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Poor Rowhammer Fixes On DDR4 DRAM Chips Re-Enable Bit Flipping Attacks | https://thehackernews.com/2020/03/rowhammer-vulnerability-ddr4-dram.html | Remember rowhammer vulnerability? A critical issue affecting modern DRAM (dynamic random access memory) chips that could allow attackers to obtain higher kernel privileges on a targeted system by repeatedly accessing memory cells and induce bit flips.
To mitigate Rowhammer vulnerability on the latest DDR4 DRAM, many memory chip manufacturers added some defenses under the umbrella term Target Row Refresh (TRR) that refreshes adjacent rows when a victim row is accessed more than a threshold.
But it turns out 'Target Row Refresh,' promoted as a silver bullet to mitigate rowhammer attacks, is also insufficient and could let attackers execute new hammering patterns and re-enable the bit-flip attacks on the latest hardware as well.
TRRespass: The Rowhammer Fuzzing Tool
Tracked as CVE-2020-10255, the newly reported vulnerability was discovered by researchers at VUSec Lab, who today also released 'TRRespass,' an open source black box many-sided RowHammer fuzzing tool that can identify sophisticated hammering patterns to mount real-world attacks.
According to the researchers, TRRespass fuzzer repeatedly selects different random rows at various locations in DRAM for hammering and works even when unaware of the implementation of the memory controller or the DRAM chip.
What's more? The latest flaw also affects LPDDR4 and LPDDR4X chips embedded on most of the modern smartphones, leaving millions of devices still vulnerable to the RowHammer vulnerability again.
"We also ported a simplified version of TRRespass to ARM and managed to trigger bit flips on a variety of smartphones such as Google Pixel 3 and Samsung Galaxy S10," the researchers said.
Target Row Refresh tries to identify possible victim rows by counting the number of adjacent row activations and comparing it against a predefined value, but it still is incapable of keeping the information about all accessed rows at the same time to effectively mitigate bit flips through aggressor rows.
"The known Rowhammer variants use at most two aggressor rows to perform the attack, a small number rows that are being accessed frequently can easily be monitored by TRR. But what if we use more aggressor rows?" the researchers said in a blog post.
"But having more aggressors overwhelms the TRR mitigation since it can only track a few aggressor rows at a time. 'Luckily' DDR4 chips are more vulnerable, giving us the possibility to reduce the number of accesses to each of the aggressors to trigger bit flips. Or, in other words, to increase the number of aggressors to bypass the mitigation."
Researchers claim they "tried TRRespass on the three major memory vendors (compromising more than 99% of the market) using 42 DIMMs," and found bit flips on 12 of them.
VUSec team reported the new RowHammer attacks to all affected parties late last year, but, unfortunately, it is not going to be patched anytime soon.
VUSec also promised to soon release an Android app that users can install and use to check whether the memory chip on their smartphones is also vulnerable to the new hammering patterns or not.
| Vulnerability |
Beware! Playing Untrusted Videos On VLC Player Could Hack Your Computer | https://thehackernews.com/2019/06/vlc-media-player-hacking.html | If you use VLC media player on your computer and haven't updated it recently, don't you even dare to play any untrusted, randomly downloaded video file on it.
Doing so could allow hackers to remotely take full control over your computer system.
That's because VLC media player software versions prior to 3.0.7 contain two high-risk security vulnerabilities, besides many other medium- and low-severity security flaws, that could potentially lead to arbitrary code execution attacks.
With more than 3 billion downloads, VLC is a hugely popular open-source media player software that is currently being used by hundreds of millions of users worldwide on all major platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, as well as Android and iOS mobile platforms.
Discovered by Symeon Paraschoudis from Pen Test Partners and identified as CVE-2019-12874, the first high-severity vulnerability is a double-free issue which resides in "zlib_decompress_extra" function of VideoLAN VLC player and gets triggered when it parses a malformed MKV file type within the Matroska demuxer.
The second high-risk flaw, identified as CVE-2019-5439 and discovered by another researcher, is a read-buffer overflow issue that resides in "ReadFrame" function and can be triggered using a malformed AVI video file.
Though the proof-of-concepts demonstrated by both researchers cause a crash, a potential attacker can exploit these vulnerabilities to achieve arbitrary code execution with the same privileges as of the target user on the system.
All the attacker needs to do is craft a malicious MKV or AVI video file and trick users into playing it using the vulnerable versions of VLC.
Well, that's not a tough job, as attackers can easily target hundreds of thousands of users within hours by simply releasing malicious video files on torrent sites, mimicking as a pirated copy of a newly released movie or TV series.
According to an advisory released by VideoLAN, having ASLR and DEP protections enabled on the system could help users mitigate the threat, but developers did admit that these protections could be bypassed too.
Paraschoudis used honggfuzz fuzzing tool to discover this issue and four other bugs, which were also patched by the VideoLAN team earlier this month along with 28 other bugs reported by other security researchers through EU-FOSSA bug bounty program.
Users are highly recommended to update their media player software to VLC 3.0.7 or later versions and should avoid opening or playing video files from untrusted third parties.
| Vulnerability |
Microsoft Says Its Systems Were Also Breached in Massive SolarWinds Hack | https://thehackernews.com/2020/12/microsoft-says-its-systems-were-also.html | The massive state-sponsored espionage campaign that compromised software maker SolarWinds also targeted Microsoft, as the unfolding investigation into the hacking spree reveals the incident may have been far more wider in scope, sophistication, and impact than previously thought.
News of Microsoft's compromise was first reported by Reuters, which also said the company's own products were then used to strike other victims by leveraging its cloud offerings, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Windows maker, however, denied the threat actor had infiltrated its production systems to stage further attacks against its customers.
In a statement to The Hacker News via email, the company said —
"Like other SolarWinds customers, we have been actively looking for indicators of this actor and can confirm that we detected malicious SolarWinds binaries in our environment, which we isolated and removed. We have not found evidence of access to production services or customer data. Our investigations, which are ongoing, have found absolutely no indications that our systems were used to attack others."
Characterizing the hack as "a moment of reckoning," Microsoft president Brad Smith said it has notified over 40 customers located in Belgium, Canada, Israel, Mexico, Spain, the UAE, the UK, and the US that were singled out by the attackers. 44% of the victims are in the information technology sector, including software firms, IT services, and equipment providers.
CISA Issues New Advisory
The development comes as the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) published a fresh advisory, stating the "APT actor [behind the compromises] has demonstrated patience, operational security, and complex tradecraft in these intrusions."
"This threat poses a grave risk to the Federal Government and state, local, tribal, and territorial governments as well as critical infrastructure entities and other private sector organizations," it added.
But in a twist, the agency also said it identified additional initial infection vectors, other than the SolarWinds Orion platform, that have been leveraged by the adversary to mount the attacks, including a previously stolen key to circumvent Duo's multi-factor authentication (MFA) to access the mailbox of a user via Outlook Web App (OWA) service.
Digital forensics firm Volexity, which tracks the actor under the moniker Dark Halo, said the MFA bypass was one of the three incidents between late 2019 and 2020 aimed at a US-based think tank.
The entire intrusion campaign came to light earlier this week when FireEye disclosed it had detected a breach that also pilfered its Red Team penetration testing tools.
Since then, a number of agencies have been found to be attacked, including the US departments of Treasury, Commerce, Homeland Security, and Energy, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), and several state department networks.
While many details continue to remain unclear, the revelation about new modes of attack raises more questions about the level of access the attackers were able to gain across government and corporate systems worldwide.
Microsoft, FireEye, and GoDaddy Create a Killswitch
Over the last few days, Microsoft, FireEye, and GoDaddy seized control over one of the main GoDaddy domains — avsvmcloud[.]com — that was used by the hackers to communicate with the compromised systems, reconfiguring it to create a killswitch that would prevent the SUNBURST malware from continuing to operate on victims' networks.
For its part, SolarWinds has not yet disclosed how exactly the attacker managed to gain extensive access to its systems to be able to insert malware into the company's legitimate software updates.
Recent evidence, however, points to a compromise of its build and software release system. An estimated 18,000 Orion customers are said to have downloaded the updates containing the back door.
Symantec, which earlier uncovered more than 2,000 systems belonging to 100 customers that received the trojanized SolarWinds Orion updates, has now confirmed the deployment of a separate second-stage payload called Teardrop that's used to install the Cobalt Strike Beacon against select targets of interest.
The hacks are believed to be the work of APT29, a Russian threat group also known as Cozy Bear, which has been linked to a series of breaches of critical US infrastructure over the past year.
The latest slew of intrusions has also led CISA, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to issue a joint statement, stating the agencies are gathering intelligence in order to attribute, pursue, and disrupt the responsible threat actors.
Calling for stronger steps to hold nation-states accountable for cyberattacks, Smith said the attacks represent "an act of recklessness that created a serious technological vulnerability for the United States and the world."
"In effect, this is not just an attack on specific targets, but on the trust and reliability of the world's critical infrastructure in order to advance one nation's intelligence agency," he added.
| Cyber_Attack |
Web Hosting software WHMCS vulnerable to SQL Injection; emergency security update released | https://thehackernews.com/2013/10/web-hosting-software-whmcs-vulnerable.html | WHMCS, a popular client management, billing and support application for Web hosting providers, released an emergency security update for the 5.2 and 5.1 minor releases, to patch a critical vulnerability that was publicly disclosed.
The vulnerability was publicly posted by a user named as 'localhost' on October 3rd, 2013 and also reported by several users on various Hosting related Forums. He also released a proof-of-concept exploit code for this SQL injection vulnerability in WHMCS.
WHMCS says, as the updates have "critical security impacts.", enables attackers to execute SQL injection attacks against WHMCS deployments in order to extract or modify sensitive information from their databases i.e. Including information about existing accounts, their hashed passwords, which can result in the compromise of the administrator account.
Yesterday a group of Palestinian hackers, named as KDMS Team possibly used the same vulnerability against one of the largest Hosting provider - LeaseWeb. After obtaining the credentials, attackers were able to deface the website using DNS hijacking.
While all versions of WHMCS are affected by this vulnerability, WHMCS v5.2.8 and v5.1.10 have been released to address this specific SQL injection vulnerability.
Just after the release of exploit online, CloudFlare added a ruleset to their Web Application Firewall (WAF) to block the specific attack vector. They mentioned that CloudFlare Hosting partners behind CloudFlare's WAF can enable the WHMCS Ruleset and implement best practices to be fully protected from the attack.
Update (2:17 PM Monday, October 7, 2013 GMT):
LeaseWeb replied The Hacker News and posted updates on their blog, "This DNS hijack was quickly detected and rectified by LeaseWeb's security department."
"The unauthorized name server change for leaseweb.com took place at our registrar on Saturday 5 October, around 19:00 hours CET / 1 PM EST."
"Our security investigation so far shows that no domains other than leaseweb.com were accessed and changed. No internal systems were compromised."
"Details of how exactly the hijack could have happened are not yet 100% clear at the moment of writing."
LeaseWeb also explained The Hacker News that They don't use WHMCS-software (which is currently vulnerable to a zero day SQL Injection flaw) and they have their own in-house developed software for the Client Billing system.
"Right now, it appears that the hijackers obtained the domain administrator password and used that information to access the registrar."
| Vulnerability |
Israeli Think Tank Compromised to Serve Sweet Orange Exploit Kit | https://thehackernews.com/2014/09/israeli-think-tank-compromised-to-serve_9.html | The official website of a prominent Israel-based, Middle East foreign policy-focused think tank, the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA), has been compromised and abused by attackers to distribute malware.
The Israeli think tank website JCPA – an independent research institute focusing on Israeli security, regional diplomacy and international law – was serving the Sweet Orange exploit kit via drive-by downloads to push malware onto the computers of the website's visitors by exploiting software vulnerabilities, researchers from security firm Cyphort reported on Friday.
The Sweet Orange is one of the most recently released web malware exploitation kits, available for sale at selected invite-only cyber crime friendly communities and has been around for quite some time. However, Sweet Orange has also disappeared but in October 2013, shortly after the arrest of Paunch, the author of BlackHole, experts observed a major increase in the use of Sweet Orange.
The analysis carried out by Cyphort security firm indicates that the attack on JCPA website is part of a wide malware campaign. It has been discovering several infected website on daily bases and found an initial redirection server as a common thread between the attacks.
Following the initial redirection server, Cyphort notes that the innocent users from music industry and law firms are being redirected to a link in the infection chain. Ultimately, users are led to an exploit server located in Russia.
"This is a sinkhole that is connected to many such varying domain names," explains McEnroe Navaraj of Cyphort. "All of these names have some string of 'cdn' in them. Once the bad actors get access to an account/server they can just create a corresponding 'cdn' domain entry under that domain and use it to point to the target exploit server."
This method allows an attacker to bypass a lot of the URL categorization and URL blacklisting technologies.
The JCPA website's homepage is infected with a malicious Jquery JavaScript file. The Jquery JavaScript file receives an exploit kit server URL from another domain,
"cdn[dot]jameswoodwardmusic[dot]com."
Ultimately, the exploits are served from
"cdn3[dot]thecritico[dot]com:16122/clickheat/stargalaxy.php?nebua=3."
Finally, the user is attacked via a series of Java and Internet Explorer exploits that were used to deliver an information-stealing Trojan dubbed Qbot.
"The final dropper is downloaded in encrypted form and decrypted in-memory (key: investor) and written to disk," Navaraj explains. "This exploit kit served two (Qbot) binaries with same hash (MD5: 4ff506fe8b390478524477503a76f91a). Encrypted binary transfer is done to hide it from signature-based network security devices such as IPS or AV gateways."
The malware has self modifying capability as well as anti-virtual machine and anti-antivirus detection modules built in, in order to evade detection. Once infected a machine, the malware has capability to steal machine operating system install dates, names, and product IDs.
But most weirdly, the malware contains a link to an flv file for a "Wheat Thins" advertisement, which indicates that probably the attackers are using the malwares as a click-fraud to make some extra dollars.
Meanwhile, the malware also attempts to block users from accessing various anti-virus companies websites, as well as steals login credentials from a long list of prominent banks, including PNC, Zions Bank, Sovereign Bank, SunTrust, Bank of America, J.P. Morgan, Wells Fargo, Citi Bank, Wachovia, TD Bank and many more.
The security firm says it has notified the think tank via the contact form on its website, but received no response.
| Malware |
British Airways Hacked – 380,000 Payment Cards Compromised | https://thehackernews.com/2018/09/british-airways-data-breach.html | British Airways, who describes itself as "The World's Favorite Airline," has confirmed a data breach that exposed personal details and credit-card numbers of up to 380,000 customers and lasted for more than two weeks.
So who exactly are victims?
In a statement released by British Airways on Thursday, customers booking flights on its website (ba.com) and British Airways mobile app between late 21 August and 5 September were compromised.
The airline advised customers who made bookings during that 15 days period and believe they may have been affected by this incident to "contact their banks or credit card providers and follow their recommended advice."
British Airways stated on its Twitter account that personal details stolen in the breach included their customers' names and addresses, along with their financial information, but the company assured its customers that the hackers did not get away with their passport numbers or travel details.
The company also said that saved cards on its website and mobile app are not compromised in the breach. Only cards that have been used by you to make booking payments during the affected period are stolen.
"We are investigating, as a matter of urgency, the theft of customer data from our website and our mobile app," the company said in a statement. "The stolen data did not include travel or passport details."
Although the statement released by the did not mention the number of affected customers, the company's spokesperson confirmed to the media that some 380,000 payment cards were compromised in the breach.
Also currently, it is not clear how the data breach occurred, but some media outlets are reporting that the breach was identified when "a third party noticed some unusual activity" and informed the company about it.
A spokesperson from British Airways confirmed The Hacker News that "this is data theft, rather than a breach," which suggests someone with privileged access to the data might have stolen it.
British Airways also informed the police and the Information Commissioner and currently reaching out to affected customers directly.
However, the company assured its customers that the security breach has now been resolved, and its website is working normally and is now safe for passengers to check-in online, and book flights online.
The National Crime Agency is aware of the British Airways data breach and is "working with partners to assess the best course of action."
Air Canada also suffered a severe data breach late last month, which, along with personal data, also exposed passport number and other passport and travel details of about 20,000 mobile app customers.
| Data_Breaches |
New Variant of Emotet Banking Malware targets German Users | https://thehackernews.com/2015/01/emotet-banking-malware.html | A new Spam email campaign making the rounds in Germany are delivering a new variant of a powerful banking malware, a financial threat designed to steal users' online banking credentials, according to security researchers from Microsoft.
The malware, identified as Emotet, was first spotted last June by security vendors at Trend Micro. The most standout features of Emotet is its network sniffing ability, which enables it to capture data sent over secured HTTPS connections by hooking into eight network APIs, according to Trend Micro.
Microsoft has been monitoring a new variant of Emotet banking malware, Trojan:Win32/Emotet.C, since November last year. This new variant was sent out as part of a spam email campaign that peaked in November.
Emotet has been distributed through spam messages, which either contain a link to a website hosting the malware or a PDF document icon that is actually the malware.
HeungSoo Kang of Microsoft's Malware Protection Center identified a sample of the spam email message that was written in German, including a link to a compromised website. This indicates that the campaign primarily targeted mostly German-language speakers and banking websites.
The spam messages are written in such a way that it easily gain the attention of potential victims. It could masquerade as some sort of fraudulent claim, such as a phone bill, an invoice from a bank or a message from PayPal.
Once it infect a system, Emotet downloads a configuration file which contains a list of banks and services it is designed to steal credentials from, and also downloads a file that intercepts and logs network traffic.
Network sniffing is especially a disturbing part of this malware because in that a cyber criminal becomes omniscient to all information being exchanged over the network. In short, users can go about with their online banking without even realizing that their data is being stolen.
Emotet will pull credentials from a variety of email programs, including versions of Microsoft's Outlook, Mozilla's Thunderbird and instant messaging programs such as Yahoo Messenger and Windows Live Messenger.
All the stolen information is sent back to Emotet's "command and control (C&C) server where it is used by other components to send spam emails to spread the threat," Kang wrote. "We detect the Emotet spamming component as Spammer:Win32/Cetsiol.A."
Spam emails containing Emotet malware are difficult for email servers to filter because the messages actually originate from legitimate email accounts. Therefore, typical anti-spam techniques, such as callback verification, won't be applicable on it.
However, there is one technique to stop these spam messages — just reject all those messages that come from bogus accounts by checking whether the account from which you have received the spam email really exists or not.
Users are also advised not to open or click on links and attachments that are provided in any suspicious email, but if the message is from your banking institution and of concern to you, then confirm it twice before proceeding.
| Malware |
Yet Another Hotmail, AOL and Yahoo Password Reset 0Day Vulnerabilities | https://thehackernews.com/2012/04/yet-another-hotmail-aol-and-yahoo.html | Yesterday we Reported a 0-Day Vulnerability in Hotmail, which allowed hackers to reset account passwords and lock out the account's real owners. Tamper Data add-on allowed hackers to siphon off the outgoing HTTP request from the browser in real time and then modify the data.When they hit a password reset on a given email account they could fiddle the requests and input in a reset they chose.
Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the existence of the security flaw and the fix, but offered no further details: "On Friday, we addressed an incident with password reset functionality; there is no action for customers, as they are protected."
Later Today another unknown hacker reported another similar vulnerabilities in Hotmail, Yahoo and AOL. Using same Tamper Data add-on attacker is able to Reset passwords of any account remotely. This is somewhat a critical Vulnerability ever exposed, Millions of users can effected in result.
Here Below Hacker Demonstrated Vulnerabilities:
1.) Hotmail :
Step 1. Go to this page https://maccount.live.com/ac/resetpwdmain.aspx .
Step 2. Enter the Target Email and enter the 6 characters you see.
Step 3. Start Tamper Data
Step 4. Delete Element "SendEmail_ContinueCmd"
Step 5. change Element "__V_previousForm" to "ResetOptionForm"
Step 6. Change Element "__viewstate" to "%2FwEXAQUDX19QDwUPTmV3UGFzc3dvcmRGb3JtZMw%2BEPFW%2Fak6gMIVsxSlDMZxkMkI"
Step 7. Click O.K and Type THe new Password
Step 8. sTart TamperDaTa and Add Element "__V_SecretAnswerProof" Proof not constant Like the old Exploit "++++" You need new Proof Every Time
2.) Yahoo
Step 1. Go to this page https://edit.yahoo.com/forgot .
Step 2. EnTer the Target Email . and Enter the 6 characters you see .
Step 3. Start Tamper Data Delete
Step 4. change Element "Stage" to "fe200"
Step 5. Click O.K and Type The new Password
Step 6. Start Tamper Data All in Element Z
Step 7.done
3.) AOL:
Step 1. Go to Reset Page
Step 2. EnTer the Target Email . and Enter the characters you see .
Step 3. Start Tamper Data
Step 4. change Element "action" to "pwdReset"
Step 5. change Element "isSiteStateEncoded" to "false"
Step 6. Click O.K and Type THe new Password
Step 7. Start TamperDaTa All in Element rndNO
Step 8. done
We have reported the issue via Twitter to official security response team at Microsoft.
| Vulnerability |
Ashley Madison 2.0 — Hackers Leak 20GB Data Dump, Including CEO's Emails | https://thehackernews.com/2015/08/ashley-madison-hack.html | The Impact Team – Wait, Cheaters! We haven't yet done.
The group of hackers behind the breach of Ashley Madison, the popular cheater's dating service, have released a second, even much bigger 'cheat sheet' exposing sensitive materials that include sensitive corporate information.
Two days ago, the hackers released nearly 10GB of its customers' personal data online, which included 36 million emails and hashed passwords, 9.6 Million Credit Card Transactions records and their associated usernames.
Nearly 20GB of Ashley Madison Internal Data LEAKED
This time, the Impact Team leaked nearly 20GB worth of what appears to be internal data – not customers' data – from the adultery website on the dark Web.
The leaked data appears to include the source code for the site, as well as a massive amount of e-mail from Ashley Madison parent company's Avid Life Media CEO Noel Biderman.
According to the researcher, who analysed the leaked data, the TL;DR of the leak is:
The leak contains lots of Source Code
73 different git repositories are present
Ashley Madison used gitlab internally
The 13GB compressed file appears to contain Ashley Madison CEO's emails seems corrupted
The leak contains plain text or poorly hashed (md5) db credentials
Personal Emails of Avid Life Media CEO Noel Biderman Exposed
The trove of information was dumped with a taunting message to the adultery website's founder posted on the same dark web hosting the earlier data dump. The message reads:
"Hey Noel, you can admit it's real now." – presumably directed at CEO Noel Biderman, who has refused to recognize the data is all legitimate.
Dave Kennedy, the founder of cyber security company TrustedSec LLC, has analysed the second data dump and confirmed that it contained nearly 1GB of Biderman's emails.
"The dump appears to contain all of the business/corporate e-mails, the source code for all of [Avid Life Media's] websites, mobile applications, and more," TrustedSec wrote in its official blog post published yesterday.
This is really interesting; having the complete source code to these websites means that hackers now are capable of finding new security holes in Avid Life's websites, and further compromise them more.
However, we have yet to wait for a response to this new release from Avid Life Media officials. If they do, we'll update this post accordingly.
| Data_Breaches |
US Govt Warns Critical Industries After Ransomware Hits Gas Pipeline Facility | https://thehackernews.com/2020/02/critical-infrastructure-ransomware-attack.html | The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) earlier today issued a warning to all industries operating critical infrastructures about a new ransomware threat that if left unaddressed could have severe consequences.
The advisory comes in response to a cyberattack targeting an unnamed natural gas compression facility that employed spear-phishing to deliver ransomware to the company's internal network, encrypting critical data and knocking servers out of operation for almost two days.
"A cyber threat actor used a spear-phishing link to obtain initial access to the organization's information technology network before pivoting to its operational technology network. The threat actor then deployed commodity ransomware to encrypt data for impact on both networks," CISA noted in its alert.
As ransomware attacks continue to escalate in frequency and scale, the new development is yet another indication that phishing attacks continue to be an effective means to bypass security barriers and that hackers don't always need to exploit security vulnerabilities to breach organizations.
CISA highlighted that the attack did not impact any programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and that the victim did not lose control of its operations. But in the aftermath of the incident, the company is reported to have initiated a deliberate operational shutdown, resulting in a loss of productivity and revenue.
Noting that the impact was limited to Windows-based systems and assets located in a single geographic locality, it said the company was able to recover from the attack by getting hold of replacement equipment and loading last-known-good configurations.
Although the notification is lean on the specifics of the attack, this is not the first time phishing links have been employed to deliver ransomware. Lake City's I.T. network was crippled last June after an employee inadvertently opened a suspicious email that downloaded the Emotet Trojan, which in turn downloaded TrickBot Trojan and Ryuk ransomware.
The evolving threat landscape means companies need to consider the full scope of threats posed to their operations, including maintaining periodic data backups and devising fail-over mechanisms in the event of a shutdown.
Aside from securing the email channel and identifying and protecting the most attacked individuals, this also underscores the need for adopting appropriate anti-phishing measures to stop social engineering attempts from reaching their targets' inboxes and training people to spot mails that get through.
Additionally, it's imperative that vulnerable organizations safeguard the digital supply chain by segmenting critical network infrastructure using firewalls and conducting periodic security audits to identify gaps and weaknesses.
For a full list of mitigative measures that can be undertaken, head to the CISA advisory here.
Update:
Cybersecurity firm Dragos issued an assessment on Wednesday linking the attack on the facility to an alert put out by the US Coast Guard in December. The Ryuk ransomware infection had forced the facility to shut down for 30 hours, disrupting camera and physical access control systems, along with shutting down the entire corporate IT network at the facility.
The analysis cited overlaps in the outage period between the two reports, the impact on Windows-based systems, and the primary attack vector being an email message containing a malicious link.
| Cyber_Attack |
Malware that turns computers into Bitcoin miners | https://thehackernews.com/2013/04/malware-that-turns-computers-into.html | Researchers from Kaspersky Lab have discovered a new spam message campaign being transmitted via Skype contains malware capable of using an infected computer to mine for Bitcoins. The malware, identified as Trojan.Win32.Jorik.IRCbot.xkt.
Bitcoin is a non-governmental, fully-digital currency based on an open-source and peer-to-peer internet protocol. Cybercriminals have figured out that distributed Bitcoin mining is a perfect task for botnets and have started developing malware that can abuse the CPUs and GPUs of infected computers to generate Bitcoins.
"Bitcoin mining is the process of making computer hardware do mathematical calculations for the Bitcoin network to confirm transactions and increase security,"
Victims are encouraged to install malware file that is included with messages like "this my favourite picture of you". Those who click the links, infected with a virus dropper downloaded from a server in India. If the malicious file is installed, one of its features is to turn the machine into a Bitcoin mining slave.
Turning unwitting PCs into Bitcoin slaves is the latest attack to hit Bitcoin and Bitcoin-related services. Most anti-malware programs cannot detect the malware. The malware has the fingerprints of script kids, rather than sophisticated hackers.
According to Kaspersky Lab, the average click rate for the rogue URL is high, at over 2,000 clicks per hour. "Most of potential victims live in Italy then Russia, Poland, Costa Rica, Spain, Germany, Ukraine and others,"
| Malware |
Wait ! It's not just Stuxnet or DuQu , Kaspersky reveals 5 more cousins | https://thehackernews.com/2012/01/wait-its-not-just-stuxnet-or-duqu.html | Wait ! It's not just Stuxnet or DuQu , Kaspersky reveals 5 more cousins
Russian computer security outfit Kaspersky Lab said that the Stuxnet virus that damaged Iran's nuclear programme was likely to be one of at least five cyber weapons developed on a single platform. The viruses have never been seen 'in the wild' - and it's unclear whether they, like Stuxnet, would be built to cause failures at nuclear plants, or engineered for another purpose.
Both Stuxnet and Duqu appear to have been created back in late 2007 or early 2008, and other pieces of malware with similar capabilities were built on the same platform, Gostev said.
Gostev examined two key drivers and variants that were used in both Stuxnet and Duqu, as well as two previously unknown drivers that were similar to the ones used. Not only did the same group of people develop Stuxnet and Duqu, but they likely worked simultaneously on multiple variants, Gostev said. The other pieces may be in the wild and not yet detected, or the developers may have decided not to release them, he said.
Overall, Kaspersky found seven types of drivers from the family with similar characteristics, and for three of them there's no knowledge of which malicious program they were used in conjunction with.Alexander Gostev, Chief Security Expert at Kaspersky, commented: "The drivers from the still unknown malicious programs cannot be attributed to activity of the Stuxnet and Duqu Trojans. The methods of dissemination of Stuxnet would have brought about a large number of infections with these drivers; and they can't be attributed either to the more targeted Duqu Trojan due to the compilation date."
Researchers with Kaspersky have not found any new types of malware built on the Tilded platform, Raiu said, but they are fairly certain that they exist because shared components of Stuxnet and Duqu appear to be searching for their kin.When a machine becomes infected with Duqu or Stuxnet, the programs search for two unique registry keys on the PC linked to Duqu and Stuxnet that are then used to load the main piece of malware onto the computer, he said.
"We believe Duqu and Stuxnet were simultaneous projects supported by the same team of developers," Gostev wrote.
