Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • VB2016 ‘Last-Minute’ Papers Announced

    With a little over three weeks to go until VB2016 , the conference programme is almost complete. We have a great selection of talks on the main programme, half a dozen Small Talks that we hope will lead to interesting discussions among participants, and a closing keynote from Morgan Marquis-Boire , the hacker, security researcher…

  • VB2016 preview: Debugging and Monitoring Malware Network Activities with Haka

    Although some inventive (and often quite impractical) non-network-based ways to remotely control malware have been presented, most botnets use the normal Internet connection of the infected device to send information and receive commands. This inherent weakness in botnets’ infrastructures makes command and control traffic a useful avenue for analysing botnet behaviour. Haka is an open…

  • Paper: Behavioural Detection and Prevention of Malware on OS X

    Though still well behind that of Windows malware, the prevalence of malware targeting OS X has increased in the past year to the point where Mac users can’t assume they are safe just because of the operation system they are using. The question of how to effectively detect new Mac malware is one that is…

  • VB2016 preview: Debugging and Monitoring Malware Network Activities with Haka

    Although some inventive (and often quite impractical) non-network-based ways to remotely control malware have been presented, most botnets use the normal Internet connection of the infected device to send information and receive commands. This inherent weakness in botnets’ infrastructures makes command and control traffic a useful avenue for analysing botnet behaviour. Haka is an open…

  • Paper: Behavioural Detection and Prevention of Malware on OS X

    Though still well behind that of Windows malware, the prevalence of malware targeting OS X has increased in the past year to the point where Mac users can’t assume they are safe just because of the operation system they are using. The question of how to effectively detect new Mac malware is one that is…

  • VB2016 preview: Smart Outlets. Why We Need Responsible Disclosure!

    If you are wondering whether you really live in the future: we need to be concerned about the security of Internet-connected power outlets. Such devices are the subject of a VB2016 paper by four researchers from Bitdefender in Romania: George Cabău, Radu Basaraba, Dragoș Gavriluț and Ciprian Oprișa. While the devices may not appear to…

  • VB2016 preview: Smart Outlets. Why We Need Responsible Disclosure!

    If you are wondering whether you really live in the future: we need to be concerned about the security of Internet-connected power outlets. Such devices are the subject of a VB2016 paper by four researchers from Bitdefender in Romania: George Cabău, Radu Basaraba, Dragoș Gavriluț and Ciprian Oprișa. While the devices may not appear to…

  • VB2016 preview: Uncovering the Secrets of Malvertising

    Two years ago, at VB2014, Bromium researcher Vadim Kotov presented a paper in which he looked at various possibilities for cybercriminals to leverage ad networks to spread malware. Unfortunately, if somewhat unsurprisingly, Vadim’s predictions came true and ‘malvertising’ has become a huge plague on the Internet in the two years since his talk. Despite this…

  • VB2016 preview: Uncovering the Secrets of Malvertising

    Two years ago, at VB2014, Bromium researcher Vadim Kotov presented a paper in which he looked at various possibilities for cybercriminals to leverage ad networks to spread malware. Unfortunately, if somewhat unsurprisingly, Vadim’s predictions came true and ‘malvertising’ has become a huge plague on the Internet in the two years since his talk. Despite this…

  • VB2016: Important Information About the Hotel

    We are delighted that many people have already registered for VB2016, and registration for VB2016 will remain open right up until the start of the conference. However, the large number of registrations does mean that, for the moment, the conference hotel is fully booked for accommodation (sold out) on Friday 7 October. Of course, the…

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