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Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, the co-founder of the notorious file-sharing website The Pirate Bay, has been released from a Sweden prison following three years behind bars for hacking and copyright offenses.
Yes, Svartholm Warg, also known as Anakata, is a free man again.
Svartholm was convicted on both Swedish copyright offences and Danish hacking conspiracy connected to The Pirate Bay.
The news comes just a few months after the third and last founder of Pirate Bay Fredrik Neij (also known as TiAMO) was released from a Swedish prison after serving his 10-month prison sentence.
Svartholm has not yet made any public statements following his release from a Swedish prison on Saturday. His release was reported by Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
However, the release was confirmed by Warg's mother Kristina Svartholm on Twitter.
"Yes, #anakata is free now. No more need to call for #freeanakata. Thank you everyone for your important support during these three years!"
Svartholm was arrested in his Cambodian apartment in September 2012, and extradited to Sweden in November 2013, where he served charges for copyright theft. In November 2013, he was finally extradited to Denmark to face charges in the CSC hacking cases.
Once the world's most popular file-sharing website, The Pirate Bay predominantly used to share copyrighted material, such as pirated software, video files and other stuff, free of charge.
Despite the criminal convictions and numerous takedowns in police raids, the Pirate Bay continues to operate, although it has moved to different Web domains several times.
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London (CNN)The mantra of politicians who want Britain to leave the European Union has always been "take back control." As Westminster prepares itself for a third consecutive night of Brexit drama, the question is now: Who is in control?It's certainly not Theresa May. On Wednesday, she suffered another humiliating defeat, with members of her own Cabinet refusing to support the government's position in a crucial vote on the issue of a no-deal Brexit.On Thursday, lawmakers will vote on whether to delay the UK's departure from the European Union beyond March 29. Many see that delay as an opportunity to push for a "soft" Brexit, with the UK maintaining strong links to the EU.Lawmakers will vote on a motion, put forward by the government, which suggests delaying Brexit for a short period -- until the end of June at the latest. Read MoreYet this is contentious for two reasons: First, many pro-Brexit lawmakers don't want any delay beyond the original date of March 29 and would rather Britain left without a deal. Second, Members of Parliament either sympathetic to a softer Brexit or to remaining in the EU are unhappy that the delay is conditional on the House of Commons voting for May's Brexit deal, which has already been rejected twice. This condition was not mentioned by the Prime Minster when she agreed to the possibility of a delay to Brexit two weeks ago -- and so her opponents are furious. Lawmakers will on Thursday try to strip out that condition and vote for a delay in any circumstances.Wednesday's vote, carried by 321 to 278, doesn't change the default legal position, which is that without deal, or unless the EU agrees to delay Brexit, Britain crashes out of the 28 state bloc in just over two weeks. Taste for rebellionMay is running out of options to seize back control of the Brexit process. In the House of Commons on Wednesday night, she made it clear that she would bring her twice-rejected deal back for a third time next week. But after two nights of voting against the government, Conservative MPs have acquired the taste for rebellion. Government discipline and party loyalties have broken down. The idea of a no-deal Brexit is clearly opposed by Parliament -- and while no deal remains the legal default scenario if a plan is not approved by the time the UK leaves, Wednesday's vote has given May's critics new impetus to try to get the Brexit plan they want. Crucially, many on all sides see the prospect of a three-month delay as an opportunity to change the course of Brexit completely. If Parliament is granted more time, it could finally reach a consensus on a softer Brexit.So, alongside the main motion Thursday evening, there will be a series of amendments which could point to a way out of the Brexit stalemate. These could include asking Brussels to consider renegotiating the current Brexit, given Parliament's reluctance to support it.EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier (R) told Members of the European Parliament on Wednesday that the ball was firmly in London's court. Pressure for renegotiationWhile EU chiefs have repeatedly ruled out reopening the withdrawal agreement, they may start to feel the pressure to do so.EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told Members of the European Parliament on Wednesday that the ball was firmly in London's court. "It is UK's responsibility to tell us what they want for our future relations. That is the question that needs to be posed to which we expect an answer. It will be a priority even before the question of an extension. Negotiations on Article 50 are finished," he said.To pave the way for renegotiation, lawmakers could hold a series of indicative votes -- which would not be legally binding but would show the EU what sort of deal would get the broadest support and make Brexit happen by consensus. These options could include keeping Britain in a form of customs union with the EU -- which supporters say would be better for the UK economy, currently faltering at the prospect of no deal -- or striking a new partnership between the UK and EU similar to that shared by Norway and Brussels. MPs could also vote on whether the country should hold a second referendum, although this plan is unlikely to pass in House of Commons.After months of the Prime Minister refusing to open up the Brexit process to MPs, and forcing them to either back her deal or face a no deal, suddenly Brexit is wide open and everything is in a state of flux. Ordinary lawmakers have seized control of Brexit from May. Not only does it look like Brexit will be delayed, but the UK could be heading for a soft Brexit.
