Could the Internet of Things spark the Ransomware of Things? ESET’s Stephen Cobb examines how ransomware and jackware are evolving.
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Tag Archives: Cybersecurity
Top Cyber Risks of 2017
Last year is proof that stories about Kim Kardashian and Pikotaro’s PPAP song were not the only things able to break the internet, 2016 was a year full of news about data breaches, stolen sensitive information, hackers extortion and DDoS attacks that in some cases had a significant impact on the lives of many Americans. Phew, it’s all gone, and we are already in 2017!
Hopefully, reputable tech giants such as LinkedIn, Verizon, Google and Microsoft will be a bit more vigilant about keeping our sensitive information safe. Luckily there are anti-virus companies who have our backs even when tech companies’ security fail.
Having anti-virus software is similar to having a second layer of clothes in the winter. You like being prepared, don’t you?
After such a turbulent 2016, we’ve developed a little list of cyber threats to watch out for in 2017.
Cyber threats to watch out for in 2017
Connected devices
Currently, there are billions of connected devices all over the world – the revolution of self-driving cars is just about to kick in too. Drones, doorbells, kitchen appliances, thermostats and health gadgets – all sorts of new technology is now able to be monitored and controlled over the internet. The power of IoT gives us an unparalleled convenience, things we’ve never experienced before, but also poses a grave danger.
The potential threat is no longer about getting your fridge or printer hacked, but cracks in the system of such technology which if penetrated by criminals could cause significant security risks. No one would want a self-driving car or a drone hacked and operated by hackers.
This poses a great concern for our safety. We are expecting a wild 2017 for the consumers out there, as more attacks throughout the year are likely to follow. Currently, it is easier for cyber trouble-makers to create and control an IoT army of devices, than to develop new spyware. We hope to see the security features of IoT devices advance in 2017.
Sophisticated phishing attacks
It’s just the beginning of the New Year, and multiple sources have reported innovative and more sophisticated phishing attacks targeting Gmail accounts in the US. Sources say these phishing attacks can fool even experienced internet users. What is so different about these phishing attaches from the regular ones?
Not much, except for the fact that the design of the landing pages is getting better and better. Another difference worth mentioning is the URL bar. Anti-virus software companies have been preaching for years to always look at the URL bar and never input your login details in websites of whose URLs are not https or/and marked in red color.
In the new case of phishing attacks, the URL bar is in plain text, its’ not green nor red. Apparently, this tends to confuse people so be aware if you don’t want to be in the news as the next victim of a well-executed scam.
State-sponsored espionage
The New Year will surely bring us news of state-sponsored cyber espionage. Mainstream media still finds it hard to accept the legitimacy of the new president of the United States, and the means he used to make it to the chief commander of the free world role. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange argued that the emails which revealed information about Secretary Hillary Clinton were part of a leak, not a state-sponsored campaign designed to elect Donald Trump. We will most likely never know the full truth but what we are aware is that state sponsored cyber-attacks will become a norm in 2017.
Hacker extortion
Last year a California hospital paid $17,000 in Bitcoin to hackers, a well-known university in the US also became a victim of an attack where cyber criminals installed ransomware on the company’s systems and demanded payment to unlock it. In all known hacker extortion cases, the victim ended up paying up the criminals. The main problem is that not only companies are under threat, but individuals too. There have been reported cases of senior citizens who have been held up by cyber bullies, demanding payments so they can regain access to precious family imagery. Or celebrities ending up paying to stop sensitive photos from being released into the world. Having in mind that most of all known occurrences of cyber extortion have been successful, and the fact that governments tend to lose the battles against it, the occurrences of such incidents are very likely to continue into this year.
Digital fingerprinting, biometric security and health data protection
Digital fingerprinting is getting popular among consumer devices. We saw tens and probably hundreds of them at CES 2017. Currently, all major cell phone manufacturers have it as an option to unlock their phones. Now there are home locks, padlocks, deadbolts and USB sticks that could be unlocked/opened with a simple touch. Even some car manufacturers are integrating the technology into their new car models. Sadly, a Japanese researcher recently came out with a statement that your fingerprints could be stolen when posing for a photo doing the piece sign. Criminals are getting creative, what a surprise! Facial and iris recognition may soon become a norm too so protecting the databases that store this information will become a challenge.