The developers are tweaking ready-made files instead of creating new drivers from scratch, which allows them to make as many different driver files as they like, each having exactly the same functionality and creation date, Gostev said. These files can also be signed with legitimate digital certificates and packaged into different variants.
| Vulnerability |
FBI's Cyber Task Force Identifies Stealthy FF-RATs used in Cyber Attack | https://thehackernews.com/2015/09/stealthy-malware-cyber-attack.html | In both April and June this year, a series of cyber attacks was conducted against the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
These attacks resulted in 21 million current and former Federal government employees' information being stolen.
After months of investigation, the FBI's Cyber Task Force identified several Remote Access Tools (RATs) that were used to carry out the attack. One of the more effective tools discovered is named 'FF-RAT'.
FF-RAT evades endpoint detection through stealth tactics, including the ability to download DLLs remotely and execute them in memory only.
Hackers use RATs to gain unlimited access to infected endpoints. Once the victim's access privilege is acquired, it is then used for malware deployment, command and control (C&C) server communication, and data exfiltration.
Most Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) attacks also take advantage of RAT functionality for bypassing strong authentication, reconnaissance, spreading infection, and accessing sensitive applications to exfiltrate data. In order to mitigate these types of attacks, it is key that you have tools and methods in place for early detection.
It's important these attacks are identified in time for you to isolate infected assets and remediate issues before they spread or move to a second stage (deploying additional malware, stealing important data, acting as its own C&C server, etc.)
How this affects you
When deploying a RAT, a hacker's primary goal is to create a backdoor to infected systems so they can gain complete control over that system.
When a RAT is installed on your system, the attacker is then able to view, change, or manipulate data on the infected machine. This leaves you open to your, and possibly your clients', sensitive data being stolen.
Often, a single RAT is deployed as a pivot point to deploy additional malware in the local network or use the infected system to host malware for remote retrieval.
How AlienVault Helps
AlienVault Labs, AlienVault's team of security researchers, continue to perform cutting edge research on these types of threats.
They collect large amounts of data and then create expert threat intelligence correlation directives, IDS signatures, vulnerability audits, asset discovery signatures, IP reputation data, data source plugins, and report templates.
Activity from FF-RAT can be detected through IDS signatures and a correlation rule that the Labs team has released to the AlienVault Unified Security Management (USM) platform.
Learn more about AlienVault USM:
Download a free 30-day trial
Watch a demo on-demand
Play with USM in our product sandbox (no download required)
| Malware |
RawCap sniffer for Windows released ! | https://thehackernews.com/2011/04/rawcap-sniffer-for-windows-released.html | RawCap sniffer for Windows released
We are today proude to announce the release of RawCap, which is a free raw sockets sniffer for Windows. Here are some highlights of why RawCap is a great tool to have in your toolset:
Can sniff any interface that has got an IP address, including 127.0.0.1 (localhost/loopback)
RawCap.exe is just 17 kB
No external libraries or DLL's needed
No installation required, just download RawCap.exe and sniff
Can sniff most interface types, including WiFi and PPP interfaces
Minimal memory and CPU load
Reliable and simple to use
Usage
RawCap takes two arguments; the first argument is the IP address or interface number to sniff from, the second is the path/file to write the captured packets to.
C:\Tools>RawCap.exe 192.168.0.23 dumpfile.pcap
You can also start RawCap without any arguments, which will leave you with an interactive dialog where you can select NIC and filename:
C:\Tools>RawCap.exe
Network interfaces:
0. 192.168.0.23 Local Area Connection
1. 192.168.0.47 Wireless Network Connection
2. 90.130.211.54 3G UMTS Internet
3. 192.168.111.1 VMware Network Adapter VMnet1
4. 192.168.222.1 VMware Network Adapter VMnet2
5. 127.0.0.1 Loopback Pseudo-Interface
Select network interface to sniff [default '0']: 1
Output path or filename [default 'dumpfile.pcap']:
Sniffing IP : 192.168.0.47
File : dumpfile.pcap
Packets : 1337
For Incident Responders
RawCap comes in very handy for incident responders who want to be able to sniff network traffic locally at the clients of the corporate network. Here are a few examples of how RawCap can be used for incident response:
A company laptop somewhere on the corporate network is believed to exfiltrate sensitive coporate information to a foreign server on the Internet by using a UMTS 3G connection on a USB dongle. After finding the internal IP address on the corporate network the Incident Response Team (IRT) use the Sysinternals tool PsExec to inject RawCap.exe onto the laptop and sniff the packets being exfiltrated through the 3G connection. The generated pcap file can be used to determine what the external 3G connection was used for.
A computer is suspected to be infected with malware that uses an SSL tunnelling proxy (stunnel) to encrypt all Command-and-Control (C&C) communication. The data that is to be sent into the tunnel is first sent unencrypted to localhost (127.0.0.1 aka loopback interface) before it enters the encrypted tunnel. Incident responders can use RawCap to sniff the traffic to/from localhost on the Windows OS, which is something other sniffing tools cannot do.
A corporate laptop connected to the companies WPA2 encrypted WiFi is found to have suspicious TCP sessions opened to other computers on the same WiFi network. Incident responders can run RawCap locally on any of those machines in order to capture the WiFi network traffic to/from that machine in unencrypted form.
For Penetration Testers
RawCap was not designed for pen-testers, but I realize that there are some situations where the tool can come in hany when doing a penetration test. Here are some examples:
After getting remote access and admin privileges on a Windows XP machine the pen-tester wanna sniff the network traffic of the machine in order to get hold of additional credentials. Sniffing tools like dumpcap, WinDump and NMCap can unfortunately not be used since no WinPcap or NDIS driver is installed. RawCap does, however, not need any special driver installed since it makes use of the Raw Sockets functionality built into Windows. Pen-testers can therefore run RawCap.exe to sniff traffic without installing any drivers.
After getting admin on a box the pen-tester wanna sniff the network traffic, but box uses a WiFi network so traditional sniffing tools won't work. This is when RawCap comes in handy, since it can sniff the WiFi traffic of the owned machine just as easily as if it had been an Ethernet NIC.
Download RawCap
RawCap Downloaded
| Malware |
Microsoft Releases 12 Security Updates (5 Critical and 7 Important Patches) | https://thehackernews.com/2015/09/windows-security-updates.html | With the release of 12 Security Bulletins, Microsoft addresses a total of 56 vulnerabilities in its different products. The bulletins include five critical updates, out of which two address vulnerabilities in all versions of Windows.
The September Patch Tuesday update (released on second Tuesday of each month) makes a total of 105 Security Bulletins being released this year; which is more than the previous year with still three months remaining for the current year to end.
The reason for the increase in the total number of security bulletins within such less time might be because of Windows 10 release and its installation reaching to a score of 100 million.
Starting from MS15-094 to MS15-105 (12 security bulletins) Microsoft rates the severity of the vulnerabilities and their impact on the affected software.
Bulletins MS15-094 and MS15-095 are the cumulative updates, meaning these are product-specific fixes for security related vulnerabilities that are rated as 'critical' by Microsoft.
Bulletins MS15-097 to MS15-099 are also rated as the most critical vulnerabilities with the impact leading to remote code execution (RCE) of the affected software.
PATCH UPDATE: CRITICAL FLAWS
1. Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (MS15-094) was present in Internet Explorer 7 through Internet Explorer 11 and was rated 'Critical' on Windows clients and 'Moderate' on Windows servers.
The vulnerability could allow an attacker to gain administrative user rights of the victim when the user visits a specially crafted web page set up by the attacker.
The security update addresses the flaws by:
Modifying how Internet Explorer (IE) handles objects in memory
Modifying how IE, JScript, and VBScript handle objects in memory
Helping to ensure that IE correctly permits file operations
2. Cumulative Security Update for Microsoft Edge (MS15-095) is for the Microsoft's Edge browser of the newly released Windows 10 where the severity rating is critical for all the Windows 10 clients.
The vulnerability was exactly the same as MS15-094 but was present in both Windows Edge and Internet Explorer. The update addresses the flaws by modifying how Microsoft Edge handles objects in memory.
3. RCE Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Graphics Component (MS15-097) allows an attacker to implement remote code execution when the victim accesses specially crafted document or visits an untrusted web page that contains Embedded OpenType fonts (.eot).
This security update is rated 'Critical' for:
All supported versions of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008
All affected versions of Microsoft Lync 2013, Microsoft Lync 2010, and Microsoft Live Meeting 2007
All affected versions of Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft Office 2010
The vulnerability was resolved by how:
Windows Adobe Type Manager Library handles OpenType fonts
Windows kernel-mode driver handles objects in memory
Windows validates integrity levels to prevent inappropriate process initialization
Windows kernel handles memory addresses
4. RCE Vulnerabilities in Windows Journal (MS15-098) lets an attacker remotely execute malicious code if a user opens a specially crafted Journal file.
This security update is rated Critical for all supported releases of Windows operating system and addresses the issues by modifying how Windows Journal parses Journal files.
5. RCE Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office (MS15-099) allows an attacker to exploit the vulnerability present in the Microsoft's Office Suite by gaining access to the victim (user having administrative rights) and running arbitrary code in the name of an authorized user.
Though users with limited rights are supposedly safe, and the affected software include:
All versions of Microsoft Office 2007
All versions of Microsoft Office 2010
All versions of Microsoft Office 2013
All versions of Microsoft Office 2013 RT
The security update addresses the flaws by correcting how Microsoft Office handles files in memory and by modifying how SharePoint validates web requests.
PATCH UPDATE: IMPORTANT FLAWS
The Other remaining vulnerabilities MS15-096 and from MS15-100 to MS15-105 are rated as 'Important' on Microsoft's severity scale; those are affecting:
Microsoft Windows various versions
Skype
Lync messenger
Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft .NET framework...to name a few
The vulnerabilities could allow hackers to conduct attacks such as:
Denial of Service
Privilege escalation
Information breach
Other security breaks
Microsoft has acknowledged researchers at Google Project Zero, hyp3rlinx, FireEye Inc., Fortinet's FortiGuard Labs, Cisco Talos...and many more as the contributors for helping them providing adequate security to the users.
For the updates, you will have to follow the same method of downloading and installing the Windows update for your system.
TIP for Windows users: Keep your system's Windows Update settings to "Check for Updates but let me choose whether to download and install them."
| Vulnerability |
KRACK Demo: Critical Key Reinstallation Attack Against Widely-Used WPA2 Wi-Fi Protocol | https://thehackernews.com/2017/10/wpa2-krack-wifi-hacking.html | Do you think your wireless network is secure because you're using WPA2 encryption?
If yes, think again!
Security researchers have discovered several key management vulnerabilities in the core of Wi-Fi Protected Access II (WPA2) protocol that could allow an attacker to hack into your Wi-Fi network and eavesdrop on the Internet communications.
WPA2 is a 13-year-old WiFi authentication scheme widely used to secure WiFi connections, but the standard has been compromised, impacting almost all Wi-Fi devices—including in our homes and businesses, along with the networking companies that build them.
Dubbed KRACK—Key Reinstallation Attack—the proof-of-concept attack demonstrated by a team of researchers works against all modern protected Wi-Fi networks and can be abused to steal sensitive information like credit card numbers, passwords, chat messages, emails, and photos.
Since the weaknesses reside in the Wi-Fi standard itself, and not in the implementations or any individual product, any correct implementation of WPA2 is likely affected.
According to the researchers, the newly discovered attack works against:
Both WPA1 and WPA2,
Personal and enterprise networks,
Ciphers WPA-TKIP, AES-CCMP, and GCMP
In short, if your device supports WiFi, it is most likely affected. During their initial research, the researchers discovered that Android, Linux, Apple, Windows, OpenBSD, MediaTek, Linksys, and others, are all affected by the KRACK attacks.
It should be noted that the KRACK attack does not help attackers recover the targeted WiFi's password; instead, it allows them to decrypt WiFi users' data without cracking or knowing the actual password.
So merely changing your Wi-Fi network password does not prevent (or mitigate) KRACK attack.
Here's How the KRACK WPA2 Attack Works (PoC Code):
Discovered by researcher Mathy Vanhoef of imec-DistriNet, KU Leuven, the KRACK attack works by exploiting a 4-way handshake of the WPA2 protocol that's used to establish a key for encrypting traffic.
For a successful KRACK attack, an attacker needs to trick a victim into re-installing an already-in-use key, which is achieved by manipulating and replaying cryptographic handshake messages.
"When the victim reinstalls the key, associated parameters such as the incremental transmit packet number (i.e. nonce) and receive packet number (i.e. replay counter) are reset to their initial value," the researcher writes.
"Essentially, to guarantee security, a key should only be installed and used once. Unfortunately, we found this is not guaranteed by the WPA2 protocol. By manipulating cryptographic handshakes, we can abuse this weakness in practice."
The research [PDF], titled Key Reinstallation Attacks: Forcing Nonce Reuse in WPA2, has been published by Mathy Vanhoef of KU Leuven and Frank Piessens of imec-DistriNet, Nitesh Saxena and Maliheh Shirvanian of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Yong Li of Huawei Technologies, and Sven Schäge of Ruhr-Universität Bochum.
The team has successfully executed the key reinstallation attack against an Android smartphone, showing how an attacker can decrypt all data that the victim transmits over a protected WiFi. You can watch the video demonstration above and download proof-of-concept (PoC) code from Github.
"Decryption of packets is possible because a key reinstallation attack causes the transmit nonces (sometimes also called packet numbers or initialization vectors) to be reset to zero. As a result, the same encryption key is used with nonce values that have already been used in the past," the researcher say.
The researchers say their key reinstallation attack could be exceptionally devastating against Linux and Android 6.0 or higher, because "Android and Linux can be tricked into (re)installing an all-zero encryption key (see below for more info)."
However, there's no need to panic, as you aren't vulnerable to just anyone on the internet because a successful exploitation of KRACK attack requires an attacker to be within physical proximity to the intended WiFi network.
WPA2 Vulnerabilities and their Brief Details
The key management vulnerabilities in the WPA2 protocol discovered by the researchers has been tracked as:
CVE-2017-13077: Reinstallation of the pairwise encryption key (PTK-TK) in the four-way handshake.
CVE-2017-13078: Reinstallation of the group key (GTK) in the four-way handshake.
CVE-2017-13079: Reinstallation of the integrity group key (IGTK) in the four-way handshake.
CVE-2017-13080: Reinstallation of the group key (GTK) in the group key handshake.
CVE-2017-13081: Reinstallation of the integrity group key (IGTK) in the group key handshake.
CVE-2017-13082: Accepting a retransmitted Fast BSS Transition (FT) Reassociation Request and reinstalling the pairwise encryption key (PTK-TK) while processing it.
CVE-2017-13084: Reinstallation of the STK key in the PeerKey handshake.
CVE-2017-13086: reinstallation of the Tunneled Direct-Link Setup (TDLS) PeerKey (TPK) key in the TDLS handshake.
CVE-2017-13087: reinstallation of the group key (GTK) while processing a Wireless Network Management (WNM) Sleep Mode Response frame.
CVE-2017-13088: reinstallation of the integrity group key (IGTK) while processing a Wireless Network Management (WNM) Sleep Mode Response frame.
The researchers discovered the vulnerabilities last year, but sent out notifications to several vendors on July 14, along with the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), who sent out a broad warning to hundreds of vendors on 28 August 2017.
"The impact of exploiting these vulnerabilities includes decryption, packet replay, TCP connection hijacking, HTTP content injection, and others," the US-CERT warned. "Note that as protocol-level issues, most or all correct implementations of the standard will be affected."
In order to patch these vulnerabilities, you need to wait for the firmware updates from your device vendors.
According to researchers, the communication over HTTPS is secure (but may not be 100 percent secure) and cannot be decrypted using the KRACK attack. So, you are advised to use a secure VPN service—which encrypts all your Internet traffic whether it's HTTPS or HTTP.
You can read more information about these vulnerabilities on the KRACK attack's dedicated website, and the research paper.
The team has also released a script using which you can check whether if your WiFi network is vulnerable to the KRACK attack or not.
We will keep updating the story. Stay Tuned!
| Vulnerability |
$60000 for Exploiting Google Chrome, Hackers at Pwnium work... | https://thehackernews.com/2012/02/60000-for-exploiting-google-chrome.html | $60000 for Exploiting Google Chrome, Hackers at Pwnium work...
Google has offered prizes, totalling $1 million, to those who successfully hack the Google Chrome browser at the Pwn2Own hacker contest taking place next week i.e 7 March 2012. Chrome is the only browser in the contest's six year history to not be exploited like at all.
Therefore Google will hand out prizes of $60,000, $40,000, and $20,000 for contestants able to remotely commandeer a fully-patched browser running on Windows 7. Finding a "Full Chrome Exploit," obtaining user account persistence using only bugs in the browser itself will net the $60k prize. Using webkits, flash, or a driver-based exploit can only earn the lesser amounts.
Prizes will be awarded on a first-come-first-serve basis, until the entire $1 million has been claimed. "While we're proud of Chrome's leading track record in past competitions, the fact is that not receiving exploits means that it's harder to learn and improve," said Chris Evans and Justin Schuh, members of the Google Chrome security team.
"To maximize our chances of receiving exploits this year, we've upped the ante. We will directly sponsor up to $1 million worth of rewards." Pwn2Own isn't the only time researchers can be paid for digging up security flaws in Chrome. Like other companies including Mozilla and Facebook, Google offers "bug bounties" to researchers, and its flaw-buying program has given out more than $300,000 in payments over the last two years.
[Source]
| Vulnerability |
New Group of Hackers Targeting Businesses with Financially Motivated Cyber Attacks | https://thehackernews.com/2019/11/financial-cyberattacks.html | Security researchers have tracked down activities of a new group of financially-motivated hackers that are targeting several businesses and organizations in Germany, Italy, and the United States in an attempt to infect them with backdoor, banking Trojan, or ransomware malware.
Though the new malware campaigns are not customized for each organization, the threat actors appear to be more interested in businesses, IT services, manufacturing, and healthcare industries who possess critical data and can likely afford high ransom payouts.
According to a report ProofPoint shared with The Hacker News, the newly discovered threat actors are sending out low-volume emails impersonating finance-related government entities with tax assessment and refund lured emails to targeted organizations.
"Tax-themed Email Campaigns Target 2019 Filers, finance-related lures have been used seasonally with upticks in tax-related malware and phishing campaigns leading up to the annual tax filing deadlines in different geographies," the researchers said.
New Malware Campaigns Spotted in the Wild
In almost all spear-phishing email campaigns researchers observed between October 16 and November 12 this year, the attackers used malicious Word document attachments as an initial vector to compromise the device.
Once opened, the malicious document executes a macro script to run malicious PowerShell commands, which then eventually downloads and installs one of the following payloads onto the victim's system:
Maze Ransomware,
IcedID Banking Trojan,
Cobalt Strike backdoor.
'Opening the Microsoft Word Document and enabling macros installs Maze ransomware on the user's system, encrypting all of their files, and saves a ransom note resembling the following in TXT format in every directory.'
Besides using social engineering, to make their spear-phishing emails more convincing, attackers are also using lookalike domains, verbiage, and stolen branding to impersonate:
Bundeszentralamt fur Steuern, the German Federal Ministry of Finance,
Agenzia Delle Entrate, the Italian Revenue Agency,
1&1 Internet AG, a German internet service provider,
USPS, the United States Postal Service.
"Similar campaigns leveraging local gov. agencies were also observed in Germany and Italy. These social-engineered lures indicate that cybercriminals overall are becoming more convincing and sophisticated in their attacks."
"Although these campaigns are small in volume, currently, they are significant for their abuse of trusted brands, including government agencies, and for their relatively rapid expansion across multiple geographies. To date, the group appears to have targeted organizations in Germany, Italy, and, most recently, the United States, delivering geo-targeted payloads with lures in local languages," Christopher Dawson, Threat Intelligence Lead at Proofpoint, told The Hacker News.
"We will be watching this new actor closely, given their apparent global aspirations, well-crafted social engineering, and steadily increasing scale."
How to Protect Email-Based Cyber Attacks?
Thought most of the tools and techniques used by this new group are neither new nor sophisticated; unfortunately, it's still one of the most successful ways criminals penetrate an organization.
The best ways to protect your computer against such attacks are as simple as following basic online cybersecurity practices, such as:
Disable macros from running in office files,
Always keep a regular backup of your important data,
Make sure you run one of the best antivirus software on your system,
Don't open email attachments from unknown or untrusted sources,
Don't click on the links from unknown sources.
| Malware |
Experts Uncover Malware Attacks Targeting Corporate Networks in Latin America | https://thehackernews.com/2021/07/experts-uncover-malware-attacks.html | Cybersecurity researchers on Thursday took the wraps off a new, ongoing espionage campaign targeting corporate networks in Spanish-speaking countries, specifically Venezuela, to spy on its victims.
Dubbed "Bandidos" by ESET owing to the use of an upgraded variant of Bandook malware, the primary targets of the threat actor are corporate networks in the South American country spanning across manufacturing, construction, healthcare, software services, and retail sectors.
Written in both Delphi and C++, Bandook has a history of being sold as a commercial remote access trojan (RAT) dating all the way back to 2005. Since then, numerous variants have emerged on the threat landscape and put to use in different surveillance campaigns in 2015 and 2017, allegedly by a cyber-mercenary group known as Dark Caracal on behalf of government interests in Kazakhstan and Lebanon.
In a continuing resurgence of the Bandook Trojan, Check Point last year disclosed three new samples — one of which supported 120 commands — that were utilized by the same adversary to hit government, financial, energy, food industry, healthcare, education, IT, and legal institutions located in Chile, Cyprus, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, and the U.S.
The latest attack chain commences with prospective victims receiving malicious emails with a PDF attachment, which contains a shortened URL to download a compressed archive hosted on Google Cloud, SpiderOak, or pCloud and the password to extract it. Extracting the archive reveals a malware dropper that decodes and injects Bandook into an Internet Explorer process.
Interestingly, the latest variant of Bandook analyzed by ESET contains 132 commands, up from the 120 commands reported by Check Point, implying that the criminal group behind the malware are advancing their malicious tools with improved capabilities and striking power.
"Especially interesting is the ChromeInject functionality," said ESET researcher Fernando Tavella. "When the communication with the attacker's command and control server is established, the payload downloads a DLL file, which has an exported method that creates a malicious Chrome extension. The malicious extension tries to retrieve any credentials that the victim submits to a URL. These credentials are stored in Chrome's local storage."
Some of the main commands that the payload is capable of processing include listing directory contents, manipulating files, taking screenshots, controlling the cursor on the victim's machine, installing malicious DLLs, terminating running processes, downloading files from a specific URL, exfiltrating the results of the operations to a remote server, and even uninstalling itself from the infected machines.
If anything, the development is yet another sign that adversaries can still leverage old crimeware solutions to facilitate attacks.
"[Bandook's] involvement in different espionage campaigns [...] shows us that it is still a relevant tool for cybercriminals," the researchers opined. "Also, if we consider the modifications made to the malware over the years, it shows us the interest of cybercriminals to keep using this piece of malware in malicious campaigns, making it more sophisticated and more difficult to detect."
| Cyber_Attack |
After Getting Hacked, Uber Paid Hackers $100,000 to Keep Data Breach Secret | https://thehackernews.com/2017/11/uber-hack-data-breach.html | Uber is in headlines once again—this time for concealing last year's data breach that exposed personal data of 57 million customers and drivers.
On Tuesday, Uber announced that the company suffered a massive data breach in October 2016 that exposed names, e-mail addresses and phone numbers of 57 million Uber riders and drivers along with driver license numbers of around 600,000 drivers.
However, instead of disclosing the breach, the company paid $100,000 in ransom to the two hackers who had access to the data in exchange for keeping the incident secret and deleting the information, according to a report published by Bloomberg.
Uber said none of its own systems were breached, rather two individuals outside the company inappropriately accessed and downloaded 57 million Uber riders' and drivers' data that was stored on a third-party cloud-based service.
The cyberattack exposed the names and driver license numbers of some 600,000 drivers in the United States, and the names, emails, and mobile phone numbers of around 57 million Uber users worldwide, which included drivers as well.
However, the company said other personal details, such as trip location history, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, Social Security numbers or dates of birth, were not accessed in the attack.
Uber Hid 57 Million User Data Breach For Over a Year
According to Bloomberg report, former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick learned of the cyber attack in November 2016, when the company was negotiating with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on a privacy settlement.
So, the company chose to pay the two hackers $100,000 to delete the stolen information and keep quiet about the incident and finally agreed to the FTC settlement three months ago, without admitting any wrongdoing.
Uber Technologies Inc. only told the FTC about the October 2016 data incident on Tuesday, when the breach was made public by Bloomberg.
However, this secret payment eventually cost Uber security executives their jobs for handling the incident.
Now Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has reportedly asked for the resignation of Uber Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan, and one of his deputies, Craig Clark, who worked to keep the attack quiet.
"None of this should have happened, and I will not make excuses for it. While I cannot erase the past, I can commit on behalf of every Uber employee that we will learn from our mistakes," Khosrowshahi said.
"We are changing the way we do business, putting integrity at the core of every decision we make and working hard to earn the trust of our customers."
Uber is notifying regulatory authorities and offering affected drivers free credit monitoring and identity theft protection.
The company also says that it is monitoring the affected accounts for fraudulent activity and that riders do not need to take any action against this incident. It's likely that Uber will be forcing its customers to reset their passwords for its app.
| Data_Breaches |
eBay Hacked, Change your Account Password Now | https://thehackernews.com/2014/05/ebay-hacked-change-your-account.html | If you have an eBay Account then you should change your password immediately, because the World's biggest E-commerce company with 128 million active users announced today in a press release that it had been Hacked.
eBay revealed that attackers compromised customers' database including emails, physical addresses, encrypted passwords and dates of birth, in a hacking attack between late February and early March, but financial information like credit card numbers, as well as PayPal information were stored separately and were not compromised.
'After conducting extensive tests on its networks,' They also said they've found no evidence of unauthorized access or activity by registered eBay users, but as precaution, eBay is resetting everyone's passwords that 'will help enhance security for eBay users.'
Why did eBay wait so long to tell everyone? because just two weeks ago they discovered data breach. They conducted a forensic investigation of its computers to find the extent of the theft and found that intruders compromised some employees accounts and then used their access to get the data from servers.
"Cyber attackers compromised a small number of employee login credentials, allowing unauthorized access to eBay's corporate network," the company said in a statement.
They detected the unauthorized employee logins two weeks ago and "Working with law enforcement and leading security experts, the company is aggressively investigating the matter and applying the best forensics tools and practices to protect customers." company said.
eBay customers are now potentially vulnerable to phishing attacks i.e. spoofed e-mails. Hackers or spammers could craft very convincing phishing emails which may appear legitimate at first glance, but could trick you into revealing further personal information.
To change your eBay password, log into your account, select Account Settings, then click "Personal Information", then "edit" next to your password. If you are using same login details for other websites, you should also update them as soon as possible.
| Cyber_Attack |
U.S. federal lab linked to Stuxnet breached ! | https://thehackernews.com/2011/04/us-federal-lab-linked-to-stuxnet.html | A federally funded U.S. lab that is suspected to have been involved in finding the vulnerabilities in Siemens SCADA systems used by the Stuxnet worm has shut down the Internet connection for its employees following the discovery of a breach into the facility's systems.
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory - located in Tennessee and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy - is known for performing classified and unclassified research for federal agencies and departments on issues crucial for national security. Among other things, the lab also does cybersecurity research on malware, vulnerabilities and phishing.
It is somewhat ironic, then, that the breach was the result of two employees falling for a malicious email containing a link to a page that exploited a remote-code execution vulnerability in the Internet Explorer browser.
According to Wired, the email was sent to about 530 lab employees, of which 57 believed that the email was coming from the institution's human resources department and clicked on the link. Of those 57 machines, only two got infected.
It seems that the malware inserted in those two computers lay dormant for a week, and then started to send out stolen data from one of them to a remote server. This was discovered by the administrators who immediately shut down and cleaned up the machine, but a week later, they discovered that other servers were also infected - hence, the total shutdown of Internet access.
Thomas Zacharia, the deputy director of the lab, didn't say what data had been stolen, but he confirmed it was encrypted. He hopes that the investigation will reveal the nature of the data and the destination of the stolen batch. He also commented that the malware used in the attack was designed to hide on the system and to delete itself if it was unsuccessful on a particular system.
According to a New York Times article, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory was used to test and reveal the vulnerabilities that allowed the Stuxnet worm to target the Natanz nuclear plant. This claim being now in the open, it is easy to see how speculations about the origin of the attack that hit the lab's network are inevitably going to lean towards Iran.
| Malware |
Avira Vulnerability Puts Users' Online Backup Data At Risk | https://thehackernews.com/2014/09/avira-vulnerability-puts-users-online.html | A popular Anti-virus software Avira that provides free security software to its customers with Secure Backup service is vulnerable to a critical web application vulnerability that could allow an attacker to take over users' account, putting millions of its users' account at risk.
Avira is very popular for their free security software that comes with its own real-time protection module against malware and a secure backup service. Avira was considered to be the sixth largest antivirus vendor in 2012 with over 100 million customers worldwide.
A 16 year-old security researcher 'Mazen Gamal' from Egypt told The Hacker News that Avira Website is vulnerable to CSRF (Cross-site request forgery) vulnerability that allows him to hijack users' accounts and access to their online secure cloud backup files.
