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Warning — Popular 'Hot Patching' Technique Puts iOS Users At Risk

Warning — Popular 'Hot Patching' Technique Puts iOS Users At Risk

Feb 01, 2016
Do you know?… Any iOS app downloaded from Apple's official App Store has an ability to update itself from any 3rd-party server automatically without your knowledge. Yes, it is possible, and you could end up downloading malware on your iPhone or iPad. Unlike Google, Apple has made remarkable efforts to create and maintain a healthy and clean ecosystem of its official App Store. Although Apple's review process and standards for security and integrity are intended to protect iOS users, developers found the process time consuming and extremely frustrating while issuing a patch for a severe bug or security flaw impacting existing app users. To overcome this problem, Apple designed a set of solutions to make it easier for iOS app developers to push straightway out hotfixes and updates to app users without going through Apple's review process. Sounds great, but here's the Kick: Malicious app developers can abuse These solutions, potentially allowing th
Apple's Mac OS X Still Open to Malware, Thanks Gatekeeper

Apple's Mac OS X Still Open to Malware, Thanks Gatekeeper

Jan 16, 2016
Apple Mac Computers are considered to be much safer than Windows computers at keeping out the viruses and malware, but the new Exploit discovered by researchers again proves it indeed quite false. Last year, The Hacker News reported a deadly simple exploit that completely bypassed one of the core security features in Mac OS X known as Gatekeeper . Apple released a patch in November, but now the same security researcher who discovered the original Gatekeeper bypass vulnerability said he found an equally obvious workaround. Patrick Wardle, ex-NSA staffer and head of research at security intelligence firm Synack, said the security patch released by Apple was " incredibly weak " and that the update was " easy to bypass " in minutes. Gatekeeper's Failure Once Again Introduced in July of 2012, Gatekeeper is Apple's anti-malware feature designed to block untrusted, dodgy apps from running, keeping Mac OS X systems safe from malware. Ho
Navigating the Threat Landscape: Understanding Exposure Management, Pentesting, Red Teaming and RBVM

Navigating the Threat Landscape: Understanding Exposure Management, Pentesting, Red Teaming and RBVM

Apr 29, 2024Exposure Management / Attack Surface
It comes as no surprise that today's cyber threats are orders of magnitude more complex than those of the past. And the ever-evolving tactics that attackers use demand the adoption of better, more holistic and consolidated ways to meet this non-stop challenge. Security teams constantly look for ways to reduce risk while improving security posture, but many approaches offer piecemeal solutions – zeroing in on one particular element of the evolving threat landscape challenge – missing the forest for the trees.  In the last few years, Exposure Management has become known as a comprehensive way of reigning in the chaos, giving organizations a true fighting chance to reduce risk and improve posture. In this article I'll cover what Exposure Management is, how it stacks up against some alternative approaches and why building an Exposure Management program should be on  your 2024 to-do list. What is Exposure Management?  Exposure Management is the systematic identification, evaluation,
Creator of MegalodonHTTP DDoS Botnet Arrested

Creator of MegalodonHTTP DDoS Botnet Arrested

Jan 15, 2016
Last month, the Norway police arrested five hackers accused of running the MegalodonHTTP Remote Access Trojan (RAT). The arrests came as part of the joint operation between Norway's Kripos National Criminal Investigation Service and Europol, codenamed " OP Falling sTAR ." According to the United States security firm, all the five men, aged between 16 and 24 years and located in Romania, France, and Norway, were charged with possessing, using and selling malware. One of those arrested also confessed to running his own web store where he sold malware, designed to take full control of target computers, harvesting passwords, and other personal data. Moreover, the malware can be used to hijack webcams in real-time, and steal documents, images, and videos as well. "Damballa's threat discovery center worked in cooperation with the Norway police over the last few months to track and identify the author of the malware dubbed MegalodonHTTP," threat
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SaaS Security Buyers Guide

websiteAppOmniSaaS Security / Threat Detection
This guide captures the definitive criteria for choosing the right SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) vendor.
Police Arrested Hackers Who Stole Millions from European ATMs

