Hacks & Hackers Archives

Hacks & Hackers

Wateringhole Attack Targets Auto and Aerospace Industries | AlienVault

September 3, 2014 Paul Roberts

If you’re in the automotive, manufacturing or aerospace industries: beware. Hackers are targeting you and your colleagues with sophisticated, watering-hole style attacks. That, according to a blog post by Jamie Blasco, a noted security researcher at the firm AlienVault. Blasco has written a blog post describing what he says is a compromise of a website belonging to a publisher of “software used for simulation and system engineering” in the three vertical industries. According to Blasco, after compromising the web site, the attackers added code that loaded a malicious Javascript program dubbed “Scanbox” that is used for reconnaissance and exploitation of web site visitors. [Read more Security Ledger coverage of watering hole attacks here.] Scanbox installs malicious software on the computers it infects – typically keyloggers that record users’ interactions with the infected site and capture online credentials like usernames and passwords. However, the framework also does extensive reconnoitering of victim computers: compiling an in-depth […]

Report: Home Depot A Common Thread Linking Trove Of Stolen Credit Cards

September 3, 2014 Paul Roberts

Home Depot said it is investigating “some unusual activity” on its networks and working with “banking partners and law enforcement,” after security blogger Brian Krebs named the company as a common thread connecting a trove of stolen credit card accounts that have appeared in underground forums. Krebs reported on Tuesday that “multiple banks” see evidence that Home Depot stores are the source of a “massive new batch” of stolen credit and debit cards that went on sale this morning in underground “carding” forums. The breach is believed to have affected Home Depot stores throughout North America – around 2,500 stores in total. The company has held off from confirming a breach, so far. And as of early Wednesday, Home Depot’s home page made no mention of the incident. In a statement to Reuters, spokesperson Paula Drake said that the company is holding off pending an internal investigation, and is working with law enforcement. […]

Hack Tool Authors Deny Link To Celeb Photo Leaks

September 2, 2014 Paul Roberts

With some of Hollywood’s biggest stars issuing statements on Monday condemning the leak of personal photographs online, attention has turned to identifying the source of the leaks. But more than 24 hours after the photos appeared, there are more questions than answers about its source. Early attention has focused on an automated tool that exploited an apparent vulnerability in Apple’s FindMyiPhone feature. But by Monday, there were denials from the makers of that tool that it played any role in the massive privacy breach that saw photos of A-list celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton and others leaked online. Within hours of the photos’ appearance on the image sharing site 4chan, attention shifted to the cause of the leak and the coincidence of the leaked photos with the publication of iBrute, a simple tool available on GitHub in recent days. According to this published report by Owen Williams over at TheNextWeb, the […]

Tesla Looks to Build Out Internal Hacking Team| Car and Driver Blog

August 22, 2014 Paul Roberts

Car and Driver has an interesting news item today on Tesla’s continuing efforts to build an internal team of software hackers to shore up the security of its connected cars. C&D reports that Tesla is looking to hire up to 30 full-time employees from the hacking community, and used the recent DEFCON hacking conference in Las Vegas to recruit talented software hackers, reverse engineers and the assorted polymaths who attend. Tesla gave out tokens that could be exchanged for a tour of the Tesla factory at the show. “Our security team is focused on advancing technology to secure connected cars, setting new standards for security, and creating new capabilities for connected cars that don’t currently exist in the automotive industry,” Tesla spokeswoman Liz Jarvis-Shean told C&D. California-based Tesla has already been making the rounds of security conferences. It also made headlines for hiring Kristin Paget, a well-respected hardware hacker […]

Time for an Administrator of Things (AoT)? – Security Intelligence Blog

August 20, 2014 Paul Roberts

Trend Micro’s Security Intelligence Blog has an interesting post today that looks at the changing demands of networked environments populated by smart “stuff.” Their conclusion: homes and businesses might find increasing need for someone to manage smart devices. “Managing a household full of smart devices calls for the skills of both a multi-user IT administrator and a handyman. Let’s call this role the Administrator of Things (AoT).” As in the early days of business networks, this role is currently ill-defined, Trend notes, with “ordinary users” taking on AoT tasks despite “scant evidence that they are ready for it.” Trend’s Geoff Grindrod doesn’t take a strong position on what the implications of all this complexity. (“This is something that should be looked into,” the report says.) However, he does anticipate friction. “How well people can actually perform (the job of AoT) has a huge impact on their daily lives, which includes the security of their household,” […]