Displaying items by tag: Botnet

IoT (Internet of Things) devices have long been a source of security concerns. Back in 2012-2014 we wrote a series of articles following the comedy of errors that is the IoT market. At the time I dubbed it the Internet of Fails simply because the companies making these internet connected devices were leaving them so open to compromise. Everything from a lack of encrypted communication with cloud services, to no passwords on administrative functions, to using images that had open files and folders in the firmware were found in popular connected products that were shipped to customers. Supply chain compromises were also found in generous quantities, making the mad rush to connect everything a serious concern.

There appear to be developments in the way that Shellshock is used to push malware around. According to new information the Bash Bug is now being used to send malware out through the use of compromised SMTP gateways. The clever attackers are trying to use altered headers (from, to, subject) to force the SMTP gateway to pull down additional code that contains the Shellshock attack.

The Mac world had an unsettling wakeup call today as it found out what most people have known for years: Macs are no more secure than any other PC. This wakeup call is not the first of its kind and it is certainly not going to be the last, we just wonder if anyone will actually listen or if Apple PR will continue to claim Macs cannot get malware.

Point of Sale Terminals are a new target for malicious individuals. At least this is a trend that many security researchers are seeing over the last few months. These systems can be a treasure trove of information for someone looking to make some quick money. On top of that most are designed with simple and generic logons to make use easier. This is a common flaw with many Windows based POS systems, yet the trend continues.

Nothing makes a Friday fun like hearing about a brand new form of Malware. Well that is what we have for you on today. It seems that an RSA researcher was picking around the darker places on the Internet and stumbled upon a new bit of malware that, if real, could be a serious problem in the near future. RSA researcher Eli Marcus is calling the new malware Pandemiya and claims that it is 25,000 lines of previously unused code.

As the world of blogging continues to grow the popularity of content management systems like WordPress, Drupal, Joomla and many more grow as well. These systems on their own have become more robust and secure (considering). However what they cannot do is protect user when they chose to use weak passwords for their administration interfaces or for their connection to the content database. It is these weak links that hackers are now using in an attempt to incorporate personal (and in some cases professional) blogs into their botnets.

There is nothing like buy a brand new PC complete with Malware designed to steal your personal information. Unfortunately that is exactly what has happened in a few stores in China. Microsoft conducted an investigation into the Nitol Botnet and during this investigation delved into some of the supply chain to Chinese retailers. What they found was that many computers are infected before they leave the factories. According to Microsoft the bought 20 computers from different locations in China and out of the twenty only 4 were found to be infected with Malware.

Hearing about a flaw in one product from a competitor in a product is sort of like asking your dog what food he likes best. You know you are not going to get a good answer and, of course, the dog is only going to stare at you and eat pretty much anything (including a bug…). So when we heard that a Microsoft Anti-Spam Engineer was reporting a new Android based email spam botnet we took it with a grain of salt (remember Microsoft has a new Phone OS coming out soon).

There is nothing like a botnet to remind us all that there is truly no such thing as a “secure” operating system. For years Apple presented the Mac as impervious to viruses and Malware. They had commercials stating “Macs do not get viruses” and continued this mythology despite many Java, Flash and other attacks that existed in the wild. The fact that many of these were centered on pirated software or required user interaction did not deter the myth. Now with Flashback things have gotten very real very quickly.