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Security researcher Jonathan Brossard created a proof-of-concept hardware backdoor called Rakshasa that replaces a computer's BIOS (Basic Input Output System) and can compromise the operating system at boot time without leaving traces on the hard drive. In short, firmware is software that is stored in non-volatile memory on a computer chip, and is used to initialise a piece of hardware's functionality. In a PC, the BIOS is the most common example of firmware but in the case of wireless routers, a whole Linux operating system is stored in firmware. Hardware backdoors are lethal for three reasons: They can't be removed by conventional means (antivirus, formatting). They can circumvent other types of security (passwords, encrypted file systems). They can be injected during manufacturing. Rakshasa, named after a demon from the Hindu mythology, is not the first malware to target the BIOS the low-level motherboard firmware that initializes other hardware components. Rakshasa replac

Whenever an important event takes place, new opportunities for cyber criminals, especially for those who develop attacks based on social engineering, arise. Currently, the whole world has its eyes glued to TV screens watching the London 2012 Olympic Games. Anti-malware and anti-virus solutions provider Webroot has issued a warning that an app app called " London Olympics Widget ," which is described as an app that displays aggregated Olympic news coverage. In fact, it's really just harvesting the user's contact list and device ID while reading up on SMS messages too. The package name is 'com.games.London.Olympics.widget'. This app has a digital certificate claiming it was developed in New Delhi, India. For this scam, cybercriminals create websites that are very appealing; some even look very professional that they make it seem that you are close to having access to live programming. Researchers explain that the crooks rely on black hat SEO techniques to make sure t

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,

This Sunday, The Capital , New Delhi plays host to an International The Hackers Conference where blackhat hackers will discuss the challenges of cyber safety with security agencies. Your Smartphone is an always-on and always-connected digital extension of your life which will be used by attackers to covertly steal your sensitive data and spy on you. Mahesh , An Independent Security Researcher and Android Developer/Hacker will demonstrate " Android Spy Agent ". This application allows us to remotely access the entire victim's personal information and even though the confidential data available in the android cell phone. The type of personal information includes the victim's contacts, call logs, messages, browser's history, GPS location and much more information directly available on the victim's cell phone.  Many-a-times we think that is there any way by which we can read the private sms of anyone. So here is the solution Mr. Mahesh will present in The Hack

A scientist working at the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran said computer systems have been hit by a cyber-attack which forced them to play AC/DC's Thunderstruck at full volume in the middle of the night. The attack came to light after a researcher at security firm F-Secure received a string of emails from a Iran's atomic energy organisation." I am writing you to inform you that our nuclear program has once again been compromised and attacked by a new worm with exploits which have shut down our automation network at Natanz and another facility Fordo near Qom. " " It does sound really weird ," he said. "If there was an attack, why would the attacker announce themselves by playing ' Thunderstruck? " If true, this attack is the third hacking attempt aimed at Tehran's controversial nuclear program. It sounds like the AEOI may have been hit with an infrastructure-targeting malware attack, similar to those that have plagued the Middle East since 201

The Biggest Hacking Mania has arrived - ' The Hackers Conference 2012 '.  In this first of its kind conference in India, Blackhat hackers drawn from around the world will demonstrate how they access a victim's personal information, and even confidential data available on the Android cell phone. The conference will be held on July 29 at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi. The use of Linux as an operating system is increasing rapidly, thanks partly topopular distributions such as 'RedHat' and 'Suse'. So far, there are very few Linuxfile infectors and they do not pose a big threat yet. However, with more desktopsrunning Linux, and probably more Linux viruses, the Linux virus situation couldbecome a bigger problem. 17 years old hacker, Aneesh Dogra will talk on " How to make a Linux ELF Virus (That works on your latest linux distribution) " at ' The Hackers Conference 2012 ' . Linux or Unix has the reputation of being "not so buggy", and of be

The latest release of Google's Android mobile operating system has finally been properly fortified with an industry-standard defense. It's designed to protect end users against hack attacks that install malware on handsets. Android 4.1 Jelly Bean includes several new exploit mitigations and a more extensive implementation of ASLR to help defeat many kinds of exploits. ASLR is an exploit mitigation method that randomizes the positions of key data areas such as libraries, heap, stack, and the base of the executable, in a process's address space, and that makes it near impossible for malware authors and hackers to predict where their malicious payloads will be loaded. " As we mentioned in our previous post on Android ASLR, the executable mapping in the process address space was not randomized in Ice Cream Sandwich, making ROP-style attacks possible using the whole executable as a source of gadgets. In Jelly Bean, most binaries are now compiled/linked with the PIE fla

Security researchers working for F-Secure have found a web exploit that detects the operating system of the computer and drops a different trojan to match.The attack was first seen on a Columbian transport website which had been hacked by a third party. This malware is known as GetShell.A and requires users to approve a Java applet installation. It detects if you're running Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux, and then downloads the corresponding malware for your platform. The malicious files developed for each type of OS connect to the same Command & Control server that F-Secure has localized at IP address 186.87.69.249. Karmina Aquino, a senior analyst with F-Secure said " All three files for the three different platforms behave the same way. They all connect to 186.87.69.249 to get additional code to execute. The ports are 8080, 8081, and 8082 for OSX, Linux and Windows, respectively ." On upcoming 29th July 2012 Security Researchers  Sina Hatef Matbue and Arash Shirk

Two Argentina-based cyber security experts -   Chris Russo  and Fernando Viacanel , who claimed to have cracked the security code of IT systems involved in the discovery of 'God Particle', today conducted training sessions for Indian government officials. Both the hackers are partners of IT security firm E2 Labs and their company in arrangement with industry chamber Assocham has plans to conduct series of technology exchange programmes on cyber security. Russo said that three times he has been able to find vulnerability in IT system of European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) that has been involved in discovery of 'God Particle' or Higgs Boson. Programme was attended by officials from Cabinet secretariat, National Technical Research Organisation, Airforce, C-DAC, Income Tax Department, Assam's AMTRON along with representatives from private sector entities, Aircel and Cisco. "Talents required to be cyber security experts are mostly available in peo

Sucuri Malware Labs notify that some zero-day exploits are available to Hackers which are being used to Hack into Parallels' Plesk Panel (Port Number 8443). These attacks was keep on raising from last few months as you can see in the Graph: At least 4000 new websites were infected each day, Sucuri malware researcher Daniel Cid. On other News Portals , there was a news recently that Some 50,000 websites have been compromised as part of a sustained iframe injection attack campaign. Security analyst found that, The majority of the sites being targeted are running Plesk Panel version 10.4.4 or older versions. Brian Krebs on his blog report that Hackers in the criminal underground are selling an exploit that extracts the master password needed to control Parallels' Plesk Panel. This zero-day exploit for Plesk is being sold on the black market for around $8,000 per purchase. Many of the queries probed for web hosting software Plesk, a finding backed by the Sans Internet Storms Centr