Updates for Adobe Flash, Shockwave, AIR

August 10, 2011
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Adobe has shipped patches to fix a slew of critical security flaws in its products, including Flash, Shockwave Player and Adobe AIR.

The Flash update corrects at least 13 critical vulnerabilities present in versions 10.3.181.36 and earlier for Windows, Mac, Linux and Solaris machines (the bugs exist in Flash versions 10.3.185.25 and earlier for Android devices). Windows, Mac, Linux and Solaris users should upgrade to version 10.3.183.5, and Android users should update to v. 10.3.186.2.

To find out which version of Flash you have, visit this page. Windows users who browse the Web with anything other than Internet Explorer will need to apply the Flash update twice, once using IE and again with the other browser (Google Chrome users should already have the latest version of Flash). To avoid using Adobe’s annoying Download Manager, IE users can grab the latest update directly from this link; the direct link for non-IE browsers is here.

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22 Reasons to Patch Your Windows PC

August 9, 2011
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Microsoft today released 13 software updates to fix at least 22 security flaws in its Windows operating systems and other software. Two of the flaws addressed in the August patch batch earned Microsoft’s most dire “critical” rating, meaning that attackers can exploit them to break into systems without any help from users.

Among the critical updates is a cumulative patch for Internet Explorer that plugs at least five security holes in the browser. The update is considered critical for IE versions 7, 8 and 9 (oddly enough, it earned an overall “important” rating on the insecure IE6).

The other critical patch fixes a serious problem with the DNS server built into Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 systems (consumer systems such as Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 are not affected by the flaw). Although the DNS bug is rated critical, Microsoft considers it unlikely that attackers will develop functioning code to exploit the flaw.

Nine other flaws earned Microsoft’s important rating, and six of those ranked high on Microsoft’s exploitability index, meaning the company believes it is likely that attackers will develop code designed to exploit them to break into Windows PC

As always, if you experience any issues during or after applying the updates, please leave a note in the comment section about it. A summary of all patches released today is available at this link.

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Judge Nixes Patco’s eBanking Fraud Case

August 8, 2011
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A district court judge in Maine last week approved a pending decision that commercial banks which protect accounts with little more than passwords and secret questions are in compliance with federal online banking security guidelines.

Sanford, Maine based Patco Construction sued Ocean Bank in 2009, alleging poor security after a $588,000 cyber heist. Patco sued to recover its losses, arguing in part that the bank failed to live up to the terms of its contract when it allowed customers to log in to accounts using little more than a user name and password. On May 27, a magistrate recommended that the court make Patco the loser by denying Patco’s motion for summary judgment and granting the bank’s motion.

On Thursday, the judge presiding over the lawsuit affirmed that recommended decision (PDF), ruling that no further proceedings were necessary. Patco’s attorney Dan Mitchell said the company has 30 days to file an appeal, but that it hasn’t yet decided whether to challenge the decision. Continue reading →

Is That a Virus in Your Shopping Cart?

August 5, 2011
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Six million Web pages have been booby-trapped with malware, using security vulnerabilities in software that hundreds of thousands of e-commerce Web sites use to process credit and debit card transactions.

Web security firm Armorize said it has detected more than six million Web pages that were seeded with attack kits designed to exploit Web browser vulnerabilities and plant malicious software. The company said the hacked sites appear to be running outdated and insecure versions of osCommerce, an e-commerce shopping cart program that is popular with online stores.

Armorize said the compromised pages hammer a visitor’s browser with exploits that target at least five Web browser plug-in vulnerabilities, including two flaws in Java, a pair of Windows bugs, and a security weakness in Adobe‘s PDF Reader. Patches are available for all of the targeted browser vulnerabilities.

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Huge Decline in Fake AV Following Credit Card Processing Shakeup

August 4, 2011
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On Wednesday I wrote that many of the top fake antivirus distribution programs had ceased operations, citing difficulty in processing credit card transactions from victims. Others are starting to see the result of this shakeup: Security firm McAfee says it has witnessed a dramatic drop in the number of customers reporting scareware detections in recent weeks.

Image courtesy McAfee

McAfee has tracked more than a 60 percent decrease in the number of customers dealing with fake AV since late May. “From McAfee’s vantage point, we are seeing a significant decline in detections reported from customers as well as the discovery of new FakeAV variants,” said Craig Schmugar, a security threat researcher for McAfee.

These extortion scams persist because criminal hackers get paid between $25-35 each time a victim relents and provides a credit card number. If fake AV distributors can’t get paid for spreading the scam software, they’ll find some other way to make money.

Fake AV bombards victim PCs with misleading alerts about security threats and hijacks the machine until the user pays for bogus security software or figures out how to remove it. For better or worse, it is likely that the dearth of credit card processors serving the fake AV industry has eliminated the first option for many people dealing with infections.

Fake Antivirus Industry Down, But Not Out

August 3, 2011
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Many fake antivirus businesses that paid hackers to foist junk security software on PC users have closed up shop in recent weeks. The wave of closures comes amid heightened scrutiny by the industry from security experts and a host of international law enforcement officials. But it’s probably too soon to break out the bubbly: The inordinate profits that drive fake AV peddlers guarantee the market will soon rebound.

During the past few weeks, some top fake AV promotion programs either disappeared or complained of difficulty in processing credit card transactions for would-be scareware victims: Fake AV brands such as Gagarincash, Gizmo, Nailcash, Best AV, Blacksoftware and Sevantivir.com either ceased operating or alerted affiliates that they may not be paid for current and future installations.

A notice to BestAV affiliates

On July 2, BestAV, one of the larger fake AV distribution networks, told affiliates that unforeseen circumstances had conspired to ruin the moneymaking program for everyone.