Police Arrested Hackers Who Stole Millions from European ATMs

Jan 08, 2016
Romanian law enforcement authorities have arrested eight cyber criminals suspected of being part of an international criminal gang that pilfered cash from ATMs ( automatic teller machines ) using malware. The operation said to be one of the first operations of this type in Europe, was conducted in Romania and Moldova by Romanian National Police and the Directorate for Investigating Organised Crimes and Terrorism ( DIICOT ), with assistance from Europol, Eurojust and other European law enforcement authorities. Europol did not provide names of any of the eight criminals arrested but said that the gang allegedly used a piece of malware, dubbed Tyupkin , to conduct what are known as Jackpotting attacks and made millions by infecting ATMs across Europe and beyond. With the help of Tyupkin malware, the suspects were able to empty cash from infected ATMs by issuing commands through the ATM's pin pad. " The criminal group was involved in large scale ATM Jackpotting
EPIC Fail — For the Third Time, Linux Ransomware CRACKED!

EPIC Fail — For the Third Time, Linux Ransomware CRACKED!

Jan 07, 2016
Ransomware is now a common practice for money-motivated cyber criminals. It's basically a type of software written in any system-based programming language that has the ability to hijack victim's computer, encrypts files and then ask for a ransom amount to get them back. One such ransomware dubbed Linux.Encoder targets Linux-powered websites and servers by encrypting MySQL, Apache, and home/root folders associated with the target site and asks for 1 Bitcoin ( $453.99 ) to decrypt those crucial files. But, the good news is it is very easy to get rid of it. The Malware author released the third version of the Linux.Encoder ransomware, which security researchers from Bitdefender have managed to crack, yet again, after breaking previous two versions. However, before the team managed to release the Linux.Encoder decryption tool, the third iteration of Linux.Encoder ransomware, which was first discovered by antivirus maker Dr.Web, has infected a nearly 600 servers w
Hackers Install Free SSL Certs from Let's Encrypt On Malicious Web Sites

Hackers Install Free SSL Certs from Let's Encrypt On Malicious Web Sites

Jan 07, 2016
Who else didn't see this coming? It was so obvious as I stressed earlier that the  Let's Encrypt free HTTPS certificates would not just help legitimate website operators to encrypt its users' traffic, but also help criminals to bother innocent users with malware through secure sites. Let's Encrypt allows anyone to obtain free SSL/TLS ( Secure Socket Layer/Transport Layer Security ) certificates for their web servers that encrypt all the Internet traffic passed between a server and users. Let's Encrypt is recognized by all major browsers, including Google's Chrome, Mozilla's Firefox and Microsoft's Internet Explorer. The organization started offering Free HTTPS certs to everyone from last month, and it is very easy for anyone to set up an HTTPS website in a few simple steps ( How to Install Free SSL Cert ). However, the most bothersome part is that Let's Encrypt free SSL certs are not only used by website owners to secure its
Hackers Cause World's First Power Outage with Malware

Hackers Cause World's First Power Outage with Malware

Jan 05, 2016
SCADA system has always been an interesting target for cyber crooks, given the success of Stuxnet malware that was developed by the US and Israeli together to sabotage the Iranian nuclear facilities a few years ago, and " Havex " that previously targeted organizations in the energy sector. Now once again, hackers have used highly destructive malware and infected, at least, three regional power authorities in Ukraine, causing blackouts across the Ivano-Frankivsk region of Ukraine on 23rd December. The energy ministry confirmed it was investigating claims a cyber attack disrupted local energy provider Prykarpattyaoblenergo, causing the power outage that left half of the homes in Ivano-Frankivsk without electricity just before Christmas. According to a Ukrainian news service TSN, the outage was the result of nasty malware that disconnected electrical substations. Related Read: Dragonfly Russian Hackers Target 1000 Western Energy Firms . First Malware to
Ransom32 — First JavaScript-powered Ransomware affecting Windows, Mac and Linux

