Posted by Avik Sarkar
On 11/09/2012 04:30:00 am
McAfee Reveals Emma Watson as 2012’s Most Dangerous Cyber Celebrity & For India its Sunny Leone
In a research
security software company McAfee figure out Sunny Leone as the most dangerous celebrity in the Indian cyber space for this year, followed by
Katrina Kaif and
Kareena Kapoor. For the sixth year in a row, McAfee researched popular culture’s most famous people to reveal riskiest celebrity sportsmen, actors and politicians across the Web to reveal the 2012 rendition of
‘Most Dangerous Celebrity’ research. In the India ranking this year, Sunny Leone displaced Katrina Kaif, who owned this title in the 2011 edition of this annual research. Lubna Markar, Sr. Marketing Manager India and South Asia, McAfee, said,
“Cyber criminals continue to leverage top celebrities to lure people to websites with malicious software. This year too, we saw cyber crooks leveraging Bollywood stars whereby the maximum number of malicious software laden sites pertained to Sunny Leone. This testifies her top position as the most dangerous celebrity in Indian cyberspace in 2012.”
The study for
‘Most Dangerous Celebrity’ used the McAfee SiteAdvisor site rating which indicates the sites that are risky to search for celebrity names on the Web and calculate an overall risk percentage. The top 10 celebrities in India from this year’s study with the highest risk percentages are:
- Sunny Leone: This sexy Canadian model/actress who made headlines with her presence in the celebrity reality show BigBoss, ranks first with 9.95% chances of luring people into clicking on malicious links.
- Katrina Kaif: India’s ‘chikni chameli’ was the most dangerous Indian celebrity of 2011, but has slipped down to the 2nd position this year with a risk percentile of 8.25%.
- Kareena Kapoor: The 3rd Most Dangerous Celebrity and winner of six film fare awards has a 6.67% possibility of making users fall into a trap of malware laden Web sites.
- Priyanka Chopra: This former Miss World who has been the reigning queen of Bollywood occupies the 4th position on the Most Dangerous Celebrities list with a risk percentile of 6.5%.
- Bipasha Basu: With Raaz 3, this Bengali bombshell has moved up the ranking from 8th in 2011 to the 5th position in 2012. She has a 5.58% percentile of leading users to a malicious site.
- Vidya Balan: After her ‘Dirty Picture’, Vidya Balan has a 5.33 % chance of leading users to malicious sites. The versatile Indian actress has marked her presence even in the cyber space.
- Deepika Padukone: This sultry actress of ‘Cocktail’ fame, was the 2nd most dangerous celebrity in the year 2011, but has plummeted to 7th position this year, with a 4.92% chance of being led to a malicious Web site.
- Salman Khan: One of the most sought after stars in Bollywood, Salman Khan has redefined the trends of the Hindi film industry with his roles in movies such as Dabangg and Ek Tha Tiger. With a risk percentile of 4.83%, he is on the eighth position in our Most Dangerous Celebrities ranking.
- Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: Touted as ‘the most beautiful woman in the world’, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, is the ninth most dangerous celebrity in India with a risk percentile of 4.58%.
- Poonam Pandey: The Kingfisher calendar girl who was also amongst the top 8 contestants in ‘Gladrags 2010′, has a risk percentile of 4.25% and is the tenth most dangerous celebrity.
If you go thorugh the report of McAfee's 2012’s Most Dangerous Cyber Celebrity then you will come to know that Emma Watson has replaced Heidi Klum as McAfee's 2012 most dangerous celebrity to search for online. For the sixth times in a row, McAfee researched popular culture’s most famous people to reveal the riskiest Hollywood actors, athletes, musicians, politicians, designers, and comedians on the Web. The McAfee Most Dangerous Celebrities™ study found that women are more dangerous than men with Jessica Biel taking the number two spot and Eva Mendes coming in third. Latina women have proven that they are on fire and make up five of the top ten spots. After Mendes, Selena Gomez, Shakira and Salma Hayek take the fourth, seventh and ninth spot and Sofia Vergara rounds out the top 10 list. Funnyman Jimmy Kimmel is the only male to make the top 20 list this year.
The top 10 celebrities from this year’s study with the highest percentages of risk are:-
- Emma Watson – Best known for her role as Hermione Granger in the “Harry Potter” franchise, the British actress tops the list as the 2012 Most Dangerous Celebrity. Watson continues to star in feature films including “My Week with Marilyn” and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and is an ambassador for Lancôme.
- Jessica Biel – The 2009 Most Dangerous Celebrity rose two spots this year from coming in at number 4 in 2011. Biel continues to be in the spotlight with fiancée Justin Timberlake and her role in 2012’s “Total Recall.”
- Eva Mendes – A new addition to the list,Mendes has starred in films including “2 Fast 2 Furious” and “Hitch.” She is currently in the news for her fling with Ryan Gosling.
- Selena Gomez – The tween musician and actress is best known for her role as Alex Russo on Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place” and for dating teen heartthrob Justin Bieber. She has been cast in the upcoming film “Parental Guidance Suggested” and was recently named one of Forbes’ Top 10 Best Social Media Superstars.