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A security researcher could have stolen as much as $25 Billion from one of the India's biggest banks ‒ Thanks to the bank's vulnerable mobile application.
Late last year, security researcher Sathya Prakash discovered a number of critical vulnerabilities in the mobile banking application of an undisclosed bank that allowed him to steal money from any or all bank customers with the help of just a few lines of code.
Being a white hat hacker, Prakash immediately reached out to the bank and alerted it about the critical issues in its mobile app and helped the bank fix them, instead of taking advantage of the security holes to steal money from the bank that has about 25 Billion USD in Deposits.
While analyzing the mobile banking app, Prakash discovered that the app lacks Certificate Pinning, allowing any man-in-the-middle attacker to downgrade SSL connection and capture requests in plain text using fraudulently issued certificates.
Also Read: Best Password Manager — For Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, iOS and Enterprise
Besides this, Prakash also found that the mobile banking app had insecure login session architecture, allowing an attacker to perform critical actions on the behalf of targeted account holder without knowing the login password, like seeing victim's current account balance and deposits, as well as to add a new beneficiary and making illegal transfers.
"So invoking the fund transfer API call directly via CURL, bypassed the receiver/beneficiary account validation. I was able to transfer money to accounts that weren't on my beneficiary list," Prakash wrote in his blog post.
"It was a matter of 5 lines of code [exploit] to enumerate the bank's customer records (Current Account Balance, and Deposits)."
Stealing Money from Anyone Else's Account
If this wasn't enough, Prakash discovered that the app did not check to see if the given customer ID or Transaction Authorisation PIN (MTPIN) ‒ used for critical controls like transferring funds, creating a new fixed deposit ‒ actually belong to the sender's account.
This blunder in the mobile banking app could have allowed anyone with the app and an account in the bank to transfer money from someone else's account, reported by Motherboard.
"I tested [the hack] with a bunch of accounts belonging to my family. Few of those accounts don't even have net banking or mobile banking activated," Prakash added. "And it all worked like a charm."
However, instead of taking advantage of these bugs, Prakash responsibly emailed the bank on November 13, 2015, and within few days, bank's deputy general manager informed him that the security flaws had been fixed, without rewarding him with a bug bounty, that's unfair.
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(CNN)Eliud Kipchoge has been here before, but this time is different. On Saturday, the Kenyan distance runner will attempt to run the first ever marathon under two hours in the Austrian capital of Vienna, two years since he fell 25 seconds short. Now he is resolute that he will break what is considered one of the ultimate milestones in athletic performance. "I feel more prepared, I feel more ready and I am confident that I have been at that speed for the last two years," said Kipchoge, who holds the official marathon world record of 2:01:39. "It's not something where you are thinking, 'how are we going to do it?' I have tried it a first time, and this second time I will get it."Read MoreREAD: Eliud Kipchoge hoping to make history with sub-two-hour marathonKipchoge's first crack of going sub-two in Monza, Italy, was part of Nike's Breaking2 project. Now he's being backed by petrochemical company Ineos in an attempt called the 1:59 Challenge. Kipchoge (in red) attempts to go under two hours in Monza in May 2017. If successful, this won't count as a world record. In fact, Ineos hasn't even submitted a request to the IAAF for the attempt to be officially ratified. Kipchoge will follow behind a car -- a condition not allowed under IAAF sanctions -- and is being assisted by an army of 30 pacemakers. He will run a six-mile, tree-lined stretch 4.4 times in Vienna's Prater-Hauptallee (main avenue), chosen because of its flat gradient and the city's mild climate. READ: Eliud Kipchoge's sub-two-hour marathon quest 'contrived,' says leading sports scientistKipchoge, the reigning Olympic marathon champion, is aware that there are critics of the manufactured conditions surrounding the attempt."The law of nature cannot allow all human beings to think together," he said. "In breaking the two-hour barrier, I want to open minds to think that no human is limited. All our minds, all our thoughts are parallel. But I respect everybody's thoughts."He added that the 1:59 Challenge is different to competing in a race like the Berlin Marathon, where he set the current world record in 2018. "Berlin is running and breaking a world record," said Kipchoge. "Vienna is running and making history -- like the first man to go to the moon."JUST WATCHED2-hour marathon attempt falls just short (2017)ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCH2-hour marathon attempt falls just short (2017) 00:47The comparison to Neil Armstrong's moon landing -- one that Kipchoge has referenced a number of times in the buildup to Saturday's race -- has been probed: "Getting man to the moon involved overcoming gravity," leading sports scientist Ross Tucker told CNN in August. "What Kipchoge is doing is taking gravity out of the equation." Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, videos and featuresIt's a time when it's easy to be cynical about athletics. Leading coach Alberto Salazar has been handed a four-year suspension for doping violations, sprinter Christian Coleman has been criticized for missing drugs tests, and the recent world championships were played out in front rows of empty seats in Qatar. READ: Nike Oregon Project to shut downBut Kipchoge admits that his intentions are pure and simple. He wants to push boundaries and he wants to make people smile. "I am running to make history," he said. "I am running to tell people no human is limited. It's not about money. It's about running and making history and changing people's lives."I am calm and I'm really looking forward to Saturday."
