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Chinese APT Espionage campaign, dubbed 'Icefog' targeted Military contractors and Governments

Chinese APT Espionage campaign, dubbed 'Icefog' targeted Military contractors and Governments

Sep 27, 2013
Kaspersky Lab has identified another Chinese APT campaign , dubbed ' Icefog ', who targeted Governmental institutions, Military contractors, maritime / shipbuilding groups, telecom operators, industrial and high technology companies and mass media. The Hacking group behind the attack who carry out surgical hit and run operations , is an advanced persistent threat (APT) group, used a backdoor dubbed Icefog that worked across Windows and Mac OS X to gain access to systems. " The Mac OS X backdoor currently remains largely undetected by security solutions and has managed to infect several hundred victims worldwide ," the report  (PDF) said. This China-based campaign is almost two years old and follows the pattern of similar APT-style attacks where victims are compromised via a malicious attachment in a spear-phishing email, or are lured to a compromised website and infected with malware . The attackers embed exploits for several known vulnerabilities (CV
Chinese computer maker Lenovo banned by Spy Agencies

Chinese computer maker Lenovo banned by Spy Agencies

Jul 29, 2013
According to a new report, the world's biggest personal computer maker, Chinese firm Lenovo Group Limited has reportedly been banned from supplying equipment for  networks of the intelligence and defense services of Australia, the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand, due to hacking concerns. Sources from intelligence and defense entities in the UK and Australia have confirmed the ban introduced in the mid-2000s after intensive laboratory testing of its equipment. In 2006 it was disclosed that the US State Department had decided not to use 16,000 new Lenovo computers on classified networks because of security concerns. Serious backdoor vulnerabilities in hardware and firmware were apparently discovered during the tests which could allow attackers to remotely access devices without the knowledge of the owner. Lenovo, headquartered in Beijing, acquired IBM's personal computer business in 2005, after which IBM continued to sell servers and mainframes that we
The Secret Weakness Execs Are Overlooking: Non-Human Identities

The Secret Weakness Execs Are Overlooking: Non-Human Identities

Oct 03, 2024Enterprise Security / Cloud Security
For years, securing a company's systems was synonymous with securing its "perimeter." There was what was safe "inside" and the unsafe outside world. We built sturdy firewalls and deployed sophisticated detection systems, confident that keeping the barbarians outside the walls kept our data and systems safe. The problem is that we no longer operate within the confines of physical on-prem installations and controlled networks. Data and applications now reside in distributed cloud environments and data centers, accessed by users and devices connecting from anywhere on the planet. The walls have crumbled, and the perimeter has dissolved, opening the door to a new battlefield: identity . Identity is at the center of what the industry has praised as the new gold standard of enterprise security: "zero trust." In this paradigm, explicit trust becomes mandatory for any interactions between systems, and no implicit trust shall subsist. Every access request, regardless of its origin,
Microsoft to patch Six critical Remote Code Execution vulnerabilities this Tuesday

Microsoft to patch Six critical Remote Code Execution vulnerabilities this Tuesday

Jul 07, 2013
Microsoft has announced   Patch Tuesday for this July Month, with seven bulletins. Out of that, one is important kernel privilege escalation flaw and six critical Remote Code Execution vulnerabilities . Patch will address vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows, .Net Framework, Silverlight and will apply to all versions of Internet Explorer from IE6 on Windows XP to IE10 on Windows 8 . Often targeted by attackers to perform drive-by malware download attacks, remote code execution flaws allow an attacker to crash an application and launch malware payloads often without any sort of notification or interaction form the user. The Windows 8 maker is also patching a kernel vulnerability disclosed at the beginning of June by Google researcher Tavis Ormandy . The issue is to do with Windows kernel's EPATHOBJ::pprFlattenRec function (CVE-2013-3660) and after Ormandy released the exploit code, Metasploit module was developed to exploit the bug. The company is planning to release the updat
cyber security

The State of SaaS Security 2024 Report

websiteAppOmniSaaS Security / Data Security
Learn the latest SaaS security trends and discover how to boost your cyber resilience. Get your free…
Iranian Hackers targeting US oil, gas, and electric companies