- Halle Berry – The Academy Award winning actress is famous for her stand out roles in action and horror films including “Catwoman” and “Gothika”. Berry is in the spotlight for her custody battle with baby daddy Gabriel Aubry.
- Megan Fox – The sexy actress rose 9 spots compared to her number 15 spot last year. She is currently in the news for her pregnancy with husband Brian Austin Green and will be seen in the upcoming film “This is 40”.
- Shakira – The belly-dancing singer/songwriter best known for her songs “Hips Don’t Lie” and “Whenever, Wherever” comes in at number 7. She was recently named one of Forbes’ World’s Most Powerful Women and was ranked number 6 on Forbes’ Top 10 Best Social Media Superstars.
- Cameron Diaz – 2010’s Most Dangerous Celebrity fell to eighth place, with searches resulting in slightly fewer risky sites this year. She was most recently in the spotlight for allegedly dating Alex Rodriguez. She is rumored to star in “Expendables 3.”
- Salma Hayek – The actress, producer and director received an Academy Award for her role as Frida Kahlo in “Frida” and recently starred in “Savages.” She is currently in the news for her controversial remarks about her Mexican heritage in a Vogue interview. She is married to billionaire François-Henri Pinault.
- Sofia Vergara – The Columbian actress and model best known for her comedic role as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett on ABC’s Emmy Award winning “Modern Family” rounds out the top 10 list. She also starred in the “The Three Stooges” film this year and was recently named one of Forbes’ World’s Most Powerful Women and highest paid TV actress. She recently announced her engagement to businessman Nick Loeb.
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Posted by Avik Sarkar
On 11/09/2012 04:30:00 am
Chrome 23 Closes 15 Security Vulnerabilities, Promises Longer Battery Life & Added Do Not Track (DNT)
The searching giant Google finally included the Do Not Track (DNT) option into its first stable version of the company's browser which is Google Chrome 23. In February internet giant Google has agreed with the White House's Consumer Privacy Bill and here comes the result. Google has implemented the Do Not Track (DNT) header in its Chrome web browser. Few months ago Microsoft made Do Not Track (DNT) facility available by default in Internet Explorer 10. Also the Redmond based software giant drew some criticism recently for its decision to enable Do Not Track by default in IE 10. First it was Mozilla who proposed the Do Not Track mechanism, in Firefox in June 2011 when it released Firefox 5. The DNT option is disabled by default in Chrome and in order to turn it on, users need to go to the customization menu in the top right corner of the browser window. Then click on the Settings option in the left side and scroll down to open the Advanced Settings menu. Under the Privacy menu, check the box next to the "Send a 'Do Not Track' request with your browsing traffic" option. Once that option is enabled, the user will see a message explaining what the DNT system will do for them.
Not only DNT, with the release of Chrome 23, Google closes several security holes and promises to improve battery life for some users. For systems with dedicated graphics chips that support Chrome's GPU-accelerated video decoding, version 23 of the WebKit-based browser is said to significantly reduce power consumption. According to Google, batteries lasted on average 25% longer in its tests when GPU-accelerated video decoding was enabled compared to only using a system's CPU when streaming online videos. Version 23 of Chrome also addresses a total of 15 security vulnerabilities in the browser, 6 of which are rated as "high severity". These include high-risk use-after-free problems in video layout and in SVG filter handling, a integer bounds check issue in GPU command buffers and a memory corruption flaw in texture handling; a Mac-only problem related to wild writes in buggy graphics drivers has also been fixed. Eight medium-severity flaws including an integer overflow that could lead to an out-of-bounds read in WebP handling, and a low-risk have also been corrected. As part of its Chromium Security Vulnerability Rewards program, Google paid security researchers $9,000 for discovering and reporting these flaws. The update to Chrome also includes a new version of the Adobe Flash Player plugin which eliminates a number of critical vulnerabilities, all of which were discovered by the Google Security Team. Further information about the new features can be found in the release announcement, while a full list of security fixes is provided in a post on the Chrome Releases blog. Chrome 23.0.1271.64 is available to download for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux users.
-Source (Google Chrome Blog, The-H & threatpost)
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Posted by Avik Sarkar
On 11/09/2012 04:30:00 am
Critical Buffer Overflow, Memory Corruption & Security bypass Vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player & AIR Patched
Adobe- American multinational computer software company has released new versions of its
Flash Player to eliminate a number of critical
vulnerabilities in Flash Player that could lead to system crashes or remote attackers controlling computers running compromised software. All the flaws were discovered by members of the Google Security Team are associated with several CVE numbers;
CVE-2012-5274, CVE-2012-5275, CVE-2012-5276, CVE-2012-5277, CVE-2012-5280 are
buffer overflows,
CVE-2012-5279 is a
memory corruption issue and
CVE-2012-5278 is a
security bypass; all of which are listed as potentially allowing an attacker to inject malicious code into the system. Google said it will update Flash Player installed with Google Chrome, and Microsoft will do the same with Internet Explorer 10. In the
security bulletin Adobe said that it has released security updates for
Adobe Flash Player 11.4.402.287 and earlier versions for
Windows and
Macintosh, Adobe Flash Player 11.2.202.243 and earlier versions for
Linux, Adobe Flash Player 11.1.115.20 and earlier versions for
Android 4.x, and Adobe Flash Player 11.1.111.19 and earlier versions for Android 3.x and 2.x. These updates address vulnerabilities that could cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.
