VB Blog

Small Talks return to the Virus Bulletin Conference

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Aug 26, 2016

Following their success last year, this year a series of "Small Talks" return to the VB2016 conference programme. We are pleased to announce the details of six of these talks, covering subjects that range from the Chinese cybercriminal underground to Android security, the Tor Project, and exploit kits.

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Research shows web security products perform well against exploit kits

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Aug 24, 2016

Research by Virus Bulletin, in which five web security products were served 54 live exploit kits, shows that the products blocked between 87 and 100 per cent of the kits.

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Throwback Thursday: Olympic Games

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Aug 2, 2016

In 1994, along with the Olympic Games came an Olympic virus, from a group of Swedish virus authors calling themselves ‘Immortal Riot’. We look back at Mikko Hyppönen's analysis in the VB archive.

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VB2016 call for last-minute papers opened, discounts announced

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Aug 1, 2016

Announcing the VB2016 call for last-minute papers and a number of discounts on the conference registration rate.

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Guest Blog: Malicious Scripts Gaining Prevalence in Brazil

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Jul 28, 2016

In the run up to VB2016, we invited the conference sponsors to write guest posts for our blog. In the second of this series, ESET's Matías Porolli writes about malicious Visual Basic and JavaScript gaining prevalence in Brazil.

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Romanian university website compromised to serve Neutrino exploit kit

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jul 28, 2016

The website of the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy has been compromised to inject a hidden iframe into the site's source code that serves the Neutrino exploit kit and may infect visitors with ransomware.

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It's 2016. Can we stop using MD5 in malware analyses?

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jul 26, 2016

While there are no actually risks involved in using MD5s in malware analyses, it reinforces bad habits and we should all start using SHA-256 instead.

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Throwback Thursday: Holding the Bady

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Jul 21, 2016

In 2001, ‘Code Red’ caused White House administrators to change the IP address of the official White House website, and even penetrated Microsoft’s own IIS servers.

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Paper: The Journey of Evasion Enters Behavioural Phase

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jul 20, 2016

A new paper by FireEye researcher Ankit Anubhav provides an overview of evasion techniques applied by recently discovered malware.

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Guest blog: Espionage toolkit uncovered targeting Central and Eastern Europe

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Jul 15, 2016

Recently, ESET researchers uncovered a new espionage toolkit targeting targeting Central and Eastern Europe. They provide some details in a guest post.

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Search blog

A fine, a curfew and a treasure hunt

Round up of the month's spammer penalties.
Round up of the month's spammer penalties. Kicking off a round-up of some of the anti-spam penalties issued worldwide this month, the Chinese government has made an underwhelming… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/fine-curfew-and-treasure-hunt/

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 2006 issue of Virus Bulletin is now available for subscribers to browse online… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/september-issue-vb-published/

Spot that spammer

Quiz tests consumers' ability to identify spam causing sites.
Quiz tests consumers' ability to identify spam causing sites. Last month, McAfee invited web users to spot the undesirable website, in an eight-question quiz entitled: 'Can you… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/spot-spammer/

Nearly VB 100%

Near misses.
Near misses. In the recent Windows XP comparative review (see VB, June 2006, p.11), VB reported that VirusBuster failed to achieve the results required for a VB 100% award. After… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/09/nearly-vb-100/

eBay phishing ups its game

Decent spelling and convincing design aim to trick users.
Decent spelling and convincing design aim to trick users. Users of eBay, perennial subject of phishing scams, are currently being targeted by a more than usually well-crafted… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/ebay-phishing-ups-its-game/

Corporate mail spam drops Haxdoor

Business-related message carries trojan.
Business-related message carries trojan. A vaguely official-sounding email is being widely spammed, claiming to relate to some nebulous business activity between the sender and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/corporate-mail-spam-drops-haxdoor/

Phone companies' security shaken

As T-Mobile hacker is convicted, AT&T reveals break-in.
As T-Mobile hacker is convicted, AT&T reveals break-in. A 23-year-old Oregon resident has been sentenced to a year of 'home detention', after being convicted of hacking into the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/phone-companies-security-shaken/

BitDefender to join mobile market

AV firm releases phone security beta.
AV firm releases phone security beta.BitDefender has become the latest AV company to make a move into the mobile device market. It has released a beta of its mobile AV software,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/bitdefender-join-mobile-market/

iPod spam carries trojan

Fake sales invoice includes downloader.
Fake sales invoice includes downloader. A new spam campaign claiming to be information on an order for a new iPod is accompanied by a trojan which, when run, attempts to download… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/ipod-spam-carries-trojan/

AOL 9.0 slated for suspect tactics

More badware accusations levelled at web giant.
More badware accusations levelled at web giant.StopBadware.org, the international anti-malware coalition backed by Google and Sun among others, has labelled AOL's current free… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/aol-9-0-slated-suspect-tactics/

More ConsumerReports complaints

Testing organisation's methodology slammed again.
Testing organisation's methodology slammed again.ConsumerReports.org, the online wing of American consumers association Consumers Union, is once again taking flak for its testing… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/more-consumerreports-complaints/

IBM invests in security, others may follow

Big Blue purchase sparks rumours of more mergers.
Big Blue purchase sparks rumours of more mergers. When massive cross-sector IT giant IBM bought Internet Security Systems for a rumoured $1.3 billion last week, it joined the list… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/ibm-invests-security-others-may-follow/

Share dealers robbed, phishing suspected

Canadian stock-trading association warns of security breaches.
Canadian stock-trading association warns of security breaches. The Investment Dealers Association of Canada (IDA), a national regulatory organisation, has released an urgent press… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/share-dealers-robbed-phishing-suspected/

Malware mostly crime-related, says Panda

Security firm reports 88% of new malware linked to cyber crime.
Security firm reports 88% of new malware linked to cyber crime. The labs of Spanish firm Panda Software have released a quarterly report, stating that criminal activity is behind… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/malware-mostly-crime-related-says-panda/

Three years for botnet master

Zombie herder sentenced to 37 months behind bars.
Zombie herder sentenced to 37 months behind bars. A Californian 21-year-old has been sent to a federal prison in the US, after being convicted of computer fraud and computer damage… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/three-years-botnet-master/

Phishing help for Yahoo! users

As phishing nets spread wider, Yahoo! announces defensive 'seal'.
As phishing nets spread wider, Yahoo! announces defensive 'seal'. Web giant Yahoo! has announced plans to introduce a new anti-phishing system to help protect its customers. The… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/phishing-help-yahoo-users/

Rooting out malware

Sophos joins anti-rootkit market, others expected to follow soon.
Sophos joins anti-rootkit market, others expected to follow soon.Sophos has released a free anti-rootkit tool, available for download from its website. The UK-based company joins… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/rooting-out-malware/

Child porn blackmail spam carries trojan

Spoof mail claims to come from anti-child porn site.
Spoof mail claims to come from anti-child porn site. A spam campaign claiming to come from child porn activists ASACP accuses recipients of visiting child porn sites, suggesting a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/child-porn-blackmail-spam-carries-trojan/

Trend and Microsoft deny vulnerability

PowerPoint zero-day hype just hype after all.
PowerPoint zero-day hype just hype after all. After an announcement from Trend Micro sparked numerous reports of a zero-day PowerPoint exploit, taking advantage of an… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/trend-and-microsoft-deny-vulnerability/

Stock scam spam duo sued

Pump-and-dump couple face fines, as do many others worldwide.
Pump-and-dump couple face fines, as do many others worldwide. A Connecticut couple have been indicted over claims they used a spam campaign to artificially inflate stock prices. In… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2006/08/stock-scam-spam-duo-sued/

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