News
January issue released
The Virus Bulletin January 2005 issue is on its way.
23 December 2004
Latest VGrep
The latest version of the virus name lookup tool - VGrep, is now available.
23 December 2004
VB2005 call for papers
Virus Bulletin is seeking submissions from those wishing to present at VB2005 in Dublin - so set aside some time between the season's festive parties to get writing!
23 December 2004
Synchronized malware identification for the new year
Causing a stir in the anti-virus community last month was the announcement of a new US-led initiative whose aim is to achieve threat synchronization.
23 December 2004
Test files: Straightening the record
VB sets the record straight regarding the collection of files referenced in Peter Morley's letter 'Generic detection - a specific case' published in last months main magazine.
23 December 2004
Teen brought to book for Randex
British teenager sentenced.
22 December 2004
No deal for AOL employee
Judge refuses to accept guilty plea.
22 December 2004
Trend ousts McAfee on Hotmail
Trend Micro to take over from McAfee as new provider of virus scanning for MSN.
21 December 2004
Deal for AOL employee
AOL worker accused of selling customer email lists offered deal.
21 December 2004
Virus Bulletin RSS feeds now support Live Bookmarks
Virus Bulletin RSS feeds now support 'Live bookmarks' allowing you to browse our latest headlines directly from your browsers bookmarks menu.
20 December 2004
ISP wins $1 billion against spammers
Largest judgement against spammers to date.
20 December 2004
GIANT purchase for Microsoft
Microsoft buys anti-spyware provider.
17 December 2004
Symantec to acquire Veritas?
Just in time for Christmas?
15 December 2004
Anti-spam law 'unconstitutional'
Judge says Maryland anti-spam law is flawed.
15 December 2004
Spyware-led investigations
Australian police given power to use spyware.
14 December 2004
DDoS stunt over
Lycos ends its 'make love not spam' campaign - but not before the file had been trojanised...
7 December 2004
More spammers for the slammer?
Microsoft continues to make good use of its legal resources.
3 December 2004
Most-spammed sees end in sight
Bill Gates says he hopes to have the spam problem under control within two years - again.
2 December 2004
Email authentication in the open
35 high-profile organisations sign open letter, calling for a rapid rollout of email authentication technologies
2 December 2004
VB2005 call for papers
Virus Bulletin is seeking submissions from those wishing to present at VB2005 in Dublin - so set aside some time between the season's festive parties to get writing!
02 December 2004
Hotmail originator turns to anti-spam
Sabeer Bhatia, the man behind Hotmail, has announced that he has invested in an anti-spam company
2 December 2004
FBI's virus blunder
Virus infection nearly blew the cover on a secret FBI fraud investigation two years ago.
02 December 2004
Errata - Windows Server 2003 comparative review
VB regrets that three mistakes crept into the Comparative review published in the November issue.
02 December 2004
Save your soul with spam
Spam goes yet one step further - spiritual salvation!
2 December 2004
Academic research journal
Announcement and first call for papers of the European Research Journal in Computer Virology
02 December 2004
Season's greetings
The VB team wishes all Virus Bulletin readers a very happy Christmas and a prosperous new year.
02 December 2004
News by email
New twice-monthly email newsletter dedicated to news and technical information about the spam and anti-spam arena launched.
2 December 2004
Spam-reporting trial
Australia's latest anti-spam initiative
1 December 2004
Australia to protect critical computer systems
Vulnerability assessment for country's critical infrastructure systems
30 November 2004
Spam survey
Do women hate spam more than men? Are humans better at identifying spam than computers? Make your contribution to (anti-)spam research...
29 November 2004
Lycos turns hippy on spam
'Make love not spam'
29 November 2004
Standardised malware naming for the new year
An end to the virus-naming problem?
25 November 2004
Latest VGrep
The latest version of the virus name lookup tool - VGrep, is now available.
22 November 2004
Most spammed
Think you've got it bad? Spare a thought for Bill.
19 November 2004
29A virus writer sentenced
Member of notorious virus-writing group found guilty.
18 November 2004
Latest VGrep
The latest version of the virus name lookup tool - VGrep, is now available.
