Category: blog
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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. Over the next few months, we will be sharing VB2014 conference papers as well as video recordings of the presentations. Today, we have added ‘Optimized mal-ops. Hack the ad network like a boss’ by Bromium researchers Vadim Kotov and Rahul Kashyap. Malicious…
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Book review: Bulletproof SSL and TLS
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 attack against SSL 3.0, which would soon become commonly known as the ‘ POODLE ‘ attack. Thanks to the book, I was quickly able to read…
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VB2014 paper: Bootkits: past, present & future
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 presentations. Today, we have added ‘Bootkits: past, present & future’, by Eugene Rodionov (ESET), Aleksandr Matrosov (Intel) and David Harley (ESET). Bootkits are about…
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Stuxnet infected Natanz plant via carefully selected targets rather than escape from it
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 published blog posts that shine a light on how the malware spread to its likely target, the Natanz plant in Iran, and to hundreds of thousands of other…
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VB2014 paper: Apple without a shell – iOS under targeted attack
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 presentations. Today, we have added ‘Apple without a shell – iOS under targeted attack’, by FireEye researchers Tao Wei, Min Zheng, Hui Xue and Dawn Song.…
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Macro malware on the rise again
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, like porn diallers or viruses that did funny things to the characters on your screen: threats that were once a real problem, but that…
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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. “I know a lot of you have a Fitbit device.” The geeks attending VB conferences tend to like their gadgets, and many of them have the latest ones, so the claim made by Candid Wüest at the beginning of his VB2014 last-minute presentation…
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WireLurker malware infects iOS devices through OS X
Non-jailbroken devices infected via enterprise provisioning program. Researchers at Palo Alto Networks have published a research paper ( PDF ) analysing the ‘WireLurker’ malware that runs on Mac OS X , and which is then used to further infect iOS devices connected to an infected machine. WireLurker is found to have infected 467 apps on…
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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. Over the next few months, we will be sharing VB2014 conference papers as well as video recordings of the presentations. Today, we have added ‘DMARC – how to use it to improve your email reputation’, by Microsoft’s Terry Zink. Email…
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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. Over the next few months, we will be sharing VB2014 conference papers as well as video recordings of the presentations. Today, we have added ‘Well, that escalated quickly. From penny-stealing malware to multi-million-dollar heists, a quick overview of the bitcoin bonanza in the digital…