Adobe recommends users update their product installations to the latest versions:-
- Users of Adobe Flash Player 11.4.402.287 and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh should update to Adobe Flash Player 11.5.502.110.
- Users of Adobe Flash Player 11.2.202.243 and earlier versions for Linux should update to Adobe Flash Player 11.2.202.251.
- Flash Player installed with Google Chrome will automatically be updated to the latest Google Chrome version, which will include Adobe Flash Player 11.5.31.2 for Windows, Macintosh and Linux.
- Flash Player installed with Internet Explorer 10 will automatically be updated to the latest Internet Explorer 10 version, which will include Adobe Flash Player 11.3.376.12 for Windows.
- Users of Adobe Flash Player 11.1.115.20 and earlier versions on Android 4.x devices should update to Adobe Flash Player 11.1.115.27.
- Users of Adobe Flash Player 11.1.111.19 and earlier versions for Android 3.x and earlier versions should update to Flash Player 11.1.111.24.
- Users of Adobe AIR 3.4.0.2710 and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh, SDK (including AIR for iOS) and Android should update to Adobe AIR 3.5.0.600.
AFFECTED SOFTWARE VERSIONS:-
- Adobe Flash Player 11.4.402.287 and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh
- Adobe Flash Player 11.2.202.243 and earlier versions for Linux
- Adobe Flash Player 11.1.115.20 and earlier versions for Android 4.x
- Adobe Flash Player 11.1.111.19 and earlier versions for Android 3.x and 2.x
- Adobe AIR 3.4.0.2710 and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh, SDK (includes AIR for iOS) and Android
To verify the version of Adobe Flash Player installed on your system, access the
About Flash Player page, or right-click on content running in Flash Player and select "About Adobe (or Macromedia) Flash Player" from the menu. If you use multiple browsers, perform the check for each browser you have installed on your system. To verify the version of Adobe Flash Player for Android, go to Settings > Applications > Manage Applications > Adobe Flash Player x.x. To verify the version of
Adobe AIR installed on your system, follow the instructions in the
Adobe AIR TechNote. Adobe also recommended its
Adobe AIR users to update to 3.5.0.600.
While talking about security patches in Adobe product, we
want to give to reminder that just couple of weeks ago Adobe also plugged buffer overflow vulnerability in its Shockwave Player. Also in late September, Adobe disclosed that it had been attacked and hackers were using a valid Adobe certificate to sign two malicious utilities used most often in targeted attacks. Adobe revoked the certificate Oct. 4.
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Posted by Avik Sarkar
On 11/05/2012 05:08:00 am
Apple Releases iOS 6.0.1, Serious Flaws in Kernel, Passcode Lock & WebKit Patched
Couple of moths ago we got iOS6, where Apple added over 200 new features, including Apple's own Maps app, Facebook integration, Siri improvements, Apple's new Passbook digital wallet app, and more. iOS 6 is compatible with the third-generation iPad, iPad 2, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and fourth-generation iPod touch. With such tremendous features there also several security bugs have been spotted in the wild, which is affecting millions of iOS users across the globe. Among those bugs the most serious seems to be a kernel flaw discovered by researcher Mark Dowd of Azimuth Security and Eric Monti of Square that affects iPhone 3GS and later, as well iPod Touch and iPad2 and later. An attacker exploiting the vulnerability could essentially bypass address space randomization layout (ASLR) protections using a malicious application, and could determine addresses in the kernel, Apple’s advisory said. The researchers said the vulnerability, which could expose data to an attacker, occurs in the way iOS handles application programming interfaces in relation to kernel extensions.
Apple has released updates for iOS 6 which include security fixes. The iOS 6.0.1 update includes security fixes for the kernel, passcode locking and WebKit. The WebKit issues were also fixed in an update of the Safari web browser for Mac OS X. “Responses containing an OSBundleMachOHeaders key may have included kernel addresses, which may aid in bypassing address space layout randomization protection,” Apple said. “This issue was addressed by unsliding the addresses before returning them.”
A vulnerability in iOS’ Passcode Lock was also addressed in the latest update that could allow someone with access to the iOS device to access Passbook passes without entering a passcode. “A state management issue existed in the handling of Passbook passes at the lock screen. This issue was addressed through improved handling of Passbook passes,” Apple said. Finally, a pair of WebKit vulnerabilities were patched.
The first involved how iOS handled JavaScript arrays, and could allow an attacker to remotely execute code if a user visited a malicious site and was infected. Apple said it addressed the matter through additional validation of JavaScript arrays. The other WebKit flaw is a use-after-free issue in the handling of SVG images. Scalable vector graphics (SVG) are file formats for static or animated graphics. A user visiting a website hosting a malicious graphic could experience application crashes or worse, an attacker could remotely execute code.
