Software

Homeland Security Warns Of Expanding Medical Device Attacks

A bulletin published by the Department of Homeland Security has warned that the increasing use of wireless networking technology to enable medical devices expands the ways that those devices could be hacked. The bulletin, published May 4 by DHS’ National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, warns that advances in medical devices, including Internet connectivity and the use of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices in patient care “expands the attack surface” of medical devices. “Smartphones and tablets are mini computers with instant access to the internet or linked directly to a hospital’s network. The device or the network could be infected with malware designed to steal medical information if not upgraded with the latest anti-virus and spy-ware software,” DHS said. Advances in medical device technology have already greatly improved medical care, especially in areas like medical health records and remote monitoring of patients with implantable medical devices. However, too little […]

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D.C. Media Sites Found Hacked, Serving Fake AV

Websites operated by media outlets in the Washington D.C. area were the targets of widespread hacks this week, with web sites for two major radio stations among those found serving up malicious links that installed fake antivirus software on victims’ machines. Researchers at two security firms, Invincea and zScaler, identified compromises on the web sites of the two stations – WTOP, the D.C. areas largest FM station, and a sister site, FedNewsRadio, 1500 AM, which caters to government employees. The compromises were part of a string of almost identical attacks that redirected visitors to the web sites that push malicious software to victims’ machines. Only visitors using versions of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer web browser were targeted with the attack, zScaler said. In a related post, researchers at Invincea said the attacks were similar to one they had investigated a breach at dvorak.org, a web site operated by technology blogger John […]

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Cyberbunker Owner Arrested In Spain, Rolled In Mobile DDoS Van

As the saying goes: “If the van’s a DoS’in, don’t come a knock’in.” Or something like that. Alas, for  a man believed to be the controversial owner of the Dutch bulletproof hosting firm Cyberbunker, the authorities did “come a knock’in,” arresting the individual who is believed to be responsible for the world’s largest distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. In a statement on Sunday, the Spanish Ministry of the Interior released a statement saying that National Police agents arrested the man responsible for the attacks in response to a European arrest warrant stemming from an investigation begun by Dutch authorities. The suspect was not named, but was described as a 35 year-old from Alkmaar (Netherlands) who was apprehended while  traveling in a van equipped with computer equipment and a range of antennas and used as a mobile office. The man is believed to be Sven Kamphuis, the owner and manager of Dutch hosting firm […]

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Update: Serial Server Flaws Expose Critical Infrastructure

A survey conducted by the firm Rapid 7 has found evidence that widespread vulnerabilities and insecure configuration of ubiquitous networking components known as serial port (or “terminal”) servers, may expose a wide range of companies and critical assets – including point of sale terminals, ATMs and industrial control systems – to remote cyber attacks.(*) The vulnerable devices connected hardware like retail point-of-sale systems at a national chain of dry cleaners, providing direct access to employee terminals from which customer payment information could be accessed. Other exposed systems were used to monitor the location of cargo containers, train cargo as well as HVAC and industrial control systems, Rapid7 said. In the Rapid7 survey, over 114,000 unique IPs were identified in a scan using the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), the vast majority manufactured by one company: Digi International. If left unaddressed, the vulnerable devices give remote attackers direct, administrative access to hardware devices […]

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The History Of Programming Languages – And Their Popularity

Our friends over at Veracode posted a great little infograph this week that explains the history of computer programming languages, starting with software development’s forefather foremother, the lovely Ada Lovelace, who is credited with developing the first programming language, an algorithm for a mechanical computer dubbed the Analytic Engine in 1883! The graphic describes the history of modern programming languages, including COBOL, FORTRAN and LISP in the 1950s and 60s, up to today’s dominant languages: Java, C and Objective-C. Check it out! Infographic by Veracode Application Security

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