admini – Page 63 – CyberSecurity Institute

DDoS attacks on sale for $2 an hour

Posted on July 4, 2013December 30, 2021 by admini

The service simply required attackers to inform it of which site they wish to launch a DDos attack against, decide how much they are willing to pay, and initiate the service.

This is just one example of a vast array of services and tools that make up a tumescent online marketplace wannabe cybercriminals can use to gather components of a cyberattack – or outsource the process altogether, the study found.

Stolen bank login information commands a higher price than credit card numbers, with prices ranging from two to 10 per cent of the account’s balance.

Meanwhile, so-called “bulletproof” hosting providers – firms which knowingly provide web or domain hosting to cybercriminals – can charge between $50 and $400 for their services per month.

Troels Oerting, head of EC3 European Cybercrime Centre – who wrote the white paper’s foreword, said: “Today’s cybercriminals do not necessarily require considerable technical expertise to get the job done, nor, in certain cases, do they even need to own a computer.

A marketplace offering cybercrime tools and services provides would-be criminals with an arsenal that can either be used as a component of a cyberattack or a handy way of outsourcing the process entirely.”

Link: http://www.channelweb.co.uk/crn-uk/news/2279505/ddos-attacks-on-sale-for-usd2-an-hour

AppRiver Releases Mid-Year Global Threatscape Report

Posted on July 2, 2013December 30, 2021 by admini

vents—Some of the bigger stories surrounding email and web threats over the past six months include malware campaigns leveraging the Boston Marathon bombings, the continuing rise of mobile malware, and DSD: a distraction technique used by cybercriminals as they’re emptying your bank accounts.

“If you notice a deluge of spam in your email inbox, it’s best not to try to monitor your email, but instead go directly to your account(s) activity because the people behind this spam blast have somehow obtained your personal account information and email address,” says Touchette. “In order to hide purchase receipt emails or balance transfer confirmation emails, the attackers, just before they make the illegal transactions, turn on this deluge of spam email in order for these very important emails to get lost in the flood.

As for server side vulnerabilities, some of the biggest exploits so far in 2013 have included cross-site scripting, cross-site request forgery, broken authentication systems, Ruby vulnerabilities, universal plug and play problems, and an Adobe issue with ColdFusion.

Metrics—In addition to the familiar data regarding email spam and viruses, this report includes some baseline data about web-based malware that AppRiver will track over the months ahead. As web-based malware and “drive-by downloads” become more widespread, this data will expose trends and patterns that can help improve security for users.

The Cyber World—This section of the report discusses major cybercrime arrests like that of Hamza Bendelladj for leading a major Zeus botnet, along with Hacktivism activities, and the evolution of cyber espionage from simple murmurings to mainstream conversation with attention-grabbing incidents such as Stuxnet, targeting a very specific system for enriching Uranium in a very specific location, not to mention the talk of cyber exchanges between the U.S. and China.

Link: http://www.heraldonline.com/2013/07/02/4994746/appriver-releases-mid-year-global.html

Combating attacks with collaborative threat intelligence

Posted on July 1, 2013December 30, 2021 by admini

Once an attacker has targeted any member of a collaborative platform, command-and-control servers are easily identified by their IP addresses throughout the network. This means that attackers can no longer benefit from the isolation of their targets; they must use a new IP for each attack that they launch. Instead of being able to launch thousands of attacks from a single IP, they have to pay the cost of acquiring a number of IPs that is proportional to the number of attacks they wish to mount.

Additionally, an attacker’s tools and tactics become much less effective when defenders collaborate to protect themselves from the attacker.

Link: http://www.net-security.org/article.php?id=1857&p=2

Attackers sign malware using crypto certificate stolen from Opera Software

Posted on June 26, 2013December 30, 2021 by admini

Hackers penetrated network servers belonging to Opera Software, stole at least one digital certificate, and then used it to distribute malware that incorrectly appeared to be published by the browser maker. “The attackers were able to obtain at least one old and expired Opera code signing certificate, which they have used to sign some malware,” Wednesday’s advisory stated. It is possible that a few thousand Windows users, who were using Opera between June 19 from 1.00 and 1.36 UTC, may automatically have received and installed the malicious software.”

Missing details include when the attackers first gained access to the servers, precisely when the stolen digital certificate expired, and whether there’s reason to believe other certificates may also have been obtained. It would also be useful to know how hackers got access to an official Opera digital certificate, which is supposed to cryptographically prove that the software that bears its seal could only have come from the company.

The Opera post urged users to “update to the latest version of Opera as soon as it is available, keep computer software up to date, and to use a reputable antivirus product on their computer.”

At some point soon, though, officials should provide a more thorough account of what happened, who was affected, and what steps have been taken to prevent similar attacks from succeeding in the future.

Link: http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/06/attackers-sign-malware-using-crypto-certificate-stolen-from-opera-software/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+arstechnica%2Findex+%28Ars+Technica+-+All+content%29

Mobile malware attacks grow 614% in year to March – study

Posted on June 26, 2013December 30, 2021 by admini

The Juniper Networks Mobile Threats Centre (MTC) identified more than 500 third-party “alternative” app stores globally where our researchers found mobile malware. They are also quite popular for device users who “jailbreak” or root their phones, and are looking for pirated or unsanctioned apps. Of these alternative app stores, three out of five are in China or Russia, markets infamous for malware.

The Juniper Networks Mobile Threats Centre (MTC) is studying the types of permissions users are required to give to apps in order to install them. Building on that research, Juniper found was an increase in the number of permissions required with free applications much more likely to ask for large amounts of information.

Link: http://www.telecompaper.com/news/mobile-malware-attacks-grow-614-in-year-to-march-study–951813

Unified database security software to help prevent intrusions

Posted on June 26, 2013December 30, 2021 by admini

GreenSQL offers a free version of its database security system from its website, with clients receiving the masking, performance management and auditing functions as part of its full service, Maman notes.

The company’s unified database security system was developed, initially, as an open-source project to protect open-source MySQL databases in 2006, with the first release in 2007 of the basic database security solution, he says. In less than three years time, the program was downloaded more than 100 000 times and Maman then founded the company with partners in 2009, which developed the GreenSQL database security system – built anew based on the team’s knowledge of database security in the open-source community.

“The system provides complete compliance with regulations, such as the public company accounting reform Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the administrative simplification standard Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard,” concludes Maman.

* Unified database security software parses the protocols and the syntax of connections into a database to analyse the patterns of activity to monitor and manage access to sensitive information.

* Database Activity Monitoring enables management to see exactly when and which sensitive records their external consultants have been exposed to and what actions they took.

Link: http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/protocol-and-syntax-parsing-into-database-provides-security-performance-and-access-management-2013-06-07