Category: blog
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VB2021 call for papers – now open, to all!
2020 proved to be an extraordinary – in the true sense of the word – year for everyone, and 2021 has already thrown some curveballs in the short few weeks since it began. Nevertheless, we are cautiously optimistic about the year ahead and, whilst keeping a careful eye on the global health and travel situation,…
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In memoriam: Yonathan Klijnsma
We were very sorry to learn of the passing of researcher Yonathan Klijnsma last week and we offer our deepest condolences to his family and friends. Here, former VB Editor Martijn Grooten shares his memories of Yonathan, a talented researcher and a very kind person. “Infosec lost a really good one” It was with much…
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VB2020 localhost videos available on YouTube
Today, VB has made all VB2020 localhost presentations available on VB’s YouTube channel , so you can now watch – and share – any part of the conference freely and without registration. The VB2020 / Live track playlist contains the three live broadcasts presented by our host Angela Lamont, each of which features seven presentations and live…
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VB2020 presentation & paper: 2030: backcasting the potential rise and fall of cyber threat intelligence
Backcasting is an analytical technique that establishes an imagined future scenario and then works backwards to understand what caused that outcome. At VB2020, FireEye ‘s Jamie Collier presented a paper in which he applied the technique to imagine the rise and fall of the cyber threat intelligence (CTI) industry over the next 10 years. Not…
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VB2020 presentation: Behind the Black Mirror: simulating attacks with mock C2 servers
Dynamic analysis of a malicious sample in a lab setup can be hampered by the absence of the malware’s C2 server listening and providing responses – potentially resulting in only a partial picture of the sample’s behaviour and capabilities being revealed. At VB2020 localhost, Carbon Black ‘s Scott Knight presented an approach he and his colleagues…
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VB2020 presentation & paper: Advanced Pasta Threat: mapping threat actor usage of open-source offensive security tools
The development and publication of offensive security tools (OSTs) is a point of great controversy in the information security community: while some argue that releasing such tools publicly is irresponsible, offering adversaries the opportunity to outsource the development of tools and techniques, the opposing argument supports the publication of such tools as a valuable resource…
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VB2020 presentation: Evolution of Excel 4.0 macro weaponization
The use by attackers of legitimate Excel 4.0 (XL4) macros as a simple and reliable method to gain a foothold on a target network is becoming increasingly popular and presents a significant challenge for organizations and defenders alike. For many organizations blacklisting isn’t a viable solution, and for defenders, building reliable signatures for this type…
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Cybersecurity Assessment Tool launched by Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation has launched a tool designed to help nonprofit organizations assess their own cybersecurity efforts. The Cybersecurity Assessment Tool is specifically aimed at non-technical grant makers, grantee partners, civil society organizations, and nonprofits – organizations that may not have the necessary expertise and resources to research, understand and implement a cybersecurity program, yet are…
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VB2020 presentation: Another threat actor day…
Hospitals can be attractive places for hackers. With access to critical medical records and personally identifiable information, there is great opportunity to exploit patients. At VB2020 localhost Paul Jung, of Excellium Services , detailed an incident response that he and his team faced when, in December 2019, a Belgian hospital required their help to manage…
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VB2020 presentation: Ramsay: a cyber-espionage toolkit tailored for air-gapped networks
Air gapping is a network security measure commonly used in military/governmental, financial and industrial control systems networks that is applied to one or more computers in order to ensure that a given network is physically isolated – usually in order to prevent exposure of the subject network to the Internet or the local area network. In…