February 2013 – Page 6 – CyberSecurity Institute

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

Frost & Sullivan: Increasing Number and Complexity of Cyber Attacks Strengthens Need for Managed Sec

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

The region’s healthy economic growth has attracted players from other regions to expand their businesses in Latin America, further enhancing the scope of the MSS market. This affects firms’ decision to hire or continue security services and often companies, which have not yet been victims of attacks, fail to recognize the need for security services.

Link: http://news.yahoo.com/frost-sullivan-increasing-number-complexity-194500406.html

2013 will see more Stuxnet and Flame-like malware attacks, says AVG CTO – 06 Feb 2013 – Computing Ne

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

Stuxnet and Flame, which were identified in 2010 and 2012 respectively, have both been linked to the US and Israeli governments, who are alleged to have used the malware to sabotage critical infrastructure systems of various global targets, including Iran.

“It’s going to be keeping security officers in a lot of countries quite busy, so from their perspective that’s going to be a major player this year,” said Ben-Itzhak. However, he was less sure about the continued influence of so-called ‘hacktivist’ groups, the threat from which be believes has been hyped up by the media. “Even now, ICQ [a social networking program launched in 1996, but now of diminished consumer interest] is still a main place for them – it’s mainly populated by hackers now.”

Ben-Itzhak said that “headlines and slogans calling [hacktivists] ‘Anonymous’ is pretty in the press”, but the only real advantage the hackers have over the “dialup days” is an increased and sustained global connectivity. However, Ben-Itzhak suggested that while internet-based press coverage of world political events speeds up the response of hacktivists to these events, the same fast channel of news reporting is also building an undeserved reputation for the groups as they become linked to the events.

Link: http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/2241743/2013-will-see-more-stuxnet-and-flamelike-malware-attacks-says-avg-cto

Nearly a third of all computers are infected with malware

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

The countries leading the list of most infections are China, South Korea and Taiwan, with 54.89, 54.15 and 42.14 percent of infected computers respectively. … In China, the number of infected computers dropped from 56 percent in 2011 to 54.89 percent in 2012, and in Taiwan, the decrease was even larger (from 52 percent to 42.14 percent).

Facebook and Twitter continue to be among the most popular social media sites, and are exploited by cyber-crooks to trick users, infect their computers and steal their confidential information. LinkedIn, a tool that is increasingly becoming a key part of job searches, also suffered a massive breach that led to the theft of 6.5 million user passwords.

Special care will have to be taken to protect networks against operating system and application vulnerabilities, as it has become increasingly common for cyber-criminals and national intelligence agencies to exploit security flaws to silently compromise systems.

Cyber-espionage and cyber-war will also be on the rise in a year that presents itself full of challenges in the computer security world.

Link: http://www.net-security.org/malware_news.php?id=2404