What an amazing time to be alive, the predictions for 2017 are straight out of a sci-fi movie.
However, these issues are now real and protecting our data in all its forms is vital. The convenience the new technology is bringing us opens backdoors for criminals to take advantage. Luckily there are anti-virus specialists such as Panda Security, who make sure your data stays safe and provide you with that extra layer of security that we all need.
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Cloud-AI: Artificially Intelligent System Found 10 Security Bugs in LinkedIn
2017 is the year of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.), Big Data, Virtual Reality (VR) and Cyber Security with major companies like Google, Facebook, Apple, IBM and Salesforce and technology pioneers like SpaceX founder Elon Musk investing in these hot technologies.
Since everyone seems to be talking about the hottest trend — artificial intelligence and machine learning — broadly, 62 percent of
Panda Security to Participate in This Year’s RSA Conference
This February, from the 13th to the 17th, the XXII Edition of the RSA Conference, the largest event of cyber security in the world, will be held at the San Francisco Moscone Center. Major companies, suppliers and cybersecurity gurus will gather to find solutions to their business concerns and discuss industry trends — an incomparable venue in which Panda Security will be giving advice on cybersecurity strategies.
An extensive list of national and international experts will give an array of lectures and will be present as exhibitors during the five days of the event. Among the list of cybersecurity gurus you will find Luis Corrons, technical director of PandaLabs (@Luis_Corrons), who will share his thoughts with the attendees at the Panda Security booth (4542).
In keeping with this year’s theme, “The Power of Opportunity”, we will talk not only about malware and cybersecurity predictions for 2017, but also the benefits of a strategy that combines big data and machine learning in the security of your business — cutting-edge technology that constitutes a great leap forward in advanced cybersecurity solutions and will be presented over the course of the event.
Did you know that more than 250,000 new threats are detected in our laboratory every day? We will address how to anticipate potential threats with practical examples and real cases that seem like something out of science fiction. Advanced cybersecurity and prevention are, as always,
A powerful panel of experts bringing together more than 45,000 participants and a large number of exhibitions and activities await you at the RSA Conference 2017, an event in which innovation in cybersecurity is the center of attention.
PandaLabs, the Laboratory That Has the Answers to Your Questions
PandaLabs is Panda Security’s anti-malware lab and represents the company’s nerve center in terms of malware. Luis Corrons, its technical director, is one of the experts who will be representing the company at the Panda Security booth.
The countermeasures necessary to protect Panda Security’s customers on a global scale from all types of malicious code are produced in real time and uninterruptedly at the laboratory.
PandaLabs is also responsible for the detailed analysis of all types of malware, in order to improve the protection offered to Panda Security users.
Don’t miss your chance to consult with the experts! Join us and discover the latest technologies and pioneering developments in the industry.
More Information
When: February 13-17, 2017
Tickets: Check the price list here and get your discount by presenting the Panda Exhibition Pass: XE7PANDA (redemption deadline is Thursday, February 16th)
Where: Moscone Center, San Francisco.
Panda Security will be at booth number 4542 (look for us on the map!)
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Lloyds Banking Group hit with distributed denial of service attack
Lloyds Banking Group fell victim to an attempted cyberattack earlier this month, which saw cybercriminals attempt to crash the online banking service over a two day period.
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Apple issues security patches for … just about everything
If you have a piece of Apple technology in your house or office, chances are that it’s time you updated it.
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What You Need To Know About The iMessage Security Flaw
With everything that’s gone down in 2016 it’s easy to forget Tim Cook’s and Apple’s battle with the FBI over data encryption laws. Apple took a strong stance though, and other tech giants followed suite leading to a victory of sorts for (the little guy in) online privacy. In this era of web exposure, it was a step in the right direction for those who feel our online identities are increasingly vulnerable on the web.
All of this stands for little though when a security flaw in your operating system allows carefully encrypted messages to be effectively decrypted offline. That’s what happened to Apple with its iOS 9.2 operating system. Though the patches that ensued largely fixed the problem, the whole issue has understandably left iOS users with questions. What really happened and are we at immediate risk?
What Is The iMessage Security Flaw?