The iOS 6.0.1 software update also includes fixes for the iPhone 5 to allow it to install over the air updates and to make it work better with WPA2 Wi-Fi networks. There are also corrections for bugs which flashed horizontal lines over the keyboard and stopped the camera flash going off. The two WebKit issues were also the only issues apparently fixed in the Safari 6.0.2 update. Safari 6.0.2 is available through Software Update for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and the Mac App Store for Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.
-Source (Apple, threat post & The-H)
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Posted by Avik Sarkar
On 11/04/2012 04:52:00 am
VUPEN Researchers Said: They Have First Zero-Day Exploit for Windows 8 & Internet Explorer 10
Everyday the users of
Microsoft newly launched and so far most advanced windows operating system, I mean
Windows 8 are increasing. But we have to keep in mind the security threats are also increasing in parallel. Recently well known French IT security firm
Vupen, also known as controversial bug hunters and exploit sellers claimed to have
Zero-day exploit of Windows 8. Experts at Vupen Security took credit of cracking the low-level security enhancements featured in Windows 8, Microsoft's latest operating system. According a
tweet made by the official account of
Vupen Security said it already has a Windows 8 exploit on offer.
"Our first 0day for Win8+IE10 with HiASLR/AntiROP/DEP & Prot Mode sandbox bypass (Flash not needed) is ready for customers. Welcome #Windows8"
Apparently, the
exploit combines several unpatched
(0-day) security holes in the new version of Windows and the bundled
Internet Explorer 10 browser to inject malicious code into systems via specially crafted web pages. Also VUPEN CEO and head of research
Chaouki Bekrar sent out a pair of ominous Tweets yesterday claiming to have developed the first zero-day exploit for Windows 8 and Internet Explorer 10, both released Oct. 26. Bekrar hints the exploit is a sandbox bypass for IE10 with ASLR, DEP and anti-ROP mitigations enabled.
“We welcome #Windows8 with various 0Ds combined to pwn all new Win8/IE10 exploit mitigations,” Bekrar wrote.
The exploit allegedly bypasses all of Windows 8's malware protection features: for example the
Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) function that Microsoft has extended in the current edition of Windows to cover more system areas and offer improved randomisation. Vupen claims that the exploit also bypasses the
Data Execution Prevention (DEP) and ROP features as well as Internet Explorer's sandbox-like Protected Mode. A patch for the exploited holes may not become available in the foreseeable future: Vupen said that it discovered the vulnerabilities itself and doesn't plan to disclose them to Microsoft. The company is only offering its exploit to its paying customers, among them
government investigation authorities. Should Microsoft close the holes, the elaborate exploit would significantly decrease in value.
-Source (The-H & threatpost)
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Posted by Avik Sarkar
On 11/02/2012 03:28:00 am
Mozilla Fixed Cross Site Ccripting (XSS) Flaws & Released Firefox Version 16.0.2
Serious security hole in
Mozilla Firefox has been fixed. Mozilla has announced availability of Firefox version
16.0.2, an emergency update to address a
serious flaw in the way the browser treats the LocationObject. According to the advisory, successful exploitation of this flaw can result in cross site scripting or code execution. The bug was first discovered by security researcher
Mariusz Mlynski, which forced
Mozilla
developers to release the third emergency fix in a month since the
introduction of
version 16 of the popular browser. According to the
Security Advisories of Mozilla Foundation -Mozilla has fixed a number of issues related to the Location object in order to enhance overall security. With
Firefox 16.0.2 also the security bug in
Firefox ESR 10.0.10, Thunderbird 16.0.2, Thunderbird ESR 10.0.10 &
SeaMonkey 2.13.2 has been fixed. Security researcher Mariusz Mlynski reported that the true value of
window.location could be shadowed by user content through the use of the valueOf method, which can be combined with some plugins to perform a
cross-site scripting (XSS) attack on users. There is also the possibility of gaining arbitrary code execution if the attacker can take advantage of an add-on that interacts with the page content. Security researcher Antoine Delignat-Lavaud of the PROSECCO research team at INRIA Paris reported the ability to use property injection by prototype to bypass security wrapper protections on the Location object, allowing the cross-origin reading of the Location object. Users running older versions of
Firefox are advised to
update immediately using the auto-update feature built into the browser.
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Posted by Avik Sarkar
On 10/28/2012 04:37:00 am
Security Flaws Allowing Any Windows User to Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro For Just $14.99
The long awaited and the most advanced windows operating system by Microsoft is ready and available to buy from Microsoft Store. Earlier we got three Pre-release version of Windows 8 -Consumer Preview, Developer Preview & Release Preview. Along with these the Redmond based software giant also released an Enterprise Edition of Windows 8. With those releases, Microsoft declared that they will start selling Windows 8 from October 26. As per the schedule Microsoft opened its virtual store and began selling upgrades to Windows 8 Pro for $39.99, making good on a promise made last summer. The upgrade, which must be downloaded and installed via a utility called "Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant," can be applied to Windows XP-, Vista-, and Windows 7-powered systems. So far so good, but not that good as it looking, recently a security hole has been spotted in the wild which is allowing Windows user to buy a license for Windows 8 Pro for just $14.99 by faking the details on the WindowsUpgradeOffer page. According to a post from Technology Personalized -For the uninitiated, the MRP of Windows 8 Pro version is $169.99 and during the promotional offer period, which runs till Jan 31st 2013, Microsoft is offering a big $130 discount to encourage early adaption of the latest Windows OS. So, the existing Windows 7/Vista/XP users can upgrade to Windows 8 for just $39.99 (or INR 1999). Additionally, Microsoft had announced that those who bought a Windows 7 PC between June 2, 2012, and January 31, 2013 are eligible for a further discount and can actually upgrade for a meagre $14.99. Moreover, users get to download the ISO and/or save Windows 8 as bootable USB.
