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Hack'em If You Can — U.S. Air Force launches Bug Bounty Program

Hack'em If You Can — U.S. Air Force launches Bug Bounty Program

Apr 27, 2017
With the growing number of data breaches and cyber attacks, a significant number of companies and organizations have started Bug Bounty programs for encouraging hackers and bug hunters to find and responsibly report vulnerabilities in their services and get rewarded. Now, following the success of the " Hack the Pentagon " and "Hack the Army" initiatives, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) has announced the launch of the "Hack the Air Force" bug bounty program. Hacking or breaking into Defense Department networks was illegal once, but after " Hack the Pentagon " initiative, the DoD started rewarding outsiders to finding and reporting weaknesses in its private networks. "This is the first time the AF [Air Force] has opened up...networks to such a broad scrutiny," Peter Kim, the Air Force Chief Information Security Officer said in a statement. "We have malicious hackers trying to get into our systems every day....
Hacking Air-Gapped Computer With A Simple Cell Phone

Hacking Air-Gapped Computer With A Simple Cell Phone

Jul 27, 2015
Wanna Hack an extremely secure Computer? You do not need sophisticated techniques or equipment to do so. To hack an Air-Gapped computer – All you need is a cell phone; even old-fashioned, dumb phones from the past decade will work. Yes, Hacking Air-Gapped Computers is possible using a basic low-end mobile phone. Israeli security researchers have devised a new attack to steal data from a computer that is isolated from the internet and other computers that are connected to external networks, also known as an air-gapped computer. This new hack attack that could steal data from a highly secured computer uses: The GSM network Electromagnetic waves A basic low-end mobile phone The research was conducted by lead security researcher Mordechai Guri, along with Yuval Elovici, Assaf Kachlon, Ofer Hasson, Yisroel Mirsky, and Gabi Kedma – the same researchers who developed a previous attack that used a smartphone to wirelessly extract data from Air-Gapped computers . ...
Exfiltrating Data from Air-Gapped Computers via Wi-Fi Signals (Without Wi-Fi Hardware)

Exfiltrating Data from Air-Gapped Computers via Wi-Fi Signals (Without Wi-Fi Hardware)

Dec 15, 2020
A security researcher has demonstrated that sensitive data could be exfiltrated from air-gapped computers via a novel technique that leverages Wi-Fi signals as a covert channel—surprisingly, without requiring the presence of Wi-Fi hardware on the targeted systems. Dubbed " AIR-FI ," the attack hinges on deploying a specially designed malware in a compromised system that exploits "DDR SDRAM buses to generate electromagnetic emissions in the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi bands" and transmitting information atop these frequencies that can then be intercepted and decoded by nearby Wi-Fi capable devices such as smartphones, laptops, and IoT devices before sending the data to remote servers controlled by an attacker. The findings were published today in a paper titled "AIR-FI: Generating Covert Wi-Fi Signals from Air-Gapped Computers" by Dr. Mordechai Guri , the head of R&D at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev's Cyber-Security Research Center, Israel. "The AI...
cyber security

The Breach You Didn't Expect: Your AppSec Stack

websiteJFrogAppSec / DevSecOps
In a market undergoing mergers and acquisitions, vendor instability can put you in serious risk.
cyber security

How AI and Zero Trust Work Together to Catch Attacks With No Files or Indicators

websiteTHN WebinarZero Trust / Cloud Security
Modern cyberattacks hide in trusted tools and workflows, evading traditional defenses. Zero Trust and AI-powered cloud security give you the visibility and control to stop these invisible threats early.
Hacking Air-Gapped Computers Using Heat

