A security advisory has been published too: MFSA 2010-73 Heap buffer overflow mixing document.write and DOM insertion Firefox 3.6.12 and 3.5.15 security updates now available Thunderbird 3.1.6 and 3.0.10 security updates now available
Security researchers say they’ve been monitoring a Mac OS X version of the notorious Koobface worm, which uses advanced rootkit techniques to stealthily hijack infected machines. Although the Mac version isn’t yet ready for prime time, it is nonetheless a sophisticated piece of software that developers put a fair amount of effort into implementing. It was designed to use Oracle’s Java framework to infect not just Macs, but Linux and Windows machines as well, according to Mac antivirus provider Intego. Once installed, the malware gives attackers complete control over the computer. “While this is an especially malicious piece of malware, … Continue reading Notorious Koobface worm ported to Mac OS X
Credit card fraudsters may have pocketed as much as $500,000 over the past month by pursuing a new type of attack that exploits a major blind spot in payment processors’ defenses, an analyst said. The "flash attacks" recruit hundreds of money mules who go to ATMs throughout the US and almost simultaneously withdraw relatively small sums of money from a single compromised account, according to Avivah Litan, vice president at market research firm Gartner, who follows the credit card industry. They then move on to a new account. At the end of the month, the heists can fetch as much … Continue reading Credit card ‘flash attack’ steals up to $500,000 a month
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has closed an investigation into Google Street View cars snooping into open Wi-Fi networks, with the agency declining to take action. Google’s announcement in May that its Street View cars mistakenly collected data from open Wi-Fi networks raised FTC concerns "about the internal policies and procedures that gave rise to this data collection," wrote David Vladeck, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a Wednesday letter to Google. However, Google has announced improvements to its internal processes, added privacy training for key employees, and has begun a privacy review process for new initiatives, … Continue reading FTC closes investigation into Google’s Wi-Fi snooping
A VPN encrypts all traffic between a computer — a laptop at the airport gate, for instance — and the Internet in general, including the sites vulnerable to Firesheep hijacking. "It’s as good a solution as there is," Wisniewski said, "and no different, really, than using encrypted Wi-Fi." One provider, Strong VPN, prices its service starting at $7 per month or $55 per year. Gallagher, however, warned that a VPN isn’t a total solution. "That’s just pushing the problem to that VPN or SSH endpoint," he said. "Your traffic will then leave that server just as it would when it … Continue reading How to protect against Firesheep attacks
Days after researchers at the ToorCon Security Conference in San Diego released a tool to hijack insecure Web sessions on Facebook, iGoogle and Flickr, a developer has released a similar tool, dubbed "Idiocy" that does the same for insecure Twitter sessions. There’s a twist, though. Rather than just monitor the unsecured Web sessions, the new tool allows the attacker to post a warning message using the Twitter account of the unsuspecting user (can we call them "Twidiots"?) The software is the creation of Jonty Wareing, a 26 year old software developer for Last.fm in London, UK. Wareing, who created idiocy … Continue reading New FireSheep-Style Tool Hijacks Twitter Sessions
A Google malware researcher gave a rare peek inside the company’s massive anti-malware and anti-phishing efforts at the SecTor conference here, and the data that the company has gathered shows that the attackers who make it their business to infect sites and exploit users are adapting their tactics very quickly and creatively to combat the efforts of Google and others. While Google is still a relative newcomer to the public security scene, the company has deployed a number of services and technologies recently that are designed to identify phishing sites as well as sites serving malware and prevent users from … Continue reading Inside Google’s Anti-Malware Operation
From Krebs on Security: I just heard back from Norman ASA malware analyst Snorre Fagerland via e-mail, and he has provided a bit more technical analysis of what’s going on with this Firefox flaw and with the exploit they discovered. Fagerland says the vulnerability is related to a "use-after-free condition" in certain objects, exploited through Javascript. "Shellcode and a large heapspray is involved," Fagerland wrote. "The script that does this checks for the following versions: firefox/3.6.8 firefox/3.6.9 firefox/3.6.10 firefox/3.6.11 …and it checks that it is NOT running Vista or Win7 (Windows versions 6.0 and 6.1), pretty much limiting the attack … Continue reading Firefox 0-day targets Firefox in XP system
Fast-spreading attack spreads like a worm, stings like a Trojan, RSA researchers say It isn’t particularly new, and it’s not as funny as it sounds. But the Qakbot Trojan recently has been causing plenty of ripples in the IT security pond, researchers say. In a blog posted yesterday, researchers at RSA Security offered a closer look at Qakbot and how its unusual behavior is causing a flock of troubles on the Web. Qakbot is different in that it almost exclusively targets U.S. financial institutions, the researchers say. It also is the first Trojan seen to be exclusively targeting business/corporate accounts … Continue reading Emerging Qakbot Exploit Is Ruffling Some Feathers
The end of Lime Wire as it has existed for years appears to be at hand. U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood issued an injunction today against the company that operates the long popular file-sharing software LimeWire and orders managers there to disable "the searching, downloading, uploading, file trading…and/or all functionality" of the LimeWire software, Lime Wire announced. In May, Wood, who serves the Southern District of New York, granted summary judgment in favor of the music industry’s claims that Lime Group, parent of LimeWire software maker Lime Wire, and founder Mark Gorton committed copyright infringement, engaged in unfair competition, and … Continue reading Judge slaps Lime Wire with permanent injunction
