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The critical zero-day security flaws has been discovered in the privacy and security dedicated Linux-based operating system " Tails " that could be used by an attacker to unmask your identity. Tails, which is been used and recommended by the global surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden to remain Anonymous, has a suite of privacy applications and designed to keep users' communications private by running all connectivity through Tor , the network that routes traffic through various layers of servers and encrypts data. But unfortunately, the highly secured OS has several critical zero-day vulnerabilities that could help attackers or law enforcements to de-anonymize anyone and allows to perform remote code execution , according to a researcher at Exodus Intelligence who uncovered the flaws but didn't publish the details about it. The Texas-based security firm, Exodus Intelligence , tweeted on Monday that it had found several remote code execution vulnerabilities i...

I am considering that you all must have read my last article on OpenSSL Heartbleed , a critical bug in the OpenSSL's implementation of the TLS/DTLS heartbeat extension that allows attackers to read portions of the affected server's memory, potentially revealing users data, that the server did not intend to reveal. The Heartbleed vulnerability made headlines around the world and my last article explains everything about probably the biggest Internet vulnerability in recent history, but still some readers are not aware of its nature, otherwise they would not have been a victim of the spam campaigns. Spammers are very smart on gaining from every opportunity they get, so this time they are taking advantage of the infamous Heartbleed bug and frighten the users into installing Anti-Heartbleed Software onto their systems, which is obviously a malware. The researchers at Symantec have unearthed a spam campaign targeting people by sending spam emails that warns them their ...

So, How do you currently monitor your logs and events, including network, servers, databases, applications, your router, firewall or Windows servers?  Obviously, If you have thousands of machines on your network.. It will become more complicated. Due to the massive boom in the cyber attacks and security breaches that result in financial losses and damages the goodwill of the reputed corporations, the demand for SIEM tools is increasing continuously among the IT security professionals and system administrators. Security Information & Event Management (SIEM) is the best solution, that has evolved over the years to become one of the most trusted and reliable solutions for log management, security, and compliance. SIEM systems provide a holistic view of an organization's Information technology (IT) Security by collecting logs and other security-related documentation for analysis. But SIEM systems are typically expensive to deploy and complex to operate and manag...

IT Infrastructure of organizations is growing ever more distributed, complex and difficult to manage. To manage such networks, a log management solution is not enough. The AlienVault Unified Security Management™ (USM) platform is the perfect solution to help manage the flood of information and analyze it in real time, to find evidence of security incidents. So, in this article we will introduce you to a security monitoring solution that provides real-time threat detection and speeds incident response. The AlienVault Unified Security Management™ (USM) platform provides all of the essential security controls required for complete security visibility, and is designed to enable any IT or security practitioner to benefit from results on day one. Powered by the latest AlienVault Labs Threat Intelligence and the Open Threat Exchange™ (OTX ) —the world's largest crowd-sourced threat intelligence exchange—AlienVault USM delivers a unified, simple and affordable solution for threat ...

Smartphones are always ready to connect to the Internet and contains sensitive information such as Contacts, SMS, Photos, and GPS information and this sensitive information is always in danger of leakage. According to a report, Cyber criminals and state-sponsored hackers are developing 55,000 new malware variants, each and every day; and many of them try to elevate privileges for unfettered control of the user device. North Carolina State University Researchers have developed a new software, called Practical Root Exploit Containment ( PREC ) , with the sole purpose of detecting mobile malware that attempts to run Root exploits in Android devices. Root exploits take control of system administration functions of the operating system that gives the hacker an unrestricted control of user's Smartphone. That means, an application has not permission to read your messages or contacts or the GPS location, but after getting root access it will be able to steal any data from yo...

