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How to detect and prevent attackers from using these various techniques Obfuscation is an important technique for protecting software that also carries risks, especially when used by malware authors. In this article, we examine obfuscation, its effects, and responses to it. What Is Obfuscation? Obfuscation is the technique of intentionally making information difficult to read, especially in computer coding. An important use case is data obfuscation, in which sensitive data is made unrecognizable to protect it from unauthorized access. Various methods are used for this.  For example, only the last four digits of a credit card number are often displayed, while the remaining digits are replaced by Xs or asterisks. In contrast, encryption involves converting data into an unreadable form that can only be decrypted using a special key. Obfuscation In Code When computer code is obfuscated, complex language and redundant logic are used to make the code difficult to understand. The a...

Google has announced that it's adding a new layer of protection to its Chrome browser through what's called app-bound encryption to prevent information-stealing malware from grabbing cookies on Windows systems. "On Windows, Chrome uses the Data Protection API ( DPAPI ) which protects the data at rest from other users on the system or cold boot attacks," Will Harris from the Chrome security team said . "However, the DPAPI does not protect against malicious applications able to execute code as the logged in user – which info-stealers take advantage of." App-bound encryption is an improvement over DPAPI in that it interweaves an app's identity (i.e., Chrome in this case) into encrypted data to prevent another app on the system from accessing it when decryption is attempted. "Because the app-bound service is running with system privileges, attackers need to do more than just coax a user into running a malicious app," Harris said. "Now, th...

Facebook users are the target of a scam e-commerce network that uses hundreds of fake websites to steal personal and financial data using brand impersonation and malvertising tricks. Recorded Future's Payment Fraud Intelligence team, which detected the campaign on April 17, 2024, has given it the name ERIAKOS owing to the use of the same content delivery network (CDN) oss.eriakos[.]com. "These fraudulent sites were accessible only through mobile devices and ad lures, a tactic aimed at evading automated detection systems," the company said , noting the network comprised 608 fraudulent websites and that the activity spans several short-lived waves. A notable aspect of the sophisticated campaign is that it exclusively targeted mobile users who accessed the scam sites via ad lures on Facebook, some of which relied on limited-time discounts to entice users into clicking on them. Recorded Future said as many as 100 Meta Ads related to a single scam website were served in a ...

Certificate authority (CA) DigiCert has warned that it will be revoking a subset of SSL/TLS certificates within 24 hours due to an oversight with how it verified if a digital certificate is issued to the rightful owner of a domain. The company said it will be taking the step of revoking certificates that do not have proper Domain Control Validation ( DCV ). "Before issuing a certificate to a customer, DigiCert validates the customer's control or ownership over the domain name for which they are requesting a certificate using one of several methods approved by the CA/Browser Forum ( CABF )," it said . One of the ways this is done hinges on the customer setting up a DNS CNAME record containing a random value provided to them by DigiCert, which then performs a DNS lookup for the domain in question to make sure that the random values are the same. The random value, per DigiCert, is prefixed with an underscore character so as to prevent a possible collision with an actu...

The threat actors behind an ongoing malware campaign targeting software developers have demonstrated new malware and tactics, expanding their focus to include Windows, Linux, and macOS systems. The activity cluster, dubbed DEV#POPPER and linked to North Korea, has been found to have singled out victims across South Korea, North America, Europe, and the Middle East. "This form of attack is an advanced form of social engineering, designed to manipulate individuals into divulging confidential information or performing actions that they might normally not," Securonix researchers Den Iuzvyk and Tim Peck said in a new report shared with The Hacker News. DEV#POPPER is the moniker assigned to an active malware campaign that tricks software developers into downloading booby-trapped software hosted on GitHub under the guise of a job interview. It shares overlaps with a campaign tracked by Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 under the name Contagious Interview . Signs that the campaign ...