CSRF VULNERABILITY TO ACCOUNT TAKEOVER
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF or XSRF) is a method of attacking a Web site in which an intruder masquerades as a legitimate and trusted user. All the attacker need to do is get the target browser to make a request to your website on their behalf by convincing the victim to click on a specially crafted HTML exploit page.
Basically, an attacker will use CSRF exploit to trick a victim into accessing a URL link that contains malicious requests which will replace victim's email ID on Avira account with attacker's email ID, compromising victim's account in just one click, explained Gamal.
VICTIM BACKUP FILES
After replacing the email address, an attacker can easily reset the password of victim's account through forget password option, as it will send the password reset link to attacker's email ID only.
Once hijacked, the attacker would be able to retrieve all the online backup files the victim have on his/her AVIRA account by simply using the same credentials to login into the user's Online backup Software or at https://dav.backup.avira.com/.
"I found a CSRF vulnerability in Avira can lead me to full account takeover of any Avira user account," Gamal said via an email to The Hacker News. "The impact of the account takeover allowed me to Open the Backup files of the victim and also view the license codes for the affected user."
Gamal also provided Proof-of-Concept video that explains the full story
Gamal reported the flaw to the Avira Security Team on 21st August. The team responded positively and patched the CSRF bug on their website, but the Secure online backup service is still vulnerable to hackers until Avira will not offer a offline password layer for decrypting files locally.
Mazen Gamal has been listed in a number of tech firms including Google, Facebook and Twitter for reporting several vulnerabilities in past.
| Vulnerability |
TripAdvisor's Viator Hit by Massive Data Breach Affecting 1.4 Customers | https://thehackernews.com/2014/09/tripadvisors-viator-hit-by-massive-14_24.html | TripAdvisor's Online travel booking and review website Viator has reportedly been hit by a massive data breach at its that may have exposed payment card details and account credentials of its customers, affecting an estimated 1.4 million of its customers.
The San Francisco-based Viator, acquired by TripAdvisor – the world's largest travel site – for £122 million (US$ 200 million) back in July, admitted late on Friday that the intruders have hacked into some of its customers' payment card accounts and made unauthorized charges.
The data breach was discovered in the bookings made through Viator's websites and mobile offerings that could potentially affect payment card data.
Viator said that the company has hired forensic experts to figure out the extent of the breach. Meanwhile, the company has begun notifying its affected customers about the security breach as said by the travel outfit in a press release.
"On September 2, we were informed by our payment card service provider that unauthorized charges occurred on a number of our customers' credit cards," Viator wrote. "We have hired forensic experts, notified law enforcement and we have been working diligently and comprehensively to investigate the incident, identify how our systems may have been impacted, and secure our systems."
"While our investigation is ongoing, we are in the process of notifying approximately 1.4 million Viator customers, who had some form of information potentially affected by the compromise."
During investigation it found that the cyber criminals have broken into its internal databases and accessed the payment card data – including encrypted credit or debit card number, card expiration date, name, billing address and email address – of approximately 880,000 customers, and possibly their Viator account information that includes email address, encrypted password and Viator 'nickname.'
Additionally, the intruders may have also accessed the Viator account information, including email addresses and encrypted passwords, of over 560,000 Viator customers.
According to the company, Debit-card PIN numbers were not included in the breach because Viator does not store them. The travel advisor said that they believe that the CVV number, the security numbers printed on the back of the customer's credit card, were also not stolen in the breach.
For those who are affected by the breach in United States, Viator is offering them identity protection and credit card monitoring services for free and and the company is also investigating the possibility of offering similar services to customers outside the country.
Meanwhile, the company has warned its affected customers to regularly monitor their card activity and report any fraudulent charges to their card company. "Customers will not be responsible for fraudulent charges to their accounts if they are reported in a timely manner," Viator said.
Viator also recommends its users to change their password for the site, as well as all other websites that uses the same credentials.
| Data_Breaches |
Masslogger Trojan Upgraded to Steal All Your Outlook, Chrome Credentials | https://thehackernews.com/2021/02/masslogger-trojan-upgraded-to-steal-all.html | A credential stealer infamous for targeting Windows systems has resurfaced in a new phishing campaign that aims to steal credentials from Microsoft Outlook, Google Chrome, and instant messenger apps.
Primarily directed against users in Turkey, Latvia, and Italy starting mid-January, the attacks involve the use of MassLogger — a .NET-based malware with capabilities to hinder static analysis — building on similar campaigns undertaken by the same actor against users in Bulgaria, Lithuania, Hungary, Estonia, Romania, and Spain in September, October, and November 2020.
MassLogger was first spotted in the wild last April, but the presence of a new variant implies malware authors are constantly retooling their arsenal to evade detection and monetize them.
"Although operations of the Masslogger trojan have been previously documented, we found the new campaign notable for using the compiled HTML file format to start the infection chain," researchers with Cisco Talos said on Wednesday.
Compiled HTML (or .CHM) is a proprietary online help format developed by Microsoft that's used to provide topic-based reference information.
The new wave of attacks commences with phishing messages containing "legitimate-looking" subject lines that appear to relate to a business.
One of the emails targeted at Turkish users had the subject "Domestic customer inquiry," with the body of the message referencing an attached quote. In September, October and November, the emails took the form of a "memorandum of understanding," urging the recipient to sign the document.
Regardless of the message theme, the attachments adhere to the same format: a RAR multi-volume filename extension (e.g., "70727_YK90054_Teknik_Cizimler.R09") in a bid to bypass attempts to block RAR attachments using its default filename extension ".RAR."
These attachments contain a single compiled HTML file that, when opened, displays the message "Customer service," but in fact comes embedded with obfuscated JavaScript code to create an HTML page, which in turn contains a PowerShell downloader to connect to a legitimate server and fetch the loader ultimately responsible for launching the MassLogger payload.
Aside from exfiltrating the amassed data via SMTP, FTP or HTTP, the latest version of MassLogger (version 3.0.7563.31381) features functionality to pilfer credentials from Pidgin messenger client, Discord, NordVPN, Outlook, Thunderbird, Firefox, QQ Browser, and Chromium-based browsers such as Chrome, Edge, Opera, and Brave.
"Masslogger can be configured as a keylogger, but in this case, the actor has disabled this functionality," the researchers noted, adding the threat actor installed a version of Masslogger control panel on the exfiltration server.
With the campaign almost entirely executed and present only in memory with the sole exception of the compiled HTML help file, the significance of conducting regular memory scans cannot be overstated enough.
"Users are advised to configure their systems for logging PowerShell events such as module loading and executed script blocks as they will show executed code in its deobfuscated format," the researchers concluded.
| Cyber_Attack |
Al-Qaida sites knocked offline before release of 'Salil al-Sawarim 3' movie | https://thehackernews.com/2012/12/al-qaida-sites-knocked-offline-before.html | U.S. intelligence sources confirmed that, Official websites of Al-Qaida were knocked offline two weeks back and still down due to DDoS attack. According to source, "This is one of the longest disruptions the organization has experienced since it set up its online distribution system in 2006. Al-Qaida also was hit by a massive cyber attack in late 2008, from which the online network never recovered."
The websites are forced to offline, just before the release of a film titled as "Salil al-Sawarim 3", which is actually the propaganda video of Iraqi soldiers with dead insurgents by Al-Qaida.
From last few months, online jihadists are discussing the release and had been sharing images and footage from the production. The cyber attack comes as the U.S. State Department, according to a senior official.
The cyber attack on Al-Qaida network delayed the release of movie. According to another source, the last version "Salil As-Sawarim 2" movie was downloaded by more than half million people around the world,
Last release of video covered the operations of the Mujahideen special forces of the Daulah Islam of Iraq against the high-ranking officers of the Anti Terror special forces (SWAT) of the Shi'ah regime of Iraq.
"Al-Qaida has been using the websites to post propaganda that experts say is successfully radicalizing youth all over the world, including in Syria where the organization is believed to be active."
| Cyber_Attack |
A Decade Old Unix/Linux/BSD Root Privilege-Escalation Bug Discovered | https://thehackernews.com/2017/06/linux-root-privilege-escalation.html | Update: Find working Exploits and Proof-of-Concepts at the bottom of this article.
Security researchers have discovered more than a decade-old vulnerability in several Unix-based operating systems — including Linux, OpenBSD, NetBSD, FreeBSD and Solaris — which can be exploited by attackers to escalate their privileges to root, potentially leading to a full system takeover.
Dubbed Stack Clash, the vulnerability (CVE-2017-1000364) has been discovered in the way memory was being allocated on the stack for user space binaries.
Exploiting Stack Clash Bug to Gain Root Access
The explanation is simple: Each program uses a special memory region called the stack, which is used to store short-term data. It expands and contracts automatically during the execution of any program, depending upon the needs of that program.
According to researchers at Qualys, who discovered and reported this bug, a malicious program can attempt to use more memory space than available on the stack, which could overflow the memory, causing it to collide or clash with nearby memory regions and overwrite their content.
Moreover, the Stack Clash exploit can also bypass the stack guard-page, a memory management protection introduced in 2010, after this issue was exploited in 2005 and 2010.
"Unfortunately, a stack guard-page of a few kilobytes is insufficient: if the stack-pointer 'jumps' over the guard-page—if it moves from the stack into another memory region without accessing the guard-page—then no page-fault exception is raised and the stack extends into the other memory region," an advisory published by Qualys read.
The Stack Clash vulnerability requires local access to the vulnerable system for exploitation, but researchers said it could be exploited remotely depending upon the applications.
For example, a malicious customer with low privilege account with a web hosting company, running vulnerable system, could exploit this vulnerability to gain control over other websites running on the same server, as well as remotely gain root access and execute malicious code directly.
Just yesterday, we reported that how a web hosting company fell victim to a similar attack used to infect Linux servers with a ransomware malware, causing the company to pay more than $1 Million in ransom to get back their files.
Attackers can also combine the Stack Clash bug with other critical vulnerabilities, like the Sudo vulnerability recently patched, and then run arbitrary code with the highest privileges, said Qualys researchers.
7 Proof-of-Concept Exploits
The researchers said they were able to develop seven exploits and seven proofs of concept (PoCs) for the Stack Clash vulnerability, which works on Linux, OpenBSD, NetBSD, FreeBSD and Solaris on 32-bit and 64-bit x86 processors.
However, the researchers have not yet published the exploits and proofs of concept, giving users and admins enough time to patch their systems before they go into the Stack Clash exploits public.
The PoCs follow four steps, which include 'Clashing' the stack with another memory region, running the stack pointer to the stack's start, 'Jumping' over the stack guard-page and 'Smashing' the stack or the other memory regions.
Among distros and systems affected by Stack Clash include:
Sudo on Debian, Ubuntu, and CentOS
ld.so and most SUID-root binaries on Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, and CentOS
Exim on Debian
rsh on Solaris 11 and so on
Red Hat Enterprise
The company also believes that other operating systems, including Microsoft's Windows, Apple's OS X/macOS and Google's Linux-based Android OS could also be vulnerable to Stack Clash, though it is yet to be confirmed.
Patch Available; Update Now
Many affected vendors have already issued security patches for the bug, so users and administrators are advised to install patches a soon as possible.
If security patches from your vendor are yet to be released, you can reboot your systems or can manually apply stack limits to local users' applications. Simply, set the hard RLIMIT STACK and RLIMIT_AS of local users and remote services to a low value.
It is also recommended to recompile all userland code (ld.so, libraries, binaries) with the –fstack-check feature. This would prevent the stack pointer from moving into another memory region without accessing the stack guard-page and would kill Stack Clash dead.
Exploits and Proof-of-Concepts Released!
Since Fedora and Slackware have published updates, and FreeBSD and NetBSD have issued patches, Qualys researchers have finally released exploits and POCs for the Stack Clash vulnerability.
You can find all exploits and PoCs here and here.
| Vulnerability |
Chinese hackers attack on White House computers | https://thehackernews.com/2012/10/chinese-hackers-attack-on-white-house.html | The White House acknowledged Monday that one of its computer networks was hit by a cyber attack, but said there was no breach of any classified systems and no indication any data was lost. Including systems used by the military for nuclear commands were breached by Chinese hackers.
A conservative newspaper that has been regularly critical of the Obama administration, called The Washington Free Beacon, first published the report on Sunday and said that the attackers were linked to the Chinese government.
One official said the cyber breach was one of Beijing's most brazen cyber attacks against the United States and highlights a failure of the Obama administration to press China on its persistent cyber attacks. Disclosure of the cyber attack also comes amid heightened tensions in Asia, as the Pentagon moved two U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups and Marine amphibious units near waters by Japan's Senkaku islands.
The official called the incident a "spear-phishing" attack, which implies that it was aimed specifically at the White House. Spear-phishing entails using somethings such as a personalized e-mail to trick someone into clicking on a malicious link or downloading a file.
The attempted hacking of U.S. military networks used by the White House is a common occurrence, but success is rare.
Things get a bit more terrifying when you learn what exactly China was after. The Free Beacon's report says that the hackers were trying to get into the White House Military Office system. This is the system the contains the codes for the football the collection of nuclear launch codes that the president has on him at all times.
| Cyber_Attack |
FireEye spotted Critical 0-day vulnerability in Java Runtime Environment | https://thehackernews.com/2012/08/fireeye-spotted-critical-0-day.html | FireEye's Malware Intelligence Lab is making the claim that there is a new zero day vulnerability in the wild that affects the latest version of Java.Researcher. Atif Mushtaq wrote on the company's blog that he spotted the initial exploit on a domain that pointed to an IP address in China.
The vulnerability allows computers to be infected by simply visiting a specially crafted web page, and the malware served in the current attacks contacts a C&C server in Singapore. Researchers from heise Security have also created a PoC page using information that is publicly available.
A separate post published on Monday by researchers Andre M. DiMino and Mila Parkour said the number of attacks, which appear to install the Poison Ivy Remote Access Trojan, were low. But they went on to note that the typical delay in issuing Java patches, combined with the circulation of exploit code, meant it was only a matter of time until the vulnerability is exploited more widely by other attackers.
Developers at vulnerability management company Rapid7, which owns the Metasploit Project, on Sunday added the exploit to their penetration testing framework. And the exploit is expected to show up if it hasn't already in the widely used BlackHole exploit toolkit, one of the most popular threats on the web.
"This vulnerability is not a 'memory corruption' type vulnerability, but instead seems to be a security bypass issue that allows running untrusted code outside the sandbox without user interaction," Eiram said. "In this specific case a file is downloaded and executed on the user's system when just visiting a web page hosting a malicious applet."
It's not clear when Oracle will release a patch for this vulnerability. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Some security experts are prepping an unofficial patch for the program that should blunt this vulnerability.
However, uninstalling or disabling Java is probably not an acceptable solution for a large number of companies and users that rely on Java-based Web applications to conduct their daily business.
| Vulnerability |
Bitcoin mining malware found in E-Sports Entertainment (ESEA) software | https://thehackernews.com/2013/05/bitcoin-mining-malware-found-in-e.html | The Bitcoin mining rig is becoming a popular alternative to people who want an easy way to earn the digital currency. All you have to do is plug the hardware that specializes in Bitcoin mining and run its customized software. After that, you can sit back and relax as it mines the digital currency for you.
A popular eSports league has admitted that one of its employees harnessed the power of member's computers without their knowledge in order to mine Bitcoins. For a period of 2 weeks, gamers noticed that their computers were generating unusually high GPU loads and frequent BSOD errors. Some gamers stated that their GPUs were damaged due to them reaching temperatures above 90 degrees Celsius.
The mining began on April 13th and affected thousands of gamers, who unwittingly mined over $3,700 worth of the currency.
Eric Thunberg, co-owner of ESEA, stated that the Bitcoin miner was meant to be part of an April Fools joke, however, they weren't able to finish it in time. They then decided to put some of the test code into the clients belonging to a few ESEA administrators.
They wanted to see if the bitcoin miner would offer any benefits to the ESEA community. After 2 days of testing, they decided to cancel the project altogether. Unfortunately, according to an official statement released by Craig Levine, the other co-owner of ESEA, an employee involved in the test decided to use the test codes for his own personal gain
ESEA distributes anti-cheat software that allows subscribers to play the Counter-Strike first-person shooter game on their network. The software gives players better data on their game play and cuts down on the use of known game cheats, which can give opponents an unfair advantage. The network has close to 14,000 paying customers.
ESEA co-founder Craig Torbull Levine said "The owners and management at ESEA all apologize to each of you that were impacted by the recent events and intend to make things right," Torbull continues "ESEA has issued a free month of ESEA Premium to all of our community members who were enrolled in Premium for the month of April. We also ask anyone who has experienced any physical damage to their computers to open an ESEA support ticket."
As of this morning, ESEA has made sure that all Bitcoin mining has stopped. ESEA is also in the process of taking all necessary steps internally to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.
The news is quite disturbing considering that many people have been using their services in order to play games online fairly or without worrying about other players cheating their way out of the game.
| Malware |
First Large Cyber Espionage Activity against Pakistan Emanating From India | https://thehackernews.com/2013/05/first-large-cyber-espionage-activity.html | Cyber Security researchers have discovered a family of information stealing malware targeting Pakistan that originates out of India.
Norman Shark, the global security leader in malware analysis solutions for enterprises, service providers and government, today released a report detailing a large and sophisticated cyber-attack infrastructure that appears to have originated from India.
The attacks, conducted by private threat actors over a period of three years and still ongoing, showed no evidence of state sponsorship but the primary purpose of the global command-and-control network appears to be intelligence gathering from a combination of national security targets and private sector companies.
Attackers used known vulnerabilities in Microsoft software, chucking malware dubbed HangOver onto target machines, most of which were based in Pakistan, where 511 infections associated with the campaign were detected. HangOver installs keyloggers, takes screenshots and records victims' browser usage, before sending the pilfered data off to remote servers by FTP or HTTP.
The malware installed on the infected computers is primarily designed to steal information, but its functionality can be enhanced with additional modules.
There's also evidence that the attackers are signing their code with an old certificate that was issued in 2011 to Technical and Commercial Consulting Pvt. Ltd., a firm based in New Delhi, India. The certificate had been revoked in late March 2012, but was still in use. Eset contacted VeriSign, which revoked the certificate. Eset found more than 70 binary files signed with the malicious certificate.
The payloads dropped by the malware offer a range from access. ESET discovered downloaders, document uploaders, keyloggers, reverse shells, and payloads with the ability to self-replicate within a network.
There was another association with India in the repeated appearance of the word "Appin". "There seems to be some connection with the Indian security company called Appin Security Group," Norman wrote. Domains used by the attack infrastructure were shown to have been registered by Appin Security Solutions too.
Another firm, Mantra Tech Ventures, was also hosting a number of malicious sites run by the attackers, Norman said.
The report said that the attackers used NirSoft's WebPassView and Mail PassView tools for recovering passwords in email clients and browser stores; the tools were signed by the malicious certificate.
Update: Spokesperson from Appin responded about the Norman's Findings via email "Appin The Appin Security Group is no manner connected or involved with the activities as sought to be implied in the alleged report. As is apparent from the alleged report itself, the same is only a marketing gimmick on the part of Norman AS. The Appin Security Group has already initiated legal proceedings against Norman AS." Abhishek, Corporate Communications Team, Appin Security Group said.
| Cyber_Attack |
Watch Out! Adrozek Malware Hijacking Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Yandex Browsers | https://thehackernews.com/2020/12/watch-out-adrozek-malware-hijacking.html | Microsoft on Thursday took the wraps off an ongoing campaign impacting popular web browsers that stealthily injects malware-infested ads into search results to earn money via affiliate advertising.
"Adrozek," as it's called by the Microsoft 365 Defender Research Team, employs an "expansive, dynamic attacker infrastructure" consisting of 159 unique domains, each of which hosts an average of 17,300 unique URLs, which in turn host more than 15,300 unique malware samples.
The campaign — which impacts Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Yandex Browser, and Mozilla Firefox browsers on Windows — aims to insert additional, unauthorized ads on top of legitimate ads displayed on search engine results pages, leading users to click on these ads inadvertently.
Microsoft said the persistent browser modifier malware has been observed since May this year, with over 30,000 devices affected every day at its peak in August.
"Cybercriminals abusing affiliate programs is not new—browser modifiers are some of the oldest types of threats," the Windows maker said. "However, the fact that this campaign utilizes a piece of malware that affects multiple browsers is an indication of how this threat type continues to be increasingly sophisticated. In addition, the malware maintains persistence and exfiltrates website credentials, exposing affected devices to additional risks."
Once dropped and installed on target systems via drive-by downloads, Adrozek proceeds to make multiple changes to browser settings and security controls so as to install malicious add-ons that masquerade as genuine by repurposing the IDs of legitimate extensions.
Although modern browsers have integrity checks to prevent tampering, the malware cleverly disables the feature, thus allowing the attackers to circumvent security defenses and exploit the extensions to fetch extra scripts from remote servers to inject bogus advertisements and gain revenue by driving traffic to these fraudulent ad pages.
What's more, Adrozek goes one step further on Mozilla Firefox to carry out credential theft and exfiltrate the data to attacker-controlled servers.
"Adrozek shows that even threats that are not thought of as urgent or critical are increasingly becoming more complex," the researchers said.
"And while the malware's main goal is to inject ads and refer traffic to certain websites, the attack chain involves sophisticated behavior that allows attackers to gain a strong foothold on a device. The addition of credential theft behavior shows that attackers can expand their objectives to take advantage of the access they're able to gain.
| Malware |
Android Vulnerability Allows Applications to Make Unauthorized Calls without Permissions | https://thehackernews.com/2014/07/android-vulnerability-allows.html | A major vulnerability believed to be present in most versions of Android can allow a malicious Android applications on the Android app store to make phone calls on a user's device, even when they lack the necessary permissions.
The critical vulnerability was identified and reported to Google Inc. late last year by researchers from German security firm Curesec. The researchers believe the virus was first noticed in Android version 4.1, also known as "Jelly Bean."
APPS CAN MAKE CALLS FROM YOUR PHONE
"This bug can be abused by a malicious application. Take a simple game which is coming with this code. The game won't ask you for extra permissions to do a phone call to a toll number – but it is able to do it," Curesec's CEO Marco Lux and researcher Pedro Umbelino said Friday in a blog post. "This is normally not possible without giving the app this special permission."
By leveraging these vulnerabilities, malicious applications could initiate unauthorized phone calls, disrupt ongoing calls, dialing out to expensive toll services, potentially framing up big charges on unsuspecting users' phone bills.
Android bug allows unauthorized users to terminate outgoing calls and Send USSD
The vulnerability can also be exploited to disconnect the outgoing calls, to send and execute :
Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD)
Supplementary Service (SS)
Manufacturer-defined MMI (Man-Machine Interface) codes.
These special codes can be used to access various device functions or operator services, which makes the problem a nasty one for those who value the data they store on their mobile phone.
"The list of USSD/SS/MMI codes is long and there are several quite powerful ones like changing the flow of phone calls (forwarding), blocking your SIM card, enabling or disabling caller anonymisation and so on," reads the blog post.
Even the Android security programs, where apps without the CALL_PHONE permission should not be able to initiate phone calls, can be easily bypassed and offer no protection from these flaws, because the exploits have capability to deceive the Android permissions system altogether.
"As the app does not have the permission but is abusing a bug, such apps cannot easily protect you from this without the knowledge that this bug exists in another class on the system," wrote the researchers.
A large number of versions of Android are affected by the vulnerabilities. Researchers have found two different flaws that can be exploited to achieve the same ends – one that's present in newer Android releases and another that's found in older versions.
FIRST BUG - AFFECTS NEWER VERSION OF ANDROID
The first security bug, identified as CVE-2013-6272, appears to be introduced in Android version 4.1.1 Jelly Bean, and outlasted all the way through 4.4.2 KitKat before the security team at Google was able to fixed it in Android 4.4.4.
But, luckily only about 14% of users are currently updated to the latest version of the mobile Operating System. So, just think about it, How many users are currently in the grip of the flaws? Not less than a generous users open to vulnerabilities and attack paths.
SECOND BUG - AFFECTS OLDER VERSION OF ANDROID
The second security hole is wider in its reach, affecting both Android 2.3.3 and 2.3.6, the popular versions of Gingerbread variant which are used by lower-end smartphones, budget-style smartphones which continue to surge in popularity amongst emerging markets like those found in Brazil, China, and Russia.
The bug was fixed in Android 3.0 Honeycomb, but that was a tablet-only release that no longer even charts on Google's Android statistics. That means the bugs leave nearly 90 percent of Android users running vulnerable versions of the Operating System to dialer-manipulating vulnerability.
Researchers at Curesec have provided source code and a proof-of-concept demonstration app for both the bugs, so that customers can help themselves to test if their Android devices are vulnerable or not.
It is strongly advised to Android users those are running KitKat on their devices to get upgraded to the latest version 4.4.4 as soon as possible. It is expected that the device makers and carriers will soon roll out the updates in the coming weeks.
| Vulnerability |
U.S. Charges 6 Russian Intelligence Officers Over Destructive Cyberattacks | https://thehackernews.com/2020/10/russian-hackers.html | The US government on Monday formally charged six Russian intelligence officers for carrying out destructive malware attacks with an aim to disrupt and destabilize other nations and cause monetary losses.
The individuals, who work for Unit 74455 of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), have been accused of perpetrating the "most disruptive and destructive series of computer attacks ever attributed to a single group," according to the Justice Department (DoJ).
All the six men — Yuriy Sergeyevich Andrienko, Sergey Vladimirovich Detistov, Pavel Valeryevich Frolov, Anatoliy Sergeyevich Kovalev, Artem Valeryevich Ochichenko, and Petr Nikolayevich Pliskin — have been charged with seven counts of conspiracy to conduct computer fraud and abuse, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, damaging protected computers, and aggravated identity theft.
"The object of the conspiracy was to deploy destructive malware and take other disruptive actions, for the strategic benefit of Russia, through unauthorized access ('hacking') of victim computers," the prosecutors said.
"In furtherance of the conspiracy, Andrienko, Detistov, Frolov, Kovalev, Ochichenko, Pliskin, and others known and unknown to the grand jury procured, maintained, and utilized servers, email accounts, malicious mobile applications, and related hacking infrastructure to engage in spear-phishing campaigns and other network intrusion methods against computers used by the victims."
Five years ago, Russian hackers belonging to Sandworm (aka APT28, Telebots, Voodoo Bear or Iron Viking) group attacked Ukraine's power grid, Ministry of Finance, and State Treasury Service using malware such as BlackEnergy, Industroyer, and KillDisk, before embarking on a spree of destructive cyberattacks — including unleashing NotPetya in 2017 and targeting the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics with phishing campaigns and "Olympic Destroyer" malware.
The six individuals have been accused of developing components for NotPetya, Olympic Destroyer, KillDisk malware, as well as preparing spear-phishing campaigns directed against the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, resulting in damage and disruption to computer networks across France, Georgia, the Netherlands, Republic of Korea, Ukraine, the UK, and the US.
"For example, the NotPetya malware impaired Heritage Valley's provision of critical medical services to citizens of the Western District of Pennsylvania through its two hospitals, 60 offices, and 18 community satellite facilities," the DoJ said. "The attack caused the unavailability of patient lists, patient history, physical examination files, and laboratory records."
"Heritage Valley lost access to its mission-critical computer systems (such as those relating to cardiology, nuclear medicine, radiology, and surgery) for approximately one week and administrative computer systems for almost one month, thereby causing a threat to public health and safety," it added.
The total damages brought about by NotPetya is pegged to more than $10 billion to date, crippling several multinational companies like Maersk, Merck, FedEx's TNT Express, Saint-Gobain, Mondelēz, and Reckitt Benckiser.
In a similar development, the UK government also formally accused the GRU of perpetrating cyber reconnaissance against officials and organizations at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games earlier this summer before they were postponed next year due to COVID-19.
This is not the first time GRU has come under the DoJ scanner. Two years back, the US government charged seven officers working for the military intelligence agency for conducting sophisticated computer intrusions against US entities as part of an influence and disinformation campaign designed to counter anti-doping efforts.
| Cyber_Attack |
Targeted Ransomware Attacks Hit Several Spanish Companies | https://thehackernews.com/2019/11/everis-spain-ransomware-attack.html | Everis, one of the largest IT consulting companies in Spain, suffered a targeted ransomware attack on Monday, forcing the company to shut down all its computer systems until the issue gets resolved completely.
Ransomware is a computer virus that encrypts files on an infected system until a ransom is paid.
According to several local media, Everis informed its employees about the devastating widespread ransomware attack, saying:
"We are suffering a massive virus attack on the Everis network. Please keep the PCs off. The network has been disconnected with clients and between offices. We will keep you updated."
"Please, urgently transfer the message directly to your teams and colleagues due to standard communication problems."
According to cybersecurity consultant Arnau Estebanell Castellví, the malware encrypted files on Everis's computers with an extension name resembling the company's name, i.e., ".3v3r1s," which suggests the attack was highly targeted.
At this moment, it's unknown which specific ransomware family was used to target the company, but the attackers behind the attack reportedly demanded €750,000 (~USD 835,000) in ransom for the decryptor, a company insider informed bitcoin.es site.
However, considering the highly targeted nature of the attack, the founder of VirusTotal in a tweet suggests the type of ransomware could be BitPaymer/IEncrypt, the same malware that was recently found exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in Apple's iTunes and iCloud software.
Here's the ransomware message that was displayed on the screens of the infected computers across the company:
Hi Everis, your network was hacked and encrypted.