“Dear advertisers: Last week was quite complicated. Well-known force majeure circumstances have led to significant sums of money hanging in the banks, or in processing, making it impossible to pay advertisers on time and in full.”

The disruption appears to be partially due to an international law enforcement push against the fake AV industry. In one recent operation, authorities seized computers and servers in the United States and seven other countries in an ongoing investigation of a hacking gang that stole $72 million by tricking people into buying fake AV.

There may be another reason for the disruption: On June 23, Russian police arrested Pavel Vrublevsky, the co-founder of Russian online payment giant ChronoPay and a major player in the fake AV market.

Black Market Breakdown

ChronoPay employees wait outside as Moscow police search the premises.

Vrublevsky was arrested for allegedly hiring a hacker to launch denial of service attacks against ChronoPay’s rivals in the payments processing business. His role as a pioneer in the fake AV industry has been well-documented on this blog and elsewhere.

In May, I wrote about evidence showing that ChronoPay employees were involved in pushing MacDefender — fake AV software targeting Mac users. ChronoPay later issued a statement denying it had any involvement in the MacDefender scourge.

But last week, Russian cops who raided ChronoPay’s offices in Moscow found otherwise. According to a source who was involved in the raid, police found mountains of evidence that ChronoPay employees were running technical and customer support for a variety of fake AV programs, including MacDefender. The photograph below was taken by police on the scene who discovered Website support credentials and the call records of 1-800 numbers used to operate the support centers.

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New Tool Keeps Censors in the Dark

August 2, 2011
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A new approach to overcoming state-level Internet censorship relies, ironically enough, on a technique that security experts have frequently associated with government surveillance.

Current anti-censorship technologies, including the services Tor and Dynaweb, direct connections to restricted websites through a network of encrypted proxy servers, with the aim of hiding who’s visiting such sites from censors. But the censors are constantly searching for and blocking these proxies. A new scheme, called Telex, makes it harder for censors to block communications by disguising traffic destined for restricted sites as traffic meant for popular, uncensored websites. It does this by employing the same method of analyzing packets of data that censors often use.

“To route around state-level Internet censorship, people have relied on proxy servers outside of the country doing the censorship,” says J. Alex Halderman, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan. “The difficulty there is, you have to communicate to those people where the proxies are, and it’s very hard to do that without also letting the government censors figure out where the proxies are.”

The Telex system has two major components: “stations” at dozens of Internet service providers (ISPs)—the stations connect traffic from inside nations that censor to the rest of the Internet—and the Telex client software program that runs on the computers of people who want to avoid censorship.

This is an excerpt from a piece I wrote that was published today in MIT Technology Review. Read the full story here.

Digital Hit Men for Hire

August 1, 2011
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Cyber attacks designed to knock Web sites off line happen every day, yet shopping for a virtual hit man to launch one of these assaults has traditionally been a dicey affair. That’s starting to change: Hackers are openly competing to offer services that can take out a rival online business or to settle a score.

An ad for a DDoS attack service.

There are dozens of underground forums where members advertise their ability to execute debilitating “distributed denial-of-service” or DDoS attacks for a price. DDoS attack services tend to charge the same prices, and the average rate for taking a Web site offline is surprisingly affordable: about $5 to $10 per hour; $40 to $50 per day; $350-$400 a week; and upwards of $1,200 per month.

Of course, it pays to read the fine print before you enter into any contract. Most DDoS services charge varying rates depending on the complexity of the target’s infrastructure, and how much lead time the attack service is given to size up the mark. Still, buying in bulk always helps: One service advertised on several fraud forums offered discounts for regular and wholesale customers.

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Trojan Tricks Victims Into Transferring Funds

July 28, 2011
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It’s horrifying enough when a computer crook breaks into your PC, steals your passwords and empties your bank account. Now, a new malware variant uses a devilish scheme to trick people into voluntarily transferring money from their accounts to a cyber thief’s account.

The German Federal Criminal Police (the “Bundeskriminalamt” or BKA for short) recently warned consumers about a new Windows malware strain that waits until the victim logs in to his bank account. The malware then presents the customer with a message stating that a credit has been made to his account by mistake, and that the account has been frozen until the errant payment is transferred back.

When the unwitting user views his account balance, the malware modifies the amounts displayed in his browser; it appears that he has recently received a large transfer into his account. The victim is told to immediately make a transfer to return the funds and unlock his account. The malicious software presents an already filled-in online transfer form — with the account and routing numbers for a bank account the attacker controls.

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Spam & Fake AV: Like Ham & Eggs

July 26, 2011
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An explosion of online fraud tools and services online makes it easier than ever for novices to get started in computer crime. At the same time, a growing body of evidence suggests that much of the world’s cybercrime activity may be the work of a core group of miscreants who’ve been at it for many years.

I recently highlighted the financial links among the organizations responsible for promoting fake antivirus products and spam-advertised pharmacies; all were relying on a few banks in Azerbaijan to process credit card payments.

In this segment, I’ll look at the personnel overlap between the fake AV and pharma industries. The data is drawn from two places: a study done by researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) that examined three of the most popular fake AV affiliate services which pay hackers to foist worthless software on clueless Internet users; and the leaked Glavmed/Spamit affiliate database, which includes the financial and contact information for many of the world’s top spammers and hackers.

UCSB researcher Brett Stone-Gross and I compared the ICQ instant message numbers belonging to affiliates from Glavmed/Spamit with the ICQ numbers used by affiliates of the largest of the fake AV programs measured by his research team. The result? 417 out of 998 affiliates who were registered with the fake AV distribution service — a whopping 42.2 percent — also were registered pharma spammers with Glavmed/Spamit.

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