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WikiLeaks Reveals How CIA Malware Tracks Geo-Location of its Targeted

WikiLeaks Reveals How CIA Malware Tracks Geo-Location of its Targeted

Jun 28, 2017
WikiLeaks has just published a new batch of the ongoing Vault 7 leak , and this time the whistleblowing website has unveiled a classified malware for that tracks geo-location of targeted PCs and laptops running the Microsoft Windows operating system. In short, the malware does it by capturing the IDs of nearby public hotspots and then matching them with the global database of public Wi-Fi hotspots' locations. Dubbed ELSA , the alleged CIA's project consists of two main elements: the processing component (Operator Terminal) and the implant (Windows Target) which is typically being deployed on a target Windows host. Here's How the CIA's ELSA Malware Works The Elsa system first installs the malware on a targeted WiFi-enabled machine using separate CIA exploits to gain persistent access on the device. The malware then uses Wi-Fi hardware of the infected computer to scan nearby visible WiFi access points (AP) and records their ESSID – stands for Extended Service Se
Wikileaks Unveils 'Cherry Blossom' — Wireless Hacking System Used by CIA

Wikileaks Unveils 'Cherry Blossom' — Wireless Hacking System Used by CIA

Jun 15, 2017
WikiLeaks has published a new batch of the ongoing Vault 7 leak , this time detailing a framework – which is being used by the CIA for monitoring the Internet activity of the targeted systems by exploiting vulnerabilities in Wi-Fi devices. Dubbed " Cherry Blossom ," the framework was allegedly designed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with the help of Stanford Research Institute (SRI International), an American nonprofit research institute, as part of its 'Cherry Bomb' project. Cherry Blossom is basically a remotely controllable firmware-based implant for wireless networking devices, including routers and wireless access points (APs), which exploits router vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access and then replace firmware with custom Cherry Blossom firmware. "An implanted device [ called Flytrap ] can then be used to monitor the internet activity of and deliver software exploits to targets of interest." a leaked CIA manual  reads . "The wi
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,
Millions Of Smartphones Using Broadcom Wi-Fi Chip Can Be Hacked Over-the-Air

Millions Of Smartphones Using Broadcom Wi-Fi Chip Can Be Hacked Over-the-Air

Apr 05, 2017
Millions of smartphones and smart gadgets, including Apple iOS and many Android handsets from various manufacturers, equipped with Broadcom Wifi chips are vulnerable to over-the-air hijacking without any user interaction. Just yesterday, Apple rushed out an emergency iOS 10.3.1 patch update to address a serious bug that could allow an attacker within same Wifi network to remotely execute malicious code on the Broadcom WiFi SoC (Software-on-Chip) used in iPhones, iPads, and iPods. The vulnerability was described as the stack buffer overflow issue and was discovered by Google's Project Zero staffer Gal Beniamini, who today detailed his research on a lengthy blog post , saying the flaw affects not only Apple but all those devices using Broadcom's Wi-Fi stack. Beniamini says this stack buffer overflow issue in the Broadcom firmware code could lead to remote code execution vulnerability, allowing an attacker in the smartphone's WiFi range to send and execute code on th
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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…
Hacker Shows How Easy It Is To Hack People While Walking Around in Public

Hacker Shows How Easy It Is To Hack People While Walking Around in Public

Feb 24, 2017
Wi-Fi enabled devices — widely known as the Internet of Things (IoT) — are populating offices and homes in greater and greater numbers. From smartphones to connected printers and even coffee makers, most of these IoT devices have good intentions and can connect to your company's network without a problem. However, as the Internet of Things (IoT) devices are growing at a great pace, they continue to widen the attack surface at the same time, giving attackers a large number of entry points to affect you some or the other way. The attackers can use your smart devices to gain backdoor entry to your network, giving them the capability to steal sensitive data, such as your personal information, along with a multitude of other malicious acts. An interesting attack scenario has recently been demonstrated by one of the renowned hackers, Jayson Street , who said all it is needed is to walk around with the right device to get into someone's device. Before we jump into the te
Learn Wi-Fi Hacking And Penetration Testing Online Course

