Tag: Security

It seems like a new attack vector emerges on a weekly basis, and this week is no exception.  The latest threat:  Emails containing specialized audio files whose acoustic vibrations can damage your computer’s hard drive. This is possibly damaging to the point of causing system failure, data corruption, and making it impossible to successfully reboot your machine.

As the researchers point out, “Intentional acoustic interference causes unusual errors in the mechanics of magnetic hard disk drives in desktop and laptop computers, leading to damage to integrity and availability in both hardware and software such as file system corruption and operating system reboots.  An adversary without any special-purpose equipment can co-opt built-in speakers or nearby emitters to cause persistent errors.”

It should be noted that as scary as this type of attack sounds, in practice, it is of limited value.  An increasing percentage of laptops and desktop PCs sold today come with SSDs for storage, which are not vulnerable to this type of attack.

In addition to that, not just “any” sound will do.  For the attack to be successful, the acoustic vibrations have to be strong enough to do real harm, and quiet enough that the attack is difficult to detect, lest it be aborted immediately.  The combination of those two factors make it unlikely that this one will gain widespread attention from the hacking community.  Nonetheless, it pays to be both mindful and vigilant, especially if you have an older PC or work in an office with older equipment.

The research team who discovered the new attack vector have created a new sensor fusion model that could be delivered through a firmware update.  Once updated, it would prevent unnecessary head parking in the hard drive, thus limiting the potential damage the attack could cause.  So far, there has been no word that PC manufacturers are considering making the necessary changes to their firmware.  Time will tell.

Beware of compromised routers spreading malware.  This is according to both Kaspersky Labs and a recently released government report.

Using hacked routers to spread malware is nothing new.  Security insiders have known about it for years. However, since 2008, the number of instances where routers are being used to push malicious code has been steadily increasing. Researchers are observing marked increases in their use by APTs (Advanced Persistent Threat) around the world.

APTs are nothing new either, although their ranks have been growing in recent years.  Many are state-sponsored hacking groups with virtually unlimited resources. Some are simply tight-knit groups of hackers banding together under a single banner.

Many people view hackers as lone wolves and that there are millions of lone wolves hacking networks across the globe.  Increasingly though, these are becoming minor actors on the world stage.  The real threat is now well-organized groups of hackers who can execute highly coordinated globe-spanning attacks and create botnets comprised of tens, or even hundreds of thousands, of compromised computers.

In addition to identifying and calling attention to a little-known attack vector, the recent announcement underscores an important weakness in current cybersecurity thinking.  Most people are still laboring under the faulty assumption that they’re facing individual hackers operating out of a dark room in someone’s basement.

While those types of threats are no doubt present, it’s false to assume that’s where the biggest danger lies.  If you get hacked, it’s just as likely (perhaps even more likely) that you’re actually facing a well-organized group who may have more resources at their disposal than your entire IT department.  While you’re preparing to fight a skirmish, the barbarians are coming to your gates with an army.  Most people are simply planning to fight the wrong type of battle, and that could prove to be a devastating mistake.

Score one for the good guys.  A researcher from BrilliantIT was recently able to figure out how infected computers would connect to EITest’s command and control server, and using that information, was able to bring down their entire network.

If you haven’t heard of EITest before, the true significance of that statement might not be registering.

EITest first appeared in 2011.  In its original incarnation, it was little more than an annoyance.  It was a collection of compromised servers used to direct web traffic to poisoned websites, where the owners could infect unsuspecting users with their homegrown malware.

In 2013, EITest’s owners got savvy, relentlessly grew their network to more than 52,000 compromised machines and started renting their network out to hackers around the world to drive traffic to their poisoned websites. This unleashed a torrent of wildly destructive malware.  Ever since, it’s been a thorn in the side of IT professionals everywhere.

Using the crack discovered by BrilliantIT, researchers were able to redirect all traffic to a sinkhole, effectively shutting the network down altogether.

Since then, it appears that the hackers have made one halfhearted attempt to regain control of their network, and then apparently gave up on the idea.

While this is undeniably good news, EITest isn’t the only traffic distribution network on the Dark Web, and even if the hackers have given up on the idea of recovering access to their old network, there’s nothing stopping them from building a whole new one.  That’s not to undercut the significance of the victory here, but rather, merely to point out that it’s a temporary win and reprieve, at best.  They’ll be back.  They always come back.

Good news is rare on the security front, and when it is found, we should all take a moment to celebrate.  Kudos to the team at BrilliantIT!