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Security researchers have finally, with "high confidence," linked a previously discovered global cyber espionage campaign targeting critical infrastructure around the world to a North Korean APT hacking group.
Thanks to the new evidence collected by researchers after analyzing a command-and-control (C2) server involved in the espionage campaign and seized by law enforcement.
Dubbed Operation Sharpshooter, the cyber espionage campaign targeting government, defense, nuclear, energy, and financial organizations around the world was initially uncovered in December 2018 by security researchers at McAfee.
At that time, even after finding numerous technical links to the North Korean Lazarus hacking group, researchers were not able to immediately attribute the campaign due to a potential for false flags.
Researchers Analysed Sharpshooter's Command Server
Now, according to a press release shared with The Hacker News, a recent analysis of the seized code and command-and-control (C2) server allowed researchers to understand the inner working of the global cyber espionage campaign, concluding that the North Korean state-sponsored hacking group is behind Operation Sharpshooter.
Lazarus Group, also known as Hidden Cobra and Guardians of Peace, is believed to be backed by the North Korean government and had reportedly been associated with the 2017 global WannaCry ransomware attack, the 2016 SWIFT Banking hack, as well as the 2014 Sony Pictures hack.
The analysis also revealed that the global espionage campaign began as early as September 2017, a year earlier than previously thought and is still ongoing.
While previous attacks were primarily targeting telecommunications, government and financial sectors in the United States, Switzerland, and Israel, and other English-speaking countries, newly-discovered evidence suggests that Sharpshooter has expanded its focus to critical infrastructure, with the most recent attacks targeting Germany, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Operation Sharpshooter: Global Cyber-Espionage Campaign
The global espionage campaign spreads by sending malicious documents containing a weaponized macro to targets via Dropbox. Once opened and downloaded, the macro leverages embedded shellcode to inject the Sharpshooter downloader into the memory of Microsoft Word.
For further exploitation, this in-memory implant then covertly downloads the second-stage Rising Sun malware, which uses source code from the Lazarus Group's backdoor Trojan Duuzer, malware first circulated in 2015 targeting organizations in South Korea.
The Rising Sun malware then performs reconnaissance on the victim's network by gathering and encrypting data, including victim devices' computer name, IP address data, native system information and more.
"Access to the adversary's command-and-control server code is a rare opportunity. These systems provide insights into the inner workings of cyber attack infrastructure, are typically seized by law enforcement, and only rarely made available to private sector researchers," said Christiaan Beek, McAfee senior principal engineer, and lead scientist.
"The insights gained through access to this code are indispensable in the effort to understand and combat today's most prominent and sophisticated cyber attack campaigns."
Moreover, analysis of the C2 server and file logs also revealed an African connection, as the researchers uncovered a network block of IP addresses originating from a city located in the African nation of Namibia.
"This led McAfee Advanced Threat Research analysts to suspect that the actors behind Sharpshooter may have tested their implants and other techniques in this area of the world prior to launching their broader campaign of attacks," the researchers say.
The C2 infrastructure used by the attackers has a core backend written in Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP), and Active Server Pages (ASP), which "appears to be custom and unique to the group" and has been part of the Lazarus operations since 2017.
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Well, here's some terrible news for all Apple iOS users…
Someone just found an iOS zero-day vulnerability that could allow an attacker to remotely hack your iPhone running the latest version of iOS, i.e. iOS 9.
Yes, an unknown group of hackers has sold a zero-day vulnerability to Zerodium, a startup by French-based company Vupen that Buys and Sells zero-day exploits.
And Guess what, in How much?
$1,000,000. Yes, $1 Million.
Last month, a Bug bounty challenge was announced by Zerodium for finding a hack that must allow an attacker to remotely compromise a non-jailbroken Apple device through:
A web page on Safari or Chrome browser,
In-app browsing action, or
Text message or MMS.
Zerodium's Founder Chaouki Bekrar confirmed on Twitter that an unnamed group of hackers has won this $1 Million Bounty for sufficiently submitting a remote browser-based iOS 9.1/9.2b Jailbreak (untethered) Exploit.