05 November 2004
Dial a detection
Guidance issued on how to deal with rogue Internet diallers ('porn diallers')
29 October 2004
Spam becomes a collectors' item
British man sets up his own Museum of Spam.
29 October 2004
Phishy goings on
Fewer than five zombie network operators are responsible for all Internet phishing attacks worldwide according to CipherTrust...
29 October 2004
November issue released
The Virus Bulletin November issue is on its way.
29 October 2004
Storms put the wind up spammers
Significant decline in the volume of spam messages seen in the days immediately following the three recent hurricanes.
29 October 2004
Spam gets the sniffles
Spammers seize the opportunity to cash in on the US flu vaccine problem.
28 October 2004
Trial of virus writer postponed
Sasser author made to wait.
26 October 2004
Sender ID specification revised
Microsoft has another stab at getting its email authentication protocol approved.
26 October 2004
RSS activated
Virus Bulletin RSS feeds revamped and live again.
18 October 2004
Action plan on spam
15 countries sign up to international action plan on spam.
13 October 2004
Online 'museum' displays collection of the finest spam...
As if you haven't already seen enough...
13 October 2004
Top ten security urban legends revealed
Most common cyber security myths unveiled as part of Cyber Security Month.
12 October 2004
FTC sues spyware outfit
US government begins crack down on spyware.
11 October 2004
Conference photos
Take a look at the VB2004 conference photos
07 October 2004
Another successful VB conference
Over 330 delegates and a collection of interesting and informative speakers. Take a look at the photos
05 October 04
Another successful VB conference
With over 330 delegates and a collection of interesting and informative speakers, VB2004 was a great success.
04 October 2004
MessageLabs teams up with Symantec
Companies collaborate to provide anti-spam services.
02 September 2004
Symantec to block phishing
Symantec announces new service to help stop phishing scams
24 September 2004
Governments urged to do more to combat cybercrime
The Council of Europe's 2001 Cybercrime Convention has been signed by 30 countries, but is only law in eight of these.
23 September 2004
IETF rejects sender ID
The Internet Engineering Task Force has rejected Microsoft's preferred anti-spam specification.
23 September 2004
Correction
VB regrets that an error slipped through the editorial net in the August 2004 Netware comparative review.
22 September 2004
Increase in infections for chinese
87.9% Thats the number of malware infected computer users in China, according to their Minister of Public Security.
21 September 2004
Symantec Buys Again
The AV company that never seems to stop buying, reveals its latest purchase.
20 September 2004
The bounty hunters are here
US Federal Trade Commission says the US government must be generous with its rewards if it decides to encourage 'bounty hunters' to track down email spammers
20 September 2004
Phish it yourself
Do-it-yourself phishing kits are available free of charge to anyone surfing the Internet.
31 August 2004
Virginian law is constitutional
US judge rules Virginia’s anti-spam law is constitutional.
27 August 2004
Chinese internet firm suspended
One-year suspension issued to mobile phone picture services supplier as punishment for carrying out unsolicited marketing.
26 August 2004
Security of hash functions called into question
The encryption field was thrown into a frenzy at the end of last month when the security of hash functions MD5, SHA-0 and SHA-1 was called into question.
23 August 2004
Verizon sues SMS spammers
Despite there currently being no US laws regarding SMS spam.
18 August 2004
CA buys PestPatrol
CA splashes out on anti-spyware technology.
17 August 2004
McAfee to buy Foundstone
McAfee splashes out on vulnerability management.
16 August 2004
XP SP2 wreaks havoc with AV
XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) establishes stronger security settings that help defend against viruses, hackers and worms.
15 August 2004
Guilty as charged
Teen admits to distributing Blaster variant.
12 August 2004
Two victories, a settlement and a reduction in spam
A promising month in the fight against spam.
10 August 2004
Spammers brought to justice
Prosecutions made in Denmark, USA and India.
28 July 2004
Mydoom.O
Latest Mydoom variant causes problems for Google.
26 July 2004
Probation for Magold author
Magold author sentenced, Finnish Lasku author arrested.
25 July 2004
Spammer to pay $40,000
Spam King agrees to settlement with NY State.
