CyberSecurity Institute – Page 133 – Security News Curated from across the world

Chinese Hackers Going After U.S., Not Just Media — Daily Intelligencer

Posted on February 11, 2013December 30, 2021 by admini

Some experts think online espionage is costing us as much as $25 billion to $100 billion annually, and the Obama administration is stepping up its efforts to fight the problem. This week, the president is expected to issue an executive order outlining voluntary cyber security standards for important private-sector companies and for the sharing of threat information between the companies and the government. … The government needs specific evidence of hacking to take action, and when an institution like the Times reveals that it’s been targeted, it might encourage other companies to admit that they failed to prevent hackers from poking around in their computer systems.

Link: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/02/chinese-hackers-going-after-us-not-just-media.html

US Report Highlights Economic Threat of Hacking

Posted on February 11, 2013December 30, 2021 by admini

Several U.S. newspapers, including the Post, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times accuse Chinese hackers of infiltrating their computer systems.

Duncan Clarke of Stanford University, who also chairs BDA — a China-based investment and advisory firm — said that if China is responsible for directing corporate espionage, it would be to help Chinese companies compete with their U.S. rivals. And we have not seen that level of concern in other countries, so the risk is that you actually hurt your own interests by taking too hard a line on this.”

The U.S. government has been concerned for years about the “significant and growing” threat of hackers stealing data for economic gain, and a report in The Wall Street Journal says businesses have long been well aware of the problem. So far, Washington’s response has included everything from giving written guidance to businesses on intellectual property crimes, to setting up a toll-free number to report problems, to unsuccessful efforts to get Congress to pass legislation on the issue.

Link: http://www.voanews.com/content/us-report-highlights-economic-threat-of-hacking/1601067.html

Cyber attacks on U.S. banks likely to continue, experts say | TribLIVE

Posted on February 9, 2013December 30, 2021 by admini

The Cyber Fighters began attacks on banks in September, claiming in statements posted to an Internet message board that they would continue until a YouTube video mocking the Islamic Prophet Muhammad was taken down. In addition to PNC, the attacks hit Citizens Bank, Fifth Third Bank and Huntington Bank in the Pittsburgh region.

Many government officials and Internet security experts have said they believe the attacks were carried out by the Iranian government or at its behest. Dave Aitel, CEO of the Miami Internet security firm Immunity Inc., said everything the Cyber Fighters wrote suggested Iran was involved. “Clearly this was state-sponsored, and the only state with an interest is Iran,” Aitel said, citing the frequent use of “proportional response” by the group to describe the attacks on banks.

Bardin said the attacks fit the standard mode of operation of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, who “go around the world and set up proxy groups sympathetic to them.”

Link: http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/3363832-74/attacks-cyber-bank#axzz2KdfkRFjM

New phishing tool mimics logged in dashboards

Posted on February 7, 2013December 30, 2021 by admini

The Python-based tool, dubbed TSURT (trust in reverse) uses the open source web scrapy framework Scrapy to pull user information like logos or avatars from a target site which are then embedded in the phishing page.

In a video demonstration, the tool pulls down a Facebook account profile picture which is then placed inside a fake Facebook dashboard screen featuring a fake private message.

If an attacker wants to do a targeted attack its not the hardest thing in the world to have access to basic creds like account number or BSB.” “If a victim saw this in a banking dashboard it would definitely raise less alarms alarms as opposed to usual phishing techniques which just rudely slap the user with a login page.”

Link: http://www.scmagazine.com.au/News/331434,new-phishing-tool-mimics-logged-in-dashboards.aspx?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=SC+Magazine+All+Articles+feed

New Malware Takes ‘Extended Naps’ To Avoid Detection | The Security Ledger

Posted on February 7, 2013December 30, 2021 by admini

Those networks rely on domains that shift rapidly between different IP addresses, making it difficult for victims to block the source of the attack, or identify a clear pattern of malicious activity. In the case of Nap, FireEye researchers identified systems in Latvia, Ukraine, Taiwan, as well as Kazakhstan and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that were hosting Nap command and control domains.

Using long sleep cycles is described as a “classic” technique for staying under the radar for automated analysis and antivirus software.

Link: http://securityledger.com/new-malware-takes-extended-naps-to-avoid-detection/

Business is booming for exploits, mobile malware

Posted on February 7, 2013December 30, 2021 by admini

The majority of exploits detected were related to four vulnerabilities (two Windows and two Java), most likely a result of the fact that today’s popular exploit kits, BlackHole and Cool Exploit, include exploits for these vulnerabilities. All of these vulnerabilities were reported in the last two years and have already had security patches released by their vendors – a reminder of the importance of keeping software updated.

“Criminals in the malware system each handle their own little niches, their own little links in the chain,” says Sean Sullivan, Security Advisor at F-Secure.

Android malware accounted for 79 percent (238) of all new, unique mobile malware variants in 2012, a number that speaks to the platform’s domination of the mobile market.

“On the inside it’s still the same malware family, but there can be a myriad of different ways to dress it up to try to disguise it…. At F-Secure, we have a more holistic understanding of the security landscape, that it cannot be dependent on merely one data point,” says Sullivan.

New business models like “rent-a-botnet” schemes are flourishing, where cybercriminals rent a whole network of infected computers and use it to perform their attacks.

Link: http://www.net-security.org/virus_news.php?id=2399