TechBlog

Backdoor Uses Evernote as Command-and-Control Server

Published: March 29, 2013 Reading time: 1 min

With its rich functionality and accessibility, Evernote is a popular note-taking tool for its many users. Unfortunately, it may also provide the perfect cover for cybercriminals’ tracks. We recently uncovered a malware that appears to be using Evernote as a communication and control (C&C) server. The malware attempts to connect to Evernote via https://evernote.com/intl/zh-cn, which is a legitimate URL. The sample we gathered consists of an executable file, which drops a .DLL file and injects it into a legitimate process. The said .DLL file performs the actual backdoor routines. ...

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Turkish FlashPlayer? no! It’s malware

Published: March 28, 2013 Reading time: 1 min

I recently came across the file “FlashPlayer.exe” during the course of regular research. The file had been distributed with the file name FlashPlayer.exe and not surprisingly, when executed, it shows the following GUI, partly written in Turkish: Obviously, it’s disguised as an Adobe Flash Player 11 installer. Here is more info about the file: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 File Name: FlashPlayer.exe MD5: e2856b1ad6c74c51767cab05bdedc5d1 SHA1: 1ac150ddb964722b6b7c96808763b3e4d0472daf CRC32: a8464606 SHA-256: b5f37cc44365a5a1b240e649ea07bbb17959ceddc3f8b67a793df694a6f03a88 SHA-512: e2d1388bd5feec51227cfa10a5606f7d3bc58f12ea95d688acb5178ff31a156a1092f739e7dd276f4c5368d89c33ed6a15b08ff5df294b9c3647905c1083921d SHA-384: 5d622afcf87e33334a446df5dfd2be7769cab596cc9a121bfd6269bc85ee980f75e1a2d1472f0eb379788845230d883b File Size: 561,152 Version: 2.01 Source: hxxps://flash-player-download.com/FlashPlayer.exe VirusTotal: Latest Report ...

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IRS uncorks Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2013

Published: March 26, 2013 Reading time: 7 min

The Internal Revenue Service today reminded taxpayers that there are plenty of scam artists and cybercriminals that want your money. The tax collection agency issued its “Dirty Dozen” list of tax scams that it says peak at this time of year and include: Identity theft Tax fraud through the use of identity theft tops this year’s Dirty Dozen list. Identity theft occurs when someone uses personal information such as your name, Social Security number (SSN) or other identifying information, without your permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. In many cases, an identity thief uses a legitimate taxpayer’s identity to fraudulently file a tax return and claim a refund, the IRS said. ...

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Anonymous-linked groups hack Israeli websites, release personal data

Published: March 25, 2013 Reading time: 3 min

An anti-Israel hacking collective affiliated with Anonymous says it has initiated a widespread cyber attack against the Jewish state, penetrating websites affiliated with the Mossad security service and a slew of related entities. The hackers claimed late Friday that they have obtained and released personal information relating to 35,000 Israeli government officials, including politicians, military leaders, and police officers, according to a Twitter feed associated with the hackers. A comprehensive spreadsheet purporting to include the information of all 35,000 Israeli officials was published by the website Cryptome, though it did not independently verify the information. ...

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Emma Stone’s twitter hacked

Published: March 25, 2013 Reading time: 1 min

3/22/2013: Emma Stone revealed that she was not behind the ambiguous tweets concerning boyfriend Andrew Garfield and co-star Shailene Woodley that sparked cheating rumors. Speculation surrounded Stone’s mysterious “tweet and delete” spree over the past few months. Emma addressed the rumors on an On Air with Ryan Seacrest radio interview. One tweet in particular on her Twitter appeared to be an anagram that solved to read, “Andrew and Shailene sitting in a tree.” ...

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Apple adds two-step verification option for Apple IDs

Published: March 23, 2013 Reading time: 3 min

A new security option gives Apple’s customers a way to secure their Apple ID password using their phone. Cross-posted from Cnet: Apple today added an extra layer of security to its Apple ID system that can harden the password people use to log in to various Apple services. Users with an Apple ID can now sign up for two-step verification of their password, a system that sends a four-digit passcode by text message to a user’s phone, and must be used on top of a regular password. In practice, this could keep an account from being compromised by an attacker, unless that person had access to the mobile device too. ...

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Evernote is suspect of a hack, change your password

Published: March 2, 2013 Reading time: 2 min

Cross-posted from Evernote blog: Evernote’s Operations & Security team has discovered and blocked suspicious activity on the Evernote network that appears to have been a coordinated attempt to access secure areas of the Evernote Service. As a precaution to protect your data, we have decided to implement a password reset. Please read below for details and instructions. In our security investigation, we have found no evidence that any of the content you store in Evernote was accessed, changed or lost. We also have no evidence that any payment information for Evernote Premium or Evernote Business customers was accessed. ...

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Stuxnet Missing Link Found, Resolves Some Mysteries Around the Cyberweapon

Published: February 27, 2013 Reading time: 10 min

Cross-posted from WIRED. As Iran met in Kazakhstan this week with members of the UN Security Council to discuss its nuclear program, researchers announced that a new variant of the sophisticated cyberweapon known as Stuxnet had been found, which predates other known versions of the malicious code that were reportedly unleashed by the U.S. and Israel several years ago in an attempt to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program. The new variant was designed for a different kind of attack against centrifuges used in Iran’s uranium enrichment program than later versions that were released, according to Symantec, the U.S-based computer security firm that reverse-engineered Stuxnet in 2010 and also found the latest variant. ...

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Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 [Download Links]

Published: February 26, 2013 Reading time: 1 min

Internet Explorer 10 is available worldwide in 95 languages for download today. Read more in IE Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2013/02/26/ie10-for-windows-7-globally-available-for-consumers-and-businesses.aspx Download Links: x86: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36808 x64: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36806 Other (Non-English) Languages: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/downloads/ie-10/worldwide-languages

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Doc blocker : Oxford University blocked Google Docs

Published: February 19, 2013 Reading time: 2 min

For about two and a half hours on Monday, students at Oxford University couldn’t access Google Docs after the University’s Computing Services team decided to take “extreme action” to halt phishing attacks and also to put pressure on Google. Robin Stevens of OxCert explained in a blog post that, in the past, Google has been slow to respond to requests to help the university. The university’s problem is that phishers are frequently using Google Docs to present phishing forms to its users, with a legitimate domain shown to the user and not detectable by firewalls as Google traffic is over SSL. If phishing mail directing users to pages like this gets past the defenses, it is hard to detect and respond to. ...

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