A critical remote code execution vulnerability found in the GNU C Library (glibc) affects most Linux systems and many widely used products, including ones from VMware.
A critical remote code execution vulnerability found in the GNU C Library (glibc) affects most Linux systems and many widely used products, including ones from VMware.
A majority of Americans support the US government's efforts to force Apple to help unlock an iPhone in the probe of last year's deadly San Bernardino attacks, a poll showed Monday.
After raising $100 million in funding last year, Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Illumio has been on a mission to secure enterprise data using a dynamic approach that leverages context and relationship data to automatically program a security policy.
A pirated, fully functional third-party App Store client for iOS users in China slipped through Apple’s App Store review process and became listed in Apple’s official App Store, researchers at Palo Alto Networks discovered.
Called “开心日常英语 (Happy Daily English),” the application was approved for listing in the App Store where it was listed from Oct 30, 2015 through Feb 19, 2016, when Apple became aware of its functionality and removed it. Palo Alto’s Claud Xiao explains that the program did not display malicious functionality, but was classified as “riskware”.
The security researchers who discovered the pirated App Store client call it “ZergHelper” and say that enterprise-signed versions of the program were also found elsewhere in the wild. They say that the application managed to trick Apple’s app review process by displaying different behaviors for users, based on their geography.
For example, the tool works as an English studying application for users living outside China, while its actual features appear only when accessed from devices in China. ZergHelper went unnoticed for almost 4 months, but drew attention on Feb 19, when a user created a post on a Chinese developer forum to discuss it. Apple was informed of the issue the same day and removed the app on Feb 20.
The main functionality of ZergHelper is that it provides users with another App Store that allows them to download and install pirated and cracked iOS apps and games. Developed by a Chinese company, the program is the non-jailbroken and “official App Store” version of a product called “XY助手 (XY Helper).”
Once installed on an iOS device, the app is displayed under the name of XY Helper, and it automatically tries to connect to interface[.]xyzs.com. The connection fails for IPs outside China, where the app displays an English study interface and has no additional functionality available for users, but succeeds in the China, prompting users to install two configuration profiles.
All of the applications and games available for download via ZergHelper are free including pirated versions of popular legitimate apps. Users can provide their Apple ID and password, but also have the possibility of receiving an Apple ID for free, but the researchers weren’t able to determine where these Apple IDs came from.
Although not a malicious app by itself, ZergHelper poses several risks to users, mainly by allowing them to install modified versions of iOS apps whose security can’t be ensured. Moreover, the pirated storefront abuses enterprises certificate and personal certificates for the signing and distribution of apps, which may include code that hasn’t been reviewed.
At the same time, the program asks users to enter their Apple ID, shares some Apple IDs to users, and logs in to an Apple server using these IDs to perform many operations in background. Through dynamic code updates, the app’s author could extend its capabilities, which could further bypass iOS security restrictions, the researchers say.
To install apps on non-jailbroken devices, the risky app re-implements a small version of Apple’s iTunes client for Windows to login, purchase and download apps. By implementing some functionalities from Apple’s Xcode IDE, it can also generate free personal development certificates from Apple’s server to sign apps, thus abusing the developer program Apple introduced about eight months ago.
The novel techniques this third-party store uses are sensitive and risky and could be used by malware to attack the iOS ecosystem, especially since the tool can sign apps and devices. By using the programming language Lua, the app’s authors tried to make it more extensible, not to mention that the framework allows authors to update code without going through Apple’s review process.
Overall, researchers have identified over 50 ZergHelper apps signed by enterprise certificates, which spread through various channels. One thing that is uncertain at the moment is whether the app is capable of stealing account information and sending it back to the server, although the software did sent back some device information for statistic tracking.
Apple’s Xcode development tool has been targeted by cybercriminals before, and a rogue version of the IDE called XcodeGhost was spotted in September. It was capable of injecting malicious code into iOS and OS X applications. In November, the malicious tool was updated to target iOS 9, the latest major platform release for Apple’s mobile devices.
