. At the end of a month-long court battle, a US judge has ruled that UK anti-spam advisory organization Spamhaus will not have its… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/11/spamhaus-rests-easy/

Sophos engine faults disclosed

iDefense reports file-handling vulnerabilities.
iDefense reports file-handling vulnerabilities. Security researchers at iDefense have released information on four separate bugs in the Sophos anti-virus engine, affecting most… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/10/sophos-engine-faults-disclosed/

Two more IE7 bugs downplayed by Microsoft

More phishing issues found, not a big problem says MS.
More phishing issues found, not a big problem says MS. A second bug was spotted late last week in Microsoft's recently-released Internet Explorer 7, which could allow malicious… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/10/two-more-ie7-bugs-downplayed-microsoft/

Australian spam firm fined $4.1 million

First case under spam laws brings hefty punishment.
First case under spam laws brings hefty punishment. A company based in Western Australia has been charged A$4.5 million, with another A$1 million levied from its director, after a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/10/australian-spam-firm-fined-4-1-million/

McAfee up, Symantec down in profits

Financial reports differ widely between top security rivals.
Financial reports differ widely between top security rivals. Profits reports for the third quarter of the year show Symantec struggling with disappointing sales in the European… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/10/mcafee-symantec-down-profits/

Sender ID licence opened up

Microsoft frees up access to anti-spam framework.
Microsoft frees up access to anti-spam framework.Microsoft has put the specifications for the Sender ID and Sender Policy Framework (SPF) email verification system under its 'Open… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/10/sender-id-licence-opened/

Windows Defender fully released

Microsoft anti-spyware product handed out free.
Microsoft anti-spyware product handed out free. After a lengthy beta period, Microsoft's free anti-spyware product, renamed Windows Defender halfway through its beta cycle, has… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/10/windows-defender-fully-released/

Microsoft in multiple security rows

AV firms, Apple and Secunia embroiled in MS spats.
AV firms, Apple and Secunia embroiled in MS spats. Operating system giant Microsoft is engaged on multiple fronts in a series of security-related PR battles. The longest running… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/10/microsoft-multiple-security-rows/

UK banks failing online users

Report names and shames insecure banking sites - again.
Report names and shames insecure banking sites - again. A report from heise Security, following up on a previous study released a month ago, claims several UK banks are still using… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/10/uk-banks-failing-online-users/

Trojan installs Kaspersky AV

Scanner software used to keep out rival malware.
Scanner software used to keep out rival malware. A trojan has been reported in the wild using a genuine AV engine to keep its victims' machines free from other threats. This… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/10/trojan-installs-kaspersky-av/

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