NO More Fun. It's Serious Threat to iOS Users
For those who are not aware, this remote Jailbreak is not really cool.
Why? Because…
The only difference between a malicious cyber attack and Jailbreak is – Payload, the code that executes on target system after exploitation.
A traditional jailbreak process is usually used to deploy an alternative App Store, but in hands of Hackers or law enforcement agencies, the same exploit can allow them to install any app they want with full privileges i.e. Spyware, Malware or Surveillance software.
Moreover, We know that Zerodium's parent company Vupen develops hacking techniques based on those bugs and typically sells them to multiple government customers.
Also Read: For Better Privacy & Security, Change these iOS 9 Settings Immediately.
So, the chances are high that the firm will resell the newly discovered and undisclosed remote iOS zero-day jailbreak exploit to its clients, which are said to include Spy agencies, Governments, and Law enforcement agencies.
Your Turn, Apple…
Let's see how much time Apple security team will now take to find out this open zero-day bug in its software and close the doors before it gets too late.
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Story highlightsTurkish coast guards and volunteers pull migrants from inflatable boatsSame cross from Turkey to Greece attempted by Aylan Kurdi's family last weekAylan, his brother and mother all died when their boat capsized Bodrum, Turkey (CNN)The image of a small boy lying lifeless, face down on a beach hasn't deterred other migrants from attempting the same dangerous crossing.Under the cover of darkness, on cold, unpredictable seas, they cram onto boats from Turkey to Greece, toward what they hope will be a better life in Europe.Only four days after two-year-old Aylan Kurdi, his brother and mother died trying to reach the Greek island of Kos, CNN witnessed Turkish coast guard patrols rescuing several dinghies dangerously overloaded with migrants trying to cross the channel.Late Sunday night a coast guard cutter loomed large over the dark waters of the Aegean Sea, its powerful spotlight illuminating a small rubber boat crammed with 23 passengers.The inflatable's motor appeared to have died less than halfway between Turkey and Greece. The passengers -- which included five small children -- were left bobbing in a raft that could have been easily swamped by a small wave.Volunteers from Bodrum Sea Rescue Association -- which works alongside the Turkish Coast Guard -- instruct stranded migrants prior to pulling them aboard their boat.Read MoreA volunteer team from the Bodrum Sea Rescue Association -- a nonprofit rescue group that works alongside the coast guard -- carefully approached in a pontoon boat.A member of the team called out, "does anyone speak English or Turkish?""English," a migrant yelled in return.The emergency worker then instructed the stricken raft's passengers that he would offload women and children first, followed by the men. Lives saved The migrants and refugees all wore life jackets, some of which appeared to be of dubious quality. But some also wore heavy backpacks over the flotation devices, which could have proven dangerous in the event the boat capsized. One of the children screamed in fear while being transferred to the search and rescue vessel. A thin man clutched a cell phone while telling rescue workers in broken English "wife here. Wife, children."Another man spoke to fellow passengers in Persian. CNN did not have the opportunity to interview any of the migrants.JUST WATCHEDErdogan: 'Western world to be blamed' for migrant crisisReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHErdogan: 'Western world to be blamed' for migrant crisis 03:12In the end, it took only a few minutes to safely transfer the migrants first to the search and rescue boat, then to the much larger coast guard vessel.In an interview with CNN last week, Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said coast guard teams had rescued more than 50,000 migrants and refugees in the last nine months. Harder to quantify is the number of people who perished trying to make the sea crossing. Night patrols for migrantsIn the wake of the Aylan Kurdi's death, Turkish security forces have tried to crack down on migrants seeking to depart from the beaches around Bodrum.At night, the flashing lights of police patrol vehicles wink periodically along the coastline, among the villas and posh resorts that make Bodrum Turkey's party peninsula.But at around 2 a.m. on Monday, the Bodrum Sea Rescue Association team spotted another rubber boat setting out, aiming for Greece.Migrants crowd an inflatable boat which they're trying to row from Turkey to Greece.This vessel was smaller than the first, and loaded with at least 10 passengers, one of whom appeared to be a pre-adolescent boy. An electric motor whirred in the back, while two of the passengers tried to push the boat forward using long oars as if they were canoe paddles. When the search and rescue boat approached, several men on board the dinghy yelled "Help! Help!" But then the passengers continued paddling and motoring toward the lights of the Greek island, visible in the distance.A warm breeze helped the small craft's progress until it emerged from the protection of an uninhabited Turkish island. Here, the water grew more choppy, and the boat began to struggle.Moments later, a beam of light blasted out over the dark waterway, lighting up the dinghy full of migrants. The Turkish coast guard cutter was back. Soon the migrants were clambering up a ladder to the safety of the vessel's deck.Tonight, the migrants and refugees, who appeared to be of Middle Eastern and South Asian origin, failed to reach Greece. Tomorrow, despite the dangers, it's likely more will try.