Mobile security may not be secure as you think. In September we have reported that the National Security Agency has the ability to access data on iOS, Android and even BlackBerry devices. Everyday a new revelation of NSA Surveillance Program makes Security and Privacy a major concern for all of us. Today we feel the need of highly secured Networks and Encrypted Devices to safeguard our privacy from Cyber Criminals as well as Government. Phil Zimmerman , Inventor of the email encryption tool PGP and Silent Circle's Co-founder (company specializes in mobile privacy and peer-to-peer encryption ) has announced ' BLACKPHONE ', a Smartphone that's been designed to enable secure, encrypted communications, private browsing and secure file-sharing. The company will launch BLACKPHONE in the ' Mobile World Congress ', Spain next month, offers ' PrivatOS ', an Android based operating system which will allow users to make and receive secure phone calls, exchange secure te...

Last year Samsung launched a security feature called ' KNOX ' for high-end enterprise mobile devices. It's a nice security addition and free with new Samsung handsets such as the Galaxy Note 3 and Samsung Galaxy S4. Samsung Knox is an application that creates a virtual partition (container) within the normal Android operating system that allows a user to run two different Android systems on a same device, so that you can securely separate your personal and professional activities. KNOX based virtual operating system of your phone requires a password to be accessed and helps you to securely store data that they're especially concerned about, such as personal pictures and video, in protected containers that would be resistant to hacking attempts on stolen devices. You can switch between Knox mode and personal mode using shortcuts in the app tray and notification tray. All the data and applications stored in the KNOX container system are completely isolated from the rest...

File transfer services such as FTP or HTTP has been the most common way of file transfer for business requirements. Typically what a file transfer means is that a file transfer protocol such as FTP or HTTP is used to send the stream of bits stored as a single unit in a file system including file name, file size, timestamp and other metadata from one host to another host over a TCP-based network such as the Internet. But this process is not foolproof. FTP, by itself, is not a secure file transfer protocol and it has a lot of security vulnerabilities. It's a known fact that FTP doesn't provide any encryption for data transfer. Most of the times, the requirement in any business is pretty simple: to transfer files between two endpoints in different locations, and the parties involved do not think much about how secure the file transfer process is going to be. Using FTP for official file transfer can leave your data transmission exposed to many security attacks: FTP Bounce Attack Gener...

It is always important to secure our system against outside threats i.e. Hackers, but it also required to protect against insider threats. The potential of damage from an Insider threat can be estimated from the example of Edward Snowden who had worked at the NSA , and had authorized access to thousands of NSA's Secret Documents, networks and systems. ' According to a recent Verizon report, insider threats account for around 14% of data breaches in 2013." Mostly, securing data involves just encryption in the cloud and keeping encryption keys out of the hands of rogue employees, but it is not enough where rogue employees should have access to encryption keys as part of their work. To prevent such risk of rogue employees misusing sensitive data, CloudFlare has released an open source encryption software " Red October ," with " two-man rule " style file encryption and decryption. " Two-man rule ", a control mechanism designed to achieve a hi...

The world of mobile search is about to get a bit more anonymous. Thanks to the fears over government surveillance and corporate tracking, Anonymous Search Engine DuckDuckGo continues to break its own search records. DuckDuckGo Search & Stories - Android app deliver the same functionality as traditional services such as Google but with the added promise that your IP address and identity will not be recorded.  In June, Anonymous search engine  DuckDuckGo  had launched its app for  iOS  and Android and during recent update, DuckDuckGo's application for Android also integrated the Tor support. " Privacy is perhaps more important on mobile than on the web, and we haven't had many private alternatives ," DuckDuckGo founder Gabriel Weinberg said. To enable Tor with DuckDuckGo android app, user need to Check " Enable Tor " from setting. It will prompt the user to install about application to anonymize the Mobile data c...

Cybercrime costs organizations millions of dollars and to protect business from the consequences of security breaches, vulnerability intelligence and patch management are basic necessities in the toolbox of any IT team, as emphasized by organizations like the SANS Institute and the National Institute of Standards and Technology under the US Department of Commerce (NIST). The Secunia CSI 7.0 is the Total Package: Vulnerability Intelligence, Vulnerability Scanning with Patch Creation and Patch Deployment Integration. To help IT teams counter the threat, vulnerability research company Secunia merges the in-house vulnerability expertise with a sophisticated patch management solution into the Secunia Corporate Software Inspector (CSI 7.0). The foundation of the Secunia CSI is a unique combination of vulnerability intelligence and vulnerability scanning, with patch creation and patch deployment integration. The Secunia CSI integrates with Microsoft WSUS and System Center 2...