Shockingly, the WindowsUpgradeOffer page requires people to enter some extremely basic details about their Windows 7 PC purchase as shown below. As you can see, the details they ask for can no way be used to validate the purchase. It neither asks for a serial number nor Windows 7 key, but just the PC brand and model! As you can see, we entered some random info into each of the fields.
Once the details are submitted, user will get a confirmation email about the registration. Within a few minutes, another email with the promo code is sent to the same email address. This promo code can be used to purchase the Windows 8 Pro edition via the Windows 8 Upgrade assistant app, for a nominal fee of USD 14.99. Unbelievable, isn’t it?
So far Microsoft did not responded about this issue, but for those who want to buy Windows 8 Pro (Download) click Here & those who want to get Windows 8 Pro shipped to you click Here.
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Posted by Avik Sarkar
On 10/27/2012 02:48:00 am
Adobe Closes Several Critical Security Hole in Shockwave Player
If you are a fan or regular user of Adobe
Shockwave Player on your
Windows or
Mac computer then it's time for you to update your systems.
Adobe has released a
security update for
Adobe Shockwave Player 11.6.7.637 and earlier versions on the Windows and Macintosh operating systems. This update addresses vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker, who successfully exploits these vulnerabilities, to run malicious code on the affected system. Adobe recommends users of Adobe Shockwave Player 11.6.7.637 and earlier versions update to
Adobe Shockwave Player 11.6.8.638 using the instructions provided below.
This update resolves buffer overflow vulnerabilities that could lead to code execution (CVE-2012-4172, CVE-2012-4173, CVE-2012-4174, CVE-2012-4175, CVE-2012-5273).
- AFFECTED SOFTWARE VERSIONS:-
Adobe Shockwave Player 11.6.7.637 and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh
Adobe recommends users of Adobe Shockwave Player 11.6.7.637 and earlier versions update to the newest version 11.6.8.638, available here: http://get.adobe.com/shockwave/.
This update resolves an array out of bounds vulnerability that could lead to code execution (CVE-2012-4176). Adobe has said that the update is a
priority 2 issue. The company recommends users update their installations as soon as is possible, but notes there are no known Shockware exploits in the wild for these flaws.
If you dig the recent past, then you will found the security of
Adobe products has been under the microscope the last four weeks. Most recently, Adobe upgraded its
Reader and
Acrobat products with enhancements to its sandbox functionality and a new feature that forces any DLL loaded by either application to use Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR). Also we want to remind you that in late September, Adobe disclosed that it had been
attacked and hackers were using a valid
Adobe certificate to sign two malicious utilities used most often in targeted attacks. Adobe revoked the certificate Oct. 4.
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Posted by Avik Sarkar
On 10/26/2012 05:59:00 am
Unpatchable Security Hole in PlayStation 3 Leading The "final hack" Also LV0 Cryptographic Keys Revealed
We all are very much aware that
Sony along with its product's were always been a very hot favorite target of
hackers. But here there are few twists, so the word 'Hack' will be be the appropriate one to describe of what happened to Sony. According to a report on
Eurogamer Sony's
PlayStation 3 is facing a new security threat - one it hasn't seen since the system was cracked via the PSJailbreak in 2011. The PS3 has been hacked before, but Sony was able to inhibit the hack with an update to its own firmware. This is much like the history of
jailbreaking on Apple's
iOS. But the latest PS3 break is being dubbed
unpatchable and the
final hack. That's because this hack isn't giving you an exploit to use against a programming hole. It's giving you Sony's so-called
LV0 (level zero) cryptographic keys.
A decryption key that is reported to be circulating on the net is said to remove the final protective barrier on some models of Sony's PlayStation 3 consoles. In the long run, the release of the key will probably allow unsigned software such as homebrew games, Linux distributions, or pirate copies of software to run on some PS3 consoles. Allegedly, the private key can be used to modify and sign the "LV0" (Level 0), for example to disable its security checks. When the PS3 system boots, from version 3.60 of the PS3's firmware, the LV0 is directly launched by the bootloader (bootldr) that is built into the system's hardware – which means that the chain of trust is broken at a very early stage. As Sony won't be able to update the bootloader with a software update, the hacker community considers this the "final hack" of the PS3 in its current forms. Eurogamer says that these keys may not have been released at all if not for a Chinese hacking outfit called "BlueDiskCFW," who gained access to the keys and planned to charge for new custom firmware updates it would create. The original group that created the LV0 had no plans on releasing them, but eventually they were leaked onto the Internet in some limited fashion. Seeing that someone was going to profit on them, the group known as "The Three Tuskateers" decided to release them into the wilds of the Internet.
