If you want to import beef, eggs or chicken into the U.S., you need to get your cargo past inspectors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Not so hardware and software imported into the U.S. and sold to domestic corporations. But a spate of stories about products shipping with malicious software raises the question: is it time for random audits to expose compromised supply chains? Concerns about ‘certified, pre-pwned’ hardware and software are nothing new. In fact, they’ve permeated the board rooms of technology and defense firms, as well as the halls of power in Washington, D.C. for years. The U.S. Congress conducted a high profile investigation of Chinese networking equipment maker ZTE in 2012 with the sole purpose of exploring links between the company and The People’s Liberation Army, and (unfounded) allegations that products sold by the companies were pre-loaded with spyware. Of course, now we know that such […]
Malware
Intel Promotes ‘Trustlets’ To Secure Embedded Devices
The integrity of data stored on- and transmitted between Internet-connected embedded devices is one of the biggest technical hurdles standing in the way of widespread adoption of Internet of Things technology. For one thing: embedded devices like wearable technology and “smart” infrastructure are often deployed on simple, inexpensive and resource constrained hardware. Unlike laptops or even smart phones, these are purpose-built devices that, by design, run for long periods in remote deployments, with extremely constrained features and low power consumption that is the result of limited processing power and memory. [Read Security Ledger’s coverage of connected vehicles.] Now Intel is promoting a platform that it says can bridge the gap and provide robust security features even for resource-constrained Internet of Things devices like wearables and connected vehicles. Back in April, the Intel Labs unveiled the results of joint research with Technische Universität Darmstadt in Germany. The researchers have developed a platform, dubbed TrustLite […]
Zombie Zero Underscores Supply Chain Threat
A security start-up, TrapX Security, made a splash this week with the story of a new piece of malware, Zombie Zero, which wormed its way into logistics and shipping firms on shipping scanners sold by a Chinese firm. The malware was discovered during a trial demonstration of TrapX’s technology at a shipping and logistics firm. It was implanted on embedded versions of Windows XP that ran on the scanning hardware and in a software image that could be downloaded from the manufacturing firm’s website. “This malware was shipped to large logistics companies embedded in the operating system,” Carl Wright, an Executive Vice President at TrapX told The Security Ledger. TrapX declined to name the firm on whose behalf it worked or the manufacturer whose scanners were compromised. It said 16 of 64 scanners sold to the victim firm were found to contain malware. Published reports also note that malware say scanners with another variant of the same malware […]
Hacker Takes on the World’s Spy Agencies | WIRED
Andy Greenberg over at Wired has a fine profile of former Google hacker and human rights champion Morgan Marquis-Boire (aka “Morgan Mayhem”), who is now working for the start-up publication First Look Media Marquis-Boire is an expert in malware analysis, with particular expertise in analyzing the software that oppressive regimes use to spy on journalists, human rights activists and political dissidents. At First Look, he will be devoting his talents to defending what Greenberg calls “an endangered species: American national security journalists.” First Look is a nascent, independent online media startup founded by eBay billionaire Pierre Omidyar. The site is best known as the (new) home of Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras, and the launch pad for whatever secrets are still hidden in the trove of information Edward Snowden leaked to Greenwald. According to Greenberg, Marquis-Boire was hired away from Google and given the task of safeguarding those documents as well as the […]
Update: Cyber Spies Digging For Clues On Iraq?
The folks over at CrowdStrike have dug deep into a campaign of targeted cyber attacks targeting Washington D.C. think tanks and say they have evidence that whomever is behind the attacks has taken a sudden interest in U.S. policy towards Iraq. Editor’s Note: This story was updated to include comments from Adam Meyers, Vice President of Security Intelligence at CrowdStrike. – PFR July 8, 2014 14:30 Writing on Tuesday, CrowdStrike CTO Dmitri Alperovitch described a new campaign by a group they dubbed “DEEP PANDA” that was targeting think tanks specializing on U.S. foreign policy and national security. Alperovitch said CrowdStrike observed a pronounced shift in targets from think tank experts on Asia to experts on Iraq and the Middle East in recent weeks. The shift corresponded with the rapid escalation of violence in Iraq as the Islamic extremist group ISIS took control of large parts of the country. “This actor, who was engaged in […]
