Botnet Spread via NSA Hacking Tools for Weeks
The ransomware attack that stormed the world over the past
several days wasn’t the first to leverage the leaked EternalBlue/DoublePulsar
NSA hacking tools for distribution, Proofpoint researchers have discovered.
… Symptoms of
infection, however, aren’t as visible as with WannaCry: loss of access to
shared Windows resources and degradation of PC and server performance. What’s more, the malicious code also shuts
down SMB networking to prevent infections with other malware.
According to ProofPoint security researcher Kafeine, this attack might have been much larger than the
ransomware outbreak. Furthermore,
Kafeine suggests that,
because Adylkuzz specifically patched the vulnerability targeted by WannaCry,
it might have limited the latter’s infection.
What is certain, however, is that “the Adylkuzz campaign
significantly predates the WannaCry attack, beginning at least on May 2 and
possibly as early as April 24.” Kafeine
also notes that the infection is ongoing and
is potentially quite disruptive, although not as flashy as the
ransomware rampage.
… “For organizations running legacy versions of Windows or who
have not implemented the SMB patch that Microsoft released last month, PCs and
servers will remain vulnerable to this type of attack. Whether they involve ransomware,
cryptocurrency miners, or any other type of malware, these attacks are
potentially quite disruptive and costly. Two major campaigns have now employed the
attack tools and vulnerability; we expect others will follow and recommend that
organizations and individuals patch their machines as soon as possible,”
Kafeine says.
What a cheerful thought.
Cyberwar Is Officially Crossing Over Into the Real World
Online warfare already affects wreaks havoc on the physical world, and
it's only going to get worse.
The devastating effects of a massive cyberattack are no
more confined to a computer network than any other action carried out online. People use the computers and the internet all
the time to make things happen in the
physical world.
A cyberattack isn’t just a cyberattack. It’s an attack.
Hospitals, pharmacies, and major corporations like FedEx
and the Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica were among the 200,000
victims hobbled by a global ransomware attack on Friday, which locked people’s
computers and demanded Bitcoin payment in exchange for access. In the United Kingdom, some hospitals canceled
procedures and other appointments as a result.
… Among the many
questions prompted by the fallout of the attack is an increasingly urgent one: At what point will a cyberattack prompt a more
traditional form of retaliation? More importantly: When should it?
Might be useful.
Webinar: Combining Pen Testing & Incident Detection
… Join
SecurityWeek and Rapid7's Eric Sun for actionable takeaways from penetration
testing engagements, and see how customers are combining detection technologies
to find intruders earlier in the attack chain.
Join this live webcast on Thursday, May 18th at 1PM ET
My Computer Security students will need to catch up!
Cyber Kid Stuns Experts Showing Toys Can be 'Weapons'
An 11-year-old "cyber ninja" stunned an
audience of security experts Tuesday by hacking into their bluetooth devices to
manipulate a teddy bear and show how interconnected smart toys "can be
weaponized".
American wunderkind Reuben Paul, may be
still only in 6th grade at his school in Austin, Texas, but he and his teddy
bear Bob wowed hundreds at a timely cyber security conference in The
Netherlands.
… "From
terminators to teddy bears, anything or any toy can be weaponised."
To demonstrate, he deployed his cuddly bear, which
connects to the icloud via wifi and bluetooth smart technology to receive and
transmit messages.
Plugging into his laptop a rogue device known as a
"raspberry pi" -- a small credit card size computer -- Reuben
scanned the hall for available bluetooth devices, and to everyone's amazement
including his own suddenly downloaded dozens of numbers including some of top
officials.
Then using a computer language programme, called Python,
he hacked into his bear via one of the numbers to turn on one of its lights and
record a message from the audience.
Is this the US equivalent of “By appointment to the Queen?”
And it’s free and open source!
In encryption push, Senate staff can now use Signal for
secure messaging
Without any fanfare, the Senate
Sergeant at Arms recently told Senate staffers that Signal, widely
considered by security researchers and experts to be the most secure encrypted
messaging app, has been approved for use.
The news was revealed in a letter Tuesday by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), a staunch
privacy and encryption advocate, who recognized the effort to allow the
encrypted messaging app as one of many "important defensive
cybersecurity" measures introduced in the chamber.
For my Computer Security students.