No free decryption software is available on the web.
Email us at [email protected] or [email protected] to get the ransom amount.
Keep our contacts safe.
Disclosure can lead to the impossibility of decryption.
What's more? It seems like Everis is not the only company that suffered a ransomware attack this morning.
Some other Spanish and European companies have reportedly also been hit by a similar ransomware malware during the same period, of which the national radio network La Cadena SER has confirmed the cyber attack.
"The SER chain has suffered this morning an attack of a computer virus of the ransomware type, file encrypter, which has had a serious and widespread affectation of all its computer systems," the company said.
"Following the protocol established in cyberattacks, the SER has seen the need to disconnect all its operating computer systems."
The company has also informed that its "technicians are already working for the progressive recovery of the local programming of each of their stations."
At the time of writing, it's unclear if the hackers behind these ransomware attacks are the same, how the malware infiltrated the companies in the first place and did it contain wormable capabilities to successfully spread itself across the network.
Though it's unconfirmed, some people familiar with the incident also suspect attackers might have used the BlueKeep RDP vulnerability to compromise the company's servers, whose first mass exploitation activity was spotted in the wild just yesterday in a separate campaign.
The Hacker News is in contact with some of the targeted company's employees and will update you with more information about the incident shortly.
Meanwhile, the Spanish Department of Homeland Security has also issued a warning about the ongoing cyber attack and recommended users to follow basic security practices like keeping their systems updated and having a proper backup of their important data.
| Cyber_Attack |
Microsoft Warns of New Unpatched Windows Print Spooler Vulnerability | https://thehackernews.com/2021/07/microsoft-warns-of-new-unpatched.html | Microsoft on Thursday shared fresh guidance on yet another vulnerability affecting the Windows Print Spooler service, stating that it's working to address it in an upcoming security update.
Tracked as CVE-2021-34481 (CVSS score: 7.8), the issue concerns a local privilege escalation flaw that could be abused to perform unauthorized actions on the system. The company credited security researcher Jacob Baines for discovering and reporting the bug.
"An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when the Windows Print Spooler service improperly performs privileged file operations. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges," the Windows maker said in its advisory. "An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights."
However, it's worth pointing out that successful exploitation of the vulnerability requires the attacker to have the ability to execute code on a victim system. In other words, this vulnerability can only be exploited locally to gain elevated privileges on a device.
As workarounds, Microsoft is recommending users to stop and disable the Print Spooler service to prevent malicious actors from exploiting the vulnerability.
The development comes days after the Redmond-based firm rolled out patches to address a critical shortcoming in the same component that it disclosed as being actively exploited to stage in-the-wild attacks, making it the third printer-related flaw to come to light in recent weeks.
Dubbed PrintNightmare (CVE-2021-34527), the vulnerability stems from a missing permission check in the Print Spooler that enables the installation of malicious print drivers to achieve remote code execution or local privilege escalation on vulnerable systems.
However, it later emerged that the out-of-band security update could be entirely bypassed under specific conditions to gain both local privilege escalation and remote code execution. Microsoft has since said the fixes are "working as designed and is effective against the known printer spooling exploits and other public reports collectively being referred to as PrintNightmare."
| Vulnerability |
KRBanker Malware Targeting Korean Financial Institutions | https://thehackernews.com/2013/06/krbanker-malware-targeting-korean.html | A recently discovered piece of malware called KRBanker (Korea + Banker = KRBanker) , targeting mostly online end-users at Korean financial institutions.
According to nProtect, now an invasive banking Trojan, the new and improved KRBanker can block anti-virus software, security websites and even other malware in its quest to steal user information and share it with hackers.
Then the malware pings back to the command and control (C&C) server with infection status and then the malware proceeds to download encrypted files on the victim's PC.
In the latest variant of the KRBanker malware, scans the PC for lists of DLLs that are related to Korean financial institutions, security software and patches any opcode instructions.
Malware instructed to insert the malicious code that will search and collect any information related to password, account details, and transaction history. Once logged, the compiled information is then sent to a remote server.
KRBanker will also collect digital certificates in the PC's NPKI directory. These unique digital certificates used both by individuals and corporate are normally used for all financial purposes such as banking, credit card, insurance, and more.
The hacker will collect digital certificates, password, account details, and screenshot information to gain fraudulent access to the victim's account.
After discovering KRBanker, which is distributed worldwide but concentrated mainly in Korea, nProtect Online Security quickly update their antivirus solution to defend against this malware.
| Malware |
Another Facebook Quiz App Left 120 Million Users' Data Exposed | https://thehackernews.com/2018/06/facebook-users-data-leak.html | People are still getting over the most controversial data scandal of the year, i.e., Cambridge Analytica scandal, and Facebook is under fire yet again after it emerges that a popular quiz app on the social media platform exposed the private data of up to 120 million users for years.
Facebook was in controversies earlier this year over a quiz app that sold data of 87 million users to a political consultancy firm, who reportedly helped Donald Trump win the US presidency in 2016.
Now, a different third-party quiz app, called NameTests, found exposing data of up to 120 million Facebook users to anyone who happened to find it, an ethical hacker revealed.
NameTests[.]com, the website behind popular social quizzes, like "Which Disney Princess Are You?" that has around 120 million monthly users, uses Facebook's app platform to offer a fast way to sign up.
Just like any other Facebook app, signing up on the NameTests website using their app allows the company to fetch necessary information about your profile from the Facebook, with consent naturally.
However, Inti De Ceukelaire, a bug bounty hunter and hacker, found that the popular quiz website is leaking logged-in user's detail to the other websites opened in the same browser, allowing any malicious website to obtain that data easily.
In a Medium post published yesterday, Ceukelaire said he liked to participate in the Data Abuse Bounty Program that Facebook recently launched in the wake of Cambridge Analytica scandal. So, he started looking at the apps his friends on Facebook had installed.
Ceukelaire then decided to take his first quiz through the NameTests app, and as he started taking a closer look on the test process, he noticed that the website was fetching his personal information from "https://nametests[.]com/appconfig_user" and display it on its website.
Ceukelaire was shocked when he saw his personal data in a JavaScript file that could easily be accessed by virtually any website when they would request it.
What Was the Flaw? How It Leaked Users' Data?
This issue was due to a simple yet severe flaw in NameTests website that appears to have existed since the end of 2016.
Storing user data in JavaScript file caused the website to leak data to other websites, which is otherwise not possible due to browser's Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) policy that prevents a website from reading the content of other websites without their explicit permission.
As a proof of concept, Ceukelaire developed a malicious website that would connect to NameTests to mine the data of visitors using the app. Using a simple bit of code, he was able to harvest the names, photos, posts, pictures, and friends lists of anyone taking part in the quiz.
The vigilant hacker also made a video as a proof of his findings, demonstrating how the NameTests website revealed your personal data even after deleting the app.
Ceukelaire reported the flaw via Facebook's Data Abuse Bounty Program on April 22, and over a month later the social media informed him that it could take three to six months to investigate the issue.
Over two months after initially reporting the issue to Facebook, Ceukelaire noticed that NameTests has fixed the issue, and told him it had found no evidence of abuse of the exposed data by any third party.
On 27th June, Facebook contacted Ceukelaire and informed him that NameTests had fixed the issue, and at his request, donated $8,000 to the Freedom of the Press Foundation as part of its Data Abuse Bounty Program.
German company Social Sweethearts, who is behind NameTests, claims to have more than 250 million registered users and have reached more than 3 billion page views per month.
The latest incident shows that, even after the social media giant changed its conditions for apps to access data on its platform back in 2015, Facebook failed to adequately police such apps that have access to substantial amounts of personal data on its platform.
| Data_Breaches |
WhatsApp vulnerability can be misused for Spreading Malware | https://thehackernews.com/2012/09/whatsapp-vulnerability-can-be-misused.html | A Cross site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in WhatsApp website reported to The Hacker News by Edgard Chammas. WhatsApp is one of the most famous cross-platform mobile messaging app for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone and Nokia used to send text, video, images, audio b/w Whatsapp users.
Cross-site scripting (XSS) is a type of computer security vulnerability typically found in Web applications, such as web browsers through breaches of browser security, that enables attackers to inject client-side script into Web pages viewed by other users.
Reported vulnerability exist on payment procedure page as shown in above picture. The Sample code given below to demonstrate the vulnerability.
Recently, there has been an increase in web malware and spam activities and such vulnerabilities can be misused by attackers to spread Malwares and rogue applications.
Edgard also demonstrate that How this can be used to trick users to download a fake application (Malware - WhatsApp.apk) from other any evil domain (www.evilwebsite/WhatsApp.apk). in below given example, attacker just using a pop-up window to open fake application download link.
While the official binary is here https://www.whatsapp.com/android/current/WhatsApp.apk
According to reports in 2012 mobile malwares are 50 times increases than previous ever. We request Whatsapp team to fix the vulnerability as soon as possible.
| Vulnerability |
New XSS Vulnerability found on Sony PlayStation by c7-elixir - The C7 Crew | https://thehackernews.com/2011/06/new-xss-vulnerability-found-on-sony.html | New XSS Vulnerability found on Sony PlayStation by c7-elixir - The C7 Crew
YES ! Sony is still Vulnerable to various bugs like XSS. Today a hacker c7-elixir from The C7 Crew has expose new XSS attack on Sony PlayStation's Website as shown. Sony got hacked 20 times in last two months by number of hackers from all over world. One more REQUEST to Sony : FIX IT BOSS !
Vulnerable Link
| Vulnerability |
iPhone iOS 7.0.2 Sim Lock Screen Bypass vulnerability | https://thehackernews.com/2013/10/iphone-ios-702-sim-lock-screen-bypass_8.html | If you're unlucky enough to lose your Smartphone or have it stolen, anyone who finds the device will also be able to access any content stored on the device, whether its contacts, music or documents.
But by implementing a SIM card PIN lock, everytime the device is powered down and subsequently switch back on again, the PIN will need to enter before the phone can be used.
Security Researcher - Benjamin Kunz Mejri from Vulnerability Laboratory claimed that he found a new vulnerability in the iOS v7.0.1 & v7.0.2, that allows a hacker to bypass the Sim lock Mode.
In a Proof of Concept video, he demonstrates that how an attacker can bypass the restricted section of the iPhone, when Sim Lock is enabled on a Stolen iPhone Device.
Flaw can be exploited without user interaction and successful exploitation results in the bypass of the SIM lock mode to the regular lock mode.
Follow Steps to bypass SIM Lock on stolen Devices:
Turn on your iPhone and ensure you have the iOS v7.0.1 or 7.0.2 installed and Sim Lock mode is activated.
You will see a black notification in the middle of the display - SIM Locked.
Open the Calendar, and scroll down to the two hyperlinks.
Press the Power button and wait 2 seconds and then press one of the two hyperlinks.
You will be redirected via hyperlink, because of the restriction to the passcode SIM lock.
Press Power button again for 3 seconds and then press the Home button
Click cancel again in the shutdown menu but hold the Home button.
Open up the Control center and go to the calculator. Now a message box appears automatically with the SIM lock
Press the shutdown button for 3 seconds + Unlock Key + Home button.
The Passcode screen will pop up, but you will be again redirected to Calculator.
Now again press the Power button for 3 seconds the and then press Cancel, at last press the Home button one time.
The Restricted Sim Lock Screen will disappear.
This flaw does not cover Regular Passcode bypass. For that attacker need to use other ways. Shortly after the iOS 7 release date earlier this month, users discovered a lock screen flaw that allowed users to use a simple exploit in order to view private details on the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.
Apple worked quickly to fix the issue and rolled out iOS 7.0.2, an update aimed at adding Greek keyboard support and tackling the lock screen security flaw. But Just after that another Screen Lock Bypass bug appeared on the Internet. The growing number of iOS 7.0.2 problems are now frustrating iPhone and iPad users.
| Vulnerability |
Hacking Millions with Just an Image — Recipe: Pixels, Ads & Exploit Kit | https://thehackernews.com/2016/12/image-exploit-hacking.html | If you have visited any popular mainstream website over the past two months, your computer may have been infected — Thanks to a new exploit kit discovered by security researchers.
Researchers from antivirus provider ESET released a report on Tuesday stating that they have discovered an exploit kit, dubbed Stegano, hiding malicious code in the pixels of banner advertisements that are currently in rotation on several high profile news websites.
Stegano originally dates back to 2014, but since early October this year, cyber crooks had managed to get the malicious ads displayed on a variety of unnamed reputable news websites, each with Millions of daily visitors.
Stegano derived from the word Steganography, which is a technique of hiding messages and content inside a digital graphic image, making the content impossible to spot with the naked eye.
In this particular malvertising campaign, operators hide malicious code inside transparent PNG image's Alpha Channel, which defines the transparency of each pixel, by altering the transparency value of several pixels.
The malvertising campaign operators then packed the altered image as an advertisement and managed to display those malicious ads on several high-profile websites.
According to the researchers, the malicious ads promote applications called "Browser Defense" and "Broxu," and the methodology makes it tough for ad networks to detect.
Here's How the Stegano Attack Works:
Once a user visits a site hosting malicious advertisement, the malicious script embedded in the ad reports information about the victim's computer to the attacker's remote server without any user interaction.
The malicious code then uses the CVE-2016-0162 vulnerability in Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) browser in order to scan the target computer to see if it is running on a malware analyst's machine.
After verifying the targeted browser, the malicious script redirects the browser to a website that hosts Flash Player exploits for three now-patched Adobe Flash vulnerabilities: CVE-2015-8651, CVE-2016-1019, and CVE-2016-4117.
"Upon successful exploitation, the executed shell code collects information on installed security products and performs – as paranoid as the cybercriminals behind this attack – yet another check to verify that it is not being monitored," ESET researchers wrote in a blog post. "If results are favorable, it will attempt to download the encrypted payload from the same server again, disguised as a gif image."
When downloaded to the victim's computer, the encrypted payload is then decrypted and launched via regsvr32.exe or rundll32.exe in Microsoft Windows.
Just Visit a Site, and You'll be Hacked in Just 2-3 Sec
Below is an ESET infographic that explains the working of Stegano's exploit attack:
All the above operations execute automatically without any user interactions and takes place in the span of just 2-3 seconds.
So far, the Stegano exploit kit has pushed various trojan downloaders, the Ursnif and Ramnit banking trojans, backdoors, spyware, and file stealers.
The Stegano exploit kit was initially used in 2014 to target people in the Netherlands, and then in 2015, moved on to residents in the Czech Republic. The latest attack campaign is targeting people in Canada, the UK, Australia, Spain, and Italy.
The best way to protect yourself against any malvertising campaign is always to make sure you are running updated software and apps. Also use reputed antivirus software that can detect such threats before they infect your system.
| Malware |
Hook Analyser Malware Tool Released | https://thehackernews.com/2011/09/hook-analyser-malware-tool-released.html | Hook Analyser Malware Tool Released
Hook analyser is a hook tool which can be potentially helpful in reversing applications and analysing malware. It can hook to an API in a process and search for a pattern in memory or dump the buffer. The tool can hook to an API in a process and can do following tasks.
1. Hook to API in a process
2. Hook to API and search for pattern in memory of a process
3. Hook to API and dump buffer (memory).
Download Here
| Malware |
WordPress Pingback Vulnerability Serves DDoS attack feature | https://thehackernews.com/2012/12/wordpress-pingback-vulnerability-serves.html | Accunetix a web application security company reported vulnerabilities found in the Wordpress Pingback feature. According to report, Pingback vulnerability exists in the WordPress blogging platform that could leak information and lead to distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.
"WordPress has an XMLRPC API that can be accessed through the xmlrpc.php file. When WordPress is processing pingbacks, it's trying to resolve the source URL, and if successful, will make a request to that URL and inspect the response for a link to a certain WordPress blog post. If it finds such a link, it will post a comment on this blog post announcing that somebody mentioned this blog post in their blog." Bogdan Calin explained.
Pingback is one of three types of linkbacks, methods for Web authors to request notification when somebody links to one of their documents. This enables authors to keep track of who is linking to, or referring to their articles. Some weblog software, such as Movable Type, Serendipity, WordPress, and Telligent Community, support automatic pingbacks where all the links in a published article can be pinged when the article is published.
A new tool has been released that automates the pingback vulnerability autonomously, distributed on the software development site Github as "WordpressPingbackPortScanner" . That tool exposes the API and lets attackers scan other hosts, multiple WordPress blogs and with a specialized URL, reconfigure routers.
Tool description - "Wordpress exposes a so called Pingback API to link to other blogposts. Using this feature you can scan other hosts on the intra- or internet via this server. You can also use this feature for some kind of distributed port scanning: You can scan a single host using multiple Wordpress Blogs exposing this API."
The bug is already reported on Wordpress community, but Softpedia notice that the ticket was closed at the time after someone argued that "there are so many ways to orchestrate a DDOS attack."
All the wordpress blogs are at risk,can be heavily abused by attackers. Since the Wordpress also supports URL credentials , the attacker can use a link like https://admin:[email protected]/changeDNS.asp?newDNS=aaaa to reconfigure internal routers.
He also says that disabling the Pingback feature won't fix the solution ,the ultimate solution is a patch.
| Vulnerability |
Experian Breach: 15 Million T-Mobile Customers' Data Hacked | https://thehackernews.com/2015/10/experian-tmobile-hack.html | If you applied for financing from T-Mobile anytime between 1 September 2013 and 16 September 2015, you have been HACKED! – even if you never had T-Mobile service.
T-Mobile's credit application processor Experian was hacked, potentially exposing the highly personal information of more than 15 million people in the United States.
The stolen information includes names, addresses, phone numbers and – most unfortunately – Social Security numbers.
The massive data breach was first discovered in mid-September and has now been confirmed by T-Mobile CEO John Legere.
According to Legere, Hackers successfully obtained Millions of people's private information through Experian, one of the world's largest credit check companies that process T-Mobile's credit applications.
Both customers and people who submitted to a T-Mobile credit check (but either canceled or never activated their T-Mobile service) between September 1, 2013, and September 16, 2015, are most at risk.
Now, Hackers have their hands on two years worth of sensitive identifying information that T-Mobile uses to check credit ratings, which could possibly make the rounds on the black market.
The Stolen victims' data includes:
Residential addresses
Social Security numbers
Birth Dates
Driver's License number
Passport number
Military I.D. numbers
and more
Some of the pilfered data was encrypted, according to Experian, which is taking responsibility for the breach. However, T-Mobile claims that the "encryption may have been compromised."
The telecommunication giant said that no credit or debit card numbers of its customers were stolen in the breach. However, one could imagine that with this trove of stolen data, anyone can easily steal someone's identity without trying too terribly hard.
Why Losing a Social Security Number is more dangerous than Losing a Payment Card?
It sounds good to ears hearing that hackers did not access credit or debit card numbers during the data breach, but losing your Social Security number is actually worse than losing your payment cards.
If hackers make use of your credit or debit card, you have a good option to stop them – Report fraudulent purchases when you see your bill.
You hardly lose anything, as you'll get your money back as well as your financial institution will send you a new payment card.
But once your Social Security number stolen, Hackers can screw you up because, you can almost never change your Social Security number.
Identity thieves can apply for credit cards and run up debt in your name. They can ruin your credit score, even before you come to know that your information is stolen and is misused.
The more worrisome part is that there's not a whole lot victims can do to prevent further damage beyond one thing: Freeze your credit report.
This incident marks the latest high-profile data breach and adds itself to the list that includes OPM losing 4 million federal workers' personal data, health insurer Excellus losing 10 million health records exposed and last year's Target and Home Depot data breach.
T-Mobile is very Angry
Legere said he is reviewing T-Mobile's relationship with the company as a result of the massive breach.
"Obviously I am incredibly angry about this data breach, and we will institute a thorough review of our relationship with Experian, but right now my top concern and first focus is assisting any and all consumers affected."
T-Mobile and Experian are offering two years of free credit monitoring to their affected customers. Now, let's wait and watch how worse this hack goes.
| Data_Breaches |
Popular Malware Families Using 'Process Doppelgänging' to Evade Detection | https://thehackernews.com/2019/07/process-doppelganging-malware.html | The fileless code injection technique called Process Doppelgänging is actively being used by not just one or two but a large number of malware families in the wild, a new report shared with The Hacker News revealed.
Discovered in late 2017, Process Doppelgänging is a fileless variation of Process Injection technique that takes advantage of a built-in Windows function to evade detection and works on all modern versions of Microsoft Windows operating system.
Process Doppelgänging attack works by utilizing a Windows feature called Transactional NTFS (TxF) to launch a malicious process by replacing the memory of a legitimate process, tricking process monitoring tools and antivirus into believing that the legitimate process is running.
Few months after the disclosure of this technique, a variant of the SynAck ransomware became the first-ever malware exploiting the Process Doppelgänging technique, targeting users in the United States, Kuwait, Germany, and Iran.
Shortly after that, researchers discovered a dropper (loader) for the Osiris banking trojan that was also using this technique in combination with a previously discovered similar malware evasion technique called Process Hollowing.
Now, turns out that it was not just SynAck or Osiris, but more than 20 different malware families—including FormBook, LokiBot, SmokeLoader, AZORult, NetWire, njRat, Pony stealer, and GandCrab ransomware—have been using malware loaders that leverage this hybrid implementation of Process Doppelgänging attack to evade detection.
After analysing hundreds of malware samples, security researchers at enSilo discovered at least seven distinct versions of such loader, which they dubbed "TxHollower," used by various malware authors.
"Attackers are known to reuse resources and tools in their attack chains, most notable are droppers, packers, and loaders. It highlights that shared components and code make tracking and attributing various groups even more complicated," researchers said.
Researchers believe TxHollower loaders are available to cybercriminals through some offensive framework or exploit kit, eventually increasing the use of process doppelgänging-like techniques in-the-wild.
The earliest sample of the loader with TxHollower feature was used in March 2018 to distribute Netwire RAT, and then later also found bundled with multiple GandCrab versions, starting with v5 and going all the way to v5.2.
Besides this, researchers at enSilo also found a few samples wrapped in an additional layer such as MSI files and in some cases, loaders were nested with each other.
"While we didn't observe the actual infections, we were able to find a few samples we suspect to be related to the infection chain like downloaders and droppers of TxHollower. The type of files include PE executables, JavaScript and documents," the researchers said.
To learn more about how the Process Doppelgänging attack technique works, you can read the previous article we published in 2017, and if you want to know more about various versions of TxHollower loader, you can head straight on to enSilo blog post published today.
| Malware |
Top 12 Security Flaws Russian Spy Hackers Are Exploiting in the Wild | https://thehackernews.com/2021/05/top-11-security-flaws-russian-spy.html | Cyber operatives affiliated with the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) have switched up their tactics in response to previous public disclosures of their attack methods, according to a new advisory jointly published by intelligence agencies from the U.K. and U.S. Friday.
"SVR cyber operators appear to have reacted [...] by changing their TTPs in an attempt to avoid further detection and remediation efforts by network defenders," the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said.
These include the deployment of an open-source tool called Sliver to maintain their access to compromised victims as well as leveraging the ProxyLogon flaws in Microsoft Exchange servers to conduct post-exploitation activities.
The development follows the public attribution of SVR-linked actors to the SolarWinds supply-chain attack last month. The adversary is also tracked under different monikers, such as Advanced Persistent Threat 29 (APT29), the Dukes, CozyBear, and Yttrium.
The attribution was also accompanied by a technical report detailing five vulnerabilities that the SVR's APT29 group was using as initial access points to infiltrate U.S. and foreign entities.
CVE-2018-13379 - Fortinet FortiGate VPN
CVE-2019-9670 - Synacor Zimbra Collaboration Suite
CVE-2019-11510 - Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure VPN
CVE-2019-19781 - Citrix Application Delivery Controller and Gateway
CVE-2020-4006 - VMware Workspace ONE Access
"The SVR targets organisations that align with Russian foreign intelligence interests, including governmental, think-tank, policy and energy targets, as well as more time bound targeting, for example COVID-19 vaccine targeting in 2020," the NCSC said.
This was followed by a separate guidance on April 26 that shed more light on the techniques used by the group to orchestrate intrusions, counting password spraying, exploiting zero-day flaws against virtual private network appliances (e.g., CVE-2019-19781) to obtain network access, and deploying a Golang malware called WELLMESS to plunder intellectual property from multiple organizations involved in COVID-19 vaccine development.
Now according to the NCSC, seven more vulnerabilities have been added into the mix, while noting that APT29 is likely to "rapidly" weaponize recently released public vulnerabilities that could enable initial access to their targets.
CVE-2019-1653 - Cisco Small Business RV320 and RV325 Routers
CVE-2019-2725 - Oracle WebLogic Server
CVE-2019-7609 - Kibana
CVE-2020-5902 - F5 Big-IP
CVE-2020-14882 - Oracle WebLogic Server
CVE-2021-21972 - VMware vSphere
CVE-2021-26855 - Microsoft Exchange Server
"Network defenders should ensure that security patches are applied promptly following CVE announcements for products they manage," the agency said.
| Vulnerability |
'DeathRing' Chinese Malware Found Pre-Installed On Several Smartphones | https://thehackernews.com/2014/12/Mobile-Malware-Security.html | Malware authors are trying hard to create malicious software with more innovative ways to infect victims. A new mobile Trojan horse infection has been discovered by security researchers that comes pre-loaded onto low-cost Chinese-made Android smartphones popular in Asia and Africa.
The trojan, dubbed DeathRing, is a Chinese Trojan that masquerades as a ringtone app and comes pre-installed onto some cheap Android smartphones most popular in Asian and African countries including Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Nigeria, Taiwan, and China.
DeathRing malware app cannot be uninstalled or removed by the end user or by antimalware software because it comes pre-installed in the system directory of the handsets at an unknown point within the supply chain, making the threat even more severe.
WHAT DOES DEATHRING DO?
Though the malware pretends to be a genuine ringtone app, but actually downloads SMS and WAP content from its command-and-control server to the victim's handset, which gives it potential to phish user's sensitive data through fake text messages.
"DeathRing might use SMS content to phish victim's personal information by fake text messages requesting the desired data," the security firm LookOut wrote in a blog post. "It may also use WAP, or browser, content to prompt victims to download further APKs - concerning given that the malware authors could be tricking people into downloading further malware that extends the adversary's reach into the victim's device and data."
AFFECTED SMARTPHONE HANDSETS
DeathRing malware pre-loaded on a number of entry-level phones sold by third-tier manufacturers to developing countries and according to the security firm, the handsets affected are:
Counterfeit Samsung GS4/Note II
A variety of TECNO devices
Gionee Gpad G1
Gionee GN708W
Gionee GN800
Polytron Rocket S2350
Hi-Tech Amaze Tab
Karbonn TA-FONE A34/A37
Jiayu G4S – Galaxy S4 clones,
Haier H7
a i9502+ Samsung clone by an unspecified manufacturer
However, DeathRing is not the first pre-installed mobile malware spotted by the firm. Earlier this year, LookOut discovered another pre-loaded piece of malware called Mouabad on devices sold by retailers in China, India, and the Philippines. Similar to DeathRing, Mouabad is also somewhere pre-loaded in the supply chain and affected predominantly Asian countries.
| Malware |
Microsoft Releases 9 Security Updates to Patch 34 Vulnerabilities | https://thehackernews.com/2016/08/windows-patch-updates.html | In Brief
Microsoft's August Patch Tuesday offers nine security bulletins with five rated critical, resolving 34 security vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer (IE), Edge, and Office, as well as some serious high-profile security issues with Windows.
A security bulletin, MS16-102, patches a single vulnerability (CVE-2016-3319) that could allow an attacker to control your computer just by getting you to view specially-crafted PDF content in your web browser.
Users of Microsoft Edge on Windows 10 systems are at a significant risk for remote code execution (RCE) attacks through a malicious PDF file.
Web Page with PDF Can Hack Your Windows Computer
Since Edge automatically renders PDF content when the browser is set as a default browser, this vulnerability only affects Windows 10 users with Microsoft Edge set as the default browser, as the exploit would execute by simply by viewing a PDF online.
Web browsers for all other affected operating systems do not automatically render PDF content, so an attacker would have to convince users into opening a specially crafted PDF file, typically via an email or instant message, Microsoft said in its advisory.
Once exploited, the flaw corrupts memory, allowing a hacker to run malicious code with the same privileges as the user. All the hacker needs is to either lure victims to a website containing a malicious PDF or add an infected PDF file to a website that accepts user-provided content.
While this vulnerability has not been publicly disclosed nor seen in any attacked, it is expected to be an attractive attack vector for hackers.
Other Critical Bugs can Take Complete Control of Your PC
A separate critical update for Edge listed in MS16-096 patches five remote code execution (RCE) flaws and three information disclosure bugs.
The company also released its monthly cumulative security update, MS16-095, for Internet Explorer (IE), patching nine vulnerabilities that can be exploited by a malicious web page to pull off remote code execution through memory corruption bug or disclose information about the system.
Another critical update includes Microsoft Office Patch MS16-099 that addresses four memory corruption bugs in Office that can be exploited by booby-trapped documents remotely to execute malicious code on a victim's system, taking full control of the victim machines.
The update also includes a patch for an information disclosure hole in Microsoft OneNote, which discloses memory contents and information that could be used to compromise a machine.
In addition to Windows versions of Office going back to Office 2007, Microsoft is also releasing a patch for Office for Mac 2011 and 2016.
