VB Blog

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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VB2016 preview: Debugging and Monitoring Malware Network Activities with Haka

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Sep 12, 2016

In a VB2016 paper, Stormshield researchers Benoit Ancel and Mehdi Talbi will present a paper on Haka, a tool that can be used to monitor and debug malware's network communications.

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Multi-staged, modular Regin tool enables stealthy surveillance

Nation state likely behind campaign that goes back many years.
Nation state likely behind campaign that goes back many years. Few terms are misused in a security context as often as the term 'advanced', perhaps in part because the industry… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/11/multi-staged-modular-regin-tool-enables-stealthy-surveillance/

Detekt tool searches PCs for traces of surveillance spyware

Second opinion essential in circumstances under which likely victims operate.
Second opinion essential in circumstances under which likely victims operate. Last week, the release of the free 'Detekt' tool was announced. Developed by Claudio Guarnieri and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/11/detekt-tool-searches-pcs-traces-surveillance-spyware/

Botconf 2014 preview

Many VB authors and presenters to speak at second botnet-fighting conference.
Many VB authors and presenters to speak at second botnet-fighting conference. Last year, I attended the first edition of 'Botconf' in the French city of Nantes. I really enjoyed… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/11/botconf-2014-preview/

VB2014 paper: Sweeping the IP space: the hunt for evil on the Internet

Dhia Mahjoub explains how the topology of the AS graph can be used to uncover hotspots of maliciousness.
Dhia Mahjoub explains how the topology of the AS graph can be used to uncover hotspots of maliciousness.Over the next few months, we will be sharing VB2014 conference papers as… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/11/paper-sweeping-ip-space-hunt-evil-internet/

Report: VB100 comparative review on Windows 8.1

40 out of 48 tested products earn VB100 award.
40 out of 48 tested products earn VB100 award. If you follow the security news, you may believe that all you have to worry about are nation states using zero-day vulnerabilities to… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/11/report-comparative-review-windows-8-1/

Out-of-band patch released for all Windows versions

Kerberos bug means one set of credentials suffices to rule them all.
Kerberos bug means one set of credentials suffices to rule them all. If you are a Windows systems administrator, the content of this blog post will (hopefully) not come as a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/11/out-band-patch-released-all-windows-versions/

VB2014 paper: Optimized mal-ops. Hack the ad network like a boss

Why buying ad space makes perfect sense for those wanting to spread malware.
Why buying ad space makes perfect sense for those wanting to spread malware.Over the next few months, we will be sharing VB2014 conference papers as well as video recordings of the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/11/paper-optimized-mal-ops-hack-ad-network-boss/

Book review: Bulletproof SSL and TLS

Must-read for anyone working with one of the Internet's most important protocols.
Must-read for anyone working with one of the Internet's most important protocols. I was reading Ivan Ristić's book Bulletproof SSL and TLS when rumours started to appear about an… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/11/book-review-bulletproof-ssl-and-tls/

VB2014 paper: Bootkits: past, present & future

Despite better defences, the era of bootkits is certainly not behind us.
Despite better defences, the era of bootkits is certainly not behind us.Over the next few months, we will be sharing VB2014 conference papers as well as video recordings of the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/11/paper-bootkits-past-present-amp-future/

Stuxnet infected Natanz plant via carefully selected targets rather than escape from it

Five initial victims of infamous worm named.
Five initial victims of infamous worm named. Today, as Wired journalist Kim Zetter publishes her book Countdown to Zero Day on Stuxnet, researchers from Kaspersky and Symantec… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/11/stuxnet-infected-natanz-plant-carefully-selected-targets-rather-escape-it/

VB2014 paper: Apple without a shell - iOS under targeted attack

Developer Enterprise Program recently found to be used by WireLurker.
Developer Enterprise Program recently found to be used by WireLurker.Over the next few months, we will be sharing VB2014 conference papers as well as video recordings of the… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/11/paper-apple-without-shell-ios-under-targeted-attack/

VB2014 video: Attack points in health apps & wearable devices - how safe is your quantified self?

Health apps and wearable devices found to make many basic security mistakes.
Health apps and wearable devices found to make many basic security mistakes. "I know a lot of you have a Fitbit device." The geeks attending VB conferences tend to like their… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/11/video-attack-points-health-apps-amp-wearable-devices-how-safe-your-quantified-self/

Macro malware on the rise again

Users taught that having to enable enhanced security features is no big deal.
Users taught that having to enable enhanced security features is no big deal. When I joined Virus Bulletin almost eight years ago, macro viruses were already a thing of the past,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/11/macro-malware-rise-again/

WireLurker malware infects iOS devices through OS X

Non-jailbroken devices infected via enterprise provisioning program.
Non-jailbroken devices infected via enterprise provisioning program. Researchers at Palo Alto Networks have published a research paper (PDF) analysing the 'WireLurker' malware that… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/11/wirelurker-malware-infects-ios-devices-through-os-x/

VB2014 paper: DMARC - how to use it to improve your email reputation

Terry Zink presents case study in which he describes setting a DMARC policy for Microsoft.
Terry Zink presents case study in which he describes setting a DMARC policy for Microsoft.Over the next few months, we will be sharing VB2014 conference papers as well as video… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/11/paper-dmarc-how-use-it-improve-your-email-reputation/

VB2014 Paper: Well, that escalated quickly. From penny-stealing malware to multi-million-dollar heists, a quick overview of the Bitcoin bonanza in the digital era

Santiago Pontiroli takes us on a rollercoaster ride through cryptocurrency land.
Santiago Pontiroli takes us on a rollercoaster ride through cryptocurrency land.Over the next few months, we will be sharing VB2014 conference papers as well as video recordings of… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/11/paper-well-escalated-quickly-penny-stealing-malware-multi-million-dollar-heists-quick-overview-bitcoin-bonanza-digital-era/

November

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/11/

The VB2014 presentation you never saw. Early launch Android malware: your phone is 0wned

Malicious apps may have more privileges than security software.
Malicious apps may have more privileges than security software. There are many people without whom a Virus Bulletin conference wouldn't be possible: the VB team, the crew from Cue… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/presentation-you-never-saw-early-launch-android-malware-your-phone-0wned/

CVE-2012-0158 continues to be used in targeted attacks

30-month old vulnerability still a popular way to infect systems.
30-month old vulnerability still a popular way to infect systems. If all you have to worry about are zero-day vulnerabilities, you have got things pretty well sorted. Although it… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/cve-2012-0158-continues-be-used-targeted-attacks/

Paper: Invading the core: iWorm's infection vector and persistence mechanism

Malware spreads through infected torrent, then maintains persistence on the system.
Malware spreads through infected torrent, then maintains persistence on the system. A month ago, security firm Dr.Web reported it had discovered a new malware variant targeting Mac… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2014/10/paper-invading-core-iworm-s-infection-vector-and-persistence-mechanism/

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