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Forget about Financial services and Online shopping websites, but at least we expect from Security Firms and Antivirus vendors to keep our personal and Sensitive data Encrypted and Secured. One of the most popular and much-respected Antivirus and computer security firms 'BitDefender' has recently been hacked and has had a portion of its customer data leaked. The Data Breach in BitDefender is incredibly embarrassing for the security firm, not because the company failed to prevent its customers data from hackers, but because the Security company failed to encrypt its customers' most sensitive data . Now, this is something really not expected from a reputed Security Firm. It appears that the hacker, who uses the online alias DetoxRansome , was able to break into a Bitdefender server that hosted the cloud-based management dashboards for its small and medium-sized business clients, and pilfer usernames and passwords belonged to them. They Forget to Encrypt C...

A recently discovered piece of malware called KRBanker (Korea + Banker = KRBanker) , targeting mostly online end-users at Korean financial institutions. According to nProtect , now an invasive banking Trojan, the new and improved  KRBanker  can block anti-virus software, security websites and even other malware in its quest to steal user information and share it with hackers. Then the malware pings back to the command and control (C&C) server with infection status and then the malware proceeds to download encrypted files on the victim's PC. In the latest variant of the KRBanker malware, scans the PC for lists of DLLs that are related to Korean financial institutions, security software and patches any opcode instructions.  Malware instructed to insert the malicious code that will search and collect any information related to password, account details, and transaction history. Once logged, the compiled information is then sent to a remote server....

Vulnerability Management (VM) has long been a cornerstone of organizational cybersecurity. Nearly as old as the discipline of cybersecurity itself, it aims to help organizations identify and address potential security issues before they become serious problems. Yet, in recent years, the limitations of this approach have become increasingly evident.  At its core, Vulnerability Management processes remain essential for identifying and addressing weaknesses. But as time marches on and attack avenues evolve, this approach is beginning to show its age. In a recent report, How to Grow Vulnerability Management into Exposure Management (Gartner, How to Grow Vulnerability Management Into Exposure Management, 8 November 2024, Mitchell Schneider Et Al.), we believe Gartner® addresses this point precisely and demonstrates how organizations can – and must – shift from a vulnerability-centric strategy to a broader Exposure Management (EM) framework. We feel it's more than a worthwhile read an...

A Trojan that attacks Russian Internet users using a new trick to spread itself. Known as " Bicololo " was first discovered in October 2012 and specially designed to steal login credentials from users.  For this, the malware modify the system Hosts file (i.e etc/hosts) to host perfect phishing sites via DNS poisoning to collect social networking and email credentials. In a recent post from Avast antivirus,  Bicololo  continued to evolve and spread even further. Because it is difficult for a user to determine that he is redirected to a phishing site the attack going smoothly. In Oct, They found that all these phishing sites were resolving via servers located at 69.197.136.99, 94.249.188.224 and 178.63.214.97, 94.249.189.21 , which originally were hosted on afraid.org servers. But now this malware spreading via standard 404 Error webpage error of hacked sites. The most frequent phishing clones of vk.com , odnokl...

Today I decided to remove Microsoft Security Essentials Antivirus from my system because Security Essentials failed another certification test by independent testing lab, AV-Test Institute. Microsoft's Security Essentials antivirus for Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 is a free add-on to Windows Defender, which blocks adware and spyware on Windows. In its review , AV-Test revealed that 22 of the 25 programs that were tested passed the test, but Security Essentials came up short. The lab tested all programs across three areas: protection, repair ability and usability of the whole computer based on the impact of the software. " We always used the most current publicly-available version of all products for the testing. They were allowed to update themselves at any time and query their in-the-cloud services. We focused on realistic test scenarios and challenged the products against real-world threats. Products had to demonstrate their capabilities using all ...

This week Corey and Marty over at FixMeStick shared the specs of their recently released FixMeStick PRO with me. This Pro is the best remote malware remediation product we've seen. It retails for $299.99 per year, or $209.99 for the first 50 'The Hacker News' readers ( use coupon code  'THNFIX ' for 30% Discount ), and can be used an unlimited number of times on an unlimited number of PCs per year. The price is per year because the FixMeStick contains three anti-virus engines licensed from three anti-virus companies keeping three malware definition databases up to date etc... Finds: Three anti-virus engines working together to find the widest range of infections. Removes: 'Computer on a stick' architecture provides a separate and clean operating system to fix Windows operating systems. Delivers: Highest confidence remediation. Remote Access: Remote access independent of the host operating system, i.e. out-of-band remote management, like a remote access...

Rootkit named as "Necurs" infect 83,427 unique machines during the month of November 2012. It is a multi-purpose rootkits capable of posing a threat to both 32 and 64-bit Windows systems. Distributed via drive-by download on the websites that host the BlackHole exploit kit. Like other rootkits it is able to hide itself from detection and also capable of downloading additional malware from outside. Attackers can maintain remote access to a machine this way in order to monitor activity, send spam or install scareware. Rootkit also stop security applications from functioning and hence no detection. Microsoft list this as  Trojan:Win32/Necurs . Trojan:Win32/Necurs is a family of malware that work together to download additional malware and enable backdoor access and control of your computer. The malware can be installed on its own or alongside rogue security software, such as Rogue:Win32/Winwebsec. The malware downloads itself into the folder " %windi...