Ransom32 — First JavaScript-powered Ransomware affecting Windows, Mac and Linux

Jan 04, 2016
Here's New Year's first Ransomware: Ransom32 . A new Ransomware-as-a-service, dubbed Ransom32 , has been spotted that for the first time uses a ransomware written in JavaScript to infect Mac, Windows as well as Linux machines. Ransom32 allows its operators to deploy the malware very quickly and easily. It has a dashboard that enables operators to designate their Bitcoin addresses to which the ransom can be sent. The dashboard also shows stats about how much Bitcoins they have made. In short, this new ransomware-as-a-service is so simple, and efficient at the same time, that anyone can download and distribute his/her own copy of the ransomware executable as long as he/she have a Bitcoin address. The copy of Ransom32 was first analysed by Emsisoft, which found that the new ransomware family, which embedded in a self-extracting WinRAR archive, is using the NW.js platform for infiltrating the victims' computers, and then holding their files by encrypting the
Somebody Offered Money to Raspberry Pi Foundation for Pre-Installing Malware

Somebody Offered Money to Raspberry Pi Foundation for Pre-Installing Malware

Dec 28, 2016
The Raspberry Pi is now gaining attention from malware distributors who want the popular mini-computers to deliver with pre-install malware. The Raspberry Pi Foundation has made a shocking revelation that the charitable foundation has been offered money to install malware onto the Raspberry Pi machines before they were shipped out to users. The Raspberry Pi is an extremely simple computer that looks and feels very basic, but could be built into many geeky projects. Due to the low-cost appeal of the Raspberry Pi, the Foundation has sold over 4 million units. Just Last month, Raspberry Pi unveiled its latest wonder: The Raspberry Pi Zero – a programmable computer that costs just $5 (or £4), may rank as the world's cheapest computer. Last Wednesday, the Foundation tweeted a screenshot of an email in which " business officer"  Linda effectively asked Foundation's director of communications Liz Uptonto to install a suspicious executable file onto Ras
Hyatt Hotel Says Payment Systems Hacked with Credit-Card Stealing Malware

Hyatt Hotel Says Payment Systems Hacked with Credit-Card Stealing Malware

Dec 24, 2015
Hyatt Hotels Corporation is notifying its customers that credit card numbers and other sensitive information may have been stolen after it found malware on the computers that process customer payments. "We recently identified malware on computers that operate the payment processing systems for Hyatt-managed locations," the company announced on Wednesday. "As soon as we discovered the activity, we launched an investigation and engaged leading third-party cyber security experts." What type of information? The company didn't confirm whether the attackers succeeded in stealing payment card numbers, neither it say how long its network was infected or how many hotel chains were affected in the malware attack. But as the payment processing system was infected with credit-card-stealing malware, there is a possibility that hackers may have stolen credit card numbers and other sensitive information. What happened? Hyatt spokeswoman Stephanie Sheppard
Nemesis Bootkit — A New Stealthy Payment Card Malware

Nemesis Bootkit — A New Stealthy Payment Card Malware

Dec 08, 2015
Another day, another stunning Malware – this time targeting banks, payment card processors, and other financial services. Security researchers have uncovered a sophisticated payment card malware that executes before the operating system boots, making the malware very difficult to detect and much less remove. The malware in question is part of " Nemesis " – a malware suite that includes all software programs for capturing screens, transferring files, injecting processes, logging keystrokes, and carrying out other malicious activities on the infected computers. Nemesis malware family has been seen in the past, targeting banks, ATMs, financial transaction processing, credit unions, and financial business service companies. Nemesis Bootkit Malware – Reappears even after Re-installation of the OS The malware with bootkit functionality has been in operation since early this year and has the ability to modify the legitimate VBR ( Volume Boot Record ) that ma
ALERT: This New Ransomware Steals Passwords Before Encrypting Files

ALERT: This New Ransomware Steals Passwords Before Encrypting Files

Dec 04, 2015
You should be very careful while visiting websites on the Internet because you could be hit by a new upgrade to the World's worst Exploit Kit – Angler , which lets hackers develop and conduct their own drive-by attacks on visitors' computers with relative ease. Many poorly-secured websites are targeting Windows users with a new "Cocktail" of malware that steals users' passwords before locking them out from their machines for ransom. Yes, stealing Windows users' passwords before encrypting their data and locking their PCs for ransom makes this upgrade to the Angler Exploit Kit nastier. Here's How the New Threat Works: Once the Angler exploit kit finds a vulnerable application, such as Adobe Flash, in visitor's computer, the kit delivers its malicious payloads, according to a blog post published by Heimdal Security. The First Payload infects the victim's PC with a widely used data thief exploit known as Pony that systematic
Pro PoS — This Stealthy Point-of-Sale Malware Could Steal Your Christmas

