trojan Archives

Tag: trojan

Flaw Leaves 900M Android Devices Vulnerable

July 5, 2013 Paul Roberts

A security researcher claims to have uncovered a flaw in the Android security model that leaves almost all devices running the mobile operating system vulnerable to attacks and malicious software. Jeff Forristal, the Chief Technology Officer at Bluebox Security posted a description of the flaw on Wednesday. It affects Android devices running any version of the OS released in the past four years, starting with Version 1.6 (codename: “Donut” ) – a population of nearly 900 million devices. Discrepancies in how Android applications are cryptographically signed and then verified by Android allow a malicious attacker to modify the application package file (or APK) code without breaking the cryptographic signature. The implications of the flaw are huge. A malicious application installed on a vulnerable Android device could access any data stored on the device. For applications, such as mobile virtual private network (VPN), an attacker who could alter the application’s code or […]

Don’t Call It A Hack Back: Crowdstrike Unveils Falcon Platform

June 19, 2013 Paul Roberts

Lots of aspiring technology start-ups dream of getting their product written up in The New York Times or Wall Street Journal when it launches. For Crowdstrike Inc. a two year-old security start-up based in Laguna Niguel, California, media attention from the papers of record hasn’t been an issue. This reporter counted twelve articles mentioning the company in The Times in the last year, and another two reports in The Journal. Much of that ink has been spilled on stories related to Crowdstrike research on sophisticated attacks, or the company’s all-star executive team, including former McAfee executives George Kurtz (CEO) and Dmitri Alperovitch (CTO), as well as former FBI cybersecurity chief Shawn Henry (Crowdstrike’s head of services), who left the Bureau in April, 2012 to join the company. For much of that time, Crowdstrike has been known mostly as a security services and intelligence firm, but the goal was always to […]

Google Adds Detection For Obad Malware

June 10, 2013 Paul Roberts

Just a follow-up to our story from last week on Obad, the new family of mobile malware that affects Google Android devices: In an e-mail to The Security Ledger on Friday, Google acknowledged the existence of the Trojan horse program and has updated its detection tools to be able to identify it. In an e-mail, a Google spokeswoman said that the malware, dubbed “Obad” by Kaspersky Lab, was not found on the company’s Google Play application store. The company added detection for the new malware to its Application Verification Tool, which protects Android users who tried to download it from a third-party application store or browser. Obad, or Backdoor.AndroidOS.Obad.a, is described as a “multi function Trojan” that primarily acts as an SMS Trojan, surreptitiously sending short message service (SMS) messages to premium numbers. It was first described in a blog post by Kaspersky Lab researcher malware researcher Roman Unuchek last week. Unuchek […]

UN Calls Electronic Surveillance A Threat To Democracy

June 5, 2013 Paul Roberts

A new report out from the United Nations’ General Assembly warns that governments’ use of electronic surveillance and monitoring of citizen communications is a violation of human rights and calls for updated laws and guidelines that reflect changes in communications “techniques and technologies.” The growing use and sophistication of digital surveillance has outstripped the ability of societies to legislate their proper use, leading to “ad hoc practices that are beyond the supervision of any independent authority,” and that threaten to stifle free expression, according to the report, issued by the UN General Assembly’s Human Rights Council (PDF). First issued in April, but released to the public this week, the report looks at States’ use of communications surveillance and their impact on what the report calls “human rights to privacy and to freedom of opinion and expression.” It concludes that the growth of online surveillance of electronic communications, including access to stored […]

Browser Plug-in Steals Facebook Logins, Pumps Spam For GM Cars

May 13, 2013 Paul Roberts

Microsoft is warning users of Google’s Chrome and The Mozilla Foundation’s Firefox web browsers that a malicious browser extension for those platforms attempts to steal Facebook account login information after it is installed. The attacks have mostly occurred in Brazil, Microsoft, and have been linked to spam campaigns promoting GM cars, like the Chevy Celta, an ultracompact car produced by General Motors do Brasil, according to a post on Microsoft’s Technet web site. Microsoft identified the malware bundled with the browser extensions as Febipos.A, a malicious Trojan. After being installed, the Trojan waits for the user to log in to Facebook before it springs to life. Febipos downloads commands from a remote website that instruct it to carry out a wide range of actions through the active Facebook account, including wall posts, sharing and “liking” pages, commenting on other users’ posts and inviting Facebook friends to a group chat. You […]