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Microsoft today released an " out-of-band " security updates to fix a critical vulnerability in all supported versions of its Windows Server software that cyber criminals are exploiting to compromise whole networks of computers. The Emergency patch release comes just one week after Microsoft provided its monthly security patch updates. The November 2014 Patch Tuesday updates included 16 security patches, five of which were rated by Redmond as "critical." The security update (MS14-068) addresses a vulnerability in the Windows component called Microsoft Windows Kerberos KBC , authentication system used by default in the operating system. The flaw allows an attacker to elevate domain user account privileges and access rights to that of a domain administrator account. As a result, if users unknowingly or accidentally run a malicious software on their system, it could therefore be used to compromise the entire network, which could be more dangerous for those who

Tor has always been a tough target for law enforcement for years and FBI has spent millions of dollars to de-anonymize the identity of Tor users, but a latest research suggests that more than 81% of Tor clients can be "de-anonymised" by exploiting the traffic analysis software 'Netflow' technology that Cisco has built into its router protocols. NetFlow is a network protocol designed to collect and monitor network traffic. It exchanged data in network flows, which can correspond to TCP connections or other IP packets sharing common characteristics, such UDP packets sharing source and destination IP addresses, port numbers, and other information. The research was conducted for six years by professor Sambuddho Chakravarty , a former researcher at Columbia University's Network Security Lab and now researching Network Anonymity and Privacy at the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology in Delhi. Chakravarty used a technique, in order to determine the Tor

Imagine a world where the software that powers your favorite apps, secures your online transactions, and keeps your digital life could be outsmarted and taken over by a cleverly disguised piece of code. This isn't a plot from the latest cyber-thriller; it's actually been a reality for years now. How this will change – in a positive or negative direction – as artificial intelligence (AI) takes on a larger role in software development is one of the big uncertainties related to this brave new world. In an era where AI promises to revolutionize how we live and work, the conversation about its security implications cannot be sidelined. As we increasingly rely on AI for tasks ranging from mundane to mission-critical, the question is no longer just, "Can AI  boost cybersecurity ?" (sure!), but also "Can AI  be hacked? " (yes!), "Can one use AI  to hack? " (of course!), and "Will AI  produce secure software ?" (well…). This thought leadership article is about the latter. Cydrill  (a

Do you wanna hack Nokia Lumia phone running the latest mobile operating system Windows 8.1 ?? Hackers have made it very easy for you all..!! Just few weeks after Microsoft announced a 19 year-old critical security hole existed in almost every version of its Windows operating system, XDA-developers have discovered a new vulnerability in Microsoft's youngest OS Windows 8.1 that could easily be exploited by hackers to hack a Nokia Lumia phone. XDA Developers hacker who go by the name DJAmol has found a wide open hole in OS Windows Phone 8.1 which makes the operating system very easy to hack. The vulnerability allows attackers to run their application with other user's privileges and edit the registry. DJAmol realized that simply by replacing the contents of a trusted OEM app that has been transferred over to the SD card, the app will inherit the privileges of the original app. Once done, an attacker could then delete the existing directory and create a new directory wi

It's been almost two weeks since the WireLurker malware existence was revealed for the first time, and Chinese authorities have arrested three suspects who are allegedly the authors of the Mac- and iOS-based malware that may have infected as many as hundreds of thousands of Apple users. The Beijing Bureau of Public security has announced the arrest of three suspects charged with distributing the WireLurker malware through a popular Chinese third-party online app store. The authorities also say the website that was responsible for spreading the malware has also been shut down. "WireLurker" malware was originally discovered earlier this month by security firm Palo Alto Networks targeting Apple users in China. The malware appeared as the first malicious software program that has ability to penetrate the iPhone's strict software controls. The main concern to worry about this threat was its ability to attack non-jailbroken iOS devices. Once a device infected

The malicious Russian Tor exit node , which was claimed to be patching binary files, is actually distributing a malware program to launch cyber-espionage attacks against European government agencies. The group behind the rogue Tor exit node had likely been infecting files for more than a year, causing victims to download and install a backdoor file that gave hackers full control of their systems. Last month Josh Pitts of Leviathan Security Group uncovered a malicious Tor exit node that wraps Windows executable files inside a second, malicious Windows executable. But when Artturi Lehtiö of F-Secure carried out an in-depth research, he found that the exit node was actually linked to the notorious Russian APT family MiniDuke . " MiniDuke " previously infected government agencies and organizations in more than 20 countries via a modified Adobe PDF email attachment . MiniDuke malware is written in assembly language with its tiny file size (20KB), and uses hijacke