Pro PoS — This Stealthy Point-of-Sale Malware Could Steal Your Christmas

Dec 01, 2015
The point of Sale systems are the most tempting target for cyber crooks to steal your credit card information and with this Christmas, you need to be more careful while using your credit cards at retailers and grocery stores. Here's why… Cyber criminals are now selling a new powerful strain of Point of Sale (PoS) malware through underground forums. Like several POS malware families discovered last year, including vSkimmer and BlackPOS , the new malware is also designed to steal payment card data from the infected POS systems and support TOR to hide its C&C (Command and Control) servers. Pro PoS – Light Weight, Yet Powerful Malware However, the new malware, dubbed " Pro PoS ," packs more than just a PoS malware. Pro PoS weighs only 76KB, implements rootkit functionalities, as well as mechanisms to avoid antivirus detection, according to threat intelligence firm InfoArmor. What's even more interesting about this malware is… Pro P
Hackers are using Nuclear Exploit Kit to Spread Cryptowall 4.0 Ransomware

Hackers are using Nuclear Exploit Kit to Spread Cryptowall 4.0 Ransomware

Nov 26, 2015
Beware Internet Users! Cryptowall 4.0 – the newest version of the world's worst Ransomware – has surfaced in the Nuclear exploit kit , one of the most potent exploit kits available in the underground market for hacking into computers. Ransomware threat has emerged as one of the biggest threats to internet users in recent times. Typically, a Ransomware malware encrypts all files on victim's computer with a strong cryptographic algorithm, then demand a ransom to be paid in Bitcoin (range between $200 and $10,000). Cryptowall is currently among the most widespread and sophisticated family of Ransomware backed by a very robust back-end infrastructure. Also Read: Anyone can Now Create their Own Ransomware using This Hacking ToolKit The recent report dated back to last month suggested that the authors of Cryptowall 3.0 ransomware virus have managed to raise more than $325 Million in revenue in the past year alone. With the debut of Cryptowall 4.0 at the beg
Dell's Laptops are Infected with 'Superfish-Like' pre-installed Malware

Dell's Laptops are Infected with 'Superfish-Like' pre-installed Malware

Nov 24, 2015
Similar to the Superfish malware that surrounded Lenovo laptops in February, another big computer manufacturer Dell spotted selling PCs and laptops pre-installed with a rogue SSL certificate that could allow attackers: To impersonate as any HTTPS-protected website and spy on when banking or shopping online. The rogue certificate, dubbed eDellRoot , was first discovered over the weekend by a software programmer named Joe Nord . The certificate is so creepy that it automatically re-installs itself even when removed from the Windows operating system. Also Read:  Lenovo Caught Using Rootkit to Secretly Install Unremovable Software Superfish 2.0: Unkillable Zombie The self-signed transport layer security (TLS) credential came pre-installed as a root certificate on Dell PCs and laptops that are signed with the same private cryptographic key, which is stored locally. That means an attacker with moderate technical skills can extract the key and abuse it to sign fo
This Malware Can Secretly Auto-Install any Android App to Your Phone

This Malware Can Secretly Auto-Install any Android App to Your Phone

Nov 20, 2015
Own an Android Smartphone? Hackers can install any malicious third-party app on your smartphone remotely even if you have clearly tapped a reject button of the app. Security researchers have uncovered a trojanized adware family that has the capability to automatically install any app on an Android device by abusing the operating system's accessibility features. Michael Bentley , head of response at mobile security firm Lookout, warned in a blog post published Thursday that the team has found three adware families: Shedun (GhostPush) Kemoge (ShiftyBug) Shuanet Also Read:  Android Malware Can Spy On You Even When Your Mobile Is Off All the three adware families root-infect Android devices in order to prevent their removal and give attackers unrestricted access to the devices. But, it seems that the Shedun adware family has capabilities that go beyond the reach of other adware families. The Malware Doesn't Exploit Any Vulnerability It is
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