Iranian Hackers targeting US oil, gas, and electric companies

May 26, 2013
For all the talk about China and the Syrian Electronic Army, it seems there's another threat to U.S. cyber interests i.e Iran. Series of potentially destructive computer attacks that have been targeting American oil, gas and electricity companies tracked back to Iran. Iranian hackers were able to gain access to control-system software that could allow them to manipulate oil or gas pipelines. Malware have been found in the power grid that could be used to deliver malicious software to damage plants. The targets have included several American oil, gas and electricity companies, which government officials have refused to identify. The officials stated that the goal of the Iranian attacks is sabotage rather than espionage . Whereas, The cyber attacks from China however, are more aimed at stealing information from the U.S. government that is confidential, as well as from private business.  Mandiant announced that the Chinese government was backing the attacks. However, officials fr
Microsoft will roll out fix for two critical flaws in Windows and Internet Explorer

Microsoft will roll out fix for two critical flaws in Windows and Internet Explorer

Apr 06, 2013
Microsoft has released an advance notification of 9 security bulletins that it plans to release on April 9, 2013. Microsoft said it will patch nine vulnerabilities in total and two of them rated critical and that of the remaining 7 as Important. The critical vulnerabilities are remote code execution issues. First vulnerability affects Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer while the second vulnerability affects Microsoft Windows.  The vulnerability will fix a flaw that allows a drive-by attack, which hackers can exploit to attack machines running the software using malware loaded websites. Earlier this year, Microsoft released an emergency update for Internet Explorer after all the commotion about the security holes in Java. The update aimed to patch a security vulnerability in Internet Explorer that is being used for attacks on government contractors and other organisations. The remaining 7 vulnerabilities pertain to issues affecting Microsoft Office, Microsoft Server Software a
Stuxnet 0.5 : Symantec study reveals Stuxnet was dated 2005

Stuxnet 0.5 : Symantec study reveals Stuxnet was dated 2005

Feb 27, 2013
Today social media are spreading a shocking news, authors of Stuxnet virus that hit Iranian nuclear program in 2010 according a new research proposed by Symantec security company started in 2005 and contrary to successive instance of the malware he was designed to manipulate the nuclear facility's gas valves. The attacker strategy was to destroy the nuclear plant causing an explosion due the sabotage of gas valves, hackers purpose was physical destruction of the targets, due this reason the press and security community labeled Stuxnet as first cyber weapon of the history.  Francis deSouza, Symantec's president of products and services, during an interview with Bloomberg revealed that the version detected was a sort of beta version of the final weapon and that in the period between 2005 and 2009 the authors were testing its capabilities. " It looks like now the weapon tried a few things before it hit on what would actually work ,"' " It is clear that this has been a soph
Privacy of Millions of HTC devices at risk

Privacy of Millions of HTC devices at risk

Feb 24, 2013
More than 18 million smartphones and other mobile devices made by HTC are at risk vulnerable to many security and privacy issue. The Federal Trade Commission charged HTC with customizing the software on its Android- and Windows based phones in ways that let third-party applications install software that could steal personal information. The vulnerabilities placed sensitive information about millions of consumers at risk and potentially permitted malicious applications to send text messages, record audio and install additional malware without a user's knowledge or consent.  FTC identify many vulnerabilities including, insecure implementation of two logging applications i.e Carrier IQ and HTC Loggers . The agency also found programming flaws that let third-party apps bypass Android's permission-based security model. Flaws in the security system could also give third-party apps access to phone numbers, contents of text messages, browsing history and information
First week at MEGA Bounty Program, paid out thousands of dollars for seven Bugs