In a statement the hacker group says that "You can be sure that if it wouldn't have been for this leak, this key would never have seen the light of day, only the fear of our work being used by others to make money out of it has forced us to release this now,"
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Posted by Avik Sarkar
On 10/20/2012 12:07:00 pm
SOPA Returns! Not From Congress But As a Ransomware Virus
Last month in a report we said, that "SOPA & PIPA are dead, they're not coming back". Former Senate Christopher Dodd, now chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, said the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act aren’t going to be floated again in Congress. Now it seems that he was not fully right as The Stop Online Piracy ACT also known as SOPA the most controversial act which terrified almost every people, who is associated with Internet still chasing us, though the bill was defeated after massive protest; still SOPA is not leaving us. I know its a tragic news, but do't be panic, this time its not the comeback of SOPA act from Congress but as a nasty cryptovirus that locks up people’s computers and accuses them of distributing copyright infringing files. Infected users can get their data back after a payment of $200 – at least, that’s what the virus makers promise. Several researcher have figure out and warning that new ransomware that claims to be an alert from the "Stop Online Piracy Automatic Protection System." It goes on to tell you that your computer is on a "S.O.P.A. IP Black List" because it was used to download copyright infringing materials, child pornography or illegal software. The malware encrypts all of your data files and holds them hostage, offering to decrypt them if you pay a fee to the criminals. According to report by Torrent Freak- the SOPA virus holds all files on the host computer ransom.
“Your computer is locked!” the splash screen above warns, adding:
If you see a warning.txt or warning screen, it means your IP address was included in S.O.P.A. Black List. One or more of the following items were made from your PC:
1. Downloading or distributing audio or video files protected by Copyright Law.
2. Downloading or distributing illegal content (child porn, phishing software, etc.)
3. Downloading or distributing Software protected by Copyright Law.
As a result of these infringements based on Stop Online Piracy Act (H.R. 3261) your PC and files are now blocked.
The SOPA virus is so-called ransomware, meaning that it holds computers hostage and only promises to free data after victims hand over cash. In the U.S. and Canada people are instructed to pay with a MoneyPak prepaid voucher, and in other parts of the world they can use Western Union. Those who don’t pay within three days are in trouble, the virus maker warns. “WARNING!!!: If you don’t pay the fine within 72 HOURS at the amount of 200 USD, all your computer data will be erased.”
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Posted by Avik Sarkar
On 10/17/2012 05:13:00 pm
Greater Manchester Police Fined £150,000 By ICO For Using Unencrypted USB Sticks
To fight against major
security breaches,
data loss,
cyber theft, and many other
cyber challenges, both Government and higher authorities are becoming as tight and strict as they can. While sitting at edge of
cyber security, not even a single mistake or carelessness will be negotiated. So either you have to deliver your very best, or you have to penalty, exactly the same thing happened to
Greater Manchester Police. Yesterday, I mean 16th of October The
UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in the UK recently fined the Greater Manchester Police
£150,000 for a data breach. In their
press release ICO said - Greater Manchester Police force is being fined for failing to take appropriate measures against the loss of personal data.
The action was prompted by the theft of a memory stick containing sensitive personal data from an officer’s home. The device, which had no password protection, contained details of more than a thousand people with links to serious crime investigations. The ICO found that a number of officers across the force regularly used
unencrypted memory sticks, which may also have been used to copy data from police computers to access away from the office. Despite a similar security breach in September 2010, the force had not put restrictions on downloading information, and staff were not sufficiently trained in data protection.
The findings prompted the Information Commissioner to use his powers under the Data Protection Act to impose a Civil Monetary Penalty of £150,000. Greater Manchester Police paid that penalty yesterday, taking advantage of a 20 per cent early payment discount (£120,000).
David Smith, ICO Director of Data Protection, said: -“This was truly sensitive personal data, left in the hands of a burglar by poor data security. The consequences of this type of breach really do send a shiver down the spine. “It should have been obvious to the force that the type of information stored on its computers meant proper data security was needed. Instead, it has taken a serious data breach to prompt it into action.
“This is a substantial monetary penalty, reflecting the significant failings the force demonstrated. We hope it will discourage others from making the same data protection mistakes.”
The monetary penalty is paid into the Treasury’s Consolidated Fund and is not kept by the Commissioner.
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Posted by Avik Sarkar
On 10/14/2012 06:25:00 pm
Most Organized Banking-Trojan Called 'Gozi Prinimalka' By Russian Hackers Targeting U.S. Banks
We all might be aware of massive attack which took place last month, targeted several leading banking and financial sector of United States. The attack came just after 'anti Islamic' video was posted online. The US National Security officials accused the Iranian government for engaging cyber attacks against US Banks mainly Bank of America. Sooner or later the situation came under control. But cloud of trouble for US Banking sector is not gone completely, recently security professionals unveiled that a cartel of Russian hackers is planning to launch a separate attack aimed at stealing money from about 30 U.S. financial institutions, an apparent attempt to piggyback and capitalize on the ongoing cyber attacks on U.S. banks. The emergence of Russian hackers suggests a potential shift in the motivation of the cyber attacks from ideological to financial and also points to a longer duration of the ongoing attacks. Security experts have picked up on chatter in the cyber underworld indicating Russian cyber hackers have set their sights on about 30 U.S. financial institutions. Dubbed “Operation Blitzkrieg,” the attack is planned for this fall on 30 U.S. banks, though it’s not clear which specific institutions will be targeted. In a blog post last week, RSA said it “believes this is the making of the most substantial organized banking-Trojan operation seen to date.”
