Kaspersky Lab

mobile malware by platform

New Malware Exploits Android Glitch To Block Removal

A new malicious program that runs on Android mobile devices exploits vulnerabilities in Google’s mobile operating system to extend the application’s permissions on the infected device, and to block attempts to remove the malicious application. Writing on securelist.com, Kaspersky Lab’s research blog, malware researcher Roman Unuchek called the newly discovered Trojan the “most sophisticated” malicious program yet detected that works with Android phones. He cited the Trojan’s advanced features, including complex obfuscation techniques that complicated analysis of the code, and the use of a previously unknown vulnerability in Android that allowed it to take control of and maintain a foothold on infected Android devices. Kaspersky said it has contacted Google regarding the malware and the alleged vulnerabilities in Android. Google was unable to confirm that prior to publication. The malware, dubbed Backdoor.AndroidOS.Obad.a, is described as a “multi function Trojan.” Like most profit-oriented mobile malware, Obad is primarily an SMS Trojan, […]

Mercedes

Traffic Safety Agency Calls Vehicle Cyber Security Standards

The U.S. Government’s lead agency for vehicle safety has told Congress that more research into “vehicle cyber security” to address the threats to a coming generation of networked automobiles that connect to the public Internet and to each other. In testimony before Congress on Thursday,  David Strickland, the chief Administrator for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) told a Senate Committee that the electronics systems are “critical to the functioning” of modern autos, and are becoming increasingly interconnected, leading to “different safety and cyber security risks.”  The agency is requesting $2 million in the 2014 budget to research “vehicle electronics and emerging technologies” with an eye to developing requirements for the safety and reliability of vehicle controls. “With electronic systems assuming safety critical roles in nearly all vehicle controls, we are facing the need to develop general requirements for electronic control systems to ensure their reliability and security,” Strickland […]

Lights Out For Java: Experts Say Turn It Off – And Leave It Off

Security experts from around the globe are warning Internet users to disable Java while browsing the web, after attacks using a previously unknown (“zero day”) vulnerability in Java began to surface, as part of multi-purpose “exploit kits” that are used to launch attacks from hostile or compromised web sites. The exploit works on all versions of Java 7, including update 10 – the latest release from Oracle, which now manages the Java technology, after acquiring it with the assets of Sun Microsystems, according to an analysis by the firm Alienvault, which said that the exact nature of the vulnerability wasn’t known because the exploit was heavily obfuscated to slow down security researchers. According to this report from Krebsonsecurity, the first word of the new exploit came by way of underground forums, where the administrators of popular exploit kits like Blackhole and the Nuclear exploit kits added the Java exploit as […]

Latest Iranian Malware Targets Financial Software

There appears to be some professional differences of opinion about the latest super malware targeting the nation of Iran.  Just days after Symantec Corp. warned about a new piece of malware, W32.Narilam,  researchers at the Russian anti-virus firm Kaspersky Lab threw cold water on the report, saying their analysis suggests that Narilam is two to three years old and probably targeted financial software packages, rather than high value government or industrial systems. The back and forth started with Symantec’s Nov. 22nd blog post on Narilam, which claimed the malware had recently been found circulating in the “Middle East” – and particularly in Iran. Narilam was programmed to infect systems running Microsoft’s SQL database software, spreading through removable drives and network shared folders. It was designed to corrupt data, not to steal information, Symantec said. Though the Cupertino company made no attestation as to Narilam’s origins, Symantec did say the worm […]