First week at MEGA Bounty Program, paid out thousands of dollars for seven Bugs

Feb 11, 2013
One week after launching a Bug bounty program by the Kim Dotcom 's new file-storage and sharing service MEGA claims to have fixed seven vulnerabilities. Although Mega hasn't shared how much money and to whom it paid out in the first week. But as promised, it is clear that MEGA paid out thousands of dollars in bug bounties during the first week of its security program. We found bug hunter yesterday (tweeted)- Mr.  Frans Rosén received 1000 Euros in the bug fixing challenge. This tweet was also Re-tweeted by Kim Dotcom later, that confirmed Frans's class III bugs reward. Congratulations @ fransrosen for XSS in #MEGA . Handsome EUR 1000 in Bug Bounty Program twitter.com/fransrosen/sta… — The Hacker News™ (@TheHackersNews) February 10, 2013 In a blog post, Mega explained how it classifies vulnerabilities and their impacts. Vulnerabilities were classified into VI classes, with I being the lowest risk and VI being the highest. Seven qualified bug details are as shown b
Hacker discloses vulnerabilities in dozens of Military and Pentagon websites

Hacker discloses vulnerabilities in dozens of Military and Pentagon websites

Feb 02, 2013
A hacker with handle name (~!White!~) today disclose SQL injection vulnerabilities in dozens of Military, United Nation and Pentagon domains. SQL Injection is one of the many web attack mechanisms used by hackers to steal data from organizations. Through a Pastebin note hacker announce more details about his findings in many sensitive websites, including Pentagon Defense Post Office Website, Office of the Deputy Director for Science Programs, Wiesbaden Military Community, NMCI Legacy Applications, Darby Military Community, Department of Economic and Social Affairs at United Nation and many more. SQL Injection is the hacking technique which attempts to pass SQL commands through a web application for execution by the back-end database. If not sanitized properly, web applications may result in SQL Injection attacks that allow hackers to view information from the database or even can wipe it out. Hacker also claimed to hack database of Pentagon.mil and other mentioned webs
I hack, reflection on the role of hacker

I hack, reflection on the role of hacker

Jan 25, 2013
The role of hacker is recognized as crucial today in cyber security, these specialists are the nightmare of security experts but their knowledge is fundamental to understand the vulnerabilities of our infrastructures … think like a hacker if you want really protect your system . But hacking is a culture, a way of life that is hard to match ago with the business logic, true hackers don't do this for money, money are fundamental but not all, the must for them is always to put into question their capabilities, try to consistently exceed their limits. Fortunately industry, private business and governments have understood it and have re-evaluated the importance of hackers, these specialists were once seen as shady individuals to avoid, today they are highly sought professionals in both private business and government sectors. Discover vulnerabilities before attackers could exploit them is essential, millions of people and devices are connected to the network, a unique oppo
Official Debian and Python Wiki Servers Compromised

Official Debian and Python Wiki Servers Compromised

Jan 09, 2013
Administration from Debian and Python project official websites confirmed that their WIKI servers were compromised by some unknown hackers recently. Hackers was able to hack because of several vulnerabilities in " moin " package. According to  Brian Curtin at Python Project , Hacker user some unknown remote code exploit on Python Wiki server (https://wiki.python.org/) and was able to get shell access. The shell was restricted to "moin" user permissions, where but no other services were affected. Attacker deleted all files owned by the "moin" user, including all instance data for both the Python and Jython wikis. Python Software Foundation encourages all wiki users to change their password on other sites if the same one is in use elsewhere. For now, Python Wiki is down and team is investigating more about breach. Where as in Debian Wiki (https://wiki.debian.org/) security breach, user use some known vulnerabilities Directory traversal ( CVE-20
Red Hat patches multiple web application Vulnerabilities

Red Hat patches multiple web application Vulnerabilities

Jan 04, 2013
RED HAT has fixed multiple web application security issues that allowed hackers to extract website database using Blind SQL injection. Red Hat also confirmed a cross site scripting and Local File Inclusion Vulnerabilities on their website. Mohamed Ramadan Security Researcher and Trainer Attack-Secure , told ' The Hacker News ' that last year he reported 3 flaws to the company and they finally confirm and patch those in January 2013. Blind SQL injection is identical to normal SQL Injection except that when an attacker attempts to exploit an application, rather than getting a useful error message, they get a generic page specified by the developer instead. This makes exploiting a potential SQL Injection attack more difficult but not impossible. Local file inclusion is a vulnerability that allows the attacker to read files, that are stored locally through the web application.This happens because the code of the application does not properly sanitize the include
Hackers abusing online Nmap Port Scanning service