Shylock, a financial malware platform discovered by Trusteer in 2011, is a non-Zeus-based information-stealing trojan that improved methodology for injecting code into additional browser processes to take control of a computer, and an improved evasion technique to prevent malware scanners from detecting its presence. Why this Name ?  Shylock named after the ruthless money lender in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, also deletes its installation files, runs solely in memory, and begins the process again once the infected machine reboots. Shylock has gained a new trick: The ability to detect whether it's running in a virtual machine (VM) that is being analyzed by malware researchers. What New ?  Latest Shylock dropper detects a remote desktop environment by feeding invalid data into a certain routine and then observing the error code returned. It uses this return code to differentiate between normal desktops and other "lab" environments. In particular, when execu...

John McAfee, who started the antivirus software giant named after him, has been accused of murder in Belize and wanted.  Gizmodo reports that McAfee has been living in Belize for a while now, spending most of his time there experimenting with drugs. McAfee's marketing slogan: " Safe is not a privilege. It is a right. " This news comes just a few days after Gizmodo ran a long story about McAfee's increasingly erratic and borderline criminal behavior. In it, he sounds paranoid as he talks about people wanting to take his money and kill him and he admits to having associated with gangsters in Belize. McAfee had taken to " posting on a drug-focused Russian message board...about his attempts to purify the psychoactive compounds colloquially known as 'bath salts, '" Gizmodo wrote. The scariest aspect of this story may be the fact that an entire lab was constructed for John McAfee's research purposes. Because of his efforts to extract chemicals...

On a quick tip from a The Hacker News reader - Travis, we came to know about that some antivirus giving warning when readers try to visit  Bloomberg's Businessweek website ( businessweek.com ) that the site is infected with malware and trying to drop a malware on visitor's system. Website having very high alexa rank, that means it server updates to millions of daily visitors. Most obvious that Bloomberg's site was hacked and then hacker was able to inject the script to infect visitors of site. After exploring the site, I found that some " Under Maintenance " pages like (  hxxp://bx.businessweek.com/photos/spham708_medium.jpg  ) of  Businessweek website having injected iframe that trying to open a remote page uploaded on a italian website as shown below: Injected URL :  hxxp://www.lamiabiocasa.it/class/cls-memcache.php ( Do not open this page ). We have another news from other sources that, recently around h...

Eugene Kaspersky is working with his engineers at Russian security firm Kaspersky Lab to create a secure-by-design OS for ICS. In an interview Kaspersky said " It's true no one else ever tried to make a secure operating system. This may sound weird because of the many efforts Microsoft, Apple and the open source community have made to make their platforms as secure as possible. With all respect, we should admit they were developing a universal solution for a wide range of application and various kinds of users. And security and usability is always a matter of compromise! With a universal OS a developer inevitably sacrifices security for usability ." Companies that maintain ICS are forced to try to patch them on the fly in the event of a malware attack, a process usually easier said than done. Instead, Kaspersky suggests that the solution lies in a secure operating system, one in which ICS can be installed. Such an OS could help ensure that industrial systems stay healthy ...

With over 140,000 known computer viruses and 85,000,000 spam emails sent out each day, the likelihood of your PC coming into contact with malware such as viruses, worms, and spyware is almost guaranteed. It is very important to secure your computer just like you would secure your house or car. Your computer can be completely taken over without your permission or knowledge if it is vulnerable and connected to the Internet. Hackers constantly scan the Internet looking for vulnerable hosts, and a computer can be infected by a worm or virus within 15 minutes of connecting to the Internet if certain precautions are not taken. You can avoid most common infections by taking just a few steps, Here is an overview of PC security best practices and tips - " HackerProof : Your Guide To PC Security " This 53 page guide provides an objective, detailed, but easily understood walk through of PC security. By the end of this guide, you will know exactly what PC security means an...

Users should be aware that Cyber criminals are finding new ways to install malicious software on devices. The latest threat to Android phone users, according to the FBI , is a "work-at-home opportunity that promises a profitable payday just for sending out email." The IC3 has been made aware of various malware attacking Android operating systems for mobile devices. Some of the latest known versions of this type of malware are Loozfon and FinFisher .  Loozfon is an information-stealing piece of malware. Criminals use different variants to lure the victims. One version is a work-at-home opportunity that promises a profitable payday just for sending out email. A link within these advertisements leads to a website that is designed to push Loozfon on the user's device. The malicious application steals contact details from the user's address book and the infected device's phone number . FinFisher is a spyware capable of taking over the components of a mobile device. Whe...

Security firm Trend Micro discovered a new worm targeting Skype users with spam messages designed to infect machines with the Dorkbot ransomware has been discovered. A malicious worm is taking advantage of the Skype API to spam out messages that link to a ZIP files ie. skype_06102012_image.zip or skype_08102012_image.zip, which is actually detected as Troj/Agent-YCW or Troj/Agent-YDC by Antivirus. According to definition -  Ransomware is a form of malware in which rogue software code effectively holds a user's computer hostage until a "ransom" fee is paid. Ransomware often infiltrates a PC as a computer worm or Trojan horse that takes advantage of open security vulnerabilities. Most ransomware attacks are the result of clicking on an infected e-mail attachment or visiting a hacked website. The message contains the question: "lol is this your new profile pic? h__p://goo.gl/{BLOCKED}5q1sx?img=username" or "moin, kaum zu glauben was für schöne foto...