The final critical bulletin, MS16-097, patches three Remote Code Execution flaws in the font handling library of Microsoft Graphics Component found in Windows, Office, Skype for Business and Lync that can be exploited by a malicious web page or an Office document.
For the second time, the technology giant also released a security update for Secure Boot. Rated important, MS16-100, the update patches a security feature bypass vulnerability that occurs when Secure Boot loads a vulnerable (install a hidden bootkit or rootkit) boot manager.
This designing flaw has been fixed in all supported versions of Windows and Windows Server.
Other important bulletins address vulnerabilities that lead to man-in-the-middle attacks on Windows and Windows Server, an information disclosure vulnerability in the Universal Outlook component for Windows 10, and four elevation of privilege flaws in kernel-mode drivers for Windows Vista through Windows 10 and Windows Server 2008 and 2012.
The company has also issued Cumulative Updates (KB3176493, KB3176495, KB3176492) for Windows 10 users, so those who have upgraded their systems to the Microsoft's new operating system should install the updates as soon as possible.
Users are advised to patch their system and software as soon as possible.
| Vulnerability |
Lessons We Learned From Ashley Madison Data Breach | https://thehackernews.com/2015/07/ashley-madison-hack.html | Do you use your Real Identity online and think about being private? If yes, then you are insane.
Ashley Madison, the popular online dating website with tagline "Life is short. Have an affair", recently got hacked, reportedly exposing a sample of its users' account information and other personal data online.
The hacker group, called itself 'The Impact Team', is also threatening to release the real names and all associated data of its 37 Million cheating customers.
There are also rumors that the team could sell the stolen data for lots of money, instead of revealing it all for free.
This isn't first time when the customers of online hooking site are scared of being exposed, two months ago the sex life of almost 4 Million users of Adult Friend Finder was made available on underground market for sale for 70 Bitcoins ($16,800).
Lesson we Learned from These Hacks
The Ashley Madison hack raises serious questions about what these companies are doing to ensure the security of their users' and employees' personal information.
Just go in flashback, OPM (Office of Personnel Management), Sony Pictures Entertainment, Target, Anthem, Home Depot, Neiman Marcus, and many in the list – they all were compromised and lost the very protected users' sensitive data.
This indicates nothing is completely secure online.
No website can guarantee privacy of your name, credit card number, photo or any other information. One of the company's computer gets hacked, and every secret is out.
That is the reality! And you should accept it.
One thing these hacks teaches us – Never share your real name and sensitive details online, because your digital footprints are bigger than you think.
Many websites don't use encryption, indirectly inviting hackers to get into their systems and expose its users data.
Some websites use encryption that are either outdated or easily crackable.
If in case any website uses strong encryption to protect their customers data, buggy software such as Adobe Flash and Internet Explorer fills the gap, leaving the doors widely open to hackers.
Something similar was happened in the case of Ashley Madison Hack.
A privacy flaw on Ashley Madison's Password Reset form allows anyone who knows your email address to easily check whether you had registered an account on the site. Use of the site could also come back to hurt consumers in say, divorce or custody proceedings.
"If you want a presence on sites that you don't want anyone else knowing about, use an email alias not traceable back to yourself or an entirely different account altogether." Security reseacher Troy Hunt suggested.
So, avoid giving your real identity online, because The Internet is not secure and Security is just an Illusion.
| Data_Breaches |
NIST National Vulnerability Database hacked | https://thehackernews.com/2013/03/nist-national-vulnerability-database.html | The U.S. government repository of standards based vulnerability management website National Vulnerability Database (NVD) was hacked by some unknown attacker last week.
The website of NVD (https://nvd.nist.gov/index.html) is down since Friday due to a malware infection on two web servers, discovered on Wednesday.
The main page of website reads,"The NIST National Vulnerability Database (NVD) has experienced an issue with its Web Services and is currently not available. We are working to restore service as quickly as possible. We will provide updates as soon as new information is available."
According to a post available on Google+ by Kim Halavakoski, who contacted NIST Public Inquiries Office to know about the issue,"On Friday March 8, a NIST firewall detected suspicious activity and took steps to block unusual traffic from reaching the Internet. NIST began investigating the cause of the unusual activity and the servers were taken offline. Malware was discovered on two NIST Web servers and was then traced to a software vulnerability."
Currently there is no evidence that NVD or any other NIST public pages contained or were used to deliver malware to users of these NIST Web sites, he added.
Team is working as quickly to online the website again as soon as possible.
| Malware |
New Internet Explorer zero-day, Can trigger malware automatically | https://thehackernews.com/2012/10/new-internet-explorer-zero-day-can.html | The new zero day exploit has been discovered and being exploited in the wild. This can be used to load malicious application on victim machines running fully patched Windows XP SP3 along with the latest editions of the IE 7 and IE 8 browser and Adobe's Flash software.
Eric Romang was examining one of the servers used to launch attacks on vulnerable Java installations in past, and he says that he has found a new zero day exploit for Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser. He said, "I can confirm, the zero-day season is really not over yet."
AlienVault Labs researcher Jaime Blasco reported that, "the gang behind the Java attacks in August and September may be moving on: with domains used in that attack located at new IP addresses and serving up the new and more potent attacks."
As shown in above image example, the file exploit.html creates the initial vector to exploit the vulnerability and loads the flash file Moh2010.swf, which is a flash file encrypted using DoSWF. The Flash file is in charge of doing the heap spray. Then it loads Protect.html.
There results also shows that this zero day attack is being used in attacks that install the Poison Ivy Trojan. Metasploit has released a working exploit for this Zero-day.
Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter via email - Be First to know about Security and Hackers. or Join our Huge Hackers Community on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.
| Vulnerability |
Xiaomi Data Breach — "Exposing Xiaomi" Talk Pulled from Hacking Conference | https://thehackernews.com/2014/10/xiaomi-data-breach-hacker.html | China's number one — and the world's 3rd largest — smartphone manufacturer, Xiaomi, which is trying to make inroads into India's booming mobile phone market, was found secretly sending users' personal data, including IMEI numbers, phone numbers and text messages to the web servers back to Beijing in China.
INDIA AND TAIWAN vs XIAOMI
This issue raised higher concerns across many countries, proactively in India, Singapore and Taiwan.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) — among the largest in the world — warned its employees and their belongings that their private information was being shipped over to servers in China, and asked them to avoid using Xiaomi smartphones due to security risk.
Taiwanese Government underlined similar concerns before Xiaomi's launch in India. Xiaomi is facing an investigation in Taiwan for alleged cyber security threat, as a result of which last month the Taiwanese government decided to ban the company due to several privacy controversies.
When it comes to sales, Xiaomi's Mi3 and RedMi 1S have lately been redefining the term 'Flash Sales' with a recorded sales of 90,000 units in just 12 seconds. So, you can imagine the total Xiaomi statistics of Xiaomi.
TAIWANESE RESEARCHER TO EXPOSE XIAOMI AT HACKER CONFERENCE
Meanwhile, an independent Taiwanese Security Expert came up with another bad news for Chinese Xiaomi Mobile company, as he claimed to have found zero-day vulnerability in Xiaomi website that allowed him to obtain credentials of millions of Xiaomi accounts and logs from the servers.
Taiwanese Researcher allegedly planned to reveal Xiaomi zero-day vulnerability and his investigative researcher at Asia's biggest hackers conference, Ground Zero Summit (G0S) 2014 this November; with his session titled - "Privacy-Alert: Exposing China-based XIAOMI Mobiles".
As shown in the above screenshot, paper abstract mentioned on the website says, "In this session Taiwanese Researcher will demonstrate how Xiaomi Phones have been sending device data and personal data of Xiaomi Phone user to Chinese Servers. The Researcher will also release Server Logs, Mi Account username, Emails and passwords of millions of Xiaomi users which have been obtained using a Zero Day flaw in the Xiaomi Servers."
But after getting selected as a speaker for the conference, reportedly the talk has been pulled out from the conference within a day.
In a mail, the 'Ground Zero Summit' organizer told The Hacker News that 'Privacy-Alert: Exposing China-based XIAOMI Mobiles' session has been withheld till the time Xiaomi investigates the data breach and accusations made by the researcher. According to the paper, the vulnerability could have been utilized by anyone to convey a data and privacy breach.
DATA BREACH AT XIAOMI
Xiaomi devices provide 'Mi Account' to its customers through which users gain access to their Mi Cloud, Mi Talk, MIUI Forum, Mi Market and other Xiaomi services. These online Xiaomi Mi Accounts store users' personal information including mobile numbers, email addresses and account credentials.
Xiaomi website zero-day vulnerability and Taiwanese Researcher' session at G0S Conference also raises concern about the security of the data of millions of users linked to their Xiaomi's Mi Cloud account.
The researcher contacted The Hacker News team and provided partial database of a few thousands of Xiaomi users, which confirmed that the millions of Xiaomi Mi accounts has already been compromised.
Anyone with Xiaomi account credential can remotely locate, ring, lock and wipe up your phone data easily. Xiaomi mobile users are recommended to reset "Mi account" password immediately.
XIAOMI MOVING DATA CENTER TO INDIA
After facing several privacy controversies, Xiaomi said today that it plans to open a data center in India, away from its servers in Beijing due to performance and privacy considerations.
Just yesterday, Some newly launched Sony Xperia phones were also found secretly sending users' data to Servers in China using Baidu Spyware.
UPDATE
Here is the email statement issued by Xiaomi on the report:
We have verified that the zero-day data breach allegation made by security researcher Chen Huang and the Ground Zero Summit organizing committee is a hoax. The zero-day vulnerability reported by the cyber security researcher, Chen Huang, is a deliberate falsehood, and Xiaomi is taking the necessary legal action against the parties involved.
To date, throughout Xiaomi's history, there has only been one incident in which a two-year-old user account file was leaked in May 2014. After conducting a comprehensive investigation, we concluded that file contained information from user accounts registered before August 2012 in an old version of the Xiaomi user forum website. That information became obsolete when, in September 2012, we launched the Xiaomi Account integrated system.
In response to the incident in May 2014, we immediately requested users to change their passwords. We also announced the incident publicly via social media and to our user forums on May 14, 2014.
Chen Huang has recently threatened to expose data from the old user account file during a session at the upcoming Ground Zero Summit 2014, falsely claiming it to be data compromised through an existing vulnerability. This is a grave accusation, as we take our users' privacy very seriously, and we will seek legal action against the involved parties.
| Data_Breaches |
What is Threat Intelligence and How It Helps to Identify Security Threats | https://thehackernews.com/2015/11/what-is-cyber-threat-intelligence.html | Simply put, threat intelligence is knowledge that helps you identify security threats and make informed decisions. Threat intelligence can help you solve the following problems:
How do I keep up to date on the overwhelming amount of information on security threats…including bad actors, methods, vulnerabilities, targets, etc.?
How do I get more proactive about future security threats?
How do I inform my leaders about the dangers and repercussions of specific security threats?
Threat Intelligence: What is it?
Threat intelligence has received a lot of attention lately. While there are many different definitions, here are a few that get quoted often:
Threat intelligence is evidence-based knowledge, including context, mechanisms, indicators, implications and actionable advice, about an existing or emerging menace or hazard to assets that can be used to inform decisions regarding the subject's response to that menace or hazard. – Gartner
The set of data collected, assessed and applied regarding security threats, threat actors, exploits, malware, vulnerabilities and compromise indicators – SANS Institute
Why is everyone talking about it?
Verizon's 2015 DBIR estimated a financial loss of $400 million from 700 million compromised records, which resulted from 79,790 security incidents!
As long as security threats and breaches occur, every business will look for ways to protect their data. The threat landscape is always changing and the business risk is increasing because of our dependence on IT systems.
Threats come from internal as well as external sources. Bottom line is, organizations are under tremendous pressure to manage threats. Though information in the form of raw data is available abundantly, it is hard and time-consuming to get meaningful information based on which proactive measures can be set.
This naturally pulls more and more users towards threat intelligence as it helps to prioritize threats within the deluge of data, alerts, and attacks and provides actionable information.
The table below presents several common indicators of compromise that can be identified with threat intelligence feeds:
Category Indicators of Compromise Examples
Network
IP addresses
URLs
Domain names
Malware infections targeting internal hosts that are communicating with known bad actors
Email
Sender's email address and email subject
Attachments
Links
Phishing attempts where internal hosts click on an unsuspecting email and "phone home" to a malicious command and control server
Host-Based
Filenames and file hashes (e.g. MD5)
Registry keys
Dynamic link libraries (DLLs)
Mutex names
External attacks from hosts that might be infected themselves or are already known for nefarious activity
Threat Intelligence capabilities
Attacks can be broadly categorized as user based, application based and infrastructure based threats. Some of the most common threats are SQL injections, DDoS, web application attacks and phishing.
It is important to have an IT security solution that provides threat intelligence capabilities to manage these attacks by being both proactive and responsive.
Attackers are constantly changing their methods to challenge security systems. Therefore, it becomes inevitable for organizations to get threat intelligence from a variety of sources.
One of the proven methods to stay on top of attacks is to detect and respond to threats with a SIEM (Security Information & Event Management system).
A SIEM can be used to track everything that happens in your environment and identify anomalous activities. Isolated incidents might look unrelated, but with event correlation and threat intelligence, you can see what is actually happening in your environment.
Nowadays, IT security professionals must operate under the assumed breach mentality. Comparing monitored traffic against known bad actors sourced from threat intelligence would help in identifying malicious activities.
However, this could be manual and time-consuming. Integrating indicator based threat intelligence to a SEIM security solution would help in identifying compromised system and possibly even prevent some attacks.
Best Practices
Integrating threat intelligence and responding to attacks is not enough to combat the ever-changing threat landscape. You need to analyze the situation and determine threats you are likely to face, based on which you can come up with precautionary measures.
Here is a list of several best practices:
Have an application whitelist and blacklist. This helps in preventing execution of malicious or unapproved programs including, .DLL files, scripts and installers.
Check your logs carefully to see if an attempted attack was an isolated event, or if the vulnerability had been exploited before.
Determine what was changed in the attempted attack.
Audit logs and identify why this incident happened – reasons could range from system vulnerability to an out-of-date driver.
What will threat intelligence enabled SIEM solve
A SIEM, like SolarWinds Log & Event Manager, collects and normalizes log data from monitored traffic and automatically tags suspicious events.
With integrated threat intelligence mechanism and built-in rules, the monitored events can be compared against the list of constantly updated known bad actors.
You can quickly search & monitor for hits from the bad actors against the log data in real time and identify common indicators of compromise.
You can automatically respond with actions like blocking known bad IP addresses, in case of malicious attack attempts.
Watch how threat intelligence works in a SIEM and download your free trial of a leading SIEM from SolarWinds.
| Cyber_Attack |
Former Microsoft Engineer Gets Prison for Role in Reveton Ransomware | https://thehackernews.com/2018/08/microsoft-reveton-ransomware.html | A former Microsoft network engineer who was charged in April this year has now been sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to money laundering in connection with the Reveton ransomware.
Reveton malware is old ransomware, also known as scareware or police ransomware that instead of encrypting files locks the screen of victims' computers and displays a message purporting to come from a national law enforcement agency.
The splash screen of the malware was designed to falsely tell unsuspecting victims that they have been caught doing illegal or malicious activities online or the law enforcement had found illegal material on their computer, forcing users to make pay a "fine" of $200-300 within 48 hours to regain access to their computers.
Raymond Odigie Uadiale, 41-year-old, who worked as a Microsoft network engineer, is not the actual author of the Reveton ransomware, but he helped the Reveton distributor, residing in the UK and identified as the online moniker "K!NG," in cashing out ransom money collected from victims in the form of Green Dot MoneyPak prepaid vouchers.
Uadiale, who was a student at Florida International University at the time of his crime in 2012 and 2013, was said to have acquired MoneyPak debit cards under the fake name of Mike Roland and received payments from victims of Reveton.
Using Liberty Reserve service, Uadiale then transferred $93,640 into accounts of his unnamed co-conspirator in the United Kingdom, after keeping his 30 percent cut.
Liberty Reserve was itself closed down by US authorities in May 2013, after its creator pleaded guilty to laundering hundreds of millions of dollars through the digital currency exchange and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
In the Southern Florida US District Court on Monday, Uadiale was given an 18-month prison sentence and three years of supervised release, after he agreed to a plea agreement that dismissed the second count of substantive money laundering.
"The indictment charged Uadiale with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of substantive money laundering. As part of the plea agreement, the government dismissed the substantive count."
"By cashing out and then laundering victim payments, Raymond Uadiale played an essential role in an international criminal operation that victimized unsuspecting Americans by infecting their computers with malicious ransomware," said Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski.
Microsoft hired Uadiale as a network engineer after the conspiracy charged related to the ransomware scheme in the indictment ended.
| Cyber_Attack |
Malware Campaign Targeting BlackBerry | https://thehackernews.com/2012/08/malware-campaign-targeting-blackberry.html | Websense ThreatSeeker Network intercepted a malware campaign targeting BlackBerry customers. These fake emails state that the recipient has successfully created a BlackBerry ID.
According to Security Labs, those users who are targeted receive an email with the subject line "Your BlackBerry ID has been created." The email encourages users to follow instructions in the attached file on how to "enjoy the full benefits" of their ID.
The malware comes attached to an email that is an exact copy of the email you receive when creating a new BlackBerry ID. It teases you by asking you to download an attachment that allows you to fully appreciate the BlackBerry user experience.
Those who open the attached .zip file will drop a handful of executable files that will modify the system registry to start malware programs upon the machine's next startup.
| Malware |
A virus specialized for AutoCAD, a perfect cyber espionage tool | https://thehackernews.com/2012/06/virus-specialized-for-autocad-perfect.html | A virus specialized for AutoCAD, a perfect cyber espionage tool
In recent years we are assisting to a profoundly change in the nature of malware, it is increased the development for spy purposes, for its spread in both private and government sectors. The recent case of Flame malware has demonstrated the efficiency of a malicious agent as a gathering tool in a typical context of state-sponsored attack for cyber espionage.
Event like this represent the tip of the iceberg, every day millions of malware instances infect pc in every place in the world causing serious damages related to the leak of sensible information. Specific viruses are developed to address particular sectors and information, that is the case for example of "ACAD/Medre.A", a malware specialized in the theft of AutoCAD files. The virus has been developed to steal blueprints from private companies mostly based in Peru according the expert of the security firm ESET.
The virus is able to locate AutoCAD file on infected machines and to send them via e-mail to accounts provided by two Chinese internet firms, 163.com and qq.com.
The malware detected is written in AutoLISP, an AutoCAD scripting language, ACAD/Medre for the shipment of stolen data creates a password protected RAR-file containing the blueprints and the requisite "acad.fas" file and a ".dxf" file and send it separately by e-mail. The .DXF file generated by ACAD/Medre contains a set of information that the recipient uses to the collecting of stolen files.
The password used for the RAR file is just one character equals to "1".
Once discovered the email accounts used to transfer the stolen data the group of researcher noticed that the InBox for each of them was full, they turned out all saturated by over 100,000 mails giving an idea of the dimension of the attack.
The virus has been detected several months ago but only in the last weeks it has been observed an explosion of the number of infected systems.
The researcher Righard Zwienenberg researcher of ESET declared "It represents a serious case of industrial espionage," "Every new design is sent automatically to the operator of this malware. Needless to say this can cost the legitimate owner of the intellectual property a lot of money as the cybercriminals have access to the designs even before they go into production."
"They may even have the guts to apply for patents on the product before the inventor has registered it at the patent office."
The malware not limits its action to steal Autocad projects, it also checks the presence of Outlook email client to steal the pst file containing contacts, calendar and emails, confirming its genesis of espionage tool.
For completeness of information ESET provided a free stand-alone cleaner available for the ACAD/Medre.A worm. Every time we speak about of cyber espionage we could not think other that China, however the practice is really diffused and the fact that the accounts are related to Chinese accounts is clue but not a certainty.
It's clear that Chinese hackers are considered worldwide specialist in cyber espionage, the case of Nortel is considered a case study for the impact of cyber espionage on the business of private companies.
The Chinese government, and not only, at least a decade sponsored espionage activities for stealing trade secrets, confidential information and intellectual property of various kinds. Many experts are convinced that thanks to their ability to spy they were able, through the theft and reverse engineering of products, to clear the technological gap with the western industry.
This time the Chinese authorities have demonstrated a collaborative approach identifying and blocking the accounts used for theft. Tens of thousands of AutoCAD blueprints leaked, the team of ESET experts promptly contacted the Chinese authorities such us Tencent company, owners of the qq.com domain, and also the Chinese National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center, their collaboration was essential to access to the account blocking them.
Another lesson learnt is an efficient fight to the cybercrime must be conducted with a total collaboration of all the involved actors. Only in this way it's possible to conduct an efficient immunization
.
Written By: Pierluigi Paganini
References
[Source]
| Malware |
BlackBerry Z10 Privilege Escalation Vulnerability | https://thehackernews.com/2013/06/blackberry-z10-privilege-escalation.html | BlackBerry Z10 users should be aware that there is a privilege escalation vulnerability. The vulnerability potentially allows a hacker to modify or edit data on a stolen BlackBerry Z10 smartphone with BlackBerry Protect enabled, identified as BSRT-2013-006 (CVE-2013-3692)
According to the advisory, an escalation of privilege vulnerability exists in the software 'BlackBerry® Protect™' of Z10 phones, supposed to help users delete sensitive files on a lost or stolen smartphone, or recover it again if it is lost.
"Taking advantage of the weak permissions could allow the malicious app to gain the device password if a remote password reset command had been issued through the BlackBerry Protect website, intercept and prevent the smartphone from acting on BlackBerry Protect commands, such as a remote smartphone wipe."
The company says that version 10.0.9.2743 is not affected and that they have found no evidence of attackers exploiting this vulnerability in the wild. Furthermore, the more severe exploitation requires that an attacker has physical access to the device after its user has downloaded a maliciously crafted application.
As for the second advisory, Adobe Flash Player versions earlier than 10.0.10.648 included with Z10 are affected while versions 2.1.0.1526 on the PlayBook are impacted, identified as CVE-2013-0630.
To exploit this, the user must interact with a malicious .swf application embedded in website content or via an email attachment over webmail through a browser on one of the devices.
To avoid this vulnerability, you should update to the latest Blackberry 10 OS version.
| Vulnerability |
Adobe Flash Player Update Patches 11 Critical Vulnerabilities | https://thehackernews.com/2015/03/adobe-flash-player-update.html | After the latest Microsoft Patch Tuesday updates that came with important patches for Stuxnet and FREAK encryption-downgrade attack, now its time to update your Adobe Flash Player.
Adobe has rolled-out an update for its popular Flash Player software that patches a set of 11 critical security vulnerabilities in its program, most of which potentially allow hackers to remotely execute arbitrary code on vulnerable systems.
AFFECTED SOFTWARE
All versions prior to the latest version 17.0.0.134 of the Flash Player are affected on Windows and Mac OS X machines. Therefore, Adobe Flash Player installed with Google Chrome, as well as Internet Explorer 10 and 11 on Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, should automatically update to the newest version 17.0.0.134.
In addition, Adobe Flash Player 11.2.202.442 for Linux and Flash Player Extended Support Release 13.0.0.269 for Windows and Mac OS X are also affected by the vulnerabilities.
So, users of Flash Player on Linux should update to version 11.2.202.451 and Flash Player Extended Support Release on Windows and Mac are recommended to update to version 13.0.0.277.
REMOTE CODE EXECUTION
Total 9 Remote Code Execution vulnerabilities patches are included in the latest Adobe Flash PLayer update. An attacker could serve a specially crafted Flash file to trigger the vulnerabilities, which would lead to the execution of attacker's code in order to take control of a target system.
Most of the vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash Player have been reported by security researchers from Google's Project Zero team. Other security companies that disclosed the vulnerabilities are Hewlett-Packard, NCC Group, Intel and McAfee.
LIST OF VULNERABILITIES
The list of all the patched vulnerabilities along with their impacts is given below:
CVE-2014-0332 — Remote code execution via memory corruption vulnerability.
CVE-2015-0333 — Remote code execution via memory corruption vulnerability.
CVE-2015-0334 — Remote code execution from type confusion vulnerability.
CVE-2015-0335 — Remote code execution via memory corruption vulnerability.
CVE-2015-0336 — Remote code execution from type confusion vulnerability.
CVE-2015-0337 — A 'cross domain policy bypass' flaw.
CVE-2015-0338 — Remote code execution from integer overflow vulnerability.
CVE-2015-0339 — Remote code execution via memory corruption vulnerability.
CVE-2015-0340 — A 'File upload restriction bypass' flaw.
CVE-2015-0341 — Remote code execution from a 'use-after-free' vulnerability.
CVE-2015-0342 — Remote code execution from a 'use-after-free' vulnerability.
According to Adobe, none of the vulnerabilities are being publicly exploited in the wild thus far. However, we all know that immediately after the the release of updated versions, hackers starts exploiting these critical flaws in order to catch out people who haven't updated their machines.
Therefore users and administrators running Adobe Flash Player on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux are advised to update their software to the most recent version of the software in an attempt to protect their systems from cyber attacks.
| Vulnerability |
Possible Data Breach at Arts and Crafts Retailer 'Michaels Store' | https://thehackernews.com/2014/01/possible-data-breach-at-arts-and-crafts.html | Western landscapes are facing a hell lot of data breaches started with Target, Neiman Marcus and now country's largest crafts chain 'Michael's Art and Crafts' may be is the latest retailer hit by a security breach.
In a statement, Irving, Texas-based company acknowledged a possible data security breach that may have affected its customers' payment card information at its 1250 stores across the United States and Canada.
They also announced that it is working closely with federal law enforcement and is conducting an investigation with the help of third-party data security experts to establish the facts.
"Michaels said in its statement that it had "recently learned of possible fraudulent activity on some US payment cards that had been used at Michaels, suggesting that the company may have experienced a data security attack" company said.
CEO Chuck Rubin said that the company has not confirmed a breach, but wanted to alert customers:
We are concerned there may have been a data security attack on Michaels that may have affected our customers' payment card information and we are taking aggressive action to determine the nature and scope of the issue.
Michaels gave no additional information on the possible breach. At the time of writing, it was not known that how many customers may be involved and the possible breach affected online or in-store shoppers.
Michaels, a 37 year old chain with 1259 stores had revenue more than $4 Billion in 2012, and this is not the first time when the company has faced a data breach. In 2011, about 94,000 payment card numbers were stolen from approx 80 stores.
Michaels is the third major targeted retailer in the past month. In December, the attack on Target affected as many as 110 million customers, including 40 million credit and debit card and Neiman Marcus said a 3 month breach in the summer affected its 1.1 million customers.
The FBI has sent a three-page confidential memo to retailers and warned them to get prepared for more attacks involving "memory-parsing" malware that lives on point of sale registers (POS), which includes card-swiping machines and cash registers.
This memory-parsing malware is also referred to as a RAM scraper. The FBI mentions one particular variant of this malware, apparently called Alina, available at $6000 on underground forums.
If Michaels confirms a breach, it would become the latest victim in a string of data attacks rattling merchants across the U.S. Meanwhile, clients have been recommended to check their payment card account statements for unauthorized charges.
| Malware |
Hostinger Suffers Data Breach – Resets Password For 14 Million Users | https://thehackernews.com/2019/08/web-hosting-hostinger-breach.html | Popular web hosting provider Hostinger has been hit by a massive data breach, as a result of which the company has reset passwords for all customers as a precautionary measure.
In a blog post published on Sunday, Hostinger revealed that "an unauthorized third party" breached one of its servers and gained access to "hashed passwords and other non-financial data" associated with its millions of customers.
The incident occurred on August 23 when unknown hackers found an authorization token on one of the company's servers and used it to gain access to an internal system API, without requiring any username and password.
Immediately after the breach discovery, Hostinger restricted the vulnerable system, making this access no longer available, and contacted the respective authorities.
"On August 23rd, 2019 we have received informational alerts that one of our servers has been accessed by an unauthorized third party," Hostinger said.
"This server contained an authorization token, which was used to obtain further access and escalate privileges to our system RESTful API Server*. This API Server* is used to query the details about our clients and their accounts."
The API database hosts personal information of nearly 14 million Hostinger customers, including their usernames, emails, hashed passwords, first names, and IP addresses, which have been accessed by hackers.
Breach Affects Over Half of Hostinger's User Base
The company has over 29 million users, so the data breach affected over half of its complete user base.
However, it should be noted that the company used the weak SHA-1 hashing algorithm to scramble the Hostinger client passwords, making it easier for hackers to crack the passwords.
As a precautionary measure, the company has reset all Hostinger Client login passwords using the stronger SHA-2 algorithm and sent out emails password recovery emails to the affected consumers.
Also, the company doesn't currently offer two-factor authentication (2FA) for its customers' accounts, though it says it is planning to provide this additional layer of security in the near future.
Hostinger reassured its customers that no financial data is believed to have been accessed as the company never stores any payment card or other sensitive financial data on its servers, adding that third-party payment providers handle payments for its services.
Furthermore, the company has also assured that a thorough internal investigation found that the Hostinger Client accounts and data stored on those accounts, including websites, domains, and hosted emails, remained untouched and unaffected.
The investigation into the matter is still ongoing, and a team of internal and external forensics experts and data scientists has been assembled to discover the origin of the data breach and increase security measures of all the company's operations.