Hacking Air-Gapped Computers Using Heat

Mar 25, 2015
An air-gapped computer system isolated from the Internet and other computers that are connected to external networks believes to be the most secure computers on the planet -- Yeah?? You need to think again before calling them 'safe'. A group of Israeli security researchers at the Cyber Security Labs from Ben Gurion University have found a new technique to hack ultra-secure air-gapped computers and retrieve data using only heat emissions and a computer's built-in thermal sensors. WHAT IS AIR-GAPPED COMPUTERS ? Air-gapped computers or systems are considered to be the most secure and safest computer systems. These systems are isolated from the Internet or any other commuters that are connected to the Internet or external network. Air-gapped systems are used in situations that demand high security because it's very difficult to siphon data from these systems, as it requires a physical access to the machine which is possible by using removable device such as a U...
New Hack Uses Hard Drive's Noise to Transfer Stolen Data from Air-Gapped Computer

New Hack Uses Hard Drive's Noise to Transfer Stolen Data from Air-Gapped Computer

Aug 12, 2016
Air-gapped computers that are isolated from the Internet and other computers are long considered to be the most secure and safest place for storing data in critical infrastructures such as industrial control systems, financial institutions, and classified military networks. However, these systems have sometimes been targeted in the past, which proves that these isolated systems are not completely secure. Previous techniques of hacking air gap computers include: AirHopper that turns a computer's video card into an FM transmitter to capture keystrokes; BitWhisper that relies on heat exchange between two computer systems to stealthily siphon passwords or security keys; Hacking air-gapped computer using a basic low-end mobile phone with GSM network; and Stealing the secret cryptographic key from an air-gapped computer placed in another room using a Side-Channel Attack. Now, researchers have devised a new method to steal data from an infected computer even if it has no...
Air India Hack Exposes Credit Card and Passport Info of 4.5 Million Passengers

Air India Hack Exposes Credit Card and Passport Info of 4.5 Million Passengers

May 22, 2021
India's flag carrier airline, Air India, has  disclosed  a data breach affecting 4.5 million of its customers over a period stretching nearly 10 years after its Passenger Service System (PSS) provider SITA fell victim to a cyber attack earlier this year. The breach involves personal data registered between Aug. 26, 2011 and Feb. 3, 2021, including details such as names, dates of birth, contact information, passport information, ticket information, Star Alliance, and Air India frequent flyer data as well as credit card data. But Air India said neither CVV/CVC numbers associated with the credit cards nor passwords were affected. The airline had previously  acknowledged  the breach on March 19, stating that "its Passenger Service System provider has informed about a sophisticated cyber attack it was subjected to in the last week of February 2021." In March, Swiss aviation information technology company SITA  disclosed  it suffered a "highly sophisticated ...
Chinese Hackers Target Air-Gapped Networks in Southeast Asia

Chinese Hackers Target Air-Gapped Networks in Southeast Asia

Apr 13, 2015
A State-sponsored Cyber Espionage Group -- most likely linked to the Chinese government becomes the first group to target the so-called " Air-Gapped Networks " that aren't directly connected to the Internet. What are Air-Gapped systems? Air-gapped systems are known to be the most safest and secure systems on the earth. These systems are isolated from the Internet or any other Internet-connected computers or external networks. Air-gapped systems are generally used in the critical situations that demand high security like in payment networks to process debit and credit card transactions, military networks, and in industrial control systems that operate critical infrastructure of the Nation. Why Air-Gapped? It is very difficult to siphon data from Air-Gapped systems because it requires a physical access to the target system or machine in order to do that and gaining physical access is possible only by using removable devices such as a firewire cab...
This Malware Can Transfer Data via USB Emissions from Air-Gapped Computers

This Malware Can Transfer Data via USB Emissions from Air-Gapped Computers

Sep 05, 2016
Air-gapped computers that are isolated from the Internet or other networks and believed to be the most secure computers on the planet have become a regular target in recent years. A team of researchers from Ben-Gurion University in Israel has discovered a way to extract sensitive information from air-gapped computers – this time using radio frequency transmissions from USB connectors without any need of specialized hardware mounted on the USB. Dubbed USBee , the attack is a significant improvement over the NSA-made USB exfiltrator called CottonMouth that was mentioned in a document leaked by former NSA employee Edward Snowden. Unlike CottonMouth , USBee doesn't require an attacker to smuggle a modified USB device into the facility housing the air-gapped computer being targeted; rather the technique turns USB devices already inside the facility into an RF transmitter with no hardware modification required. Must Read: BadUSB Code Released – Turn USB Drives Into Undete...
Using SimpliSafe Home Security? — You're Screwed! It's Easy to Hack & Can't be Patched