Hackers abusing online Nmap Port Scanning service

Dec 28, 2012
Most of you knows the power of Nmap, When used properly, Nmap helps protect your network from invaders. One of the best tool for hackers, penetration testers and Security  researchers. Officially Nmap a desktop tool, can be used as web version but should be under some limitations. When someone does Nmap scan against a target to find out the open ports, enumerating system details and installed services versions, most obvious if  used improperly, Nmap can get you sued, fired, expelled, jailed, or banned by your ISP for scanning a target under hacking attempt. Hacker can be tracked back via the IP address from where one perform the scanning, but what if a web version of Nmap available on a website, where one just need to enter the target IP/website address and that website will do a free scan against your target ? Seems easy and one can use Proxy to access that website and which will do a simple and fast scan for you ! Yes, a service called " ScanPlanner " (htt
Stabuniq Trojan rapidly stealing data from US banks

Stabuniq Trojan rapidly stealing data from US banks

Dec 23, 2012
Trojan.Stabuniq geographic distribution by unique IP address Security researchers from Symantec have identified a new Trojan that appears to be targeting financial institutions. Dubbed Trojan.Stabuniq , the malware has been collecting information from infected systems potentially for the preparation of a more damaging attack. According to researchers , roughly 40 IP addresses infected with the Stabuniq Trojan, 40% per cent belong to financial institutions who are mostly based in Chicago and New York. The malware appears to be spread by a phishing attack through spam e-mail containing a link to the address of a server hosting a Web exploit toolkit . Such toolkits are commonly used to silently install malware on Web users' computers by exploiting vulnerabilities in outdated browser plug-ins like Flash Player , Adobe Reader , or Java. These attacks can be very simple, such as a written email from a prince in Nigeria asking for bank account information. Once in
Hunting vulnerabilities in SCADA systems, we are still too vulnerable to cyber attacks

Hunting vulnerabilities in SCADA systems, we are still too vulnerable to cyber attacks

Dec 17, 2012
Stuxnet case is considered by security expert the first concrete act of cyber warfare, a malware specifically designed to hit SCADA systems inside nuclear plants in Iran. The event has alerted the international security community on the risks related to the effects of a cyber attack against supervisory control and data acquisition in industrial environment.  SCADA systems are adopted practically in every industrial control system (ICS) used for the control and monitor of industrial processes that are potential targets of a cyber attack such as a critical infrastructures or a utility facilities. Manufacturing, production, power generation, water treatment facilities, electrical power transmission and distribution and large communication systems are all considered critical asset for every countries and represent privileged targets for cyber attacks. Obtain access to SCADA systems is fundamental step for a attackers that desires to compromise the controlled processes and contrary to
Apache Tomcat Multiple Critical Vulnerabilities

Apache Tomcat Multiple Critical Vulnerabilities

Dec 05, 2012
Some critical vulnerabilities have been reported in Apache Tomcat, which can be exploited by malicious people to bypass certain security restrictions and cause a DoS (Denial of Service) attack. These vulnerabilities affect Apache Tomcat 6.x and Apache Tomcat 7.x . Apache Tomcat vulnerabilities CVE-2012-4534 Apache Tomcat denial of service CVE-2012-3546 Apache Tomcat Bypass of security constraints CVE-2012-4431 Apache Tomcat Bypass of CSRF prevention filter According to CVE-2012-4431 , The CSRF prevention filter could be bypassed if a request was made to a protected resource without a session identifier present in the request. CVE-2012-4534, DOS includes vulnerabilities ranging from excessive resource consumption (e.g. causing a system to use a lot of memory) to crashing an application or an entire system. Whereas, CVE-2012-3546 - where malicious users or people can bypass certain security mechanisms of the application. The actual impact varies signif
Multiple MySQL database Zero-day vulnerabilities published