Learn Wi-Fi Hacking And Penetration Testing Online Course

Nov 24, 2016
Hacking Wi-Fi is not a trivial process, but it does not take too long to learn. If you want to learn WiFi Hacking and Penetration testing, you are at right place. Don't associate hacking as a negative, as you can learn some hacking skills yourself to secure your networks and devices. WiFi hacking is an all time hot topic among hackers as well as penetration testers. This week's featured deal from THN Deals Store brings you 83% discount on Online Wi-Fi Hacking and Penetration Testing Training Course . This online Wi-Fi Hacking and Penetration Testing course is structured in a way that will provide you an in-depth, hands-on comprehensive information on Wi-Fi Security and Penetration Testing, and Defenses on WiFi systems to protect it from these attacks. This training course is available with lifetime access and focuses on the practical side of Wi-Fi hacking without neglecting the theory behind each attack. All the attacks explained in this course are practical attacks lau
Oops! TP-Link forgets to Renew and Loses its Domains Used to Configure Router Settings

Oops! TP-Link forgets to Renew and Loses its Domains Used to Configure Router Settings

Jul 06, 2016
To make the configuration of routers easier, hardware vendors instruct users to browse to a domain name rather than numeric IP addresses. Networking equipment vendor TP-LINK uses either tplinklogin.net or tplinkextender.net for its routers configuration. Although users can also access their router administration panel through local IP address (i.e. 192.168.1.1). The first domain offered by the company is used to configure TP-LINK routers and the second is used for TP-LINK Wi-Fi extenders. Here's the Blunder: TP-Link has reportedly " forgotten " to renew both domains that are used to configure its routers and access administrative panels of its devices. Both domains have now been re-registered using an anonymous registration service by an unknown entity and are being offered for sale online at US$2.5 Million each. This latest TP-Link oversight, which was first spotted by Cybermoon CEO Amitay Dan, could lead its users to potential problems. However, it
Mitsubishi Outlander Car's Theft Alarm Hacked through Wi-Fi

Mitsubishi Outlander Car's Theft Alarm Hacked through Wi-Fi

Jun 06, 2016
From GPS system to satellite radio to wireless locks, today vehicles are more connected to networks than ever, and so they are more hackable than ever. It is not new for security researchers to hack connected cars . Latest in the series of hackable connected cars is the Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). A security expert has discovered vulnerabilities in the Mitsubishi Outlander's Wi-Fi console that could allow hackers to access the vehicle remotely and turn off car alarms before potentially stealing it. The company has embedded the WiFi module inside the car so that its users can connect with their Mitsubishi mobile app to this WiFi and send commands to the car. Researchers from security penetration testing firm Pen Test Partners discovered that the Mitsubishi Outlander uses a weak WiFi access security key to communicates with the driver's phone. The key to getting into the Wi-Fi can be cracked through a brute force attack (" on a 4 x GPU c
Facebook Open Sources its Capture the Flag (CTF) Platform

Facebook Open Sources its Capture the Flag (CTF) Platform

May 11, 2016
Hacking into computer, networks and websites could easily land you in jail. But what if you could freely test and practice your hacking skills in a legally safe environment? Facebook just open-sourced its Capture The Flag (CTF) platform to encourage students as well as developers to learn about cyber security and secure coding practices. Capture the Flag hacking competitions are conducted at various cyber security events and conferences, including Def Con, in order to highlight the real-world exploits and cyber attacks. The CTF program is an effective way of identifying young people with exceptional computer skills, as well as teaching beginners about common and advanced exploitation techniques to ensure they develop secure programs that cannot be easily compromised. Facebook  CTF Video Demo: Since 2013, Facebook has itself hosted CTF competitions at events across the world and now, it is opening the platform to masses by releasing its source code on GitHub. "
Hacker Hijacks a Police Drone from 2 Km Away with $40 Kit

Hacker Hijacks a Police Drone from 2 Km Away with $40 Kit

Apr 01, 2016
A researcher has demonstrated how easy it is to steal high-end drones, commonly deployed by government agencies and police forces, from 2 kilometres away with the help of less than $40 worth of hardware . The attack was developed by IBM security researcher Nils Rodday, who recently presented his findings at Black Hat Asia 2016. Hacking the $28,463 Drone with Less than $40 of Hardware Rodday explained how security vulnerabilities in a drone's radio connection could leverage an attacker ( with some basic knowledge of radio communications ) to hijack the US$28,463 quadcopters with less than $40 of hardware. Rodday discovered ( PPT ) two security flaws in the tested drone that gave him the ability to hack the device in seconds. First, the connection between drone's controller module, known as telemetry box, and a user's tablet uses extremely vulnerable ' WEP ' ( Wired-Equivalent Privacy ) encryption – a protocol long known to be 'crackable in sec
Vigilante Hackers Aim to Hijack 200,000 Routers to Make Them More Secure