A paper released in March by researchers at John Hopkins University exposed weaknesses in Apple’s iMessage encryption protocol. It was found that a determined hacker could intercept the encrypted messages between two iPhones and reveal the 64-digit key used to decrypt the messages.
As iMessage doesn’t use a Message Authentication Code (MAC) or authenticated encryption scheme, it’s possible for the raw encryption stream, or “ciphertext” to be tampered with. iMessage instead, uses an ECDSA signature which simulates the functionality. It’s still no easy feat exploiting the security flaw detailed by the researchers. The attacker would ultimately have to predict or know parts of the message they are decrypting in order to substitute these parts in the ciphertext.
Using this method, a hacker can gradually figure out the contents of a message by replacing words. If they figure out, for example, that they have successfully replaced the word “house” in the message for “flat” they know the message contains the word “house”. Knowing whether the substitution has been successful though, is a whole other process which may only be possible with attachment messages.
It may sound simple, but it really isn’t. The full details of the security flaw, and the complex way it can be exploited are detailed in the John Hopkins paper.
The paper includes the recommendation that, in the long run, “Apple should replace the entirety of iMessage with a messaging system that has been properly designed and formally verified.”
Are iMessage Users At Immediate Risk?
Despite the recommendation, the answer is no. It is very unlikely. One thing that should be made clear is that these weaknesses were exposed as a result of months of investigation by an expert team of cryptologists. The type of hacker that would take advantage of these weaknesses would undeniably be a sophisticated attacker. That of course doesn’t mean that Apple shouldn’t take great measures to eradicate this vulnerability in their system.
Your messages, though, are not immediately at risk of being decrypted, and much less if you’ve installed the patches that came with iOS 9.3 and OS X 10.11.4 (though they don’t completely fix the problem). Tellingly, the flaws can’t be used to exploit numerous devices at the same time. As already mentioned, the process that was exposed by the John Hopskins paper is incredibly complex and relies on various steps that are by no means easy to complete successfully.
All of this means that it would take a very sophisticated attacker a complex and lengthy process (up to and beyond 70 hours) to decrypt one message. iMessage has a supported base of nearly one billion devices and handles more than 200,000 encrypted messages per second. We’ll let you do the math there but it seems highly unlikely that a hacker would try to exploit this weakness unless they’re trying to uncover very sensitive and important data.
A hacker would most likely carefully vet their target as someone who possesses valuable information that could then be contained within that person’s messages. If a hacker’s investing 70 hours of their time to uncover cat pics, the joke’s really on them.
Could this have any connection with the FBI encryption dispute?
Matthew D. Green, the well-known cryptographer and leader of the John Hopkins research team, has spoken with the Washington Post about the implications of his team’s research. “Even Apple, with all their skills -and they have terrific cryptographers- wasn’t able to quite get this right. So it scares me that we’re having this conversation about adding back doors to encryption when we can’t even get basic encryption right.”
So you’d probably need the resources of say, the FBI, to pull off an attack exploiting the vulnerability exposed in the John Hopkins paper. It seems very unlikely that individuals would be targeted en masse. 2016 has been such a surreal year though, who are we to say what is and isn’t possible?
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Forensic analysis techniques for digital imaging
ESET’s Miguel Ángel Mendoza looks at a range of forensic analysis techniques that are used to examine digital images.
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Five New Year’s Resolutions to Strengthen Your Company’s Security
Now that we’ve taken stock of the year we’re leaving behind, it’s time to establish some resolutions for the year that lies ahead. As in any other field, there’s always something to do when it comes to cybersecurity. The latest report from Accenture, “The State of Cybersecurity and Digital Trust 2016” revealed that 69% of businesses have suffered an attempted or realized data theft over the course of last year. Malware and DDoS attacks figure among the biggest concerns of executives surveyed by the consultancy.
Business managers now have 12 months ahead of them in which to improve security strategies and avoid these much-feared risks. We’d like to propose a few guidelines to improve the protection of corporate systems in 2017.
1. Get On Board the HTTPS Train
The majority of websites visited with Firefox and Chrome in 2016 were already using the HTTPS communication protocol. HTTPS guarantees a secure connection by identifying devices and encrypting data. Every day, the number of websites and applications that use this method increases. But there are still a few stragglers. For this reason, Apple is requiring app developers to incorporate this protocol and Google will publicly mark websites that don’t use it. If you haven’t yet, now’s the time to make the move over to HTTPS for your website, and make sure that the applications and websites visited at your company are using it as well.