As the scale and complexity of the cyber threat landscape
is revealed, so too is the general lack of cybersecurity readiness
in organizations, even those that spend hundreds of millions of dollars on
state-of-the-art technology. Investors
who have flooded the cybersecurity market in search for the next software
“unicorn” have yet to realize that when it comes to a risk as complex as
this one, there is no panacea — certainly not one that depends
on technology alone.
Spending millions on security technology can certainly
make an executive feel safe. But the
major sources of cyber threats aren’t technological. They’re found in the human brain, in the form
of curiosity, ignorance, apathy, and hubris. These human forms of malware can be
present in any organization and are every bit as dangerous as threats
delivered through malicious code.
With any cyber threat, the first and last line of defense
is prepared leaders and employees, whether they are inside an organization
or part of an interconnected supply chain.
Now that’s an offer Congress will not be able to refuse.
Putin offers to provide Congress with details of Trump
disclosures to Russian envoys
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday he would
be willing to provide the U.S. Congress a record of President Trump’s meeting
with top Russian envoys, possibly offering new details on the disclosures of
reportedly highly classified intelligence information.
The remarkable offer for the Kremlin to share evidence
with U.S. oversight committees came with the caveat that the request for the
transcript would have to come from the Trump administration.
Another case of “I don’t get it.” They fine Facebook for what they did, but do
not order or even ask them to stop doing it.
Facebook Gets Slap on the Wrist From 2 European Privacy
Regulators
… As part of their
separate announcements on Tuesday, the
Dutch and French
officials said that Facebook
had not provided people in their countries with sufficient control over how
their details are used. [How will user data be used 25 years from now? Bob] They said that the social network had
collected digital information on Facebook users as well as nonusers on
third-party websites without their knowledge.
The French
regulator, the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés, or CNIL,
said that it had fined Facebook 150,000 euros, or about $164,000, for failing
to meet France’s data protection
rules.
… Despite the
financial penalty, the agency has not ordered Facebook to alter how it handles
data on people in France who use the service.
(Related). Another
real challenge for Facebook.
Facebook promised to tackle fake news. But the evidence shows
it's not working
When Facebook’s new fact-checking system labeled a Newport Buzz
article as possible “fake news”, warning users against sharing it, something
unexpected happened. Traffic to the
story skyrocketed, according to Christian Winthrop, editor of the local Rhode
Island website.
“A bunch of conservative groups grabbed this and said,
‘Hey, they are trying to silence this blog – share, share share,’” said
Winthrop, who published the story that falsely claimed hundreds of thousands of
Irish people were brought to the US as slaves. “With Facebook trying to throttle it and say,
‘Don’t share it,’ it actually had the opposite effect.”
… Articles
formally debunked by Facebook’s fact-checking partners – including the
Associated Press, Snopes, ABC News and PolitiFact – frequently remain on the
site without the “disputed” tag warning users about the content. And when fake news stories do get branded as
potentially false, the label often comes after the story has already gone viral
and the damage has been done. Even in
those cases, it’s unclear to what extent the flag actually limits the spread of
propaganda.
Think of the potential for “lock-in!” Today, everyone has a smartphone. Tomorrow everyone might have an Amazon Echo,
if Jeff Bezos can make it portable!
Amazon’s Echo continues to grow. Its latest upgrade is the ability to make voice calls and send messages to other
Echo devices in the U.S. You could
already use IFTTT to send canned text messages through your Echo, but this
update expands that.
… To call someone,
make sure you have a contact for them in your phone that contains the same
phone number they have on their Amazon account.
To place a call, just say Alexa, call Mark.
Your Echo will light up with a green
ring during an incoming call, and your phone will chime too. Say Alexa, answer the call to
pick it up. If you don’t want to make a
live call, say Alexa, message Mom and tell your Echo what
you’d like to send. The recipient will
hear a chime and see a green ring, and can say Alexa, play my messages
to hear them later.
Simpler? Fixed
start, dump and end points. Fixed route
with trach cans that have sensors for easy location. Compare that to the random walk of personal
automobiles. Might work for some mail
delivery routes too.
Volvo’s testing an autonomous garbage collection truck
The Swedish car maker has partnered with local waste
and garbage specialists Renova for
a project that’s setting out to explore “how automation can contribute to
enhanced traffic safety, improved working conditions, and lower environmental
impact,” according to a statement issued by Volvo.
Dilbert’s take on the United Airlines debacle?
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