Bugs/Viruses/Malware etc

[Guest]

'old' malware still around..

'Conficker was the most common malware used to attack UK and international organisations in October, accounting for 20 per cent of all attacks globally, according to security vendor Check Point. When it first appeared in November 2008, the Windows-affecting Conficker worm caused all manner of problems mainly because of its ability to spread across networks, infect windows machines and brute force passwords.....Networks of the French Navy, the UK House of Commons and Greater Manchester Police were all laid low by the malware. Its recent resurgence hasn’t caused anything like the same amounts of problems but still highlights the generally poor state of corporate security....

(funny, police body cams pre loaded with conficker infections. made in china prob )

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/12/01/conficker_dominates_threat_landscape_malware/

[trebormoinet]

'old' malware still around..

Sometimes out of curiosity I plug my Ethernet directly into the network without a router/ firewall and fire up a packetsniffer, it is amazing to see how many requests from old remote attacks such as blaster still doing the rounds as well as new, in fact its surprising anything works at all, lol.

[Guest]

Do you use The Cloud down a (Wetherspoon) pub? if so, your data may be compromised.

 

(ICO to investigate. note that under upcoming 'General Data Protection Regulation', companies will have to report data breaches (currently not required for most businesses)

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/12/04/wetherspoons/

 

 

Pony malware/Angler exploit/Cryptowall campaign....

 

'Heimdal Security bod Andra Zaharia says stolen passwords (Pony) are used to upload scripts to a victim's site before users are pushed to malicious drive-by-download pages. There the infamous Angler exploit kit delivers the as-yet insurmountable Cryptowall 4.0 ransomware....it is one of the most complex and likely effective ransomware attacks to date that makes use of the latest Cryptowall variant released less than a month ago and Angler, the world's most effective and popular exploit kit'...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/12/04/domination_crims_steal_admin_logins_infect_sites_drop_cryptowall_4/

[Guest]

came across this

 

A 'good' (wifatch) worm 'vaccinates' routers

'A benevolent virus has been used to harden more than 10,000 home routers against cyber-attacks, says a security firm. Symantec says the Wifatch program is closing loopholes and fixing bugs on routers it infects. Routers are being increasingly targeted by criminals keen to steal data or to help with large-scale web attacks. Symantec has monitored the network of "vaccinated" devices but, so far, has not seen it put to malicious use. Wifatch was first discovered in late 2014 and since then has been steadily scouring the web for routers and other smart devices running vulnerable software...'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-34423414

 

further info

http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/there-internet-things-vigilante-out-there

[Guest]

facebook bins flash, for videos

'Facebook has hammered another nail in to the coffin of Adobe Flash, by switching from the bug-ridden plug-in to HTML5 for all videos on the site....'

https://code.facebook.com/posts/159906447698921

 

btw, if using flash, recent update available.

[Guest]

keep that flash uptodate, or bin it for good. maybe the latter

'Researchers at Malwarebytes uncovered a malvertising campaign on the PopAds network that launches the Magnitude exploit kit (EK), infecting victims using old versions of Flash Player with CryptoWall 4.0 ransomware, according to a blog post....'

http://www.scmagazine.com/malvertising-campaign-on-popads-uses-pop-under-ads-to-spread-cryptowall-40/article/464098/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SCMagazineNews+%28SC+Magazine+News%29

[Guest]

Flash (update) that Flash..

 

'Criminals behind some of the most potent exploit kits, Neutrino and RIG, are ramping up attacks slinging the latest ransomware and hosing users who have not applied recent Adobe Flash patches.....Neutrino is now slinging the revamped Cryptolocker 2 (or crypt0l0cker as it is known by criminals) ransomware and variants of the Kovter malware family exploiting Flash (CVE-2015-7645) to hit user machines..... "The campaign was just launched this morning and it has injected malicious script code into legitimate websites,......."Competitor RIG is targeting Adobe titles including Flash, Reader, and Acrobat, along with Microsoft Silverlight, with its third iteration spreading through Google SEO poisoning.....'

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/01/11/exploit_kits_throw_flash_bash_party_invites_crypt0l0cker_spam_bots/

[Guest]

and despite all the security probs with flash requiring regular updates, adobe is closing down/decommissioning its easy to update site provision;

http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/flashplayer/distribution3.html

[brassnecked]

Non Enterprise users can still go here

 

https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

 

 

The sooner HTML 5 completely replaces Flash the better.

[Guest]

time to security update flash, and MS, again.

