Flame Hijacks Microsoft Update to Spread Malware Disguised As Legit Code
It’s a scenario security researchers have long worried about, a man-in-the-middle attack that allows someone to impersonate Microsoft Update to deliver malware – disguised as legitimate Microsoft code – to unsuspecting users. And that’s exactly what turns out to have occurred with the recent Flame cyberespionage tool that has been infecting machines primarily in the…
Meet ‘Flame’, The Massive Spy Malware Infiltrating Iranian Computers
A massive, highly sophisticated piece of malware has been newly found infecting systems in Iran and elsewhere and is believed to be part of a well-coordinated, ongoing, state-run cyberespionage operation. The malware, discovered by Russia-based anti-virus firm Kaspersky Lab, is an espionage toolkit that has been infecting targeted systems in Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Sudan, the…
Most Popular Surveillance Cameras Can Be Hacked
In a world where security cameras are nearly as ubiquitous as light fixtures, someone is always watching you. But the watcher might not always be who you think it is. Three of the most popular brands of closed-circuit surveillance cameras are sold with remote internet access enabled by default, and with weak password security –…
Homeland Security Discovers Vulnerabilities in Airport Body Scanners
Federal investigators “identified vulnerabilities in the screening process” at domestic airports using so-called “full body scanners,” according to a classified internal Department of Homeland Security report. DHS has spent nearly $90 million replacing traditional magnetometers with controversial X-ray body scanning machines that are intended to detect items that could be missed by a metal detector.…
Everyone Has Been Hacked. Now What?
The attackers chose their moment well. On Apr. 7, 2011, five days before Microsoft patched a critical zero-day vulnerability in Internet Explorer that had been publicly disclosed three months earlier on a security mailing list, unknown attackers launched a spear-phishing attack against workers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. The lab, which is…