22 July 2004
Two victories, a settlement and a reduction in spam
Despite there currently being no US laws regarding SMS spam.
21 July 2004
McAfee plans move to Ireland
Emerald Isle lures another AV firm.
21 July 2004
Virus in your pocket
Latest proof-of-concept virus affects Pocket PC.
20 July 2004
Court victory for Microsoft
Spammer ordered to pay $4 million damages to Microsoft.
16 July 2004
Bumper quarter for Symantec
Profits more than doubled since last year.
15 July 2004
AOL employee colludes with spammers
AOL victim of inside job.
8 July 2004
UN to curb spam within two years
UN aims to bring spam under control by 2007.
07 July 2004
The world from an email marketer's point of view
Spam King Scott Richter says he is "out to make the Internet a better place with email marketing" .
07 July 2004
International pact to fight spam
Countries join forces to declare war on spam.
05 July 2004
Magold teen on probation
Hungarian virus writer convicted.
02 July 2004
Patent filed for voice spam blocking technology
Technology to stamp out Internet telephony spam.
29 June 2004
SMS spammer arrested
First Russian to be sentenced for sending spam.
29 June 2004
Gates urges users to turn on auto-update
Microsoft chief says users must play their part in cutting down virus combat time.
28 June 2004
7 steps to a spam-free existence?
"Stunning" survey results lead to seven-step guide.
28 June 2004
AV going mobile
Mobile providers clamour to become the first to offer AV protection for mobile phones.
27 June 2004
Microsoft issues advice about critical vulnerability
Apply your patches and update your AV software.
25 June 2004
AOL victim of inside spam job
AOL employee arrested.
24 June 2004
ISPs take responsibility
The six major ISPs of the Anti-Spam Technical Alliance say spam cannot be stopped unless they take action.
23 June 2004
Microsoft to buy NAI?
Rumours abound. NAI CEO denies them.
22 June 2004
Obituary: Marek Sell
On 12 June 2004 Marek Sell, creator of the Polish MkS_Vir anti-virus, died. Aleksander Czarnowksi looks back.
20 June 2004
AV going mobile
Mobile providers clamour to become the first to offer AV protection for mobile phones.
19 June 2004
Sasser author jobseeking
Gis' a job! Name: Sven Jaschan. Age: 18. Previous work experience: creating and distributing Internet worm(s).
18 June 2004
FTC says no to 'Do Not Spam'
A 'Do Not Spam' list could actually increase spam levels, says FTC.
16 June 2004
Microsoft AV still on track
Not forgotten...
16 June 2004
Virus calling
First mobile phone worm discovered.
15 June 2004
More spammers sued
Microsoft throws its weight around against spammers
11 June 2004
Virus cost MOD £10 million
Ministry of Defence reveals Lovgate found a weakness in its defences
9 June 2004
Hormel halts Spam King in his tracks
No 'Spam King' clothing line for Richter.
17 June 2004
DIY do not spam
Chicago businessman takes matters into his own hands
2 June 2004
Taiwanese Trojan writer arrested
Suspect not a teenager for a change.
28 May 2004
German government spammed
Government email systems overwhelmed
27 May 2004
Legislation: NZ makes a move
New Zealand government moves toward anti-spam legislation
27 May 2004
Cajun spammer tells it like it is
Straight talking spammer
23 May 2004
Spend, spend, spend for Symantec
Anti-spam company to become AV vendor's latest purchase
20 May 2004
Buying and selling
Trend buys back shares, Sybari prepares to sell
13 May 2004
No rest for German police
Arrest of suspected Sasser author, arrest of suspected Phatbot author and questioning of five more suspects - all within the space of 7 days.
13 May 2004
SpamCop at receiving end of a restraining order
Venerable spam reporting outfit SpamCop has had a restraining order granted against it on behalf of alleged spammer OptInRealBig.com.
12 May 2004
Spam on the catwalk
Spammer extraordinaire launches own clothing line
6 May 2004
Figures and fluctuations
Dips, increases and the cost of dealing with spam
6 May 2004
Law and order
Spamming set to become illegal in the Netherlands and other legislative news...
5 June 2004
NAI reverts to McAfee
Network Associates Inc. (NAI) to streamline and adopt (not so) new name.