Following the password reset, the company is also urging its customers to set a strong and unique password for their Hostinger accounts and to be cautious of suspicious emails asking them to click on the links or download attachments, as well as any unsolicited communications asking for login details, or other personal information.
Customers who want to delete their details from Hostinger servers under GDPR rules should contact [email protected].
| Data_Breaches |
Cisco CallManager vulnerable to brute force attack | https://thehackernews.com/2012/10/cisco-callmanager-vulnerable-to-brute.html | Roberto Suggi Liverani, founder of the OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) New Zealand chapter discover a vulnerability in Cisco CallManager AKA Unified Communications Manager. It is a software-based call-processing system developed by Cisco Systems.
He described on his blog "During a security review, I have found a quick way to perform PIN brute force attack against accounts registered with a Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CallManager)."
Researcher target the HTTP GET requests used by CallManager to initiate the login process. :
https://x.x.x.x/ccmpd/pdCheckLogin.do?name=undefined
He Demonstrated the idea with Burp Suite (Penetration testing Framework). He showed the html form parameter used for login as shown below:
https://x.x.x.x/ccmpd/login.do?sid=_sid_value_&userid=_userid_&pin=_PIN_
The sid token is required to perform the PIN brute force attack. So first get a valid sid token value and then you can brute force userid and pin using dictionary attack or Combination attack.
Others can use HYDRA(most powerful bruteforce tool) , which is capable of brute forcing HTTP web requests.
| Vulnerability |
Ransomware Virus Shuts Down Electric and Water Utility | https://thehackernews.com/2016/04/power-ransomware-attack.html | Ransomware has become an albatross around the neck, targeting businesses, hospitals, and personal computers worldwide and extorting Millions of Dollars.
Typical Ransomware targets victim's computer encrypts files on it, and then demands a ransom -- typically about $500 in Bitcoin -- in exchange for a key that will decrypt the files.
Guess what could be the next target of ransomware malware?
Everything that is connected to the Internet.
There is a huge range of potential targets, from the pacemaker to cars to Internet of the Things, that may provide an opportunity for cybercriminals to launch ransomware attacks.
Recently, the American public utility Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL) has announced that the company has become a victim of Ransomware attack that knocked the utility's internal computer systems offline.
Also Read: FBI Suggests Ransomware Victims — 'Just Pay the Ransom'.
The attack took place earlier this week when one of the company's employees opened a malicious email attachment.
Once clicked, the malware installed on the computer and quickly began encrypting the organization's files, according to the Lansing State Journal.
BWL quickly decided to shut down its networks and suspend some services, including accounting and email service for its about 250 employees, in order to prevent further damages. Power and water shut-offs by BWL was also suspended.
Though the ransomware type is still unknown, the utility is currently working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and local law enforcement authorities to investigate the incident.
The company assured its 96,000 customers that no personal information related to its customers or employees has been compromised by the ransomware intrusion into the corporate computer network.
However, it is not yet clear whether the utility paid the Ransom in exchange of its data. The company said law enforcement has limited it from discussing the issue in public, at least for now.
| Malware |
Another Malware from Android Market infect Millions of Users | https://thehackernews.com/2012/01/another-malware-from-android-market.html | Another Malware from Android Market infect Millions of Users
Malware might have infected more than 5 million Android mobile devices via deliberately corrupted apps sold in the Android Marketplace, according to security firm Symantec. They reckoned Android.Counterclank, a slight variant of Android.Tonclank.
Symantec explains that the malicious code appears in a package called "apperhand", and a service under the same name can been seen running on the infected device when it's executed. According to Symantec, the Trojan has been identified in 13 different apps in the Android Marketplace.
Symantec's Security Response Team Director, Kevin Haley said:"They don't appear to be real publishers. There aren't rebundled apps, as we've seen so many times before." Symantec also noted that this slimy piece of malware has the highest distribution of any malware identified so far this year and may actually be the largest malware infection seen by Android users in the operating systems short life.
The malware is actually a Trojan that attacks Android smartphones. Upon installation, it collects a wide scope of data, including the handset maker and bookmark copies. Moreover, it modifies the home page of the browser. As a result, hackers have earned some money from the malware by pushing some unwanted advertisements on the compromised Android devices.One of the reasons why the malware has affected such a huge number of Android users is because they do not bother reading privacy agreements. They simply approve these apps, without even reading information on them.
Symantec stated it had notified Google of the apps hiding malicious code. However, many of the infected entries were still available on the Android Market as of Friday afternoon. For removal of the malware, Symantec is advising smartphone users to uninstall the infected applications and run a mobile antivirus program. It's time Google started taking security much more seriously.
| Vulnerability |
Hackers Targeting Critical Healthcare Facilities With Ransomware During Coronavirus Pandemic | https://thehackernews.com/2020/04/ransomware-hospitals-coronavirus.html | As hospitals around the world are struggling to respond to the coronavirus crisis, cybercriminals—with no conscience and empathy—are continuously targeting healthcare organizations, research facilities, and other governmental organizations with ransomware and malicious information stealers.
The new research, published by Palo Alto Networks and shared with The Hacker News, confirmed that "the threat actors who profit from cybercrime will go to any extent, including targeting organizations that are in the front lines and responding to the pandemic on a daily basis."
While the security firm didn't name the latest victims, it said a Canadian government healthcare organization and a Canadian medical research university both suffered ransomware attacks, as criminal groups seek to exploit the crisis for financial gain.
The attacks were detected between March 24 and March 26 and were initiated as part of the coronavirus-themed phishing campaigns that have become widespread in recent months.
Palo Alto Networks' disclosure comes as The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), biotechnology firm 10x Genomics, Brno University Hospital in the Czech Republic, and Hammersmith Medicines Research have been hit by cyberattacks in the past few weeks.
Delivering Ransomware by Exploiting CVE-2012-0158
According to the researchers, the campaign began with malicious emails sent from a spoofed address mimicking the World Health Organization (noreply@who[.]int) that were sent to a number of individuals associated with the healthcare organization that's actively involved in COVID-19 response efforts.
The email lures contained a rich text format (RTF) document named "20200323-sitrep-63-covid-19.doc," which, when opened, attempted to deliver EDA2 ransomware by exploiting a known buffer overflow vulnerability (CVE-2012-0158) in Microsoft's ListView / TreeView ActiveX controls in MSCOMCTL.OCX library.
"It is interesting to note that even though the file name clearly references a specific date (March 23, 2020), the file name was not updated over the course of the campaign to reflect current dates," Palo Alto Networks researchers noted.
"It is also interesting that the malware authors did not attempt to make their lures appear legitimate in any way; it is clear from the first page of the document that something is amiss."
Upon execution, the ransomware binary contacts the command-and-control (C2) server to download an image that serves as the main ransomware infection notification on the victim's device, and subsequently transmits the host details to create a custom key to encrypt the files on the system's desktop with a ".locked20" extension.
Aside from receiving the key, the infected host uses an HTTP Post request to send the decryption key, encrypted using AES, to the C2 server.
Palo Alto Networks ascertained that the ransomware strain was EDA2 based on the code structure of the binary and the host-based and network-based behaviors of the ransomware. EDA2 and Hidden Tear are considered one of the first open-source ransomware that were created for educational purposes but have since been abused by hackers to pursue their own interests.
A Spike in Ransomware Incidents
The ransomware attacks are a consequence of an increase in other cyberattacks related to the pandemic. They have included a rash of phishing emails that attempt to use the crisis to persuade people to click on links that download malware or ransomware onto their computers.
Furthermore, Check Point Research's Brand Phishing Report for Q1 2020 observed a jump in mobile phishing due to people spending more time on their phones for information related to the outbreak and for work. Attackers were found imitating popular services such as Netflix, Airbnb, and Chase Bank to steal login credentials.
With hospitals under time constraints and pressure due to the ongoing pandemic, hackers are counting on the organizations to pay ransoms to recover access to critical systems and prevent disruption to patient care.
A report released by RisKIQ last week found that ransomware attacks on medical facilities were up 35% between 2016 and 2019, with the average ransom demand being $59,000 across 127 incidents. The cybersecurity firm stated that hackers also favored small hospitals and healthcare centers for reasons ranging from lean security support to increased likelihood of heeding to ransom demands.
The spike in ransomware attacks against the medical sector has prompted Interpol to issue a warning about the threat to member countries.
"Cybercriminals are using ransomware to hold hospitals and medical services digitally hostage, preventing them from accessing vital files and systems until a ransom is paid," the agency said.
To protect the systems from such attacks, Interpol cautioned organizations to watch out for phishing attempts, encrypt sensitive data, and take periodic data backups, aside from storing them offline or on a different network to thwart cybercriminals.
| Cyber_Attack |
Zero-Click Wormable RCE Vulnerability Reported in Microsoft Teams | https://thehackernews.com/2020/12/zero-click-wormable-rce-vulnerability.html | A zero-click remote code execution (RCE) bug in Microsoft Teams desktop apps could have allowed an adversary to execute arbitrary code by merely sending a specially-crafted chat message and compromise a target's system.
The issues were reported to the Windows maker by Oskars Vegeris, a security engineer from Evolution Gaming, on August 31, 2020, before they were addressed at the end of October.
Microsoft did not assign a CVE to this vulnerability, stating "it's currently Microsoft's policy to not issue CVEs on products that automatically updates without user's interaction."
"No user interaction is required, exploit executes upon seeing the chat message," Vegeris explained in a technical write-up.
The result is a "complete loss of confidentiality and integrity for end users — access to private chats, files, internal network, private keys and personal data outside MS Teams," the researcher added.
Worse, the RCE is cross-platform — affecting Microsoft Teams for Windows (v1.3.00.21759), Linux (v1.3.00.16851), macOS (v1.3.00.23764), and the web (teams.microsoft.com) — and could be made wormable, meaning it could be propagated by automatically reposting the malicious payload to other channels.
This also means the exploit can be passed on from one account to a whole group of users, thereby compromising an entire channel.
To achieve this, the exploit chain strings together a cross-site scripting (XSS) flaw present in the Teams '@mentions' functionality and a JavaScript-based RCE payload to post a harmless-looking chat message containing a user mention either in the form of a direct message or to a channel.
Simply visiting the chat at the recipient's end leads to the execution of the payload, allowing it to be exploited to log users' SSO tokens to local storage for exfiltration and execute any command of the attacker's choice.
This is not the first time such RCE flaws were observed in Teams and other enterprise-focused messaging apps.
Chief among them is a separate RCE vulnerability in Microsoft Teams (CVE-2020-17091) that the company patched as part of its November 2020 Patch Tuesday last month.
Earlier this August, Vegeris also disclosed a critical "wormable" flaw in Slack's desktop version that could have allowed an attacker to take over the system by simply sending a malicious file to another Slack user.
Then in September, networking equipment maker Cisco patched a similar flaw in its Jabber video conferencing and messaging app for Windows that, if exploited, could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code.
| Vulnerability |
Corel Software DLL Hijacking Vulnerability Allows Hackers to Execute Malicious Code | https://thehackernews.com/2015/01/corel-software-DLL-hacking.html | Security researchers have disclosed local zero day DLL hijacking vulnerabilities in several applications developed by Corel Software that could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary commands on victims' computer, potentially affecting more than 100 million users.
The security holes were publicly disclosed by Marcos Accossatto from a vulnerability research firm Core Security after the vendor didn't respond to his private disclosure about the flaws.
Corel develops wide range of products including graphics, photo, video and other media editing programs. According to the researcher, when a media file associated with one of the vulnerable Corel products is opened, the product also loads a specifically named DLL (Dynamic Link Library) file into memory if it's located in the same directory as the opened media file.
These DLL files contain executable code which could allow an attacker to install malware on victims' computers by inserting malicious DLLs into the same directory as the document.
"Given that this is a client-side vulnerability, affected users should avoid opening untrusted files whose extensions are associated with Corel software and contain any of the [affected] DLL files," Accossatto said in an advisory.
"When a file associated with the Corel software is opened, the directory of that document is first used to locate DLLs, which could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary commands by inserting malicious DLLs into the same directory as the document."
VULNERABLE COREL PRODUCTS
At least eight Corel products are all affected by the vulnerabilities including:
CorelDRAW X7
Corel Photo-Paint X7
Corel PaintShop Pro X7
CorelCAD 2014
Corel Painter 2015
Corel PDF Fusion
Corel VideoStudio PRO X7
Corel FastFlick
Corel was warned of the vulnerabilities in its products on December 9, 2014, followed by another email on December 17, 2014 with a request to confirm receiving the previous message. But there was no response from the vendor. The Core team then contacted the company again via Twitter on January 2, but again received no response, hence disclosed it publicly.
STATEMENT FROM TEAM COREL
There are no patches available for the vulnerabilities yet.
"Corel is reviewing its products on a case-by-case basis to safeguard dynamic loading of DLL files, which is a common vulnerability in many Windows applications," said Jessica Gould, senior communications manager for Corel, in a statement Tuesday.
"Corel makes frequent updates to our applications and these changes have been made a priority for the next update of any affected Corel product. We would like to assure our users that we are not aware of any exploits of this issue with our software."
| Vulnerability |
Chinese Hacker Publishes PoC for Remote iOS 12 Jailbreak On iPhone X | https://thehackernews.com/2019/01/ios12-jailbreak-exploit.html | Here we have great news for all iPhone Jailbreak lovers and concerning one for the rest of iPhone users.
A Chinese cybersecurity researcher has today revealed technical details of critical vulnerabilities in Apple Safari web browser and iOS that could allow a remote attacker to jailbreak and compromise victims' iPhoneX running iOS 12.1.2 and before versions.
To do so, all an attacker needs to do is trick iPhoneX users into opening a specially crafted web page using Safari browser, that's it.
However, finding flaws and creating a working exploit to carry out such attacks is not as easy as it may sound for every iOS hacker.
Discovered by security researcher Qixun Zhao of Qihoo 360's Vulcan Team, the exploit takes advantage of two security vulnerabilities that were first demonstrated at TianfuCup hacking contest held in November last year and then was later responsibly reported to the Apple security team.
Zhao today released some details of and a proof-of-concept video demonstration for his exploit, which he dubbed "Chaos," after Apple just yesterday released iOS version 12.1.3 to patch the issues.
According to the researcher, the remote Jailbreak exploit is a combination of two vulnerabilities, i.e., a type confusion memory corruption flaw (CVE-2019-6227) in Apple's Safari WebKit and a use-after-free memory corruption issue (CVE-2019-6225) in iOS Kernel.
As shown in the video demonstration of the Chaos iPhone X jailbreak exploit, the Safari flaw allowed maliciously crafted web content to execute arbitrary code on the targeted device, which then used the second bug to elevate privileges and install a malicious application silently.
However, the researcher has chosen not to publish the code for iOS jailbreak in an attempt to prevent malicious attacks against Apple users and hopes that the jailbreak community would use this information to soon come up with a suitable jailbreak exploit for users.
"I will not release the exploit code, if you want to jailbreak, you will need to complete the exploit code yourself or wait for the jailbreak community's release. At the same time, I will not mention the exploit details of the post exploit, as this is handled by the jailbreak community," Zhao said.
At this moment, based upon the remote nature of this attack and wide threat surface, it is highly recommended for iPhone users to install the latest iOS update as soon as possible, rather waiting for a jailbreak.
| Vulnerability |
BitTorrent Forum Hacked; Change your Password Immediately | https://thehackernews.com/2016/06/utorrent-hacked.html | If you are a torrent lover and have registered on BitTorrent community forum website, then you may have had your personal details compromised, along with your hashed passwords.
The BitTorrent team has announced that its community forums have been hacked, which exposed private information of hundreds of thousands of its users.
As of now, BitTorrent is the most visited torrent client around the world with more than 150 Million monthly active users.
Besides this, BitTorrent also has a dedicated community forum that has over hundreds of thousands of registered members with tens of thousands of daily visitors.
A recent security alert by the team says the forum database has been compromised by hackers who were able to get their hands on its users' passwords, warning its users to update their passwords as soon as possible.
The vulnerability is believed to be originated at one of its vendors, who alerted the BitTorrent team about the issue earlier this week.
"The vulnerability appears to have been through one of the vendor's other clients. However, it allowed attackers to access some information on other accounts," μTorrent forum writes "As a result, attackers were able to download a list of our forum users."
BitTorrent and other torrent forums are also using Invision Power Board software and if the unnamed vendor in question is Invision Power Services Inc., then hundreds of popular discussion forums might have also been affected.
The team is also investigating further to learn if any other information of its users was accessed.
Security researcher Troy Hunt somehow got access to the stolen database and which he has already been uploaded to his Data breach Notification Site: Have I Been Pwned, which includes 34,000 BitTorrent Forum users' email addresses, usernames, IP addresses, and salted SHA1 hashed passwords.
All users are strongly advised to change their forum passwords as well as passwords for other sites, in case they are using identical to the one used on the forum.
Update: μTorrent forum not hacked. I mistakenly named μTorrent previously, instead of BitTorrent. As soon as we realized it, I have updated this article with correct information.
| Data_Breaches |
BRATA Malware Poses as Android Security Scanners on Google Play Store | https://thehackernews.com/2021/04/brata-malware-poses-as-android-security.html | A new set of malicious Android apps have been caught posing as app security scanners on the official Play Store to distribute a backdoor capable of gathering sensitive information.
"These malicious apps urge users to update Chrome, WhatsApp, or a PDF reader, yet instead of updating the app in question, they take full control of the device by abusing accessibility services," cybersecurity firm McAfee said in an analysis published on Monday.
The apps in question were designed to target users in Brazil, Spain, and the U.S., with most of them accruing anywhere between 1,000 to 5,000 installs. Another app named DefenseScreen racked up 10,000 installs before it was removed from the Play Store last year.
First documented by Kaspersky in August 2019, BRATA (short for "Brazilian Remote Access Tool Android") emerged as an Android malware with screen recording abilities before steadily morphing into a banking trojan.
"It combines full device control capabilities with the ability to display phishing webpages that steal banking credentials in addition to abilities that allow it capture screen lock credentials (PIN, Password or Pattern), capture keystrokes (keylogger functionality), and record the screen of the infected device to monitor a user's actions without their consent," McAfee researchers Fernando Ruiz and Carlos Castillo said.
The apps that distribute the backdoor alert unsuspecting users of a security issue on their devices, prompting them to install a fake update of a specific app (e.g., Google Chrome, WhatsApp, and a non-existent PDF reader app) to address the problem.
Once the victim agrees to install the app, BRATA requests permissions to access the device's accessibility service, abusing it to capture lock screen PIN (or password/pattern), record keystrokes, take screenshots, and even disable the Google Play Store.
By disabling the Play Store app, the idea is also to disable Play Protect, a feature that preemptively runs a safety check on apps before they are downloaded from the app store, and routinely scans Android devices for potentially harmful apps and removes them.
Interestingly, new versions of BRATA also come equipped with added obfuscation and encryption layers, besides moving most of the core functionality to a remote attacker-controlled server, in turn allowing the attackers to easily update the malware and exploit the devices they were installed on while staying under the radar.
"BRATA is just another example of how powerful the (ab)use of accessibility services is and how, with just a little bit of social engineering and persistence, cybercriminals can trick users into granting this access to a malicious app and basically getting total control of the infected device," the researchers concluded.
"By stealing the PIN, Password or Pattern, combined with the ability to record the screen, click on any button and intercept anything that is entered in an editable field, malware authors can virtually get any data they want, including banking credentials via phishing web pages or even directly from the apps themselves, while also hiding all these actions from the user."
| Malware |
Researchers Uncover Hacking Operations Targeting Government Entities in South Korea | https://thehackernews.com/2021/06/researchers-uncover-hacking-operations.html | A North Korean threat actor active since 2012 has been behind a new espionage campaign targeting high-profile government officials associated with its southern counterpart to install an Android and Windows backdoor for collecting sensitive information.
Cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes attributed the activity to a threat actor tracked as Kimsuky, with the targeted entities comprising of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador of the Embassy of Sri Lanka to the State, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Nuclear Security Officer, and the Deputy Consul General at Korean Consulate General in Hong Kong.
The attacks also involved collecting information about other organizations and universities in the country, including the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA), Seoul National University, and Daishin Securities. Malwarebytes, however, noted that there is no evidence of active targeting or compromise by the adversary.
The development is only the latest in a series of surveillance efforts aimed at South Korea. Believed to be operating on behalf of the North Korean regime, Kimsuky (aka Velvet Chollima, Black Banshee, and Thallium) has a track record of singling out South Korean entities while expanding their victimology to the U.S., Russia, and various nations in Europe.
Last November, the adversary was linked to a new modular spyware suite called "KGH_SPY," which allows it to carry out reconnaissance of target networks, log keystrokes, and steal confidential information, as well as a stealthy malware under the name "CSPY Downloader" that's designed to thwart analysis and download additional payloads.
Kimsuky's attack infrastructure consists of various phishing websites that mimic well known websites such as Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, and Telegram with an aim to trick victims into entering their credentials. "This is one of the main methods used by this actor to collect email addresses that later will be used to send spear-phishing emails," Malwarebytes researcher Hossein Jazi said.
In using social engineering as a core component of its operations, the goal is to distribute a malware dropper that takes the form of a ZIP archive file attached to the emails, which ultimately leads to the deployment of an encoded DLL payload called AppleSeed, a backdoor that's been put to use by Kimsuky as early as 2019.
"Besides using the AppleSeed backdoor to target Windows users, the actor also has used an Android backdoor to target Android users," Jazi noted. "The Android backdoor can be considered as the mobile variant of the AppleSeed backdoor. It uses the same command patterns as the Windows one. Also, both Android and Windows backdoors have used the same infrastructure."
AppleSeed has all the hallmarks of a typical backdoor, with myriad capabilities to record keystrokes, capture screenshots, collect documents with specific extensions (.txt, .ppt, .hwp, .pdf, and .doc), and gather data from removable media devices connected to the machine, all of which are then uploaded to a remote command-and-control server.
But perhaps the most interesting discovery of all is that the threat actor calls themselves Thallium in the malware source code, which is the moniker assigned by Microsoft based on its tradition of naming nation-state hacking groups after chemical elements.
| Cyber_Attack |
ASLR bypass techniques are popular with APT attacks | https://thehackernews.com/2013/10/aslr-bypass-techniques-are-popular-with.html | Address space layout randomization (ASLR) is a security technique involved in protection from buffer overflow attacks. Many recent APT (Advanced Persistent Threat) attacks have utilized many different ASLR bypass techniques during the past year, according to Researchers at FireEye.
Many exploits and malware attacks rely on the ability of the programmer to accurately identify where specific processes or system functions reside in memory. In order for an attacker to exploit or leverage a function, they must first be able to tell their code where to find the function or process to exploit.
The goal of ASLR is to introduce randomness into addresses used by a given task. It involves randomly arranging the positions of key data areas of a program, including the base of the executable and the positions of the stack, heap, and libraries, in a process's address space.
Today a lot of attention is brought to client side exploits especially inside web browsers. Normally the exploitation is done through the oldest known method of spraying the heap.
According to Researchers, the easiest and most popular way to defeat ASLR protection is - loading a non-ASLR module. Such attacks were recently used in Internet Explorer (IE) Zero-Day Exploit CVE-2013-3893 and some other vulnerabilities i.e. CVE2013-1347, CVE-2012-4969, CVE-2012-4792.
But there is a limitation that the non-ASLR module technique requires that IE 8 and IE 9 must be running with old software such as JRE 1.6, Office 2007/2010.
Another ASLR bypass technique involves the modification of the BSTR length/null terminator. But this technique only applies to specific types of vulnerabilities that can overwrite memory, such as buffer overflow, arbitrary memory write, and increasing/decreasing the content of a memory pointer. The Adobe XFA 0day exploit (CVE-2013-0640) uses this technique to find the AcroForm.api base address and builds a ROP chain dynamically to bypass ASLR and DEP.
"The good thing about these types of vulnerabilities is that they can corrupt the length of a BSTR such that using the BSTR can access memory outside of its original boundaries. Such accesses may disclose memory addresses that can be used to pinpoint libraries suitable for ROP. Once the exploit has bypassed ASLR in this way, it may then use the same memory corruption bug to control EIP."
According to Microsoft, these types of bugs typically use JavaScript to trigger the flaw, as well as heap-spray to abuse the memory, and bypass ASLR. ASLR bypassing has become more and more common in Zero-Day attacks.
| Vulnerability |
Phony Call Centers Tricking Users Into Installing Ransomware and Data-Stealers | https://thehackernews.com/2021/07/phony-call-centers-tricking-users-into.html | An ongoing malicious campaign that employs phony call centers has been found to trick victims into downloading malware capable of data exfiltration as well as deploying ransomware on infected systems.
The attacks — dubbed "BazaCall" — eschew traditional social engineering techniques that rely on rogue URLs and malware-laced documents in favor of a vishing-like method wherein targeted users are sent email messages informing them of a forthcoming subscription charge unless they call a specific phone number.
By tricking the recipients into calling the number, the unsuspecting victims are connected with an actual human operator at a fraudulent call center, who then provides them with instructions to download the BazaLoader malware.
BazaLoader (aka BazarBackdoor) is a C++-based downloader with the ability to install various types of malicious programs on infected computers, including deploying ransomware and other malware to steal sensitive data from victimized systems. First observed in April 2020, BazaLoader campaigns have been used by multiple threat actors and frequently serves as a loader for disruptive malware such as Ryuk and Conti ransomware.
BazaCall Attack Flow
"Attacks emanating from the BazaCall threat could move quickly within a network, conduct extensive data exfiltration and credential theft, and distribute ransomware within 48 hours of the initial compromise," Microsoft 365 Defender Threat Intelligence Team said in a report published Thursday.
Because the malware isn't distributed via a link or document within the message body itself, the lures add a level of difficulty that enables attackers to evade phishing and malware detection software. This campaign is part of a broader trend in which BazaLoader-affiliated criminals use call centers — the operators seemingly non-native English speakers — as part of an intricate attack chain.
Post-Compromise Activities
Earlier this May, Palo Alto Networks and Proofpoint revealed an elaborate infection mechanism that leveraged websites associated with fake ebooks (World Books) and movie streaming subscription services (BravoMovies) as a stepping stone to deliver rigged Excel spreadsheets containing the BazaLoader malware. The latest attack disclosed by Microsoft is no different in that the call center agent serves as a conduit, urging the caller to navigate to a recipe website ("topcooks[.]us") in order to cancel the non-existent trial subscription.
"The use of another human element in BazaCall's attack chain through the above mentioned hands-on-keyboard control further makes this threat more dangerous and more evasive than traditional, automated malware attacks," the researchers said. "BazaCall campaigns highlight the importance of cross-domain optics and the ability to correlate events in building a comprehensive defense against complex threats."
| Malware |
Malicious Android application stealing banking credentials | https://thehackernews.com/2012/03/malicious-android-application-stealing.html | Malicious Android application stealing banking credentials
A new form of smart Android malware can not only steal your online banking information, but update itself in the future and secretly send contact information stored on your device off to the Bad Guys. Security researchers at McAfee have discovered a malicious Android application capable of grabbing banking passwords from a mobile device without infecting the user's computer.
From a McAfee blog post on the subject, penned by Malware Researcher Carlos Castillo: "To get the fake token, the user must enter the first factor of authentication (used to obtain initial access to the banking account). If this action is not performed, the application shows an error. When the user clicks "Generar" (Generate), the malware shows the fake token (which is in fact a random number) and sends the password to a specific cell phone number along with the device identifiers (IMEI and IMSI). The same information is also sent to one of the control servers along with further data such as the phone number of the device."
The app also includes a number of nasty lines of code that could be used to obtain users' contact lists and then send them off to a control server. "From man-in-the-middle attacks we now see more sophisticated, remote-controlled banking Trojans that can get more than one factor of authentication and update itself to, for example, modify a phishing attack to get other required credentials–such as the name or the ID number of the user–to perform electronic fraud," writes Castillo. "Due to the increasing popularity of Android and mobile-banking applications, we expect that more threats like this will appear."
If Mobile banking does take off, beware, since the Android security architecture won't be able to stop those types of attacks, given the ease with which users can be tricked, via social engineering attacks, into installing third-party applications.
| Malware |
Microsoft Patches Windows Zero-Day Flaw Disclosed by Google | https://thehackernews.com/2016/11/microsoft-windows-update.html | Microsoft was very upset with Google last week when its Threat Analysis Group publically disclosed a critical Windows kernel vulnerability (CVE-2016-7255) that had yet to be patched.
The company criticized Google's move, claiming that the disclosure of the vulnerability, which was being exploited in the wild, put its customers "at potential risk."
The vulnerability affects all Windows versions from Windows Vista through current versions of Windows 10, and Microsoft was set to issue a fix come this month's Patch Tuesday.
So, as part of its monthly Patch Tuesday, Microsoft today patched the security flaw in Windows that was actively being exploited by hackers.
According to Microsoft's security bulletin released today, any hacker who tricked victims into running a "specially-crafted application" could successfully exploit the system bug and gain the ability to "install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights."
Once exploited, the bug could be used to escape the sandbox protection and execute malicious code on the compromised Windows machine.
Rated as "important," the vulnerability was being exploited by Strontium group, also known as Fancy Bear, Sofacy, and APT 28, in targeted attacks.
Fancy Bear is the same group of hackers that has also been accused by the US Intelligence community of hacking the Democratic National Committee, Clinton Campaign Chair John Podesta, and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, among others.