So far it’s not clear who the specific Russian hackers are, but famous security professional & blogger Brian Krebs pointed to series of posts beginning in early September on Underweb forums by a Russian hacker who uses the nickname “vorVzakone,” which translates to “thief in law.” RSA said “underground chatter” indicates the gang plans to deploy a Trojan, called “Gozi Prinimalka,” in an effort to complete fraudulent wire transfers via Man-In-The-Middle (MiTM) manual session-hacking scenarios. Herberger said MiTM is a type of attack that aims to deceive targets by violating otherwise secure communications, similar to tapping into a landline phone conversation or breaching a VPN session. “If successfully launched, the full force of this mega heist may only be felt by targeted banks in a month or two,” RSA said. The Trojan is part of a family of malware used by a crime gang that has successfully siphoned at least $5 million from banks, RSA said. The Russian hackers are also offering to pay individuals who help them carry out the attacks, indicating a desire to monetize the intrusions.
So now the vows of hacker group named 'Izz ad-Din al Qassam Cyber Fighters' is proving to be more dangerous for US. The hacker group earlier said "These series of attacks will continue until the Erasing of that nasty movie from the Internet". For your reminder this hacker group was responsible for all the major DDoS attacks against US financial sector. “It’s not uncommon that people who have a financial motive may try to take advantage of nefarious techniques,” said Herberger. “They will jump in because they can take advantage of the fact banks are laboring and security departments are becoming overrun and softened for a different kind of motivated attack.” The emergence of the threat from Russian groups underscores the prolonged nature of the attacks against corporations, especially in the financial industry. “Security teams are coming to terms that these attacks are long,” often measured in days and weeks, said Herberger. However, security teams often aren’t “staffed for attrition.”
-Source (FOX Business)
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Posted by Avik Sarkar
On 10/11/2012 03:52:00 am
Pwnium 2: Teenage Hacker Pinkie Pie Exploited Google Chrome & Earned $60,000
One of world's most popular web-browser
Google Chrome has fallen victim at
Pwnium 2 security contest which took place earlier on 10th October, at the
Hack In The Box conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A teenage hacker who goes by the pseudonym
"Pinkie Pie" was successfully able to
"fully exploit" Chrome, escaping the sandbox using only bugs within Chrome.
The hack was done on a fully patched 64-bit Windows 7 system running the latest stable branch of Chrome. For his work, Pinkie Pie will receive the top
prize of $60,000 from
Google.
This isn't the first time that "Pinkie Pie", also the name of a "My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic" character, has won money for exploiting
Chrome. In March of this year, he was
rewarded for
vulnerabilities he used at Google's
Pwnium contest, which took place during the
Pwn2Own competition at CanSecWest, to break out of the browser's sandbox and execute code. In order to get his code to execute on the test system at the time, he had to combine a total of six vulnerabilities; the holes were later closed with the release of
Chrome 18. Along with security specialist Sergey Glazunov, Pinkie Pie also won this year's
Pwnie Award for the Best Client-Side Bug. What ever the full results of the
Pwnium 2 competition will be announced during a
talk by Google Software Engineer Chris Evans today that means, 11th October.
We also like to give you reminder that earlier in this year Google had increased vulnerability bounties in Anniversary of Vulnerability Reward Programbe. Also PayPal, Facebook & many other has already started this paid bug bounty program. These bug bounty programs & such security contest indeed enhancing the security.
-Source (The-H & SC Magazine)
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Posted by Avik Sarkar
On 10/04/2012 01:57:00 am
Security Flaws Allowing Hackers to Brute Force Twitter Passwords
A
security flaw has been discovered in popular micro blogging site '
Twitter' which is allowing an malicious attack to
brute force user's passwords. On Saturday, multimedia producer and Twitter user
Daniel Dennis Jones (
@blanket) received a
notification that his Twitter password had been reset. This alone would have been cause for concern; at the very least, it would mean that someone had tried and failed to access his account. He quickly found out that the problem was much worse than he expected. He was eventually able to log back into the account, but found that his username had been changed to
@FuckMyAssHoleLO , and that
@blanket was now operated by someone else. His account, in other words, had clearly been hacked. After seeing the above scenario it is very clear that - Twitter's password reset process allows hackers to attempt a more wide-ranging brute force approach to breaking into accounts than other services with more restrictive systems.
Both Apple
and Amazon
quickly closed the loopholes that led to Honan's hack, but Twitter
accounts (the ultimate prize Honan's hackers were after) remain
surprisingly vulnerable to unsophisticated hacking efforts. That
vulnerability was on display this past weekend as a desirable group of
"OG" Twitter handles the short, memorable, one-word names that got
snapped up when the service launched were brute-force hacked by a
group of kids looking to make a little cash and impress their friends.