You've got to ask yourself one question. How much hassle does patching cause you? Is the second Tuesday of each month something you dread, or is it just another day for you? If you spend days and days testing and deploying patches; if you stay up until the wee hours of the morning one weekend each month; if you have a current profile on every single server in your environment; then patching is likely to be a heavy burden. But there is another way. Patching is not something that should be a major pain each month. It should be a simple and straightforward administrative task. Admins who patch by hand or are worried about some patch crashing critical systems each month should consider automated patch management. This strategy will boost efficiency and give you back your weekends, and ensure that your systems can be patched quickly, efficiently and safely. Automated patch management helps IT admins patch their servers and workstations in the most efficient way possible, by removi...

Windows 8 PCs contain a new technology called Secure Boot that only boots devices that have been verified by Microsoft. Also Microsoft's own Offline Defender won't boot on Windows 8 PCs with Secure Boot on. Neither will Norton's Bootable Recovery Tool. We asked the guys at FixMeStick how their external hardware-based anti-malware device can boot on brand new Windows 8 hardware with Secure boot on, as well as 10 year old PCs with 32 processors running XP. Here's their answer: 1. It got a Master Boot Record. : In other words, it boots on BIOS-based PCs, essentially all PCs prior to Windows 8. 2. and it got UEFI boot partition : It also got a UEFI boot partition, so it will boot on PCs with the latest UEFI firmware too. 3. It's 32 bit : There's a 32 bit operating system on the stick so it will work with 32 bit microprocessors. Most rescue ISOs\disks are 32 bit only, so by default they work on 32 bit processors and 64 bit processors. 4. and it's 64...

Like many other security issues that now affect computer users, there is a growing threat known as phishing". Phishing attacks are perpetrated by criminals who send deceptive emails in order to lure someone into visiting a fraudulent web site or downloading malicious software, expressly for stealing sensitive information such as credit card numbers, account information, passwords, etc. Cyber criminals continue to evolve and refine their attack tactics to evade detection and use techniques that work. Spear phishing emails are on the rise because they work. We have notice many times that Spear Phishing Attacks are really Successful in order to compromise Enterprise Networks and Stealing Data. From last one month I was getting mails from an unknown spoofed email id regrading a paypal warning with subject " Your account has been limited until we hear from you ! " Guess what, even I am not using that email for my Paypal account, from here I just judge that it's...

After five months NMAP team release latest version of open source utility for network exploration or security auditing - NMAP 6.25 . It was designed to rapidly scan large networks, but works fine against single hosts. Nmap runs on all major computer operating systems, and official binary packages are available for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X. Many systems and network administrators also find it useful for tasks such as network inventory, managing service upgrade schedules, and monitoring host or service uptime. Nmap uses raw IP packets in novel ways to determine what hosts are available on the network, what services (application name and version) those hosts are offering, what operating systems (and OS versions) they are running, what type of packet filters/firewalls are in use, and dozens of other characteristics. Updates: integration of over 3,000 IPv4 new OS fingerprint submissions, over 1,500 service/version detection fingerprints, and of the latest IPv6 OS submi...

Most of the readers have question in mind that, How hackers know everything about their target ? How to DOX (finding personal information) someone ? So answer is --  Open Source Intelligence (OSINT). A Patriot Hacker ' The Jester ' (or "th3j35t3r") who made his name after harassing Anonymous activist group, disrupting WikiLeaks and stalking "jihadist" sites has finally list his all time favorite Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) toolset. Open Source intelligence (OSINT) is a form of intelligence collection management that involves finding, selecting, and acquiring information from publicly available sources and analyzing it to produce actionable intelligence. Hacker posted list of some free available tools on his blog , includes Maltego, Creepy, Spokeo, CaseFile, FoxOne Scanner (Jester's Edition). OSINT is defined by both the U.S. Director of National Intelligence and the U.S. Department of Defense, as " produced from publicly available information that is co...