Vigilante Hackers Aim to Hijack 200,000 Routers to Make Them More Secure

Feb 10, 2016
The same "Vigilante-style Hacker," who previously hacked more than 10,000 routers to make them more secure, has once again made headlines by compromising more than 70,000 home routers and apparently forcing their owners to make them secure against flaws and weak passwords. Just like the infamous hacking group Lizard Squad , the group of white hat hackers, dubbed the White Team , is building up a sizeable botnet consisting of hundreds of thousands of home routers, but for a good purpose. Lizard Squad , the same group responsible for Sony PlayStation Network and Microsoft Xbox Live outages , uses their botnets to launch DDoS ( Distributed Denial of Service ) attacks against target websites to flood them with traffic and knock them offline. Hacking Routers to Make them More Secure Challenged by Lizard Squad's maliocus work, the White Team of vigilante hackers built their own peer-to-peer botnet that infects routers to close off vulnerabilities , such
Critical iOS Flaw allowed Hackers to Steal Cookies from Devices

Critical iOS Flaw allowed Hackers to Steal Cookies from Devices

Jan 21, 2016
Apple has patched a critical vulnerability in its iOS operating system that allowed criminal hackers to impersonate end users' identities by granting read/write access to website's unencrypted authentication cookies. The vulnerability was fixed with the release of iOS 9.2.1 on Tuesday, almost three years after it was first discovered and reported to Apple. The vulnerability, dubbed " Captive Portal " bug, was initially discovered by Adi Sharabani and Yair Amit from online security company Skycure and privately reported to Apple in June 2013. Here's How the Vulnerability Worked The vulnerability caused due to the way iOS handles Cookie Stores at Captive Portals , generally a login page that requires users to authenticate themselves before connecting to the free or paid public Wi-Fi hotspots when they are first joining. So, when a user with a vulnerable iPhone or iPad connects to a captive-enabled network ( sample page shown in the screensho
Cracking WiFi Passwords By Hacking into Smart Kettles

Cracking WiFi Passwords By Hacking into Smart Kettles

Oct 21, 2015
Hackers have come after your phone, your computer, and your car . Now hackers are coming after your home refrigerators, Smart TVs , and eventually KETTLES . Yes, your kettle turns out good for more than just heating up water or making coffee for you– they are potentially a good way for hackers to breach your wireless network. Also Read:   How to Weaponize your Cat to Hack Neighbours' Wi-Fi Passwords . Ken Munro, a security researcher at PenTest Partners, has managed to hack into an insecure iKettle , which was proclaimed " the world's first WiFi kettle " by its developers, and stolen a home's Wi-Fi password. Besides boiling water, the iKettle can connect to a user's home WiFi network. It also comes inbuilt with an Android and iOS app that allows the user to switch on the kettle and boil the water from other location. However, the biggest security flaw resides in the Android iKettle app that keeps the kettle's password as the defa
Critical Netgear Router Exploit allows anyone to Hack You Remotely

Critical Netgear Router Exploit allows anyone to Hack You Remotely

Oct 10, 2015
Yes, NETGEAR Routers have once again become a victim of DNS Monitoring, potentially affecting 11,000 Devices. This week, we reported about a Vigilante Hacker , who protected users by installing malware on their Wi-Fi routers, forcing them to use a secure password. Now within few days, a security researcher has discovered a serious vulnerability in Netgear routers that has been publicly exploited by hackers. The critical flaw could allow hackers to bypass authentication mechanism and change the Domain Name System (DNS) settings of victims' routers to the malicious IP address. [ Exploit Code ] A security researcher, named Joe Giron, gave the details of his experience to BBC, saying that he noticed some anonymous activities in his machine and on investigating he learned that: The admin settings on his personal router have been modified on 28 September. Specifically, Domain Name System (DNS) settings on his router were changed to a suspicious IP address.
​SYNful Knock: Backdoor Malware Found in Cisco Routers