Besides this controversial flaw exposed by Google last week, the security bulletin also fixes multiple elevation of privilege bugs.
Patch Tuesday also contains several critical security patches that affect all versions of Windows as well as other important updates and fixes for both Internet Explorer and Edge.
So, I strongly recommend home users and companies to ensure that their Windows PC is up-to-date with all of Microsoft's latest security fixes as of today.
| Vulnerability |
U.S. Charges 3 North Korean Hackers Over $1.3 Billion Cryptocurrency Heist | https://thehackernews.com/2021/02/us-charges-3-north-korean-hackers-over.html | The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) on Wednesday indicted three suspected North Korean hackers for allegedly conspiring to steal and extort over $1.3 billion in cash and cryptocurrencies from financial institutions and businesses.
The three defendants — Jon Chang Hyok, 31; Kim Il, 27; and Park Jin Hyok, 36 — are said to be members of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, a military intelligence division of North Korea, also known as the Lazarus group, Hidden Cobra, or Advanced Persistent Threat 38 (APT 38).
Accusing them of creating and deploying multiple malicious cryptocurrency applications, developing and fraudulently marketing a blockchain platform, the indictment expands on the 2018 charges brought against Park, one of the alleged nation-state hackers previously charged in connection with the 2014 cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment.
A Wide-Ranging Scheme to Commit Cyberattacks and Financial Crimes
"North Korea's operatives, using keyboards rather than guns, stealing digital wallets of cryptocurrency instead of sacks of cash, are the world's leading bank robbers," said Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers of the Justice Department's National Security Division.
"The Department will continue to confront malicious nation state cyber activity with our unique tools and work with our fellow agencies and the family of norms abiding nations to do the same."
The latest indictment is yet another sign of how the Lazarus Group relies on cyber cryptocurrency heists and cybertheft against businesses and critical infrastructure in order to fund a country that's been heavily hit by economic sanctions.
The group, which earned a place in the U.S. government's sanctions list in 2019, has been linked into a wide array of criminal cyber activities, both in the U.S. and abroad, including the destructive WannaCry ransomware outbreak of 2017, the SWIFT attacks on banks and ATM networks to steal more than $1.2 billion, conducting spear-phishing campaigns, and carrying out cryptocurrency thefts amounting to at least $112 million.
Interestingly, the indictment also details the defendants' plans to create their own crypto-token called Marine Chain in 2017-18, which would let users purchase stakes in shipping vessels, but in reality, was a money-making initiative aimed at secretly obtaining funds for the government while evading international sanctions.
"AppleJeus" Backdoor to Steal Cryptocurrency
Also undertaken by the conspiracy is a scheme that involved creating malicious applications that masqueraded as legitimate cryptocurrency trading platforms, only to use them as a backdoor to transfer money to their accounts fraudulently.
Calling the backdoor "AppleJeus," the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said it discovered at least seven different versions of the malware since 2018, with the Lazarus Group banking on a mix of phishing, social networking, and social engineering techniques as initial infection vectors to trick users into downloading it.
The rogue applications identified by CISA comprises of Ants2Whale, Celas Trade Pro, CoinGo Trade, CryptoNeuro Trader, Dorusio, iCryptoFx, Kupay Wallet, Union Crypto Trader, and WorldBit-Bot.
Energy, finance, government, industry, technology, and telecommunications sectors were the prominent focus of the attacks, the agency detailed, adding AppleJeus targets both Windows and Mac operating systems, echoing a previous August 2018 report from cybersecurity firm Kaspersky.
Canadian-American Citizen Charged for Money Laundering
U.S. prosecutors said the three men were stationed by the North Korean government in other countries such as China and Russia with the goal of furthering the strategic and financial interests of the Kim Jong Un-led regime. The DoJ, however, did not elaborate on whether threat actors from either country collaborated with the North Korean operatives on these attacks.
In a related development, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) obtained warrants to seize cryptocurrencies totaling approximately $1.9 million that were allegedly plundered from an unnamed financial services company in New York and held at two cryptocurrency exchanges.
A second case that was also unsealed yesterday concerned a Canadian-American citizen named Ghaleb Alaumary, who pled guilty in a money-laundering scheme and admitted to carrying out ATM "cash-out" operations and a cyber-enabled bank heist orchestrated by North Korean hackers.
Although the individuals are unlikely to be extradited and brought to trial, Jon, Kim, and Park are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud. Alaumary has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
"The scope of the criminal conduct by the North Korean hackers was extensive and long-running, and the range of crimes they have committed is staggering," said Acting U.S. Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison for the Central District of California. "The conduct detailed in the indictment are the acts of a criminal nation-state that has stopped at nothing to extract revenge and obtain money to prop up its regime."
| Cyber_Attack |
Dangerous 'Vawtrak Banking Trojan' Harvesting Passwords Worldwide | https://thehackernews.com/2015/03/vawtrak-banking-trojan.html | Security researcher has discovered some new features in the most dangerous Vawtrak, aka Neverquest, malware that allow it to send and receive data through encrypted favicons distributed over the secured Tor network.
The researcher, Jakub Kroustek from AVG anti-virus firm, has provided an in-depth analysis (PDF) on the new and complex set of features of the malware which is considered to be one of the most dangerous threats in existence.
Vawtrak is a sophisticated piece of malware in terms of supported features. It is capable of stealing financial information and executing transactions from the compromised computer remotely without leaving traces. The features include videos and screenshots capturing and launching man-in-the-middle attacks.
HOW VAWTRAK SPREADS ?
AVG anti-virus firm is warning users that it has discovered an ongoing campaign delivering Vawtrak to gain access to bank accounts visited by the victim and using the infamous Pony module in order to steal a wide range of victims' login credentials.
The Vawtrak Banking Trojan spreads by using one of the three ways:
Drive-by download – spam email attachments or links to compromised sites
Malware downloader – like Zemot or Chaintor
Exploit kit – like as Angler Exploit Kit
LATEST FEATURES
According to the researcher, Vawtrak is using the Tor2Web proxy to receive updates from its developers.
"Of particular interest from a security standpoint is that by using Tor2web proxy, it can access update servers that are hosted on the Tor hidden web services without installing specialist software such as Torbrowser," Kroustek says. "Moreover, the communication with the remote server is done over SSL, which adds further encryption."
The latest Vawtrak sample uses steganography to hide update files within favicons in order to conceal the malicious downloads. Favicons are the small images used by the websites to add icon to website bookmarks and browser tabs.
Once executed in the victim's machine, Vawtrak performs the following actions:
Disables antivirus protection.
Inject custom code in a user-displayed web pages (this is mostly related to online banking)
Steals passwords, digital certificates, browser history, and cookies.
Surveillance of the victim (key logging, taking screenshots, capturing video)
Creates a remote access to a user's machine (VNC, SOCKS)
Automatic updating.
Vawtrak supports three major browsers to operate in – Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome. It also supports password stealing from the other browsers.
AFFECTED COUNTRIES
Based on their statistics, Vawktrak is infecting banking, gaming and social network users mainly across the countries including United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany. Although, users in Australia, New Zealand, and across Europe are also affected.
AVG concluded following their analysis of the malware that "Vawtrak is like a Swiss Army knife for its operators because of its wide range of applications and available features."
| Malware |
Newly Discovered Mac Malware with Ancient Code Spying on Biotech Firms | https://thehackernews.com/2017/01/mac-os-malware.html | Security researchers have discovered a rare piece of Mac-based espionage malware that relies on outdated coding practices but has been used in some previous real-world attacks to spy on biomedical research center computers.
Dubbed Fruitfly, the malware has remained undetected for years on macOS systems despite using unsophisticated and "antiquated code."
Infosec firm Malwarebytes discovered Fruitfly, detected as 'OSX.Backdoor.Quimitchin,' after one of its IT administrators spotted some unusual outgoing activity from a particular Mac computer.
According to the researchers, the recently discovered what they're calling "the first Mac malware of 2017" contains code that dates before OS X, which has reportedly been conducting detailed surveillance operation on targeted networks, possibly for over two years.
Fruitfly uses a hidden pearl script to communicate back to two command-and-control (C&C) servers and has the ability to perform actions like capturing webcam and screenshots from both Mac and Linux systems, grabbing the system's uptime, and moving and clicking a mouse cursor.
Fruitfly can also collect information about other devices connected to the same network as the infected Mac, and then tries to connect to them, according to a blog post published by Malwarebytes.
The malware also uses a secondary script and Java class to hide its icon from showing in the macOS Dock, though it's still unclear how the malware got distributed and infected the machines.
What's more interesting is that the malware uses code that pre-dates Apple's OS X operating system, including SGGetChannelDeviceList, SGSetChannelDevice, SGSetChannelDeviceInput, and SGStartRecord.
Researchers said the malware is even running open-source "libjpeg" code to open or create JPEG-formatted image files, which was last updated in 1998.
On further digging into the code, the researchers discovered the malware had even gone through changes to "support" Mac OS X Yosemite indicating Fruitfly is at least two years old.
However, the old code and upgrade to support Mac Yosemite do not indicate the exact creation date of the malware.
"The only reason I can think of that this malware has not been spotted before now is that it's being used in very tightly targeted attacks, limiting its exposure," Thomas Reed of Malwarebytes wrote in the post.
"There have been [many] stories over the past few years about Chinese and Russian hackers targeting and stealing the United States and European scientific research. Although there is no evidence at this point linking this malware to a specific group, the fact that it has been seen specifically at biomedical research institutions certainly seems like it could be the result of exactly that kind of espionage."
The Fruitfly's code even includes Linux shell commands that show signs of the malware potentially running just fine on Linux operating system. So, it would come as no surprise if a Linux variant of Fruitfly was in operation.
Reed also said he has also come across related Windows executables that connected to the same C&C server used by the Fruitfly malware but date back to at least 2013.
However, the good news is that Apple has released an update for macOS to address Fruitfly. Although Apple automatically pushes the update, Mac users should consider checking their systems for infections, which is actually known as OSX.Backdoor.Quimitchip.
| Malware |
Critical 'Port Fail' Vulnerability Reveals Real IP Addresses of VPN Users | https://thehackernews.com/2015/11/vpn-hacking.html | A newly discovered flaw affecting all VPN protocols and operating systems has the capability to reveal the real IP-addresses of users' computers, including BitTorrent users, with relative ease.
The vulnerability, dubbed Port Fail by VPN provider Perfect Privacy (PP) who discovered the issue, is a simple port forwarding trick and affects those services that:
Allow port forwarding
Have no protection against this specific attack
Port Forwarding trick means if an attacker uses the same VPN (Virtual Private Network) as the victim, then the real IP-address of the victim can be exposed by forwarding Internet traffic to a specific port.
"The crucial issue here is that a VPN user connecting to his own VPN server will use his default route with his real IP address, as this is required for the VPN connection to work," Perfect Privacy wrote in a blog post on Thursday.
Also Read: This Secure Operating System Can Protect You Even if You Get Hacked.
Port Fail affects all VPN protocols including…
OpenVPN
IPSec
…as well as applies to all operating systems, posing a huge privacy risk.
How Does 'Port Fail' Work?
A successful IP address leak attack requires an attacker to be on the same VPN network as the victim and to know the victim's VPN exit IP address, which could be discovered by tricking a victim into visiting a website control controlled by the attacker.
For example, an attacker with port forwarding enabled can see the request from the victim's actual IP addresses by tricking the victim into opening an image file.
The same attack is possible for BitTorrent users, but, in this case, there is no need for the attacker to redirect the victim to their page.
In this case, the attacker only with the activated port forwarding for the default BitTorrent port, can expose the real IP-address of a VPN user on the same network.
Also Read: Hackers Backdooring Cisco WebVPN To Steal Customers' Passwords
Affected VPN Providers
The flaw affected various large VPN providers. Perfect Privacy tested nine VPN providers out of which five were found to be vulnerable to this flaw and were alerted last week.
VPN providers including Private Internet Access (PIA), Ovpn.to and nVPN have fixed the issue before publication.
However, the company warned, "other VPN providers may be vulnerable to this attack as we could not possibly test all."
VPN aims to make you sure that your real identity remains anonymous on the Internet so that nobody could track the origin of your connection back to you, but this newly discovered flaw shows that it's quite easy to bypass this on some VPN providers.
| Vulnerability |
A Wide Range of Cyber Attacks Leveraging Prometheus TDS Malware Service | https://thehackernews.com/2021/08/a-wide-range-of-cyber-attacks.html | Multiple cybercriminal groups are leveraging a malware-as-a-service (MaaS) solution to carry out a wide range of malicious software distribution campaigns that result in the deployment of payloads such as Campo Loader, Hancitor, IcedID, QBot, Buer Loader, and SocGholish against individuals in Belgium as well as government agencies, companies, and corporations in the U.S.
Dubbed "Prometheus" and available for sale on underground platforms for $250 a month since August 2020, the service is a Traffic Direction System (TDS) that's designed to distribute malware-laced Word and Excel documents, and divert users to phishing and malicious sites, according to a Group-IB report shared with The Hacker News.
More than 3,000 email addresses are said to have been singled out via malicious campaigns in which Prometheus TDS was used to send malicious emails, with banking and finance, retail, energy and mining, cybersecurity, healthcare, IT, and insurance emerging the prominent verticals targeted by the attacks.
"Prometheus TDS is an underground service that distributes malicious files and redirects visitors to phishing and malicious sites," Group-IB researchers said. "This service is made up of the Prometheus TDS administrative panel, in which an attacker configures the necessary parameters for a malicious campaign: downloading malicious files, and configuring restrictions on users' geolocation, browser version, and operating system."
The service is also known to employ third-party infected websites that are manually added by the campaign's operators and act as a middleman between the attacker's administrative panel and the user. To achieve this, a PHP file named "Prometheus.Backdoor" is uploaded to the compromised website to collect and send back data about the victim, based on which a decision is taken as to whether to send the payload to the user and/or to redirect them to the specified URL.
The attack scheme commences with an email containing a HTML file, a link to a web shell that redirects users to a specified URL, or a link to a Google Doc that's embedded with an URL that redirects users to the malicious link that when either opened or clicked leads the recipient to the infected website, which stealthily collects basic information (IP address, User-Agent, Referrer header, time zone, and language data) and then forwards this data to the Prometheus admin panel.
In the final phase, the administrative panel takes responsibility for sending a command to redirect the user to a particular URL, or to send a malware-ridden Microsoft Word or Excel document, with the user redirected to a legitimate site like DocuSign or USPS immediately after downloading the file to mask the malicious activity. Besides distributing malicious files, researchers found that Prometheus TDS is also used as a classic TDS to redirect users to specific sites, such as fake VPN websites, dubious portals selling Viagra and Cialis, and banking phishing sites.
"Prometheus TDS also redirected users to sites selling pharmaceutical products," the researchers noted. "Operators of such sites often have affiliate and partnership programs. Partners, in turn, often resort to aggressive SPAM campaigns in order to increase the earnings within the affiliate program. Analysis of the Prometheus infrastructure by Group-IB specialists revealed links that redirect users to sites relating to a Canadian pharmaceutical company."
| Malware |
Adobe Issues ColdFusion Software Update for 6 Critical Vulnerabilities | https://thehackernews.com/2018/09/adobe-software-updates.html | Adobe has released September 2018 security patch updates for a total of 10 vulnerabilities in Flash Player and ColdFusion, six of which are rated as critical that affected ColdFusion and could allow attackers to remotely execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable server.
What's the good news this month for Adobe users?
This month Adobe Acrobat and Reader applications did not receive any patch update, while Adobe Flash Player has received an update for just a single privilege escalation vulnerability (CVE-2018-15967) rated as important.
Secondly, Adobe said none of the security vulnerabilities patched this month were either publicly disclosed or found being actively exploited in the wild.
Total 9 Security Patches for Adobe ColdFusion
Adobe has addressed a total of nine security vulnerabilities in its ColdFusion web application development platform, six of which are critical, two important and one moderate.
According to the advisory released by Adobe, ColdFusion contained four critical deserialization of untrusted data vulnerabilities (CVE-2018-15965, CVE-2018-15957, CVE-2018-15958, CVE-2018-15959) that could result in arbitrary code execution.
Out of the remaining two critical vulnerabilities addressed in ColdFusion, one is unrestricted file upload flaw (CVE-2018-15961) that could lead to arbitrary code execution, and the other (CVE-2018-15960) could enable arbitrary file overwrite.
The company has also released patches for two "important" security vulnerabilities in ColdFusion--security bypass glitch (CVE-2018-15963) that allows arbitrary folder creation, and directory listing flaw (CVE-2018-15962) that could enable information disclosure--and a moderate information disclosure bug (CVE-2018-15964).
The vulnerabilities impact 2016 (Update 6 and earlier versions) and the July 12 (2018) release of ColdFusion, along with ColdFusion 11 (Update 14 and earlier versions).
Adobe recommends end users and administrators to update their installations to ColdFusion 2018 Update 1, ColdFusion 2016 Update 7, and ColdFusion 11 Update 15.
Adobe Also Patches An important Flaw In Flash Player
Besides ColdFusion, Adobe also released a security update for Flash Player for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Chrome OS, addressing an "important" flaw in all for versions 30.0.0.154 and earlier for Google Chrome, Desktop Runtime, Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer 11.
The issue is a privilege escalation vulnerability (CVE-2018-15967) that could lead to information disclosure. The company recommends Flash Player users to update to version 31.0.0.208 as soon as possible.
| Vulnerability |
Another Facebook hack exposes primary email address facebook users | https://thehackernews.com/2013/07/another-facebook-hack-exposes-primary.html | Last week we explained a critical vulnerability in Facebook that discloses the primary email address of facebook user. Later the bug was patched by Facebook Security Team.
Today another similar interesting Facebook hack disclosed by another bug hunter, Roy Castillo. On his blog he explained a new facebook hack method that allows anyone to grab primary emails addresses of billions of Facebook users easily.
Facebook Provides a App Dashboard for creating and managing your Facebook apps, with a range of tools to help you configure, build and debug your Facebook apps.
The flaw exists in App settings, where application admin can add developer's profile also, but if the user is not a verified user, a error messages on page will disclose his primary email address.
Using following mentioned steps, one was able to grab email addresses of all facebook users:
Collect profile links of all facebook users from Facebook People Directory i.e https://www.facebook.com/directory/people/
Collect Numerical Facebook ID for each Profile from facebook Graph API i.e https://graph.facebook.com/mohitkumar.thehackernews where extracted user ID is 1251386282
Create a Facebook Application -> Go to Settings -> Developer Roles and add try to add a Developer profile, if its a valid ID, application will accept that, otherwise a error message will display the email address of that profile.
To submit profile ID directly from URL parameters : https://developers.facebook.com/apps/APPLICATION_ID/roles?unverified_groups[1][0]=VICTIM_UID
Where APPLICATION_ID is application ID and VICTIM_UID is numerical id of facebook profiles collected from step 2.
To submit more profiles in bulk:
https://developers.facebook.com/apps/APPLICATION_ID/roles
?unverified_groups[1][0]=VICTIM_UID1
&unverified_groups[2][0]=VICTIM_UID2
&unverified_groups[3][0]=VICTIM_UID3
&unverified_groups[4][0]=VICTIM_UID4
&unverified_groups[5][0]=VICTIM_UID5
&unverified_groups[6][0]=VICTIM_UID6
&unverified_groups[7][0]=VICTIM_UID7
&unverified_groups[8][0]=VICTIM_UID8
&unverified_groups[9][0]=VICTIM_UID9
&unverified_groups[10][0]=VICTIM_UID10
and so forth...
This way attacker is able to dump the primary email address of any number of facebook users at once. But was reported to facebook security team by Roy and he is rewarded with $4500 under bug bounty program.
| Vulnerability |
Universal Cross-site scripting vulnerability in Opera browser | https://thehackernews.com/2012/10/universal-cross-site-scripting.html | A Universal Cross-site scripting vulnerability in Opera browser was disclosed today on a Russian forum rdot.org. The flaw has the ability to be triggered by exploiting flaws inside browsers, instead of leveraging the vulnerabilities against insecure web sites.
"Vulnerable versions Opera for Windows, Mac and Linux to 2.12 inclusive (the latest version as of today). On versions prior to 9.50 check is not performed. advise after referring to the following opera when redirecting to a site on data: URL via HTTP -header Location property document.domain has a value in the last redirecting site"
The vulnerability actually use the Data URI Scheme in combination with another flaw called "Open Redirection" which happens when an attacker can use the webpage to redirect the user to any URI of his choice.
Even one don't have "Open Redirection" flaw in his site, still this XSS can be triggered using various short url services like bit.ly and tinyurl.com. Here's a proof-of-concept link on tinyurl: https://tinyurl.com/operauxss. If you open this link in Opera, you will find yourself looking at an alert box saying "tinyurl.com".
This means that the javascript executes within the domain of tinyurl.com. Because of that, an attacker could read data within the domain and steal the users cookies for the domain as well.
There is a small Fix you can do -Go to Tools->Preferences->Advanced->Network and uncheck the checkbox labeled "Enable automatic redirection".
| Vulnerability |
Free Ransomware Decryption Tool — CoinVault and Bitcryptor | https://thehackernews.com/2015/10/ransomware-decryption-tool.html | Have you been infected with the insidious CoinVault or Bitcryptor ransomware?
If so, there is some potentially good news for you.
You may now recover your encrypted files for FREE! – Thanks to the efforts of Dutch police and antivirus maker Kaspersky Lab.
Security researchers from Kaspersky Lab and the Dutch Public Prosecution Service have obtained and published the last set of encryption keys from command-and-control (C&C) servers used by two related ransomware threats – CoinVault and Bitcryptor.
Security researchers first observed CoinVault ransomware attacks in May 2014. Since then, CoinVault has made more than 1,500 victims in more than 108 countries.
In April 2015, the Dutch police obtained 'Decryption keys' database from a seized command and control server of CoinVault.
Ransomware Decryption Tool
Those decryption keys were then used by Kaspersky Lab to set up a Ransomware Decryptor Service, which included a set of around 750 decryption keys recovered from CoinVault servers hosted in the Netherlands.
After that raid, the CoinVault's authors slowly updated their code, eventually releasing a second-generation CoinVault version that they named Bitcryptor.
However, last month, the Dutch authorities arrested two men in connection with CoinVault and Bitcryptor ransomware attacks, leading to the recovery of additional 14,031 decryption keys.
The keys have now been updated to the Kaspersky's Ransomware Decryptor Service and published on the noransom.kaspersky.com website.
Those victims that had their PCs infected by these ransomware programs and still have the encrypted data lying around can now download these keys to unlock their personal files.
How to Decrypt CoinVault and Bitcryptor Ransomware:
Step 1: Note down the Bitcoin wallet address mentioned by the malware.
Step 2: Get the encrypted file list from the ransomware interface.
Step 3: Then download an effective antivirus and remove CoinVault Ransomware.
Step 4: Open https://noransom.kaspersky.com and download the decryption tool released by Kaspersky Labs.
Step 5: Install additional libraries and Decrypt your files.
However, there's only one catch:
"If you get infected by this ransomware in the near future, you are out of luck."
Ransomware on Rise
Ransomware has emerged as one of the biggest Internet threats to the web users in recent years.
The authors of the notorious CryptoWall ransomware have raised more than $325 MILLION (£212 million) in this past year alone.
Typically, hackers primarily gain access to a user's computer using ransomware malware that heavily encrypts data files with a strong cryptographic algorithm, and then demand a ransom money (to be paid in Bitcoin), which ranges from $200 to $10,000.
How to Prevent Yourself Against Ransomware Attacks?
Just few days back, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) advised ransomware victims to just pay off the criminals in order to see their valuable data again.
However, in my opinion, the best defense against these threats is to ensure that all your important files are regularly backed up to a separate drive or storage that are only temporarily connected and can not be reached by the attackers.
A few more things you should keep in mind to prevent your Computer from getting infected with ransomware and other malware threats are:
Ensure your system software and antivirus definitions are up-to-date.
Avoid visiting suspicious websites.
Avoid Opening Emails and attachments from unknown sources.
| Malware |
New Mac OS X adware Trojan spreading via browser plugin | https://thehackernews.com/2013/03/new-mac-os-x-adware-trojan-spreading.html | Russian anti-virus company Doctor Web reports that a new Mac OS X adware Trojan spreading itself via crafted movie trailer pages that prompt users to install a browser plugin. Basically, an adware is any software package which automatically renders advertisements in order to generate revenue for its author.
Dubbed as 'Trojan.Yontoo.1', Attackers have provided a number of alternative ways to spread the threat. The Trojan can also be downloaded as a media player, a video quality enhancement program or a download accelerator.
When victim visits the site, the dialogue only imitates the traditional plate and specially designed by hackers to enter a potential victim of misleading. After pressing the «Install the plug-in» victim is redirected to the site to download malware.
When launched, Trojan.Yontoo.1 displays a dialogue window that asks the user if they want to install Free Twit Tube. after the user presses 'Continue', instead of the promised program, the Trojan downloads.
While a user surfs the web, the plugin transmits information about the loaded pages to a remote server. In return, it gets a file that enables the Trojan to embed third-party code into pages visited by the user. This is how an apple.com page is displayed on an infected machine.
| Malware |
AliExpress WebSite Vulnerability Exposes Millions of Users' Private Information | https://thehackernews.com/2014/12/aliexpress-website-vulnerability_7.html | A critical, but easily exploitable personal information disclosure vulnerability has been discovered in the widely popular online marketplace AliExpress website that affects its millions of users worldwide.
The reported vulnerability could allow anyone to steal personal information of hundreds of millions of AliExpress users without knowing their account passwords.
AliExpress is an online marketplace owned by Chinese E-Commerce giant Alibaba.com, which offers more than 300 Million active users from more than 200 countries and regions to order items in bulk or one at a time at low wholesale prices.
Amitay Dan, an Israeli application security researcher working at Cybermoon.cc, reported the vulnerability to The Hacker News after providing full disclosure of the flaw to the AliExpress team and Israeli media.
According to the Proof-of-Concept video and screenshots provided by the security researcher to The Hacker News, AliExpress website allows logged in user to add/update their shipping address and contact number at the following URL i.e.
https://trade.aliexpress.com/mailingaddress/mailingAddress.htm?mailingAddressId=123456
Where "123456" is the user id of the logged in user. Researcher noticed that just by changing value of "mailingAddressId" parameter to a different value, one could easily exploit the validation flaw of the website to display the Mailing Address and contact information of the respective user on the same webpage, as shown.
A Smart attacker can simply gather personal information of millions of AliExpress users just by using an automated script to crawl "mailingAddress.htm" page for all possible numbers between 1 to 99999999999 as "mailingAddressId" parameter value.
The vulnerability has been reported to AliExpress team and will soon be patched in coming hours, researcher indicated.
| Vulnerability |
Terminator RAT became more sophisticated in recent APT attacks | https://thehackernews.com/2013/10/terminator-rat-became-more.html | Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) is a term referring to targeted attacks on enterprises and other organizations and recently referred to what appeared to be nation-state intelligence agencies using cyber assaults for both conventional espionage and industrial espionage.
Advanced threats have targeted control systems in the past and these attacks use commercially available and custom-made advanced malware to steal information or perpetrate fraud.
Terminator RAT has been used against Tibetan and Uyghur activists before and while tracking attack against entities in Taiwan, the Cyber Security company FireEye Labs recently analyzed some new samples of 'Terminator RAT' (Remote Access Tool) that was sent via spear-phishing emails to targets in Taiwan.
A word document as an attachment was sent to victims, exploited a vulnerability in Microsoft Office (CVE-2012-0158), which subsequently drops a malware installer named "DW20.exe".
Sometimes the simplest techniques can foil the complex systems created by security firms and large enterprises to detect malicious programs and files. Lets see - What Evasion techniques this Advance version of Terminator RAT is using:
This executable will first create its working folders located at "%UserProfile%\Microsoft" and "%AppData%\2019", where it will store configurations and executable files (svchost_.exe and sss.exe).
Malware terminates and remove itself after installation. The malware will only run after reboot. This is one effective way to evade sandbox automatic analysis, as malicious activity will only reveal after a reboot.
The RAT (svchost_.exe) will collaborate with its relay (sss.exe) to communicate with the command and control server at liumingzhen.zapto.org / 123.51.208.69 and liumingzhen.myftp.org / 123.51.208.69.
This component plays the role as a network relay between the malware and the proxy server, by listening over port 8000.
This folder "2019" was then configured to be the new start up folder location by changing the registry "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders\Startupdeter forensics investigation." to deter forensics investigation by changing the startup location.
Also to deter file-based scanning that implements a maximum file size filter, by expanding the size of svchost_.exe to 40MB.
It is clear cybercrime is getting more organized and cybercriminals are becoming so much more sophisticated. Hackers are using stealth or advanced malware, usually to infiltrate hosts in networks and steal valuable data and APT attacks are increasingly becoming more sophisticated and harder to detect.
| Vulnerability |
Spanish Court Agrees to Extradite Russian Spam King to the United States | https://thehackernews.com/2017/10/peter-levashov-kelihos.html | Spain's National Court ruled on Tuesday to extradite a 36-year-old Russian computer programmer, accused by American authorities of malicious hacking offences, to the United States, according to a court document.
Peter Yuryevich Levashov, also known as Peter Severa, was arrested in April this year when he was travelling with his family to Barcelona, Spain from his home in Russia—a country without an extradition treaty with the United States—for his role in a huge computer botnet.