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A version of this story appeared in the December 3 edition of CNN's Royal News, a weekly dispatch bringing you the inside track on Britain's royal family. Sign up here. London (CNN)Earlier this week, we wrote to you from Barbados during Prince Charles' whirlwind tour as the Caribbean island took its first steps as a republic. We were one of several media outlets invited to join the heir to the throne's flight to Bridgetown to cover the celebrations marking the Queen's removal as head of state.For the journey, the Prince of Wales flew on RAF Voyager -- an Airbus A330 owned by the UK for use on official overseas visits by members of the royal family and government ministers. Charles most recently hopped on board with wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall for their four-day trip to Jordan and Egypt. The UK owns several Voyager planes, which are normally used for air-to-air refueling and strategic air transport. However, one plane in the fleet was converted in 2016 for VIP transportation -- and this was our ride. Sometimes jokingly referred to as "Heir Force One," last year it received a £900,000 (nearly $1.2 million) makeover -- to repaint the plane from military gray to the colors of the Union flag (red, white and blue livery). The Airbus A330 was converted for VIP transportation in 2016. Read MoreInside it looks, well, pretty much like any other passenger aircraft. The refueling plane has been refitted with business class-type seats in the front and middle sections, and regular coach seats in the rear. Any traveling press sit in the back with military personnel who might also be on the flight. In line with pandemic protocols, face coverings are currently used onboard and social distancing was taken into consideration when assigning seats to passengers. And in case you're wondering what movies were on offer, you may be surprised to learn there aren't any in-flight entertainment options or screens in the back of headrests. The most frequent questions we're asked when people hear we've taken a ride on the plane tend to revolve around what the food is like. Sadly, the answer there is pretty boring: It's fairly similar to commercial flights, with a meat, fish or vegetarian option (though perhaps a little tastier than normal). Passengers can choose between meat, fish or vegetarian meals.Traveling within the royal bubble is always an interesting experience, though much of it is spent waiting for a security escort in and out of secure areas. For example, Voyager is home-based at RAF Brize Norton, an air force station in Oxfordshire. For security reasons, non-military personnel can't be left to wander the base freely, so journalists must gather and wait to be escorted in groups. The highlights of any trip with members of the royal family are those unscheduled, off-the-cuff moments in between the many engagements each day. The trip to Barbados was such a short visit that there was little downtime to catch Prince Charles, whose focus was firmly on joining officials for the republic celebrations and reaffirming the close relationship between the two countries. Charles was busy with engagements during the short visit.However, shortly after landing back in the UK on Wednesday morning, he did make a point of coming to chat with us for a few minutes. With little fanfare or forewarning, he strolled back as we were gathering our belongings to deplane, making sure to say hello to new members of the traveling press and thank the group for joining the tour. A simple gesture and one he doesn't have to make, but which goes a long way in maintaining a relationship with the media.Analysis: Meghan's latest victory in privacy battle matters.The Duchess of Sussex claimed another win Thursday in her protracted legal battle with Associated Newspapers Limited, publisher of the Mail on Sunday, over a letter she sent to her estranged father in 2018.Britain's Court of Appeal dismissed the publisher's challenge of a previous judgment that the duchess had a reasonable expectation of privacy when penning the letter.Moments after the judgment was delivered, Meghan released a strongly worded statement. She called the latest result "precedent setting" before outlining her hopes that it would help to change the UK newspaper industry.It was a bold endeavor by Meghan as, had the case gone to trial, it could have led to more revelations about how the royal household operates or set up a showdown in court against her dad. Instead, her case has once again shown that when newspapers go too far, there are legal avenues to pursue. And the rulings make it clear that while the members of the royal family are public figures, they don't have to live every aspect of their lives in the public domain.But don't expect this to be the last word on the matter. Following the judgment, ANL said it was considering an appeal to the UK's Supreme Court.Meghan's statement in full"This is a victory not just for me, but for anyone who has ever felt scared to stand up for what's right. While this win is precedent setting, what matters most is that we are now collectively brave enough to reshape a tabloid industry that conditions people to be cruel, and profits from the lies and pain that they create."From day one, I have treated this lawsuit as an important measure of right versus wrong. The defendant has treated it as a game with no rules. The longer they dragged it out, the more they could twist facts and manipulate the public (even during the appeal itself), making a straightforward case extraordinarily convoluted in order to generate more headlines and sell more newspapers -- a model that rewards chaos above truth. In the nearly three years since this began, I have been patient in the face of deception, intimidation, and calculated attacks."Today, the courts ruled in my favor -- again -- cementing that The