​SYNful Knock: Backdoor Malware Found in Cisco Routers

Sep 17, 2015
Mandiant , a FireEye sister concern has been involved in researches related to cyber defense. In their recent findings, a backdoor malware named SYNful Knock identified as the one compromising the principles of Cisco routers with features such as... ...Having an everlasting effect, i.e. Serious Persistence. What?- The malicious program is implanted in the router illicitly through the device's firmware (regardless of the vendor). The goal is achieved by modifying the router's firmware image, which exists even after the device gets a reboot. How?- installing SYNful Knock in Cisco 1841 router, Cisco 2811 router, and Cisco 3825 router. Affected areas- 14 instances in 4 countries including India, Mexico, Ukraine, and the Philippines. Impact- the backdoor is backed up with such abilities that can compromise the availability of other hosts and access to sensitive data in an organization. " The theoretical nature of router-focused attacks created a minds
Techie Police Officer Builds a Sniffing Tool to Track Stolen Devices (based on War-Driving)

Techie Police Officer Builds a Sniffing Tool to Track Stolen Devices (based on War-Driving)

Sep 09, 2015
Ever wonder, How can you Track your Stolen Smartphone , Laptop or any Smart Device? ...With IMEI Number? ...Or IP address? ...Or may be some special types of equipment? Well, Not required, because now it is possible to track stolen devices just by scanning their MAC addresses. Yes, Just MAC addresses, which is assigned to each device on a unique basis by the IEEE, but crooks can modify it in an attempt to hide the origin of the stolen device. But given the people's practice to never notice the MAC address of their mobile phone, tablet, laptop, desktop, smart TV, smart refrigerator, or broadband router, MAC addresses can be used to track stolen electronics. This exactly is what an Iowa City cop wants to do.  How Police Can Track Stolen Devices? According to Gazette, an Iowa police officer David Schwindt has developed a sniffing software that helps police find more stolen properties. The software, Schwindt dubbed L8NT (short for Latent analysi
Google Unveils Smart, New OnHub Wi-Fi Router

Google Unveils Smart, New OnHub Wi-Fi Router

Aug 19, 2015
Don't stare at the screen for too long for the buffering to end, Google has a solution ! It seems like Google is buckling up to carve out a niche in the market of wireless smart network devices. Just few days after Google made itself a subsidiary and a separate venture under Alphabet Inc , it announced the news of Android Marshmallow and now ithe company has announced to offer a new way to Wi-Fi and seemingly a newer and different outlook of routers. " OnHub a new way to Wi-Fi" as Google says is a speedy, secure, easy to use and a reliable Wi-Fi with a stylish look is all in a package the company can offer. Key Highlights of OnHub OnHub looks different from other routers in many unique ways, which are as follows: OnHub is cylindrical in shape It has Congestion Sensing Antennas It provides support for connecting up to 128 Devices at a time It Speaks your Language OnHub contains High-Performance Antennas hidden inside the Router Shell It has
Hacking Team and Boeing Built Cyber Weaponized Drones to Spy on Targets

Hacking Team and Boeing Built Cyber Weaponized Drones to Spy on Targets

Jul 20, 2015
The leaked internal emails from the Italian surveillance software company Hacking Team have revealed that the spyware company developed a robotic aircraft designed to attack computers and smartphone devices through Wi-Fi networks. Over a year ago, some security researchers developed a drone called ' Snoopy ' that was capable to intercept data from users' Smartphones through spoofed wireless networks. Now, the email conversations posted on WikiLeaks website reveal that both Boeing and Hacking Team want unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVS) called Drones to carry out attacks that inject spyware into target computers or mobile phones via WiFi. After attending the International Defense Exposition and Conference (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi in February 2015, the U.S. drone company Boeing subsidiary Insitu become interested in using surveillance drones to deliver Hacking Team's Remote Control System Galileo for even more surveillance. Among the emails, co-founder Ma
Researcher to Demonstrate Poor SSL Implementations Using Pineapple WiFi

Researcher to Demonstrate Poor SSL Implementations Using Pineapple WiFi

Jul 28, 2014
A leading provider of advanced threat, security and compliance solutions, Tripwire , has announced that Craig Young , a security researcher from its Vulnerability and Exposure Research Team (VERT) , is working on a paper about SSL vulnerabilities that will be presented at DEF CON 22 Wireless Village . There are thousands of websites over Internet that contain serious mistakes in the way that Secure Sockets Layer and Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) is implemented, leaving them vulnerable to man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks that could compromise sensitive user data such as banking credentials, credit card numbers and other information. MitM attack is one of the common and favorite techniques of attackers used to intercept wireless data traffic. Cyber criminals could able to intercept sensitive user data, including credit card numbers, PayPal credentials and social network credentials as well. Young has unearthed various situations where poor SSL implementations in co
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