Cyber criminals are using new malware variants by exploiting GNU Bash vulnerability referred to as ShellShock ( CVE-2014-6271 ) in order to infect embedded devices running BusyBox software, according to a researcher. A new variant of " Bashlite " malware targeting devices running BusyBox software was spotted by the researchers at Trend Micro shortly after the public disclosure of the ShellShock vulnerability. BusyBox provides set of command line utilities that are specifically designed to run in constrained embedded environments. At compile time, different capabilities can be left out, reducing the size of the binaries, and efforts are made to make them memory efficient. This makes the software an excellent candidate for use in consumer electronics devices, which seem to have been the items of interest in this case. The malware variant, detected as ELF_BASHLITE.A (ELF_FLOODER.W) , when executed on victim's machine, scans compromised networks for device

The U.S. government is reportedly using spy airplanes equipped with special military-grade snooping equipment to eavesdrop on cell phone information from millions of smartphone users in U.S, according to a new report. This little device, nicknamed " Dirtbox ", is being used to mimic mobile phone tower transmissions from the sky and gather data from millions of mobile phones, helping the US Marshals Service track criminals while recording innocent citizens' information. The purpose of the device is supposedly to track a specific target, but if active, all mobile devices in the particular area will respond to the signal. The Dirtbox causes smartphones to transmit back the users' location, registration information and identity data – uniquely identifying IMEI numbers stored in every mobile device, The Wall Street Journal reported . The name Dirtbox is given after the initials of Digital Receiver Technology, Inc. (DRT) , a Boeing Company subsidiary that allegedly ma

A seven-year-old cyber espionage campaign has targeted senior level executives from large global companies by using a specialized Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) , zero-day exploits, and well-developed keyloggers to extract information from them when they stay in luxury hotels during their business trips. The researchers at Moscow-based security firm Kaspersky Lab dubbed the threat as " DarkHotel APT ," appear to have the ability to know in advance when a targeted executive checks in and checks out of a hotel. The group has been operating in Asia since from 2009 but there have been infections recorded in the United States, South Korea, Singapore, Germany, Ireland and many others, as well. It uses hotel Wi-Fi networks to target elite executives at organisations in manufacturing, defense, investment capital, private equity, automotive and other industries. The group has access to zero day vulnerabilities and exploits, and it used them to infect victims. Threa

Android have been a long time target for cyber criminals, but now it seems that they have turned their way towards iOS devices. Apple always says that hacking their devices is too difficult for cyber crooks, but a single app has made it possible for anyone to hack an iPhone. A security flaw in Apple's mobile iOS operating system has made most iPhones and iPads vulnerable to cyber attacks by hackers seeking access to sensitive data and control of their devices, security researchers warned. The details about this new vulnerability was published by the Cyber security firm FireEye on its blog on Monday, saying the flaw allows hackers to access devices by fooling users to download and install malicious iOS applications on their iPhone or iPad via tainted text messages, emails and Web links. MASQUE ATTACK - REPLACING TRUSTED APPS The malicious iOS apps can then be used to replace the legitimate apps, such as banking or social networking apps, that were installed thro

Russian Internet traffic, including the domestic one, has continuously been re-routed outside the country due to routing errors by China Telecom , which could result in compromising the security of Russian communications. Internet monitoring service Dyn reported Thursday in a blog post that the apparent networking fault is due to the weakness in the Border gateway protocol (BGP) , which forms the underpinning of the Internet's global routing system. The problem started after the BGP peering agreement signed between the China Telecom and top Russian mobile provider Vimpelcom in order to save money on transit operators, so that some of the domestic traffic may carried over the other's network rather than through a more expensive transit operator. Under this deal, Russian domestic traffic was repeatedly being routed to routers operated by China Telecom. Routing Traffic allows law enforcement agencies and hackers with the ability to monitor. " Unlike other routin