Mail on Sunday, owned by Lord Jonathan Rothermere, has broken the law. The courts have held the defendant to account, and my hope is that we all begin to do the same. Because as far removed as it may seem from your personal life, it's not. Tomorrow it could be you. These harmful practices don't happen once in a blue moon -- they are a daily fail that divide us, and we all deserve better."WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING?Prince Charles's former aide liaised with 'fixers' over honors.An investigation into the cash-for-honors scandal at the Prince's Foundation has found that the Prince of Wales' former closest aide did coordinate with so-called fixers over honors for a donor, according to the PA Media news agency. Michael Fawcett, who resigned as the charity's CEO last month, was also involved in directing money from a Saudi businessman's charity to an organization of which Charles was previously patron, PA reported. Sue Bruce, chair of Charles' charity, called the recent turmoil a "difficult chapter" and said "lessons will be learned." The findings were the result of an independent investigation into fundraising practices and ordered by the foundation. They were carried out by auditing firm Ernst & Young, PA said. CNN has reached out to Fawcett for comment.PHOTO OF THE WEEKSophie, Countess of Wessex visits The Lighthouse, where she works with volunteers making snacks and drinks for service users, and Christmas care packages for children, on December 2. The Lighthouse is a hub in Woking, southwest of London, that hosts a range of creative projects to support, encourage and empower those who find themselves on the margins.IN THE ROYAL DIARYCatherine, Duchess of Cambridge arrives for a visit to Nower Hill High School in north London on November 24, 2021.Kate gets into the Christmas spirit.Deck the halls! The Duchess of Cambridge will host a special community carol service at Westminster Abbey next Wednesday. The festive event, supported by the Royal Foundation, is set to be a celebration of all the hard work that individuals and organizations have done throughout the pandemic to support their communities. The service will also "bring together inspirational individuals from across the UK who have gone above and beyond to care for and protect those in need." Prepare for carols sung by the abbey choir as well as readings and musical performances from other guests. Kensington Palace said the service would blend "traditional elements with a modern and inclusive feel to encompass people of all faiths and none." It'll be broadcast by ITV later in December.
"From the darkest days of our past, and the appalling atrocity of slavery, which forever stains our history, the people of this island forged their path with extraordinary fortitude."
Prince Charles acknowledged Britain's historical role in the slave trade as Barbados cut its ties with the monarchy on Tuesday.
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With the release of Chrome 68, Google prominently marks all non-HTTPS websites as 'Not Secure' on its browser to make the web a more secure place for Internet users.
If you haven't yet, there is another significant reason to immediately switch to the latest version of the Chrome web browser.
Ron Masas, a security researcher from Imperva, has discovered a vulnerability in web browsers that could allow attackers to find everything other web platforms, like Facebook and Google, knows about you—and all they need is just trick you into visiting a website.
The vulnerability, identified as CVE-2018-6177, takes advantage of a weakness in audio/video HTML tags and affects all web browsers powered by "Blink Engine," including Google Chrome.
To illustrate the attack scenario, the researcher took an example of Facebook, a popular social media platform that collects in-depth profiling information on its users, including their age, gender, where you have been (location data) and interests, i.e., what you like and what you don't.
You must be aware of Facebook offering post targeting feature to page administrators, allowing them to define a targeted or restricted audience for specific posts based on their age, location, gender, and interest.
How the Browser Attack Works?
To demonstrate the vulnerability, the researcher created multiple Facebook posts with different combinations of the restricted audiences to categorize victims according to their age, location, interest or gender.
Now, if a website embeds all these Facebook posts on a web page, it will load and display only a few specific posts at the visitors' end based on individuals' profile data on Facebook that matches restricted audience settings.
For example, if a post—defined to be visible only to the Facebook users with age 26, male, having interest in hacking or Information Security—was loaded successfully, an attacker can potentially learn personal information on visitors, regardless of their privacy settings.
Though the idea sounds exciting and quite simple, there are no direct ways available for site administrators to determine whether an embedded post was loaded successfully for a specific visitor or not.
Thanks to Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)—a browser security mechanism that prevents a website from reading the content of other sites without their explicit permission.
However, Imperva researcher found that since audio and video HTML tags don't validate the content type of fetched resources or reject responses with invalid MIME types, an attacker can use multiple hidden video or audio tags on a website to request Facebook posts.
Though this method doesn't display Facebook posts as intended, it does allow the attacker-controlled website to measure (using JavaScript) the size of cross-origin resources and number of requests to find out which specific posts were successfully fetched from Facebook for an individual visitor.