 

also,

'Poseidon group' 'a Targeted Attack Boutique specializing in global cyber-espionage' according to kaspersky

https://securelist.com/blog/research/73673/poseidon-group-a-targeted-attack-boutique-specializing-in-global-cyber-espionage/

[Guest]

where to post this

apple rejects fbi 'unlock' request re a criminals iphone

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35594245

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/02/17/why_tim_cook_is_wrong_a_privacy_advocates_view/

 

what do you think, should they

[Guest]

Watch out for apps on google play store. according to ESET;

 

'Malicious apps that have breached Google's defences and made it onto the Play store have netted 1.2 million victims, often hijacking phones to place fraudulent clicks on pornography sites...Around 10 of the malicious apps are being created and successfully uploaded to Google Play each week, evading the ad giant's code-checking defence mechanisms. Each app has been downloaded an average of 3600 times...“In one of the largest malware campaigns on the Google Play Store yet, criminals continue to upload further variants of these malicious apps to the official app store for the Android mobile platform,” Stancik says....'

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/02/29/worlds_worst_android_play_store_attack_sends_millions_to_p0rn_sites/

[Guest]

posted elsewhere before about smart tv's poss 'listening' in.

now re smart phone apps?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-35639549

google say their apps in store are vetted, but see post 61 above.

[Guest]

further to above, its '1984' not 2016

ICO warns; 'Retailers in the UK can now track the shopping habits of customers through smartphones and facial recognition software programmes that allow them to use a shopper's journey to learn how they use the store. The Information Commissioner's Office said that shops can track customers using Wi-Fi on their mobile phone and "MAC address which can be linked to a specific individual"...The technology is similar to that used in online advertising, where software programs create a behavioural pattern for users and target adverts accordingly. The data privacy and protection watchdog warned that smart CCTV cameras enabled with facial recognition software track and identify people, enabling retailers to target adverts accordingly in stores....'

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/privacy-watchdog-warns-shoppers-that-retailers-can-track-movements-through-smartphones-1539421

 

and, re such (mobile) targeted ads, Verizon (US) fined for tracking using 'supercookies'.

[Guest]

'Action Fraud has received a surge in calls and reports from concerned members of the public who have received debt collection and council tax [problem] emails....'

 

http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/news/alert-fake-debt-collection-and-council-tax-emails-apr16

[brassnecked]

'Action Fraud has received a surge in calls and reports from concerned members of the public who have received debt collection and council tax [problem] emails....'

 

http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/news/alert-fake-debt-collection-and-council-tax-emails-apr16

A very nasty one Ford, many people who could be affected could not afford to pay the hackers what they want.

[Guest]

'major flaw in flash', need to update it again (wasnt it just recently updated...)

 

apparently its quite an urgent security update, currently being exploited

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2016/04/08/warning-theres-major-security-flaw-in-flash-and-need-to-update-immediately.html

[Lord Lawrence II]

Flash's days are numbered. Only legacy software is going to depend on it and we can protect against that in an intranet withing a domain setting.....

[Guest]

Flash's days are numbered. .....

its going; Chrome, Fox, Safari all disabling flush by default opting for html5.

 

plus. if still using flush, it needs updating again.

'Adobe has released an update for Flash that addresses three dozen CVE-listed vulnerabilities...'

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/06/16/adobe_36_flash_flaws/

[Guest]

'Up to 10 million Android smartphones have been infected by malware that generates fake clicks for adverts, say security researchers. The software is also surreptitiously installing apps and spying on the browsing habits of victims. The malware is currently making about $300,000 (£232,000) a month for its creators, suggests research. The majority of phones that have been compromised by the malicious software are in China......'

'The malware family is called Shedun by Lookout but Hummingbad by Checkpoint'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-36744925

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/07/06/hummingbad_/

[brassnecked]

AV worries according to the Express

 

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/691550/antivirus-software-flaws-code-hook-ensilo-research-hackers-cyber-security

[Guest]

Flash's days are numbered. ...

they've now shut down their site that provided stand alone updates. thats it for me, flash gone from the pc.

[Guest]

flash gone from the pc.

browsers now rendering faster.

some sites vids (eg the beeb iplayer) wont work without. but, thats no loss.

apparently the beeb is beta re html5 atm. hopefully they put it in soon.

[Guest]

'Thousands of TalkTalk and Post Office customers have had their internet access cut by an attack targeting certain types of internet routers.

A spokeswoman for the Post Office told the BBC that the problem began on Sunday and had affected about 100,000 of its customers.

Talk Talk also confirmed that some of its customers had been affected, and it was working on a fix....

It (the attack) involves the use of a modified form of the Mirai worm - a type of malware that is spread via hijacked computers, which causes damage to equipment powered by Linux-based operating systems....'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-38167453

[Guest]

'A new strain of Android malware is infecting an estimated 13,000 devices per day. The Gooligan malware roots Android devices before stealing email addresses and authentication tokens stored on them. The tokens create a means for hackers to access users' sensitive data from Gmail accounts, security researchers at Check Point Software Technologies warn. The malicious code creates a money-making sideline for crooks by fraudulently installing apps from Google Play and rating them on behalf of the victim....Gooligan spreads when victims download and install an infected app. Crooks are slinging the malware by tricking victims into following malicious links in phishing messages. "If your account has been breached, a clean installation of an operating system on your mobile device is required," Shaulov advised. ®'

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/11/30/gooligan_android_malware/

 

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