New Trojan Targets Banks in US, Mexico
… The Trojan,
written in .NET apparently by Spanish-speaking developers, caught the attention
of researchers because it relies on popular tools such as Fiddler, an HTTP
debugging proxy server application, and Json.NET, a high-performance JSON
framework for .NET.
The malware is delivered using an installer named
“curp.pdf.exe” that is served on several compromised websites. Once executed, the installer downloads three
files to the Windows system directory: the main payload (syswow.exe), a Fiddler
DLL file (FiddlerCore3dot5.dll), and a Json.Net DLL file (Newtonsoft.Json.dll).
The main payload is then executed and
the installer terminates itself.
.. If the infected
machine is running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, the malware creates a
registry entry for persistence, downloads a configuration file, and launches
the Fiddler proxy engine. For other
Windows versions, the threat doesn’t create a registry entry, and it starts the
proxy engine only after installing a Fiddler-generated root certificate.
Once it’s installed on a device, the malware collects
system information and sends it back to its command and control (C&C)
server, which responds with a configuration file containing different C&C
locations and other instructions. Json.NET
is used to parse the server’s response and save it in an XML file. This file contains the list of domains
targeted by the malware — when users visit these domains, they are redirected
to phishing websites designed to trick them into handing over their
information.
A small local problem?
Kieran Nicholson reports:
State investigators are looking
into a database breach at the Colorado Department of
Transportation which could lead to identity thefts.
The breach of the Disadvantaged Business
Enterprise program with CDOT was discovered recently and has
been reported to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, said Amy Ford, a CDOT
spokeswoman.
[…]
“A probationary employee, who
worked at CDOT from January 2016 to April 2016 and had access to confidential tax
returns of DBE…firms, had been using personal information for improper
purposes,” the notification letter, sent Wednesday, said.
Read more on Denver
Post.
One way to control your music library?
Apple Stole My Music. No, Seriously
“The software is functioning as intended,” said Amber.
“Wait,” I asked, “so it’s supposed to delete my personal files from my internal hard drive without asking my permission?”
“Yes,” she replied
“Wait,” I asked, “so it’s supposed to delete my personal files from my internal hard drive without asking my permission?”
“Yes,” she replied
… What Amber
explained was exactly what I’d feared: through the Apple Music subscription,
which I had, Apple now deletes files from its users’ computers. When I signed up for Apple Music, iTunes
evaluated my massive collection of Mp3s and WAV files, scanned Apple’s database
for what it considered matches, then removed the original files from my
internal hard drive. REMOVED them. Deleted. If Apple Music saw a file it didn’t
recognize—which came up often, since I’m a freelance composer and have many
music files that I created myself—it would then download it to Apple’s
database, delete it from my hard drive, and serve it back to me when I wanted
to listen, just like it would with my other music files it had deleted.
(Related) I will have to warn my students.
Apple Music’s new student membership option discounts the
service by 50%
Amid news that Apple
Music is getting a makeover come this summer, Apple today launched a
new plan to boost subscribers to its streaming music service and competitor to
Spotify, SoundCloud, Tidal and others. It’s
introducing an Apple Music student plan which will discount the service by 50
percent for those who are enrolled in an eligible college or university.
… The student
membership is rolling out now in the available markets.
Think about those little secondary issues?
Cheryl Clark reports:
When Sharp Grossmont Hospital
officials realized anesthesia drugs were disappearing from surgery carts, they
turned to video surveillance to catch those responsible. In the process, they also captured many images
of women undergoing surgery.
The video surveillance has raised
questions about patient privacy and how well the hospital managed its storage
of dangerous drugs.
Read more on KPBS.
Useful backgrounder? Something our App students could build?
How Shops Track You Using Your Smartphone
Coming soon to a law firm near you?
Gabe Friedman reports:
The privacy focused class-action
law firm Edelson P.C. announced it has filed a federal class-action
under seal that targets a Chicago-based regional law firm for data security
holes.
On Thursday morning, name partner
Jay Edelson tweeted that
he had filed a motion to unseal the complaint against the unnamed firm.
[…]
In an interview with Big Law
Business in March, Edelson explained that his firm had conducted a year-long investigation and identified 15 major
law firms with inadequate cybersecurity. He said his firm planned to file a series
of lawsuits that target data security vulnerabilities at law firms on
behalf of firm clients who have concerns about how their data is being
protected.
Read more on Bloomberg
BNA.
I’m hard-pressed to see how any such civil suit could
prevail if there’s been no actual hack or data compromise of the defendants’
systems, but the FTC could sure as hell investigate or take action if
infosecurity is that bad.
Either way, this will be one to watch. If nothing else, if the lawsuit is unsealed,
this could become a name and shame situation to get law firms off the dime to
bring their A game on security.
Will this impact our student portal? Possibly.
Joey Bunch reports:
A bill to protect students’
online privacy while they are doing their school work is on its way to the
governor’s desk to be signed into law.
The Colorado House gave it final
passage Thursday with a 65-0 vote. House Bill 1423 would
prevent educational software and app makers from collecting any data that can
be linked directly back to an individual student.
Read more on Denver
Post.
(Related) Same
question. Different state.
Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey (D-Fairfield) praised passage
of legislation that would protect student privacy by imposing certain
restrictions on the use and sharing of student data. HB 5469, AN
ACT CONCERNING STUDENT DATA PRIVACY, was passed by the Senate Wednesday
evening. The bill now goes to the
Governor’s desk.
The legislation would restrict how student information may
be used by contractors, consultants, and operators of websites, online
services, and mobile applications for schools. Companies would be required to specify how
they will secure student data and would be prohibited from using student data
for advertising unless authorized by the contract.
Read more on Fairfield
Sun.
Lacking demonstrable intelligence themselves (real or artificial)
it amazes me that politicians are addressing these issues. Were they frightened by the Terminator
movie?
White House worries about bad A.I. coding
… President Barack
Obama's administration released a report this week that examines the problem associated with
poorly designed systems that, increasingly, are being used in automated
decision making.
… A second effort
looks at our algorithmic future through a series of four workshops held across
the U.S. to examine A.I.'s impact on society.
… The U.S. will
produce an A.I. report after it holds workshops beginning May 24 in Seattle. That will be followed by meetings in
Washington, Pittsburgh and New York City in July.
For some old school types.
How to Get RSS Feed Updates Straight to Your Email Inbox
Maybe it’d be better to receive those RSS updates as emails.
Fortunately, this is possible! You’ll need to know how to use IFTTT, which is a lovely web
service that can perform all kinds of actions based on certain triggers. In our case, whenever our RSS feed updates, we
want IFTTT to send it to us as email.
Good news for the employability of my Computer Security
students?
After ISIS, Americans Fear Cyberattacks Most
Perfect timing.
Today’s Computer Security lecture is on Networks.
Interop: 12 killer (and free) tools for network engineers
Visibility is key to troubleshooting network woes, but
getting such access can be expensive. To
help out, a veteran networking pro shared with attendees of the Interop
conference in Las Vegas his list of a dozen mostly free “killer” tools.
A real concern.
Likely to have a serious negative impact no matter who wins.
Americans’ Distaste For Both Trump And Clinton Is
Record-Breaking
I can predict which if my students will become this
employee!
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