5 May 2004
Call for papers: AVAR 2004
AVAR calls for papers
02 May 2004
Business news
Acquisitions and new product lines
28 April 2004
Symantec vulnerabilities
eEye reports four new Symantec vulnerabilities
20 April 2004
Business news
Acquisitions and new product lines
18 April 2004
New sentencing, new legislation
United States Sentencing Commission gets busy...
1 April 2004
No bull?
Eset vs. BullGuard
01 April 2004
Shrinking violets
Consolidation in the anti-spam industry
1 April 2004
Patent for Postini
Postini wins U.S. patent for email filtering
31 March 2004
Roll up, roll up
AOL raffles spammer's Porsche
30 March 2004
New kid on the certification block
CheckVir starts certification program
28 March 2004
A bit of R&R
Man. Loves. His. Spam. No really.
21 March 2004
News summary
AMD introduces hardware-level AV protection
19 March 2004
Fine for dialler spam
UK watchdog fines US company for sending spam
1 March 2004
ISPs refile lawsuits
AOL and EarthLink refile suits against spammers
1 March 2004
SMS spam goes down Down Under
Anti-spam code of conduct proves successful
1 March 2004
Errata: Windows NT comparative review
After re-testing, Alwil's AVAST! product gains a VB 100% award.
28 February 2004
China sets deadline for spammers
China blacklists offending IP addresses
22 February 2004
News summary
Microsoft source-code leak; Gigabyte arrested; Israelis, Egyptians and Trojans; weddings delayed in Thailand.
16 February 2004
Plans, acquisitions and royalty
NAI makes plans, Symantec acquires software manufacturer, Sophos receives royal visitors
15 February 2004
Gigabyte arrested
Well known female virus writer arrested. Finally.
14 February 2004
More core wars
Virus vs virus - new Welchia variant seeks to destroy Mydoom.
12 February 2004
News summary
MyDoom soap opera continues, hacker sentenced, Bill Gates' anti-spam crusade
03 February 2004
News summary
Why technical writing is best left to technical journalists, Netcraft monitors SCO, and February's VB magazine
02 February 2004
Congressional attack on inboxes
US Congressional representatives send bulk email
29 January 2004
An end to 419 spam?
Nigerian government takes action.
29 January 2004
MyDoom, YourDoom, OurDoom
SCO offers a bounty for the arrest of the MyDoom author, Bruce Perens offers a conspiracy theory...
28 January 2004
Divine intervention
AV on a spiritual level
25 January 2004
Waiting, reflecting and removing
Microsoft reports success of Blaster removal tool
23 January 2004
News summary...
Blaster (variant) author charged, AhnLab warns against complacency, India launches CERT-In, more on monoculture, and what's new in the spam world...
20 January 2004
Email coaching for marketers
DMA releases quick-glance reference guide for email marketers.
15 January 2004
Ahnlab partners with Sina.com
Ahnlab gets major ASP deal in China.
13 January 2004
Security-conscious processors
AMD and Intel prep technology to prevent buffer overflows at the hardware level.
12 January 2004
Weekend round-up
Narrowband blues, 2004 predictions, VeriSign scuttles Symantec, Dloader/Xombie
12 January 2004
US and UK spam legislation in place
Anti-spam legislation in place.
29 December 2003
Number crunching
Calculating the average cost of a virus attack - estimates or guesstimates?
19 December 2003
SAS - the SysAsmin Service?
Computer security experts prepare to become special constables.
18 December 2003
Seasonal spamming
Increase in spam in lead up to holiday season.
01 December 2003
Seasonal spamming
Increase in spam in lead up to holiday season.
01 December 2003
SpamCop snapped up
IronPort Systems to purchase SpamCop
01 December 2003
SpamCop snapped up
IronPort Systems to purchase SpamCop
1 December 2003
VB2004 call for papers
Virus Bulletin calls for all speakers papers.
05 January 2004
The menace within
Is BitDefender really staffed by Romanian vampire hackers...?
04 November 2003
Unanimous vote for CAN-SPAM Act
US Senate approves federal anti-spam legislation.