Using SimpliSafe Home Security? — You're Screwed! It's Easy to Hack & Can't be Patched

Feb 18, 2016
If you are using a SimpliSafe wireless home alarm system to improve your home security smartly, just throw it up and buy a new one. It is useless. The so-called 'Smart' Technology, which is designed to make your Home Safer, is actually opening your house doors for hackers. The latest in this field is SimpliSafe Alarm . SimpliSafe wireless home alarm systems – used by more than 300,000 customers in the United States – are Hell Easy to Hack , allowing an attacker to easily gain full access to the alarm and disable the security system, facilitating unauthorized intrusions and thefts. …and the most interesting reality is: You Can Not Patch it! As the Internet of Things (IoT) is growing at a great pace, it continues to widen the attack surface at the same time. Just last month, a similar hack was discovered in Ring – a Smart doorbell that connects to the user's home WiFi network – that allowed researchers to hack WiFi password of the home user. How ...
How-to — Stealing Decryption Key from Air-Gapped Computer in Another Room

How-to — Stealing Decryption Key from Air-Gapped Computer in Another Room

Feb 16, 2016
Air-gapped computers that are believed to be the most secure computers on the planet have become a regular target for researchers in recent years. Air-gap computers are one that are isolated from the Internet or any other computers that are connected to the Internet or external network, so hackers can't remotely access their contents. But you need to think again before calling them ' Safe .' A team of security researchers from Tel Aviv University and Technion have discovered a new method to steal sensitive data from a target air-gapped computer located in another room. The team is the same group of researchers who had experimented a number of different methods to extract data from a computer. Last year, the team demonstrated how to extract secret decryption keys from computers using just a radio receiver and a piece of pita bread. In 2014, the team devised a special digitizer wristband that had the ability to extract the cryptographic key used to secu...
South Korean Nuclear Power Plant Hacked

South Korean Nuclear Power Plant Hacked

Dec 24, 2014
Koreans have once again gain media attention but this time not as an accused of any kind of hack attack, but as a victim of a severe attack on computers systems at a nuclear power plant in South Korea by an unknown hacker or a group. South Korea was hit by a cyber attack on its nuclear power plant, causing the operator to conduct drills in order to test the ability of the nuclear plant to cope with a full-scale cyber-attack. Although the plant's operator says no critical data has been leaked. The cyber attack came into light after a hacker posted blueprints of nuclear reactors online and threatened further "leaks" unless authorities close down the reactors. According to the South Korean Yonhap News Agency, the hacker was able to access blueprints of reactors, floor maps and other internal information on the plant. Last week with the help of a Twitter account named " president of anti-nuclear reactor group ," the hacker posted leaked data revea...
How A Drone Can Infiltrate Your Network by Hovering Outside the Building

How A Drone Can Infiltrate Your Network by Hovering Outside the Building

Oct 07, 2015
Imagine you are sitting in your office and working on something confidential. Once you are done, you send a command to print that document. But, What if...  ...the whole confidential document send to a hacker attacking from the air? Sounds pity but may be your Boss fires you immediately if that confidential data is leaked or misused. This is no more an imagination now, as a group of researchers has done exactly the same. Researchers from Singapore have devised a unique set up consisting of a Drone that carries a smartphone running two custom apps that are capable of intercepting wireless printer transmissions, even from outside an office building. In short, hackers can gain access to your corporate network by using a smartphone-equipped drone to hack your printer. The project was developed by the researchers at iTrust , a research center at the Singapore University of Technology and Design. They developed two applications: Cybersecurity Patrol – ...
2 Hackers Win Over 1 Million Air Miles each for Reporting Bugs in United Airlines

