Microsoft came out with a new edition of its Security Intelligence Report today, saying that company data shows that Windows XP machines are much more likely to be infected in encounters with malicious software on the Internet. Windows XP machines were six times more likely to be infected than machines running Windows 8, the latest version of Microsoft’s operating system, the company said. The Security Intelligence Report (or SIR) is a unique window into the malicious activity online, given Microsoft’s massive footprint of more than 1 billion systems running versions of the Windows operating system, and the detailed data it collects from them through its automatic update patching- and malware removal features. This is the 15th such report Microsoft has issued. The company used the latest report to hammer home a message about the need for Windows XP users to move off that system to a newer version of the […]
Black Hat
Report: Crematoriums To Caterpillars Shodan Reveals Internet Of Things
What kind of stuff is lurking out there on the vast (and growing) Internet of Things? A recent story in Forbes makes the point that its a lot more varied than you might think – everything from Caterpillar trucks to public school classrooms to a crematorium. And “yes,” I said “crematorium.” The idea that surveillance cameras can be accessed from the public Internet isn’t really new. Security researchers have been showing off ways to sidestep security features for IP enabled surveillance cameras for years. We wrote last week about the Federal Trade Commission’s case against a California company, TRENDNet, which made a line of balky, in secure home surveillance gear. But Kashmir Hill makes the point in her story that surveillance cameras are just the tip of the iceberg. Hill interviewed security researchers and professional Shodan jockeys, who use that hardware focused search engine to uncover supposedly secure equipment and industrial control […]
Report: Cell Phone Data, Blackberry Mail Swept Up In NSA’s Net
Sensitive data from every major brand of cell phone can be captured and analyzed by the U.S. National Security Agency, (NSA) according to a report in the German magazine Der Spiegel on Saturday. Citing “top-secret, internal NSA documents viewed by SPIEGEL reporters, the magazine said that NSA security researchers have developed tools to sap contact lists, SMS traffic, notes and location information from popular devices such as Apple’s iPhone, Google’s Android and Blackberry phones, including Blackberry e-mail, a supposedly secure system that is one of the phone’s most trumpeted features. The documents describe a large-scale and well-organized program within the NSA to obtain data from mobile devices, with discrete teams of security analysts working on a specific platform, developing malware that infiltrates the computers the phones “synch” with, and then loads scripts onto the phones that provide access to a range of other features. See Also: Secure e-mail firms […]
Insecure At Any Speed: Are Automakers Failing The Software Crash Test?
Editor’s Note: You can view the rest of my conversation about application and supply chain security, featuring Joshua Corman of Akamai and Chris Wysopal of Veracode by visiting Veracode’s web site. – PFR You’re in the market for a new car, and you’ve made a list of the features you want: a cool, tablet style interface for the audio and navigation system, side impact airbags for the front and rear compartment, a pop-up third row of seating. Heck, maybe you even want to hold out for the automatic seat temperature control that some Lexus cars now come with. While you’re at it, how about some secure software, too? That last item probably isn’t on most buyers’ check list today, but it may be soon, according to two, prominent security experts: Chris Wysopal, of Veracode, and Joshua Corman of Akamai. Speaking on Talking Code, an exclusive video hosted by The Security Ledger […]
What Is The NSA’s Big Crypto Breakthrough?
The revelations about US government spying keep coming fast and furious, thanks to Edward Snowden, the former Booz Allen Hamilton contractor who absconded with reams of classified (and highly classified) documents from the National Security Agency. The latest details come courtesy of The Washington Post which on Thursday published documents detailing the so-called “Black Budget” – government spending on its intelligence services including the CIA and NSA – over the last nine years, including the $52 billion spent in 2013. The documents give the most detailed accounting to date on U.S. government spending on intelligence in the post September 11 world and contain quite a few surprises. Among them: proof that the CIA receives far more money than does the NSA. But it is Uncle Sam’s work on cryptanalysis that has attracted a lot of attention from computer security and privacy experts. First, the Black Budget reveals that the NSA […]
