Entries Tagged "operating systems"
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New Trojan Mimics Windows Activation Interface
What they are calling Trojan.Kardphisher doesn’t do most of the technical things that Trojan horses usually do; it’s a pure social engineering attack, aimed at stealing credit card information. In a sense, it’s a standalone phishing program.
Once you reboot your PC after running the program, the program asks you to activate your copy of Windows and, while it assures you that you will not be charged, it asks for credit card information. If you don’t enter the credit card information it shuts down the PC. The Trojan also disables Task Manager, making it more difficult to shut down..
Running on the first reboot is clever. It inherently makes the process look more like it’s coming from Windows itself, and it removes the temporal connection to running the Trojan horse. The program even runs on versions of Windows prior to XP, which did not require activation.
More info here.
Google Ad Hack
…the bad guys behind the attack appeared to capitalize on an odd feature of Google’s sponsored links. Normally, when a viewer hovers over a hyperlink, the name of the site that the computer user is about to access appears in the bottom left corner of the browser window. But hovering over Google’s sponsored links shows nothing in that area. That blank space potentially gives bad guys another way to hide where visitors will be taken first.
Commentary on Vista Security and the Microsoft Monopoly
This is right:
As Dan Geer has been saying for years, Microsoft has a bit of a problem. Either it stonewalls and pretends there is no security problem, which is what Vista does, by taking over your computer to force patches (and DRM) down its throat. Or you actually change the basic design and produce a secure operating system, which risks people wondering why they’re sticking with Windows and Microsoft, then? It turns out the former course may also result in the latter result:
If you fit Microsoft’s somewhat convoluted definition of poor, it still wants to lock you in, you might get rich enough to afford the full-priced stuff someday. It is at a dangerous crossroads, if its software bumps up the price of a computer by 100 per cent, people might look to alternatives.
That means no MeII DRM infection lock in, no mass migration to the newer Office obfuscated and patented file formats, and worse yet, people might utter the W word. Yes, you guessed it, ‘why’. People might ask why they are sticking with the MS lock in, and at that point, it is in deep trouble.
Monopolies eventually overreach themselves and die. Maybe it’s finally Microsoft’s time to die. That would decrease the risk to the rest of us.
VBootkit Bypasses Vista's Code Signing Mechanisms
Interesting work:
Experts say that the fundamental problem that this highlights is that every stage in Vista’s booting process works on blind faith that everything prior to it ran cleanly. The boot kit is therefore able to copy itself into the memory image even before Vista has booted and capture interrupt 13, which operating systems use for read access to sectors of hard drives, among other things.
This is not theoretical; VBootkit is actual code that demonstrates this.
2006 Operating System Vulnerability Study
Closing
While there are an enormous variety of operating systems to choose from, only four “core” lineages exist in the mainstream—Windows, OS X, Linux and UNIX. Each system carries its own baggage of vulnerabilities ranging from local exploits and user introduced weaknesses to remotely available attack vectors.
As far as “straight-out-of-box” conditions go, both Microsoft’s Windows and Apple’s OS X are ripe with remotely accessible vulnerabilities. Even before enabling the servers, Windows based machines contain numerous exploitable holes allowing attackers to not only access the system but also execute arbitrary code. Both OS X and Windows were susceptible to additional vulnerabilities after enabling the built-in services. Once patched, however, both companies support a product that is secure, at least from the outside. The UNIX and Linux variants present a much more robust exterior to the outside. Even when the pre-configured server binaries are enabled, each system generally maintained its integrity against remote attacks. Compared with the Microsoft and Apple products, however, UNIX and Linux systems tend to have a higher learning curve for acceptance as desktop platforms.
When it comes to business, most systems have the benefit of trained administrators and IT departments to properly patch and configure the operating systems and their corresponding services. Things are different with home computers. The esoteric nature of the UNIX and Linux systems tend to result in home users with an increased understanding of security concerns. An already “hardened” operating system therefore has the benefit of a knowledgeable user base. The more consumer oriented operating systems made by Microsoft and Apple are each hardened in their own right. As soon as users begin to arbitrarily enable remote services or fiddle with the default configurations, the systems quickly become open to intrusion. Without a diligence for applying the appropriate patches or enabling automatic updates, owners of Windows and OS X systems are the most susceptible to quick and thorough remote violations by hackers.
Vista Activation Cracked by Brute Force
Interesting, assuming it’s true.
Windows for Warships
No, really:
The Type 45 destroyers now being launched will run Windows for Warships: and that’s not all. The attack submarine Torbay has been retrofitted with Microsoft-based command systems, and as time goes by the rest of the British submarine fleet will get the same treatment, including the Vanguard class (V class). The V boats carry the UK’s nuclear weapons and are armed with Trident ICBMs, tipped with multiple H-bomb warheads.
And here’s a related story about a software bug in the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter. It seems that the computer systems had problems flying West across the International Date Line. No word as to what operating system the computers were running.
EDITED TO ADD (2/27): Here’s a related article from 1998, involving Windows NT and the USS Yorktown.
UAC Security Hole in Vista
This is a good summary of the problem. If you want more details, look here.
What’s interesting is that Microsoft is positioning this as a trade-off between security and ease-of-use. That’s correct, of course, but it seems that someone made a bad decision in this regard.
Interview with Me for LinuxWorld
Earlier today I spoke at the Linux World Open Solutions Summit. This was a verbal interview that LinuxWorld did for me in advance of my talk, transcribed.
Sidebar photo of Bruce Schneier by Joe MacInnis.