"With several scripts running at once — each testing a different and unique restriction — the bad actor can relatively quickly mine a good amount of private data about the user," Masses said.
"I found that by engineering sites to return a different response size depending on the currently logged user properties it is possible to use this method to extract valuable information."
A member from Google security team also pointed that the vulnerability could also work against websites using APIs to fetch user session specific information.
The core of this vulnerability has some similarities with another browser bug, patched in June this year, which exploited a weakness in how web browsers handle cross-origin requests to video and audio files, allowing attackers to read the content of your Gmail or private Facebook messages.
Imperva researcher reported the vulnerability to Google with a proof of concept exploit, and the Chrome team patched the issue in Chrome 68 release.
So, Chrome users are strongly recommended to update their browser to the latest version, if they haven't yet.
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Security researchers at ESET have discovered a new malware campaign targeting consulates, ministries and embassies worldwide to spy on governments and diplomats.
Active since 2016, the malware campaign is leveraging a new backdoor, dubbed Gazer, and is believed to be carried out by Turla advanced persistent threat (APT) hacking group that's been previously linked to Russian intelligence.
Gazer, written in C++, the backdoor delivers via spear phishing emails and hijacks targeted computers in two steps—first, the malware drops Skipper backdoor, which has previously been linked to Turla and then installs Gazer components.
In previous cyber espionage campaigns, the Turla hacking group used Carbon and Kazuar backdoors as its second-stage malware, which also has many similarities with Gazer, according to research [PDF] published by ESET.
Gazer receives encrypted commands from a remote command-and-control server and evades detection by using compromised, legitimate websites (that mostly use the WordPress CMS) as a proxy.
Instead of using Windows Crypto API, Gazer uses custom 3DES and RSA encryption libraries to encrypt the data before sending it to the C&C server—a common tactic employed by the Turla APT group.
Gazer uses code-injection technique to take control of a machine and hide itself for a long period of time in an attempt to steal information.
Gazer backdoor also has the ability to forward commands received by one infected endpoint to the other infected machines on the same network.
So far ESET researchers have identified four different variants of the Gazer malware in the wild, primarily spying on Southeast European and former Soviet bloc political targets.
Interestingly, earlier versions of Gazer were signed with a valid certificate issued by Comodo for "Solid Loop Ltd," while the latest version is signed with an SSL certificate issued to "Ultimate Computer Support Ltd."
According to researchers, Gazer has already managed to infect a number of targets worldwide, with the most victims being located in Europe.
Meanwhile, Kaspersky lab has also published almost similar details about Gazer backdoor, but they called it 'Whitebear' APT campaign.
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(CNN)When people like the German Chancellor Angela Merkel or the King of Belgium want to learn more about cybersecurity, they go to Estonia. The Baltic country runs on the internet. From filing taxes and voting, to registering the birth of a new baby, nearly everything a person might want or need from the government can be done online. It's an approach that's incredibly convenient for Estonia's 1.3 million people -- but it also requires high level of cybersecurity. Luckily for its residents, Estonia is punching way above its weight when it comes to online safety. It regularly places on top of security rankings. Its capital city of Tallinn is home to NATO's cyber defense hub, the Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. When it took up the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council last year, it made cybersecurity one of the policy priorities."Estonia digitized a lot sooner than other countries, it was focusing on things like online schooling and online government services and it took a more proactive approach to technology," said Esther Naylor, a international security research analyst at Chatham House. Putin says Russia prepared to extradite cyber criminals to US on reciprocal basis"And it recognized that it needs to be a secure country in order for citizens to want to use online systems and for businesses to want to do business in Estonia ... and I think that this is why Estonia's approach is often heralded as the model approach," she added.Read MoreA new European Union report obtained by CNN last week showed serious cyberattacks against critical targets in Europe have doubled in the past year. There have also been a series of high-profile attacks on US targets in recent weeks. The issue came up during a high-stakes summit between the US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. Biden said he told Putin that certain areas of "critical infrastructure" should be off-limits for cyberattacks, and warned the Russian leader that the US had "significant cyber capability" and would respond to any further incursions. Putin told reporters the two leaders had agreed to start consultations on the issue. German Chancellor Angela Merkel became Estonian e-resident during her visit to Tallinn in 2016.Estonia is no stranger to the cyber threat posed by Russia. Back in 2007, a decision to relocate a Soviet-era war memorial from central Tallinn to a military cemetery sparked a diplomatic spat with its neighbor and former overlord. There were protests and angry statements from Russian diplomats. And just as the removal works started, Estonia became the target of what was at the time the biggest cyberattack against a single country. The Estonian government called the incident an act of cyberwarfare and blamed Russia for it. Moscow has denied any involvement.The attack made Estonia realize that it needed to start treating cyber threats in the same