However, since Levashov has previously worked with for Vladimir Putin's United Russia Party for ten years, he fears that the US authorities would torture him for information about his political work if sent there to face the charges against him.
"If I go to the U.S., I will die in a year. They want to get information of a military nature and about the United Russia party," RIA news agency quoted Levashov as saying. "I will be tortured, within a year I will be killed, or I will kill myself."
Levashov was accused of operating the Kelihos botnet—a global network of more than 100,000 infected computers used to deliver spam, steal login passwords and infect computers with ransomware and other malware since at least 2010.
While initially it was speculated that Levashov was involved in 2016 U.S. election hacking, the FBI made it clear that the suspect was arrested due to his involvement in the Kelihos botnet and spamming targets for trying and forcing them to buy worthless stock.
According to the FBI officials, Levashov used the same IP address to operate Kelihos botnet that he used to access his email and other online accounts in his name, including Apple iCloud and Google Gmail accounts.
The Department of Justice's indictment said the Russian suspect allegedly used Kelihos to distribute hundreds of millions of spam e-mails every year, and pump-and-dump stock scams, especially targeting Microsoft Windows machines for infection.
Besides conducting spamming operations, Levashov also allegedly used the Kelihos botnet to infect end-user computers with malware and harvest passwords to online and bank accounts belonging to thousands of Americans.
The United States had requested Levashov's arrest, and after his arrest in April 2016, Russia in September filed a counter-extradition request for Levashov hours before the original extradition hearing.
However, Spain's High Court has approved the U.S. extradition request of Levashov, who has been charged with wire fraud and unauthorised interception of electronic communications.
United States prosecutors are seeking a 52-year jail sentence against Levashov, who has already denied the charges against him, Reuters reported.
Levashov has now just three days to appeal his extradition to the United States.
| Malware |
Twitter Discloses Suspected State-Sponsored Attack After Minor Data Breach | https://thehackernews.com/2018/12/twitter-data-breach.html | Twitter has been hit with a minor data breach incident that the social networking site believes linked to a suspected state-sponsored attack.
In a blog post published on Monday, Twitter revealed that while investigating a vulnerability affecting one of its support forms, the company discovered evidence of the bug being misused to access and steal users' exposed information.
The impacted support form in question was used by account holders to contact Twitter about issues with their account.
Discovered in mid-November, the support form API bug exposed considerably less personal information, including the country code of users' phone numbers associated with their Twitter account, and "whether or not their account had been locked."
So far the company has declined to provide more details about the incident or an estimate for the number of accounts potentially impacted but says it believes that the attack may have ties to state-sponsored actors.
"During our investigation, we noticed some unusual activity involving the affected customer support form API. Specifically, we observed a large number of inquiries coming from individual IP addresses located in China and Saudi Arabia," Twitter says in a post about the incident.
"While we cannot confirm intent or attribution for certain, it is possible that some of these IP addresses may have ties to state-sponsored actors."
Twitter also assures its users that the issue does not expose full phone numbers or any other personal data related to the user.
Twitter says that the social networking site addressed the issue within just one day on November 16 and that there is no action required from the users' side.
When the company became aware of the incident, it started investigating the origins and background of the breach to "provide you with as much information as possible," and also updated law enforcement.
Twitter has started directly notifying the users who, according to the company, have been impacted by the incident.
"We have directly informed the people we identified as being affected," the company writes. "We are providing this broader notice as it is possible that other account holders we cannot identify were potentially impacted."
Like other social media platforms, Twitter has also been hit by a number of security incidents this year.
In May, Twitter urged all of its 330 million users to change their passwords after a software glitch unintentionally exposed its users' account passwords by storing them in plain text on an internal log.
In September, a flaw in Twitter's Account Activity API exposed some of its users' direct messages (DMs) and protected tweets to unauthorized, third-party app developers who weren't supposed to get them.
Over the weekend, Twitter was also hit by another software glitch that allowed unapproved third-party apps to access and read users' direct messages (DMs), even when they told users that they would not.
| Data_Breaches |
Hackers to release 0-days in comics | https://thehackernews.com/2012/02/hackers-to-release-0-days-in-comics.html | Hackers to release 0-days in comics
Hackers frequently disclose vulnerabilities in various products, but taking it to a whole new level, now hackers and malware coders are planning to release actual 0-days through their own comic books. The Malware conference, Malcon announced it on their groups yesterday.
In the making from last three months, the comic is planned for release with objective of simplifying and helping coders understand the art behind malcoding for offensive defense and security.
It is learned that there will be two formats for the comic - a web and a printed version. The printed version will be specifically for the Indian Government officials, Intelligence agencies and Law enforcement groups, who are regular attendees at the conference.
This is also seen as a remarkable and significant point in the history and evolution of hackers and also points at things to come in wake of real threats with respect to cyber warfare capabilities of India in future.
On condition of anonimity a supporting member said "It is fascinating - just imagine, you read this hack in a freshly released comic book and can actually play it out in real world and exploit it till the time the vendors fix it! I mean we have seen hacking techniques adapted in movies and books, but taking one from and using in real world - its weird and fantastic!"
The comic will have a super hero or not is yet to be disclosed - however, Professional hackers are already "excited" at this and have poured in their support to MalCon to help them in the project.
Guess we can now read comics officially on job and tell our bosses "Its for data security!"
| Malware |
Verizon FiOS app vulnerability Exposes 5 MILLION Customers' Email Addresses | https://thehackernews.com/2015/01/verizon-fios-app-vulnerability-exposes_18.html | A critical vulnerability discovered in Verizon's FiOS mobile application allowed an attacker to access the email account of any Verizon customer with relative ease, leaving almost five million user accounts of Verizon's FiOS application at risk.
The FiOS API flaw was discovered by XDA senior software developer Randy Westergren on January 14, 2015, when he found that it was possible to not only read the contents of other users' inboxes, but also send message on their behalf.
The issue was discovered while analyzing traffic generated by the Android version of My FiOS, which is used for account management, email and scheduling video recordings.
Westergren took time to put together a proof-of-concept showing serious cause for concern, and then reported it to Verizon. The telecom giant acknowledged the researcher of the notification the same day and issued a fix on Friday, just two days after the vulnerability was disclosed. That's precisely how it should be done - quickly and efficiently.
Microsoft could learn a lot more from Verizon, as Microsoft wasn't able to fix the security flaws in its software reported by Google's Project Zero team even after a three-month-long time period provided to the company. One-after-one three serious zero-day vulnerabilities in Windows 7 and 8.1 were disclosed by Google's security team before Microsoft planned to patch them.
The FiOS API flaw, actually contained in the application's API, allowed any account to be accessed by manipulating user identification numbers in web requests, giving attackers ability to read individual messages from a person's Verizon inbox.
"Altering the uid parameter and specifying another username shouldn't have an effect, since I'm logged in and my session is maintained through my cookies," Westergren wrote in an advisory. "Amazingly, this was not the case. Substituting the uid with the username of another email account indeed returned the contents of their inbox."
According to the security researcher, the vulnerability even allowed attackers to send email messages from victims' accounts and found and exploited further vulnerable API calls.
"It was my suspicion that all of the API methods for this widget within the app were vulnerable. My last test was sending an outgoing message as another user [which was] also successful," Westergren wrote.
The problem has been fixed by the telecom giant, so there is no need for users to worry about it. Verizon rewarded Westergren with a year's worth of free internet. "Version's (corporate) security group seemed to immediately realize the impact of this vulnerability and took it very seriously," Westergren said.
| Vulnerability |
Hacker Who Hacked Official Linux Kernel Website Arrested in Florida | https://thehackernews.com/2016/09/linux-kernel-hacking.html | Around five years after unknown hackers gained unauthorized access to multiple kernel.org servers used to maintain and distribute the Linux operating system kernel, police have arrested a South Florida computer programmer for carrying out the attack.
Donald Ryan Austin, a 27-year-old programmer from of El Portal, Florida, was charged Thursday with hacking servers belonging to the Linux Kernel Organization (kernel.org) and the Linux Foundation in 2011, the Department of Justice announced on Thursday.
The Linux Kernel Organization runs kernel.org servers for distributing the Linux operating system kernel, which is the heart of the operating system, whereas the Linux Foundation is a separate group that supports kernel.org.
According to an indictment [PDF] unsealed by federal prosecutors on Monday, Austin managed to steal login credentials of one of the Linux Kernel Organization system administrators in 2011 and used them to install a hard-to-detect malware backdoor, dubbed Phalanx, on servers belonging to the organization.
But what made the breach much significant? It's the open-source operating system that's being used by Millions of corporate and government networks worldwide.
Using the Phalanx malware, Austin allegedly installed Ebury – a Trojan designed for Linux, FreeBSD or Solaris hacking – on a number of servers run by the Linux groups, which helped him gain access to the login credentials of people using the servers.
Austin allegedly infected Linux servers, including "Odin1," "Zeus1," and "Pub3," which were leased by the Linux Foundation for operating kernel.org. He also hacked the personal email server of Linux Kernel Organization's founder Peter Anvin.
Austin is also accused of allegedly using his unauthorized admin privileges to insert messages into the system that would display when the servers restarted.
According to prosecutors, Austin's motive for the intrusion was to gain early access to Linux software builds distributed through the www.kernel.org website.
Bad Luck! Hacker Arrested while Breaking Traffic Rules
This security breach forced the Linux Foundation to shut down kernel.org completely while a malware infection was cleared up, and rebuild several of its servers. Miami Shores Police stopped Austin while breaking traffic rules on August 28 and then arrested after identified as a suspect in 2011 case.
Austin is charged with 4 counts of "intentional transmission causing damage to a protected computer." He was released from jail on a bond of $50,000 provided by the family of his girlfriend.
Judge has ordered Austin to stay away from the Internet, computers, and every type of social media or e-mail services, due to his "substance abuse history."
Austin is scheduled to appear in San Francisco federal court on September 21 before the Honorable Sallie Kim, and if found guilty, he faces a possible sentence of 40 years in prison as well as $2 Million in fines.
| Malware |
A Google Docs Bug Could Have Allowed Hackers See Your Private Documents | https://thehackernews.com/2020/12/a-google-docs-bug-could-have-allowed.html | Google has patched a bug in its feedback tool incorporated across its services that could be exploited by an attacker to potentially steal screenshots of sensitive Google Docs documents simply by embedding them in a malicious website.
The flaw was discovered on July 9 by security researcher Sreeram KL, for which he was awarded $3133.70 as part of Google's Vulnerability Reward Program.
Many of Google's products, including Google Docs, come with a "Send feedback" or "Help Docs improve" option that allows users to send feedback along with an option to include a screenshot — something that's automatically loaded to highlight specific issues.
But instead of having to duplicate the same functionality across its services, the feedback feature is deployed in Google's main website ("www.google.com") and integrated to other domains via an iframe element that loads the pop-up's content from "feedback.googleusercontent.com."
This also means that whenever a screenshot of the Google Docs window is included, rendering the image necessitates the transmission of RGB values of every pixel to the parent domain (www.google.com), which then redirects those RGB values to the feedback's domain, which ultimately constructs the image and sends it back in Base64 encoded format.
Sreeram, however, identified a bug in the manner these messages were passed to "feedback.googleusercontent.com," thus allowing an attacker to modify the frame to an arbitrary, external website, and in turn, steal and hijack Google Docs screenshots which were meant to be uploaded to Google's servers.
Notably, the flaw stems from a lack of X-Frame-Options header in the Google Docs domain, which made it possible to change the target origin of the message and exploit the cross-origin communication between the page and the frame contained in it.
While the attack requires some form of user interaction — i.e. clicking the "Send feedback" button — an exploit could easily leverage this weakness to capture the URL of the uploaded screenshot and exfiltrate it to a malicious site.
This can be achieved by embedding a Google Docs file in an iFrame on a rogue website and hijacking the feedback pop-up frame to redirect the contents to a domain of the attacker's choice.
Failing to provide a target origin during cross-origin communication raises security concerns in that it discloses the data that's sent to any website.
"Always specify an exact target origin, not *, when you use postMessage to send data to other windows," Mozilla documentation states. "A malicious site can change the location of the window without your knowledge, and therefore it can intercept the data sent using postMessage."
| Vulnerability |
Warning — Linux Mint Website Hacked and ISOs replaced with Backdoored Operating System | https://thehackernews.com/2016/02/linux-mint-hack.html | Are you also the one who downloaded Linux Mint on February 20th? You may have been Infected!
Linux Mint is one of the best and popular Linux distros available today, but if you have downloaded and installed the operating system recently you might have done so using a malicious ISO image.
Here's why:
Last night, Some unknown hacker or group of hackers had managed to hack into the Linux Mint website and replaced the download links on the site that pointed to one of their servers offering a malicious ISO images for the Linux Mint 17.3 Cinnamon Edition.
"Hackers made a modified Linux Mint ISO, with a backdoor in it, and managed to hack our website to point to it," the head of Linux Mint project Clement Lefebvre said in a surprising announcement dated February 21, 2016.
Who are affected?
As far as the Linux Mint team knows, the issue only affects the one edition, and that is Linux Mint 17.3 Cinnamon edition.
The situation happened last night, so the issue only impacts people who downloaded the above-mentioned version of Linux Mint on February 20th.
However, if you have downloaded the Cinnamon edition or release before Saturday 20th, February, the issue does not affect you. Even if you downloaded a different edition including Mint 17.3 Cinnamon via Torrent or direct HTTP link, this does not affect you either.
What had Happened?
Hackers believed to have accessed the underlying server via the team's WordPress blog and then got shell access to www-data.
From there, the hackers manipulated the Linux Mint download page and pointed it to a malicious FTP (File Transfer Protocol) server hosted in Bulgaria (IP: 5.104.175.212), the investigative team discovered.
The infected Linux ISO images installed the complete OS with the Internet Relay Chat (IRC) backdoor Tsunami, giving the attackers access to the system via IRC servers.
Tsunami is a well-known Linux ELF trojan that is a simple IRC bot used for launching Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.
Hackers vs. Linux Mint SysAdmins
However, the Linux Mint team managed to discover the hack, cleaned up the links from their website quickly, announced the data breach on their official blog, and then it appears that the hackers compromised its download page again.
Knowing that it has failed to eliminate the exact point of entry of hackers, the Linux Mint team took the entire linuxmint.com domain offline to prevent the ISO images from spreading to its users.
The Linux Mint official website is currently offline until the team investigates the issue entirely. However, the hackers' motive behind the hack is not clear yet.
"What we don't know is the motivation behind this attack. If more efforts are made to attack our project and if the goal is to hurt us, we'll get in touch with authorities and security firms to confront the people behind this," Lefebvre added.
Hackers Selling Linux Mint Website's Database
The hackers are selling the Linux Mint full website's database for a just $85, which shows a sign of their lack of knowledge.
The hack seems to be a work of some script kiddies or an inexperienced group as they opted to infect a top-shelf Linux distro with a silly IRC bot that is considered to be outdated in early 2010. Instead, they would have used more dangerous malware like Banking Trojans.
Also, even after the hack was initially discovered, the hackers re-compromised the site, which again shows the hackers' lack of experience.
Here's How to Protect your Linux Machine
Users with the ISO image can check its signature in an effort to make sure it is valid.
To check for an infected download, you can compare the MD5 signature with the official versions, included in Lefebvre's blog post.
If found infected, users are advised to follow these steps:
Take the computer offline.
Backup all your personal data.
Reinstall the operating system (with a clean ISO) or format the partition.
Change passwords for sensitive websites and emails.
You can read full detail about the hack here. The official website is not accessible at the time of writing. We'll update the story when we hear more.
| Malware |
BlueBorne: Critical Bluetooth Attack Puts Billions of Devices at Risk of Hacking | https://thehackernews.com/2017/09/blueborne-bluetooth-hacking.html | If you are using a Bluetooth enabled device, be it a smartphone, laptop, smart TV or any other IoT device, you are at risk of malware attacks that can carry out remotely to take over your device even without requiring any interaction from your side.
Security researchers have just discovered total 8 zero-day vulnerabilities in Bluetooth protocol that impact more than 5.3 Billion devices—from Android, iOS, Windows and Linux to the Internet of things (IoT) devices—using the short-range wireless communication technology.
Using these vulnerabilities, security researchers at IoT security firm Armis have devised an attack, dubbed BlueBorne, which could allow attackers to completely take over Bluetooth-enabled devices, spread malware, or even establish a "man-in-the-middle" connection to gain access to devices' critical data and networks without requiring any victim interaction.
All an attacker need is for the victim's device to have Bluetooth turned on and obviously, in close proximity to the attacker's device. Moreover, successful exploitation doesn't even require vulnerable devices to be paired with the attacker's device.
BlueBorne: Wormable Bluetooth Attack
What's more worrisome is that the BlueBorne attack could spread like the wormable WannaCry ransomware that emerged earlier this year and wrecked havoc by disrupting large companies and organisations worldwide.
Ben Seri, head of research team at Armis Labs, claims that during an experiment in the lab, his team was able to create a botnet network and install ransomware using the BlueBorne attack.
However, Seri believes that it is difficult for even a skilled attacker to create a universal wormable exploit that could find Bluetooth-enabled devices, target all platform together and spread automatically from one infected device to others.
"Unfortunately, this set of capabilities is extremely desireable to a hacker. BlueBorne can serve any malicious objective, such as cyber espionage, data theft, ransomware, and even creating large botnets out of IoT devices like the Mirai Botnet or mobile devices as with the recent WireX Botnet," Armis said.
"The BlueBorne attack vector surpasses the capabilities of most attack vectors by penetrating secure "air-gapped" networks which are disconnected from any other network, including the internet."
Apply Security Patches to Prevent Bluetooth Hacking
The security firm responsibly disclosed the vulnerabilities to all the major affected companies a few months ago—including Google, Apple and Microsoft, Samsung and Linux Foundation.
These vulnerabilities include:
Information Leak Vulnerability in Android (CVE-2017-0785)
Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2017-0781) in Android's Bluetooth Network Encapsulation Protocol (BNEP) service
Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2017-0782) in Android BNEP's Personal Area Networking (PAN) profile
The Bluetooth Pineapple in Android—Logical flaw (CVE-2017-0783)
Linux kernel Remote Code Execution vulnerability (CVE-2017-1000251)
Linux Bluetooth stack (BlueZ) information leak vulnerability (CVE-2017-1000250)
The Bluetooth Pineapple in Windows—Logical flaw (CVE-2017-8628)
Apple Low Energy Audio Protocol Remote Code Execution vulnerability (CVE Pending)
Google and Microsoft have already made security patches available to their customers, while Apple iOS devices running the most recent version of its mobile operating system (that is 10.x) are safe.
"Microsoft released security updates in July and customers who have Windows Update enabled and applied the security updates, are protected automatically. We updated to protect customers as soon as possible, but as a responsible industry partner, we withheld disclosure until other vendors could develop and release updates." – a Microsoft spokesperson said.
What's worst? All iOS devices with 9.3.5 or older versions and over 1.1 Billion active Android devices running older than Marshmallow (6.x) are vulnerable to the BlueBorne attack.
Moreover, millions of smart Bluetooth devices running a version of Linux are also vulnerable to the attack. Commercial and consumer-oriented Linux platform (Tizen OS), BlueZ and 3.3-rc1 are also vulnerable to at least one of the BlueBorne bugs.
Android users need to wait for security patches for their devices, as it depends on your device manufacturers.
In the meantime, they can install "BlueBorne Vulnerability Scanner" app (created by Armis team) from Google Play Store to check if their devices are vulnerable to BlueBorne attack or not. If found vulnerable, you are advised to turn off Bluetooth on your device when not in use.
| Vulnerability |
MySQL.com Once again Compromised using Sql Flaw | https://thehackernews.com/2011/12/mysqlcom-once-again-compromised-using.html | MySQL.com Once again Compromised using Sql Flaw
A hacker with name "D35M0ND142" claim to hack MySql.com website using Sql Injection Flaws. In September, Mysql.com was hacked and it was serving BlackHole exploit malware on the site. In a pastebin dump Hacker Exposes various Admin user credentials and Database info. The Compromised Usernames and Passwords are from Blog site of MySql.
MySql website is pretty embarrassed for not securing its own database's properly, Even hacker share that "Robin Schumacher is MySQL's Director of Product Management andhas over 20 years of database experience in DB2, MySQL, Oracle, SQLServer and other database engines. Before joining MySQL, Robin wasVice President of Product Management at Embarcadero Technologies."
Besides the hack on MySQL.com, D35M0ND142 also managed to breach the systems of the Urbino University in Italy and the Universal Language & Computer Institute in Nepal and Stream Database.
| Malware |
Researchers Unearth Links Between SunCrypt and QNAPCrypt Ransomware | https://thehackernews.com/2021/03/researchers-unearth-links-between.html | SunCrypt, a ransomware strain that went on to infect several targets last year, may be an updated version of the QNAPCrypt ransomware, which targeted Linux-based file storage systems, according to new research.
"While the two ransomware [families] are operated by distinct different threat actors on the dark web, there are strong technical connections in code reuse and techniques, linking the two ransomware to the same author," Intezer Lab researcher Joakim Kennedy said in a malware analysis published today revealing the attackers' tactics on the dark web.
First identified in July 2019, QNAPCrypt (or eCh0raix) is a ransomware family that was found to target Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices from Taiwanese companies QNAP Systems and Synology. The devices were compromised by brute-forcing weak credentials and exploiting known vulnerabilities with the goal of encrypting files found in the system.
The ransomware has since been tracked to a Russian cybercrime group referred to as "FullOfDeep," with Intezer shutting down as many as 15 ransomware campaigns using the QNAPCrypt variant with denial of service attacks targeting a list of static bitcoin wallets that were created for the express intent of accepting ransom payments from victims, and prevent future infections.
SunCrypt, on the other hand, emerged as a Windows-based ransomware tool written originally in Go in October 2019, before it was ported to a C/C++ version in mid-2020. Besides stealing victims' data prior to encrypting the files and threatening with public disclosure, the group has leveraged distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks as a secondary extortion tactic to pressure victims into paying the demanded ransom.
Most recently, the ransomware was deployed to target a New South Wales-based medical diagnostics company called PRP Diagnostic Imaging on December 29, which involved the theft of "a small volume of patient records" from two of its administrative file servers.
Although the two ransomware families have directed their attacks against different operating systems, reports of SunCrypt's connections to other ransomware groups have been previously speculated.
Indeed, blockchain analysis company Chainalysis earlier last month quoted a "privately circulated report" from threat intelligence firm Intel 471 that claimed representatives from SunCrypt described their strain as a "rewritten and rebranded version of a 'well-known' ransomware strain."
Now according to Intezer's analysis of the SunCrypt Go binaries, not only does the ransomware share similar encryption functions with QNAPCrypt, but also in the file types encrypted and the methods used to generate the encryption password as well as perform system locale checks to determine if the machine in question is located in a disallowed country.
Also of note is the fact that both QNAPCrypt and SunCrypt make use of the ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) model to advertise their tools on underground forums, wherein affiliates carry out the ransomware attacks themselves and pay a percentage of each victim's payment back to the strain's creators and administrators.
Taking into account the overlaps and the behavioral differences between the two groups, Intezer suspects that "the eCh0raix ransomware was transferred to and upgraded by the SunCrypt operators."
"While the technical based evidence strongly provides a link between QNAPCrypt and the earlier version of SunCrypt, it is clear that both ransomware are operated by different individuals," the researchers concluded.
"Based on the available data, it is not possible to connect the activity between the two actors on the forum. This suggests that when new malware services derived from older services appear, they may not always be operated by the same people."
| Malware |
Kaspersky revealed "Kimsuky" Cyber Espionage campaign targeting South Korea | https://thehackernews.com/2013/09/Kimsuky-malware-Cyber-Espionage-campaign-South-Korea.html | Russian Security Firm Kaspersky Lab has revealed that it has been following a sustained attack on South Korea by hackers seemingly based in North Korea.,
This new Cyber Espionage campaign dubbed "Kimsuky" has targeted several South Korean think tanks. Researchers believe the Kimsuky malware is most likely delivered via spear-phishing e-mails and used multiple Dropbox email accounts
"It's interesting that the drop box mail accounts [email protected] and [email protected] are registered with the following "kim" names: kimsukyang and "Kim asdfa"
The Kaspersky researchers revealed that the operation presents distinctive characteristics in its execution and logistics. The investigation started after the team of experts detected an unsophisticated spy program that communicated with it control server via a public e-mail server, an approach followed by too many amateur malware authors.
Victims download a Trojan dropper which is used to download additional malware, which has the ability to perform the following espionage functions including keystroke logging, directory listing collection, remote control access and HWP document theft.
The complete path found in the malware presents some Korean strings:
D:\rsh\공격\UAC_dll(완성)\Release\test.pdb
The "rsh" word, by all appearances, means a shortening of "Remote Shell" and the Korean words can be translated in English as "attack" and "completion", i.e.:
D:\rsh\ATTACK\UAC_dll(COMPLETION)\Release\test.pdb
At system startup, the basic library disables the system firewall and any firewall produced by the South Korean security product vendor AhnLab. The malware does not include a custom back door, instead the attackers modified a TeamViewer client as a remote control module.
Bot agents communicate with C&C through the Bulgarian web-based free email server (mail.bg), it maintains a hard coded credentials for its e-mail account. After authenticating, the malware sends emails to another specified email address, and reads emails from the Inbox.
Espionage campaign appears to be originated in North Korea. The researchers identified 10 IP addresses indicating that the attackers used networks in China's Jilin and Liaoning provinces, which border North Korea.
Attackers were interested in targeting 11 organizations based in South Korea and two entities in China including the Sejong Institute, Korea Institute For Defense Analyses (KIDA), South Korea's Ministry of Unification, Hyundai Merchant Marine and The supporters of Korean Unification.
| Malware |
Samsung Galaxy Note II lock screen bypass vulnerability | https://thehackernews.com/2013/03/samsung-galaxy-note-ii-lock-screen.html | iOS was in the news lately for a series of security mishaps, but this time android back in scene. A security flaw discovered by Terence Eden on the Galaxy Note II with Android 4.1.2 that allows hackers to briefly bypass the phone's lock screen without needing a password.
By hitting "emergency call" then "emergency contacts" then holding the home button, the main home screen becomes visible for around a second just enough time to load an app, before reverting back to the lock screen.
Not all apps will open in this manner, a demo video shows that Google Play does not respond. Reportedly, Eden contacted Samsung roughly five days ago but has yet to hear back. He said that he has not tested any other Samsung devices to see if they are also affected.
The flaw appears to be similar to a screen lock vulnerability in newer Apple devices, including the iPhone 5.
Steps to follow:
Lock the device with a "secure" pattern, PIN, or password.
Activate the screen.
Press "Emergency Call".
Press the "ICE" button on the bottom left.
Hold down the physical home key for a few seconds and then release.
The phone's home screen will be displayed - briefly.
While the home screen is displayed, click on an app or a widget.
The app or widget will launch.
If the widget is "direct dial" the phone will start ringing.
Using this method it could also be possible to load up email or SMS apps for long enough to get an overview of sensitive messages.
| Vulnerability |
MacKeeper Zero Day Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | https://thehackernews.com/2015/05/mackeeper-antivirus.html | A controversial piece of security and maintenance software for Mac OS X computers, known as MacKeeper, has been found to be vulnerable to a critical remote code execution vulnerability.
MacKeeper antivirus software for Mac OS X is designed to improve Mac performance and security, but it is infamous for its noisy "clean up your Mac" pop-under ads that stress the need for a system cleanup. If you try to close the ad, the software will prompt you to "Leave Page/Stay on This Page" dialogues.
The vulnerability details were disclosed on Friday after the patch release, which allows an attacker to execute remotely malicious commands with root privileges on Mac OS X systems when a victim visits specially crafted Web pages.
MacKeeper Versions Earlier to 3.4.1 are Affected
The remote code execution flaw, affecting the versions earlier to 3.4.1, caused due to the way MacKeeper malware removal software handles its custom URLs, security researchers at SecureMac explained in an advisory.
A remote attacker tricking the victim into visiting a maliciously crafted web page could exploit the flaw and execute arbitrary code with root privilege on the compromised system, with "little to no user interaction" required.
Proof-of-Concept Exploit Released
Security researcher Braden Thomas Posted reported the glitch last Thursday with a proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit that demonstrates the attack in action.
The proof-of-concept exploit published by Thomas on Twitter takes advantage of a lack of input validation by MacKeeper and automatically executes a command to uninstall MacKeeper from the system when the victim lands on a malicious web page.
"If the user hasn't previously authenticated, they will be prompted to enter their username and password" the advisory states, "however the text that appears for the authentication dialogue can be manipulated as part of the exploit … so the user might not realise the consequences of this action."
Vulnerability Patched, Update Released
At the moment SecureMac exposed the details of the glitch, the vulnerability was still zero-day, however since the developers of MacKeeper has released an update, MacKeeper Version 3.4.1, patching the custom URL scheme.
MacKeeper malware removal software has been downloaded more than 20 Million times, which is an enormous number. Therefore in order to be safe, run MacKeeper Update Tracker and install the latest version of MacKeeper, version 3.4.1 or later.
So far, it isn't clear that how this critical vulnerability potentially impacts many users, however, MacKeeper confirmed its users that the company is not aware of any security breach exploiting this vulnerability.
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