Week in review: Inadequate AV solutions, Eurograbber attacks, and the new issue of (IN)SECURE Magazine
Here’s an overview of some of last week’s most interesting news and articles:
Security experts debate moving critical infrastructure online
Paul Simmonds, Co-Founder of The Jericho Forum, has suggested that companies attempting to reduce costs by moving critical systems online could be opening themselves up to cyber attacks. Speaking at the Cybergeddon 2012 event, Mr Simmonds’ comments were echoed by other security experts – citing the discovery of highly advanced malware this year as a reason for greater caution.
Employees use file sharing services despite bans
Large numbers of employees use Dropbox and other consumer file sharing services for sensitive work-related data, even if they know that their employer has a specific policy banning the use of such services, according to Nasuni.
Researcher releases a slew of MySQL and SSH exploits
Security professional Nikolaos Rangos, who is better known by his online handle Kingcope, has flooded the Full Disclosure mailing list over the weekend with information and exploits for a number of bugs in MySQL and SSH servers.
Three out of every four malware infections are caused by Trojans
PandaLabs analyzed the IT security events and incidents from July through September 2012. The third quarter of the year has seen an increase in the number of hacking attacks on major companies aimed to gain access to confidential and personal information.
Mass phishing emails a thing of the past?
PhishMe predicts that phishers will be changing their tactics in 2013 – resorting to targeted spear phishing emails rather than the mass mails of the past.
Hackers publish more info from UN atomic energy agency’s servers
Displeased with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s statement that they breached only an “old server,” anti-Israel hacker group “Parastoo” has published another pastebin to prove they have done more than that.
Staying safe if your IT security budget gets cut
As companies continue to struggle in today’s difficult economy, cutbacks affect all sectors of organizations. Unfortunately, IT security solutions are often not spared form the chopping block, so how can IT groups – especially in small and mid-sized organizations – remain secure with limited budgets?
Antivirus solutions inadequate in detecting new viruses
Imperva collected and analyzed more than 80 previously non-cataloged viruses against more than 40 antivirus solutions. They found that less than 5% of anti-virus solutions in the study were able to initially detect previously non-cataloged viruses and that many solutions took up to a month or longer following the initial scan to update their signatures.
(IN)SECURE Magazine issue 36 released
(IN)SECURE Magazine is a free digital security publication discussing some of the hottest information security topics.
Swiss spy agency insider steals terabytes of confidential data
As a good reminder that you should never discount the insider threat, the news that a disgruntled former employee of Nachrichtendienst des Bundes (NDB) – the Swiss intelligence agency – has been caught exfiltrating massive amounts of confidential information from the agency’s systems has hit the press on Tuesday.
Exploit kit authors thrive due to PoC code released by whitehats
Do exploit kit authors actually write the exploits they include in their offerings? Sophos’ researcher Gabor Szappanos says the answer is a resounding “No.”
How the Eurograbber attack stole 36 million euros
Check Point has revealed how a sophisticated malware attack was used to steal an estimated €36 million from over 30,000 customers of over 30 banks in Italy, Spain, Germany and Holland over summer this year.
Analysis of U.S. breach data finds reasons for concern
According to the Health Information Trust Alliance’s (HITRUST) analysis of U.S. healthcare data breaches from 2009 to the present, the healthcare industry has made little progress in reducing the number of breaches with troubling statistics seen from the same types of organizations, breaches and locations.
Cyber attacks resulting in death forecasted next year
WatchGuard’s security research analysts released a list of annual security predictions which reveals an uptick in emerging cyber threats and an increased focus by governments to fight back through legislation.
Half of CIOs don’t test cloud security
Cybersecurity tops CIO’s concerns, with 84% of CIOs stating that they are either concerned or very concerned about the risks associated with IT security breaches. Yet while security issues remain the biggest concern that CIOs have about migrating their technology functions to the cloud, less than half (45%) test cloud vendors’ security systems and procedures.
Huge GPU cluster makes password hacking a breeze
Cracking encrypted passwords is getting increasingly easier as researchers come up with new ways of harnessing CPU, GPU and cloud power to perform the task. The latest of the improvements in this particular research brach comes from Jeremi Gosney (aka epixoip), who at the Passwords^12 conference held earlier this month in Oslo, Norway, shared with the attendees his latest achievement: a cluster of five 4U servers and 25 graphic cards that go through 180 billion MD5 hashes per second.
DARPA will start testing devices and software for backdoors
To address the threat of malicious code, DARPA is starting the Vetting Commodity IT Software and Firmware (VET) program to look for innovative, large-scale approaches to verifying the security and functionality of commodity IT devices (those commercial information technology devices bought by DoD) to ensure they are free of hidden backdoors and malicious functionality.
Gameover gang uses Cutwail botnet to swell its own
The hackers behind the Gameover variant of the popular Zeus banking Trojan have rented the massive Cutwail botnet in order to send out millions of fake emails carrying the malware, warns Dell SecureWorks’ Counter Threat Unit.
Password handling: challenges, costs, and current behavior
Online passwords are a pain, and not just when you have to type them to access your online bank account or shop at your favorite digital emporium. Password pain extends to the people who have to manage them.
U.K. hacker convicted for taking part in Anonymous attacks
22-year-old Christopher Weatherhead from Northampton, U.K., has been convicted on Thursday on one count of conspiracy to impair the operation of computers for his involvement in the DDoS campaign against PayPal and other companies in 2010.