Daniel Jones is not the only victim of this recently discovered vulnerability, many other people around the globe also fallen victim of this security hole.
After a day of research, Jones "got to the bottom of a little ring of
kids who crack passwords to gain access to handles" - he found a number
of other short, memorable handles like @hah, @captain, and @craves had
also been hacked. Judging from the conversations he saw over Twitter,
these hackers were not sophisticated social engineers, but just a group
of teenagers trying to sell the names they had collected. Eventually, Jones had a long Skype conversation
with a 14-year-old hacker who goes by Mason he wasn't the one who
stole @blanket from Jones, but he was part of the young crew grabbing
and selling these desirable names.
Of course, Twitter's security regimen is probably not all that different from that of many other sites. According to Jeremiah Grossman, CTO and co-founder of Whitehat Security, the attack that victimized Jones was "very, very common....Perhaps Twitter could have a bit stronger and more comprehensive approach to dealing with brute force attacks, but they can really only take it so far before annoying their users."
We personally think that, after this case twitter should implement two step authentication, like Google to prevent its user getting compromised.
-Source (Buzz Feed & CNET)
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Posted by Avik Sarkar
On 9/29/2012 02:33:00 am
Samsung Galaxy S3, S2 & HTC Android Phones are Vulnerable to 'remote wipe' Hack
Yet again a large number of
Android users have been warned of a
security hole. Security experts have uncovered that millions of Android handsets including the
Samsung Galaxy S3, Galaxy S2, HTC One X and
HTC Desire can be
wiped just by visiting a malicious website that embeds particular code in weblinks. A user with a vulnerable handset who visits a page and clicks a link containing the malicious code would see their phone
wiped, losing personal data such as photos and texts as well as repleaceable data such as contact details and apps. The flaw is caused by a security hole in some versions of Android's dialler software, which allows the "tel:" URL prefix to be used on a webpage to perform functions on the phone's dialling software. Normally that is useful for functions such as initiating a call on the handset directly from a site. But the tel: prefix can also be used to pass a string of non-numeric data to the dialler.
Special strings of characters can perform other functions; for example typing #06# on the dialler will display a phone's IMEI number. The flaw exploits a string that activates a factory reset of some phones because they do not force a user interaction before carrying out the function encoded in the string. The code would have to be embedded as a link to cause the user to activate it - but it would be easy to represent it as an innocent link to Google or any site. Pressing the link would initiate the wipe.
Users of vulnerable handsets may be able to install a third-party dialler and make that the default as protection against the "remote wipe" attack. Experts also pointed out that not all Android handsets have the capability for a remote wipe built in - although the number of models discovered with the vulnerability has grown since it became known on Tuesday.
Dylan Reeve, a New Zealand-based TV editor who first brought the flaw to wide notice, says that Samsung Galaxy phones which use Android 4.1 will be safe from the hack. But that still leaves millions of Galaxy S2 and some S3 models which will not have had the correct revision of the firmware rolled out to them and which could be hit.
Though the vulnerability was
fixed in Android's core
code earlier this year, that code has not been propagated to every
handset in use. The fact that the flaw existed in handsets from Samsung
and HTC - the two biggest vendors of Android handsets - also suggests
that a huge number of existing handsets could include the outdated code.
Samsung
said in a statement that it has already provided a patch for the Galaxy
S3, but it is not clear how long that will take for operator approval
and rollout. In general software updates to any phone have to first be
tested and approved by the carrier supporting the phone. Samsung said it
is testing a patch for the Galaxy S2, but had no information on when it
will be available or how it will be distributed. But HTC has issued a statement saying that "our devices do not support a USSD code to factory reset option." This means that they should not be vulnerable to the exploit described below.
-Source (Guardian)
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Posted by Avik Sarkar
On 9/29/2012 02:32:00 am
Prison CCTV System are Under Attack By Worm Named 'Conficker'
Yet again worm named
'conficker' has been spotted in the wild and this time it's showing some dangerous tricks. Security researcher from
Symantec has unveiled that is infamous
malware have managed to hack all the computers that
control closed circuit television (CCTV) system of an unknown prison. Representatives from the correctional institutions were adamant that all the required security measures be all set and be in place so that the malware might be blocked, thus claiming that the threats were identified by protective software that were most likely false positives. Symantec experts found that a different Windows server 2003 system was required to control the prison CCTV system after examining the whole incident, and that system had remained unpatched as updates are formed interoperability problems with the cameras. An infection is introduced unintentionally through a USB drive while a contractor doing maintenance on the system. The recorded footage is modified by the threat insisting the prison's representative to catalogue it as "tampered evidence".
While commenting on the matter, Director of Managed Security Services for the Asia Pacific and Japan region at anti-virus firm (Symantec), Peter Sparkes denoted that a CCTV was found to cause infection and identified as a threat, through a maintenance device. It is a software update by the involvement of a third party was that was into maintaining the CCTV.
-Source (SPAMfighter News)
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