2. Be Proactive and Know the Risks
The threat of cyberattacks is no longer limited to big corporations. Nowadays any small or mid-sized company is fair game. Criminals are using new and increasingly sophisticated tools and strategies. Better safe than sorry, as the cliché goes. One of the first orders of business is to get a threat detection and prevention program, regularly conduct a system analysis in search of anomalies, and keep your IT team constantly up to date on the latest developments in the field.
3. Invest in Cybersecurity
The Accenture report points out that corporate budgets for cybersecurity are not enough, according to surveys conducted with employers. Investments in this area have to do with more than just security contractors. Worker training programs in IT security or the purchasing of specialized software also require funding.
4. Keep an Eye on Authentication
2016 was not Yahoo’s year. The company had to admit to the breach of 500 million users’ accounts. This attack, the most notorious one in recent months, has set off many alarms. Crucially, it raises the concern about password security in and out of corporate networks. It’s important to create complex passwords, use systems that require more than one login, and adopt multi-step authentication methods. The road to achieving this goes by way of building awareness in your workforce.
5. Come Up With a Contingency Plan
In case a threat makes it past your prevention measures, it’s always good to have a contingency plan in place. This should be a very thorough and well-designed plan that takes into account every possibility. Everything from DDoS attacks and ransomware to the disappearance of a company laptop. This document would establish response protocols to grapple with data breaches and other incidents, distribute damage control responsibilities to the team, and designate measures to be taken, among other things.
These are just a few possible suggestions. The list could go on and on, depending on each individual company’s weak points. A thorough revision of the security flaws that came to light in 2016 will be highly useful for making next year better, and, of course, protecting your IT infrastructure and never letting your guard down.
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How to share your internet mobile connection safely
Are you aware of the dangers of sharing your internet mobile connection?
Most smartphones have a built-in function that allows you to share the mobile internet connection with other people nearby. Acting very much like a traditional WiFi hotspot, mobile internet connection sharing turns your phone into a hub – authorised devices can then connect to your phone and share the data connection.
This “mobile hotspot” feature is particularly useful when your friends cannot get a reliable connection to their mobile network. Or when you need to get online with your laptop really quickly while “out and about”.
But just as you (should) secure your home network to prevent abuse and deter hackers, you need to take a few extra steps to keep yourself safe. If someone does manage to hack your mobile hotspot they may be able to steal the data stored on your phone – or run up a large phone bill simply by using up your data allowance.
Here are our top tips for boosting your security.
1. Use a ‘secure’ passphrase
When someone tries to connect to your mobile hotspot, they will be prompted to enter a password – which is exactly the same procedure as connecting to any other secure WiFi network. This password needs to be “complex” to prevent hackers from guessing it.
Android and iOS both generate long, complicated passwords by default, but it is worth checking your own settings to confirm. You must resist the urge to replace the password with something simple though – if you make it too easy for your friends to get connected, you also make it easier for hackers to jump online.
The Apple iPhone mobile hotspot requires a password at least eight characters long, but you should consider choosing something even longer that uses a combination of upper and lower case letters, mixed with numbers and punctuation marks (like ! Or ?) to deter dictionary attacks from “guessing” the password. The same password tip applies to smartphones running Android.
2. Disable by default
You can toggle the mobile hotspot function on and off – so it’s only available when you actually need it. You should always ensure the hotspot is toggled off when not in use to reduce the risk of unauthorised connections.
A few extra taps on the screen to enable the hotspot may be annoying – but nowhere near as frustrating as an unexpectedly high phone bill run up by people abusing your mobile data connection.
3. Keep an eye on your screen
Both Android and iOS provide helpful on-screen indicators to show when your mobile hotspot is switched on, and how many devices are currently connected. You should keep an eye on that indicator – it will help you spot when someone is connecting without your permission.
If you do detect an unauthorised connection, turn the hotspot off, and change the password immediately. This will help to prevent your connection being hijacked again.
Using these three tips, you can greatly reduce the risk of becoming another mobile fraud victim. For more help securing your mobile device, download a free trial of Panda Mobile Security.
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