Multiple MySQL database Zero-day vulnerabilities published

Dec 03, 2012
Researcher discovered Multiple Zero-day vulnerabilities in MySQL database software including Stack based buffer overrun, Heap Based Overrun, Privilege Elevation, Denial of Service and  Remote Preauth User Enumeration. Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) assigned as : CVE-2012-5611 — MySQL (Linux) Stack based buffer overrun PoC Zeroday CVE-2012-5612 — MySQL (Linux) Heap Based Overrun PoC Zeroday CVE-2012-5613 — MySQL (Linux) Database Privilege Elevation Zeroday Exploit CVE-2012-5614 — MySQL Denial of Service Zeroday PoC CVE-2012-5615 — MySQL Remote Preauth User Enumeration Zeroday Currently, all reported bugs are under review and most of the researchers believed that some of these can be duplicate of an existing bugs. CVE-2012-5612 and CVE-2012-5614 could cause the SQL instance to crash, according to researchers. Where as another interesting bug CVE-2012-5615 allow attacker to find out that either any username exist on the Mysql server or not by repl
Java zero-day exploit sold in underground Market

Java zero-day exploit sold in underground Market

Nov 28, 2012
Once again a zero day vulnerability exploit is sold by cyber criminals in the underground, once again a the flaw is related to Oracle's Java software that could allow to gain remote control over victim's machine. The news has been reported by KrebsOnSecurity blog that announced that the exploit being sold on an Underweb forum. The vulnerability is related to the most recent version of Java JRE 7 Update 9, it isn't present in previous versions of the framework, in particular the bug resides within the Java class "MidiDevice according the info provided by the seller that describes it with following statements: " Code execution is very reliable, worked on all 7 version I tested with Firefox and MSIE on Windows 7 ," " I will only sell this ONE TIME and I leave no guarantee that it will not be patched so use it quickly. " The exploited class is a component of Java that handles audio input and output. It's easy to understand that similar vulnerability has a great value du
PayPal Bug Bounty Program - playing fair ?

PayPal Bug Bounty Program - playing fair ?

Nov 13, 2012
Bug Bounty program, where white hat hackers and researchers hunt for serious security vulnerabilities and disclosing them only to the vendor for a patch , In return vendors rewards them with money. Various famous websites like Facebook , Google , Paypal , Mozilla, Barracuda Networks and more other giving away bug bounties in thousands of Dollars to hackers for finding vulnerabilities. Most common vulnerabilities reported maximum time on various sites is Cross site scripting and each month hackers submit lots of such vulnerabilities to companies. In case  your report is duplicate, i.e. Someone else before you submit the same vulnerability - company will reject you from the bug bounty program. But there is no proof or an open Panel where hacker can verify that is someone already reported for same bug before or not. If company reply you - " The bug was already discovered by another researcher" , can you do anything  even after knowing that you are very first per
Chrome 23 Released, 14 vulnerabilities patched

Chrome 23 Released, 14 vulnerabilities patched

Nov 06, 2012
Google today released Chrome version 23 to the Stable Channel. 23.0.1271.64 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chrome Frame. Update includes patch for 12 vulnerabilities in the Windows version and two vulnerabilities in Mac OS X version. Chrome 23 is the support of the Do Not Track (DNT) protocol, number of new features including GPU accelerated video decoding on Windows and easier website permissions. " We recently enabled GPU-accelerated video decoding for Chrome on Windows. Dedicated graphics chips draw far less power than a computer's CPU, so using GPU-accelerated video decoding while watching videos can increase battery life significantly ." Out of  14 vulnerabilities , 6 vulnerabilities rated as high and rest are of either medium or low severity. CVE number of all bugs are - CVE-2012-5128, CVE-2012-5126, CVE-2012-5125, CVE-2012-5124, CVE-2012-5123, CVE-2012-5115, CVE-2012-5127, CVE-2012-5120, CVE-2012-5116, CVE-2012-5118, CVE-2012-5121, CVE-2012-5117,CVE-2012-5119, CVE-2
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