Full details on ZergHelper are available from Palo Alto Networks.
Here's another use for the smartphone as it invades daily life: in place of your debit card at your bank cash machine.
The "cardless" automatic teller machine (ATM) is gaining ground in the US and around the world, with smartphone technology allowing for speedier and more secure transactions.
Financially-motivated actors have tried to trick the employees of at least six Russian banks into installing a piece of malware, Symantec reported on Monday.
According to the security firm, the attackers have been using a Trojan dubbed Ratopak, which allows them to open a backdoor on the infected machine and steal data. The threat is capable of logging keystrokes, stealing clipboard data, downloading other malware, and allows hackers to view and control the victim’s screen.
Ratopak has been distributed via fake Central Bank employment emails in what Symantec calls a narrow, targeted attack aimed at the staff of Russian financial institutions. The attack took place in December, but a similar operation was also spotted in October, researchers said.
In an effort to increase their chances of success, cybercriminals registered a domain (cbr.com.ru) that is similar to the official domain used by Russia’s Central Bank (cbr.ru).
The fake emails contain a link to the attacker’s domain, which is set up to serve an archive file that stores a version of Ratopak signed with stolen certificates. Once it infects a computer, the malware checks for the presence of a virtual machine and ensures that the compromised device’s language is set to Russian or Ukrainian before conducting any malicious activity.
Researchers said many of the infected computers had been running accounting and document management software designed to allow users to securely exchange documents with government organizations for tax purposes.
One piece of software running on many of the infected devices is an accounting application from Russian company SBIS. The firm’s accounting program is referred to as “buh,” a word that means “accountant” in Russian. The attackers have been using URLs that contain this string in an effort to avoid raising suspicion.
“While there is no conclusive evidence of the attacker’s goal, the attacks appear to be financially motivated. The specificity of the targets−employees at certain banks using accounting software to send the government tax information−certainly points towards this goal,” Symantec researchers said in a blog post. “By using Ratopak, which can open a backdoor and log keystrokes, the attackers could position themselves to steal money, either by controlling the compromised computer or using the employees’ stolen login credentials. Any goal beyond that, including what the attackers may have wanted with government tax information, is currently unknown.”
Symantec is not the only security firm to spot attacks launched by this actor. In April 2015, ESET published a report on the activities of the same group, which it had been monitoring since late 2014.
The attacks observed by ESET, whose experts dubbed the malware “Buhtrap,” also targeted the accounting departments of Russian businesses. At the time, the cybercrooks delivered the malware using bogus emails that appeared to carry invoices and service contracts.
Cybercriminals target Russian banks
There are several major cybercrime rings in Russia that specialize in hacking banks. One of the most notorious groups, known as Carbanak and Anunak, reportedly stole $1 billion from 100 banks in Russia and other countries.
The activities of this group, which also targets accounting departments, were exposed by Kaspersky Lab and Fox-IT in February 2015. The cybercrooks took a five-month break after the security firms published their reports, but now they’re back in what Kaspersky calls Carbanak 2.0.
In February, at its 2016 Security Analyst Summit (SAS), Kaspersky Lab detailed the activities of two other groups that hit many Russian banks. One of them, known as Metel and Corkow, infected the targeted organizations’ corporate networks and altered systems so that they could withdraw large amounts of cash from ATMs without actually taking money from accounts.
Another cybercrime ring, dubbed GCMAN, hacked the systems of various banks in an effort to transfer money from the breached companies to various e-currency services. In one case, the attackers deployed a script designed to automatically send $200 to such services every minute.
The developers of the popular Linux Mint distribution have shut down the official website and forum after they were both breached by a hacker.
The US Justice Department on Friday sought a court order to force Apple to help unlock an iPhone as part of the probe into last year's San Bernardino attacks, escalating a legal showdown over encryption.