01 November 2003
New VB Spam Supplement
VB plans to present a selection of news and articles on spam and anti-spam techniques - some technical, some ethical, some relating to real-world experiences of dealing with spam.
01 November 2003
Unanimous vote for CAN-SPAM Act
US Senate approves federal anti-spam legislation.
1 November 2003
Totally Toronto: VB2003
Helen Martin recounts the Virus Bulletin conference.
30 October 2003
Linux vs. Windows viruses: a rebuttal
Pete Sergeant responds to an article by a SecurityFocus columnist, which hints that Linux users really don't need to worry about viruses.
06 October 2003
Four arrests and a congressional hearing
US Congress starts to take computer security seriously, four alleged malware writers arrested...
30 September 2003
Youth faces arrest for Blaster variant
Teenager suspected of creating Blaster variant faces arrest.
29 August 2003
Watching and waiting for Sobig
On 22 August 2003 anti-virus experts and sysadmins worldwide waited to discover what events, if any, would unfold when Sobig.F began a synchronized attack.
26 August 2003
Symantec acquires Hilgraeve patent
Symantec pays $62.5m for a software patent, considers litigation against infringing competitors.
19 August 2003
No more Mr Nice Guy: UK gets tough on hi-tech criminals
Welsh virus-writer shown justice, not mercy
01 August 2003
The big wait
Will Microsoft's second attempt at entering the anti-virus field result in the 'vast shake-up' of the AV industry that was expected last time?
01 July 2003
Canadian retreat
Ontario plays host to VB2003 and NTBugtraq Retreat.
01 July 2003
School without thought - your thoughts
Your thoughts on the University of Calgary's proposals to teach virus writing in its course on computer viruses and malware.
30 June 2003
Microsoft buys into AV
Microsoft announces acquisition of anti-virus technology.
10 June 2003
School without thought
University course teaches students to write malware.
01 June 2003
Military intelligence
US Army gets serious about anti-virus.
10 April 2003
Same old, same old
Virus writers plead stupidity...
02 April 2003
Security in the classroom
Microsoft supporting secure code initiative at University of Leeds
01 April 2003
Lighter sentences for virus writers?
A US report claims that sentences for computer-related crimes are too harsh.
03 March 2003
Anti-virus for Lindows
Lindows teams up with Central Command to sell Linux anti-virus - a step in the right direction, but perhaps not far enough...
20 February 2003
Symantec press release backfires
Watch out for your marketing department...
17 February 2003
VB2003 programme announced
Details of the VB2003 conference programme announced ...
05 February 2003
Calling all speakers
Submit your papers for VB2003 now!
04 February 2003
Calling all speakers
Submit your papers for VB2003 now!
04 February 2003
Standing up for free speech
NAI lands itself a hefty fine...
03 February 2003
Two years for three viruses
Author of Gokar, Redesi and Admirer jailed for two years.
01 February 2003
Virus writers get a helping hand
Two organizations send viruses to mailing list subscribers...
23 Jan 2003
W32/B(e)agle
VB predicts: 'Beagle's bark worse than its bite', 'Beware of Bagles in the morning', 'The Beagle has landed', ad nauseam.
19 January 2003
News summary...
Trend estimates $5b virus damage in 2003, monoculture blues, Symantec 'reels from week of mishaps', more MiMail, and more...
16 January 2003
Microsoft rights management
What digital and information rights management may mean for the industry.
14 January 2003
RIAA worm
RIAA allegedly buying worms to stop P2P piracy
14 Jan 2003
Anti anti anti
NAI buys DeerSoft Inc., manufacturer of SpamAssassin Pro - confusion assured ...
07 Jan 2003
Lessons to be Learned
Proving that mistakes can happen to us all, it seems that W32/Winevar.A was not the only virus 'story' to have arisen from the AVAR 2002 conference in Korea.
03 January 2003
A Happy New Year
In a cheery end-of-year message, mi2g has made ten security predictions for 2003.
02 January 2003
Stocks, viruses and a disgruntled employee
A systems administrator has been charged with attempting to manipulate a company's stock price by introducing a virus into its computer system.
