Crowdsourced AI += ByteDefend

We are pleased to announce the integration of a new solution into our Crowdsourced AI initiative. This model, developed by Dr. Ran Dubin from the Department of Computer Science at Ariel University and head of ByteDefend Cyber Lab at the Ariel Cyber Innovation Center, is designed to analyze suspicious macros in Microsoft Office files, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

VirusTotal's Crowdsourced AI initiative leverages various AI models and community contributions to strengthen cyber defense strategies. Like any other security solution, AI-based models are not infallible, but they offer invaluable contributions by complementing other technologies in analyzing and detecting new threats. The integration of ByteDefend enhances VirusTotal's Code Insight capabilities, currently with up to three independent AI engines for Microsoft Office documents.

Here is the most recent example at the time of writing: all three models agree that the analyzed XLS file is malicious, each providing different levels of detail.

Here's another example where the models don't agree. ByteDefend flags a DOC file as malicious, while Hispasec's engine says it's benign. These disagreements are interesting because even though the final verdict can be subjective depending on the context (what's risky in one situation might not be in another), the models clearly explain how the macros work. This gives the human analyst all the information they need to make the final call..

AI reports’ results are available via VT Intelligence, allowing the use of the "bytedefend_ai_analysis:" modifier to search into the resulting AI’s output, and "bytedefend_ai_verdict:" to search by verdict - malicious or benign. As an example, below we show the results of searching for ByteDefend reports where "telegram" is mentioned and the verdict is "malicious". This search is performed using the following query: bytedefend_ai_analysis:telegram and bytedefend_ai_verdict:malicious

We extend our thanks to Dr. Ran Dubin and the ByteDefend Cyber Lab for their valuable contribution to VirusTotal's Crowdsourced AI initiative. We are continuously working to expand this effort by welcoming more contributors with diverse skills and expertise. Our goal is to build a collaborative and powerful defense strategy to tackle the constantly evolving landscape of cyber threats. We encourage others in the security community to join us in this effort.

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VirusTotal's Mission Continues: Sharing Knowledge, Protecting Together

With the recent announcement of Google Threat Intelligence, I want to take this opportunity, as VirusTotal's founder, to directly address our community and reiterate our unwavering commitment to our core mission.

First and foremost, I want to assure our entire community, from security researchers and industry partners to individual users, that VirusTotal's core mission remains unchanged. We remain deeply dedicated to collective intelligence and collaboration, fostering a platform where everyone can come together to share knowledge, access valuable threat information, and contribute to the fight against cyber threats.

Google Threat Intelligence is a new offering that builds upon the strengths of Google, Mandiant, VirusTotal, and other sources. It will be available as a premium tier, evolving the existing VirusTotal Enterprise platform, as well as the Mandiant Advantage Threat Intelligence one.

Importantly, VirusTotal remains committed to a level playing field, ensuring all partners, including Google Threat Intelligence, have equal access to the crowdsourced data VirusTotal collects. We also want to assure you that the core features and functionalities of VirusTotal will remain free and accessible to everyone, as always.

The strength of VirusTotal lies in its network of contributors and the vast amount of data they provide. This data serves as a valuable resource for the entire security industry, empowering our partners and others to enhance their products and contribute to a more secure digital world. This collaborative approach, based on transparency and equal access, strengthens the industry as a whole, ultimately leading to better protection for everyone.

We understand that change can be unsettling, but we want to assure you that VirusTotal is here to stay. We are excited about the future and the opportunity to continue sharing knowledge and protecting together with all of you, making the digital world a safer place through the power of collective intelligence.

Thank you for your continued support.

Bernardo Quintero
Founder of VirusTotal

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