hacking Archives

Tag: hacking

Two Step: FBI Says North Korea Acted Alone, Had Help

December 31, 2014 Paul Roberts

The official line on perhaps the biggest security story of the year shifted noticeably this week following a report by the security firm Norse Corp. that cast doubt on the official explanation of the devastating November hack: that it was a state-sponsored operation carried out by hackers working for the government of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, or DPRK. Two reports in recent days – both citing officials close to the Sony hack investigation – suggest that the FBI believes – simultaneously – that the DPRK did not act alone and that it was the only actor responsible for the attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Wireless Infusion Pump is Test Case for Securing Medical Devices

December 29, 2014 Paul Roberts

A National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) reference document is providing some of the clearest guidance from the U.S. government for securing connected medical devices, but may be setting too low a bar for securing wireless communications, according to a security expert. NIST, working with the University of Minnesota’s Technological Leadership Institute, released a draft Use Case document (PDF) on December 18 to help health care providers “secure their medical devices on an enterprise networks.” However, in the area of communications security, the document suggests the use of WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy), a legacy wireless security technology that can easily be cracked. NIST released the draft security use case document and is seeking feedback from the public. The drug infusion pump case study is described as the “first of a series” of similar use cases that will focus on medical device security, NIST wrote. The draft document presents a technical description of the security challenges […]

New Clues In Sony Hack Point To Insiders, Away from DPRK

December 28, 2014 Paul Roberts

A strong counter-narrative to the official account of the hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment has emerged in recent days, with the visage of the petulant North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un, replaced by another, more familiar face: former Sony Pictures employees angry over their firing during a recent reorganization at the company. Researchers from the security firm Norse allege that their investigation of the hack of Sony has uncovered evidence that leads, decisively, away from North Korea as the source of the attack. Instead, the company alleges that a group of six individuals is behind the hack, at least one a former Sony Pictures Entertainment employee who worked in a technical role and had extensive knowledge of the company’s network and operations. [Read Security Ledger coverage of the hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment.] If true, the allegations by Norse deal a serious blow to the government’s account of the incident, which placed the blame squarely on […]

Game Networks Struggle Back After Holiday Attacks

December 27, 2014 Paul Roberts

Online gaming networks including Sony’s Playstation network were the victims of large-scale denial of service attacks that coincided with the Christmas holiday. As of Saturday, Microsoft’s X-Box gaming network had returned to full operation, while Sony’s Playstation Network was still struggling to restore service, 48 hours after attacks attributed to an online hacktivist group known as The Lizard Squad hobbled the gaming networks on their biggest day of the year: Christmas. “Update: PS4, PS3, and Vita network services are gradually coming back online – thanks for your patience,” Sony tweeted via its @AskPlayStation Twitter account early Saturday. The source of the denial of service attacks has not been confirmed. However, the group claiming responsibility for them has claimed that the attacks were more prank than anything else: an effort to irritate Playstation and X-box owners who received a new device on Christmas Day, only to find they couldn’t connect it to the […]

With Multi-Vector Attacks, Quality Threat Intelligence Matters

December 23, 2014 Scott Harrell

In the last year, the world’s attention has been riveted by a series of high-profile hacks of major corporations in retail, finance and the entertainment industry, among others. Each of these incidents is unique, involving different threat actors and motives. However, each of these attacks is also a sterling example of what we, at Cisco, term “multi-vector attack” that employs a range of technologies, deployed in numerous stages, to penetrate the defenses of the target organization. Here at Cisco, we have studied these attacks in-depth and have identified some commonalities among these multi-vector attack, and useful approaches to combat them. This blog post will discuss some of our findings. About Multi-Vector Attacks Any cyber attack, large or small is born from a weak link in the security chain. These weak links take many forms: poorly configured Web servers, gullible employees or vulnerable-but-common applications like Microsoft Office, Adobe Reader and Java are common examples. Multi-vector attacks […]