2 Hackers Win Over 1 Million Air Miles each for Reporting Bugs in United Airlines

Aug 09, 2016
Two computer hackers have earned more than 1 Million frequent-flyer miles each from United Airlines for finding and reporting multiple security vulnerabilities in the Airline's website. Olivier Beg, a 19-year-old security researcher from the Netherlands, has earned 1 Million air miles from United Airlines for finding around 20 security vulnerabilities in the software systems of the airline. Last year, Chicago-based 'United Airlines' launched a bug bounty program to invite security researchers and bug hunters for finding and reporting security holes in its websites, software, apps and web portals. Under its bounty program, United Airlines offers a top reward of 1 Million flyer miles for reporting Remote Code Execution (RCE) flaws; 250,000 miles for medium-severity vulnerabilities, and 50,000 flyer miles for low-severity bugs. According to Netherlands Broadcasting Foundation , the 19-year-old reported 20 security issues to United Airlines and the most severe fla...
Thunderstrike — Infecting Apple MacBooks with EFI Bootkit via Thunderbolt Ports

Thunderstrike — Infecting Apple MacBooks with EFI Bootkit via Thunderbolt Ports

Jan 05, 2015
A security researcher has discovered an easy way to infect Apple's Macintosh computers with an unusual kind of malware using its own Thunderbolt port . The hack was presented by programming expert Trammell Hudson at the annual Chaos Computer Congress (30C3) in Hamburg Germany. He demonstrated that it is possible to rewrite the firmware of an Intel Thunderbolt Mac . The hack, dubbed Thunderstrike , actually takes advantage of a years-old vulnerability in the Thunderbolt Option ROM that was first disclosed in 2012 but is yet to be patched. Thunderstrike can infect the Apple Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) by allocating a malicious code into the boot ROM of an Apple computer through infected Thunderbolt devices. The hack is really dangerous as, according to the researcher, there is no means for the user to detect the hack, or remove it even by re-installation of the complete OS X, only because the malicious code actually is in the system's own separate ROM. " ...
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...
Hacker claims to hack European Space Agency, NASA, US Air Force and  Military, French Ministry of Defence

Hacker claims to hack European Space Agency, NASA, US Air Force and Military, French Ministry of Defence

May 02, 2012
Hacker claims to hack  European Space Agency , NASA, US Air Force and  Military , French Ministry of Defence Hackers with group name " The Unknowns " claimed to Hack European Space Agency, NASA, US military, US Air Force, Harvard.Renault Company, French Ministry of Defence, Bahrain Ministry of Defecene and Thai Royal Navy and Many more. Lots of Data, Screenshot and Login Credentials exposed via a Pastebin Notes : Part 1 and Part 2 . Hackers comment on these hacks " We have hacked this with a reason.The security of those important sites are low.It was very easy to infiltrated the sites.We hope the sites will improve their defence. " Full Message Posted by Hackers: We are The Unknowns; Our Knowledge Talsk and Wisdom Listens... Victims, we have released some of your documents and data, we probably harmed you a bit but that's not really our goal because if it was then all of your websites would be completely defaced but we know that within a week or two...
The Hacker News Hacking Awards : Best of Year 2011

The Hacker News Hacking Awards : Best of Year 2011

Dec 31, 2011
The Hacker News Hacking Awards : Best of Year 2011 2011 has been labeled the " Year of the Hack " or " Epic #Fail 2011 ". Hacking has become much easier over the years, which is why 2011 had a lot of hacking for good and for bad. Hackers are coming up with tools as well as finding new methods for hacking faster then companies can increase their security.  Every year there are always forward advancements in the tools and programs that can be used by the hackers. At the end of year 2011 we decided to give " The Hacker News Awards 2011 ". The Hacker News Awards will be an annual awards ceremony celebrating the achievements and failures of security researchers and the Hacking community. The THN Award is judged by a panel of respected security researchers and Editors at The Hacker News. Year 2011 came to an end following Operation Payback and Antisec, which targeted companies refusing to accept payments to WikiLeak's, such as, Visa and Amazon. Those attacks were carrie...
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