18 December 2002
Stocking Fillers
It's that time of year again when we're frantically scouring the shopping malls for something unique and meaningful to give to our loved ones. Coincidentally, it's also that time of year when VB turns out its stock cupboards and puts some truly fabulous merchandise up for grabs.
04 December 2002
Addendum: Windows 2000 Advanced Server Comparative Review
After re-testing, Trend's ServerProtect product gains a VB 100% award.
01 December 2002
Some thoughts on ViraLock
We examine ViraLock, a product which promises 'Zero Escape For Email Viruses', provided, it seems, the virus plays by their rules.
25 November 2002
Who's There?
New security portal unveiled by publishers of Information Security Bulletin magazine.
23 November 2002
Paying the Price
McAfee Security issues press release estimating the potential costs to businesses of 'the next big virus attack'
22 November 2002
Writer of virus trio in court
A British man has appeared in court charged with the creation and distribution of a trio of mass-mailing viruses: Gokar, Redesi and Admirer.
13 November 2002
'Kournikova' writer loses appeal
Reports are that Jan de Wit, author of the 'Kournikova' virus (VBSWG variant) has lost his appeal against 150 hours of community service.
29 October 2002
With friends like these...
A nuisance email which is neither viral nor a hoax is proving to be equally bothersome.
24 October 2002
Addendum: June 2002 Windows XP Comparative Review
F-Prot users relying on the on-access protection against W32/Nimda.A are safe
24 October 2002
Moth-eaten software...
A warning issued by Israeli security firm GreyMagic Software last month revealed a total of nine vulnerabilities in IE 5.5 and 6.0, all concerning object caching.
22 October 2002
Service or bust
So confident is Trend Micro of its virus detection abilities that it is offering a financial penalty-backed detection guarantee.
08 October 2002
Viruses - Some Good
Just occasionally, a virus infection can have some positive effects...
10 September 2002
Bring on the DEET
The latest award for the most tenuous product-pushing story goes to BitDefender, whose marketeers claim a 'mosquito-borne disease could easily become a computer infection.'
03 September 2002
Virtually There
The Infosecurity show and exhibition has gone virtual with the launch of the first Infosecurity World Online exhibition. But where are the sweets?
01 September 2002
The youth of today...
Five Israeli teenagers have been charged in connection with writing and disseminating W32/Goner.
06 August 2002
Bugs galore
Symantec's acquisition of SecurityFocus last month has unsettled a number of contributors to the BugTraq vulnerability list. So much so that they created a new one.
05 August 2002
Third time unlucky
NAI's third attempt to re-acquire McAfee.com was scuppered yesterday when 96% of McAfee.com shareholders rejected NAI's latest exchange offer for McAfee.com shares.
01 August 2002
Retail Therapy
Symantec has been on a blow-out shopping spree...
01 August 2002
Erratum: Windows XP comparative review: McAfee VirusScan
After re-testing, McAfee's VirusScan product gains a VB 100% award.
29 August 2002
Quarter byte squaw?
Worryingly, many sysadmins seemed unaware both of the Apache 'chunked encoding' bug and of their systems' vulnerability...
01 July 2002
Crying wolf revisited
While one AV vendor comes in for a roasting, the others enjoy the rare taste of the moral high ground.
01 July 2002
Windows XP Professional comparative review
After re-testing, Panda Antivirus Platinum's on-access scanner product gains a VB 100% award.
28 June 2002
Shakira cynicism
As reports begin to appear of the latest VBSWG variant climbing prevalence tables, VB has received a particularly relevant comment from sys-admin Scott Francis.
07 June 2002
As complex as Euler's formula
IT news website Slashdot's report of Simile's cross-platform capabilities was met with the usual host of ill-informed, biased and naïve comments from users of the site.
05 June 2002
Outraged of Slovakia
Is there really any need to include virus samples in product tests? CNET seems to think it's not worth the bother.
23 May 2002
Closed source sauce
Microsoft has claimed that open source software threatens security - unlike proprietary software such as its own SQL Server, currently playing vector to a new worm.
22 May 2002
Poll
Will new browsers like Firefox 3, Internet Explorer 8 and Opera 9.5 help fight web-based malware?Leave a comment
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