way as physical attacks.At that time, the country was already a leader in e-government, having introduced services like online voting and digital signatures. While no data was stolen during the incident, the websites of banks, the media and some government services were targeted with distributed denial of service attacks that lasted for 22 days. Some services were disrupted, while others were taken down completely."We saw what would happen if our precious systems that we really loved were down," said Birgy Lorenz, a cybersecurity scientist at Tallinn University of Technology. "We started to understand that fake news is really important and that people can be manipulated, and that we have to protect our systems better -- and that this is not only about the systems, but also about understanding the role people play in the systems."People matterAfter the attack, the government quickly adopted -- and is constantly updating -- a wide-ranging national cybersecurity strategy. It has teamed up with private companies to build secure systems. It set up a "data embassy" in Luxembourg, a super secure data center that contains backups in case of an attack on Estonian territory.Serious cyberattacks in Europe doubled in the past year, new figures reveal, as criminals exploited the pandemicThe country also became an early adopter of blockchain technology and established a new cyber unit within its voluntary Estonia Defense League. It started pushing for more international cooperation, via NATO and other organizations.But perhaps most importantly, it invested into its people."Technology gives us a lot of tools to secure the system, but at the end of the day, the level of security depends on the users," said Sotiris Tzifas, a cybersecurity expert and chief executive of Trust-IT VIP Cyber Intelligence. "Even if you build the most secure system you can, if the user does something bad or something misguided or something they are not allowed to do, then the system is downgraded very quickly." He pointed to the fact that some of the most damaging cyberattacks in recent history were caused by a confused insider clicking on a phishing link, rather than by a sophisticated hacker using the most advanced technology.Tzifas said the Colonial Pipeline attack attack that forced the US company to shut down a key US East Coast pipeline in April was a good example of this. "It created a lot of buzz and cost a lot of money, but there was no real complexity, it wasn't different to other ransomware attacks," he said.The Estonian government has been investing heavily into education and training programs in recent years. From awareness campaigns and workshops specifically targeting elderly citizens to "coding" lessons for kindergarteners, the government is making sure every Estonian has access to the training they need to keep the country's IT systems secure. People look at the visualisation during the Locked Shields, cyber defence exercise organized by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Exellence in Tallinn.It also wants its teenagers to know how to hack. "We are teaching defense, but you can't learn defense if you don't know how to hack," Lorenz said. She is running educational camps where teenagers learn hacking within a secure environment. She doesn't encourage her students to go on and try to hack companies or government bodies, but if they do, she is on hand to make sure they behave in an ethical way. "I help them to put it in a package and then we send it to the company and say, look, the students have found this vulnerability in your system," she said.What's happening with cyberattacks in the USLorenz is the mastermind behind many of Estonia's educational programs that are designed to teach children about technology, but also to spot and nurture future technology leaders. "To get the talent you need the mass to choose the talents from, so we have training and competitions already for primary school children," she said.She says young kids are eager to learn about cybersecurity, if they feel like they are part of the solution. "They don't really want to listen to the adults telling them what they should do, so we tell them that we need their help and ask them to help their parents or younger sister with security by doing an audit of all their gadgets and password, and show them how to do that so they learn the skills and feel empowered to take responsibility," she said.State-sponsored hacks on the riseTo understand what a country can do to secure its critical infrastructure, the government needs to understand the motivations of its potential attackers, Tzifas said. "There are government-sponsored hackers that are attacking, then you have the fraudsters trying to get an economic gain and then you have the 'script kiddies' or low level hackers who are trying to see whether they can do it," he explained. Some governments and companies encourage the last group to take a swing at their systems, offering prizes to those who are successful in hopes they will help them discover weaknesses they may not be aware of, he added.There has been a large spike in state-sponsored attacks in the last few years, with governments using hacks to disrupt their adversaries.The US and the United Kingdom warned last year about a rise in state-backed cyberattacks against organizations involved in the coronavirus response. That's where international cooperation becomes crucial -- and Estonia, a small country on the edge of the EU, is well aware of that. Hit by a ransomware attack? Here's what to do"Estonia has been very active in cyber diplomacy, it is using its voice to talk about what should and should not happen in the cyberspace," Naylor said. "Something Estonia did last year when it joined the UN Security Council, and this was the first time this happened at the UN Security Council, it aligned with the UK and the US to call out Russia on a cyberattack on Georgia," she said, adding that while the step "won't necessarily solve all of our problems in cyberspace, it does send a message."The e-Estonia Briefing Centre, a publicly funded cyber security and digital services information hub in Tallinn, is another way the country is building partnerships. It was set up specifically to offer training programs and workshops to foreign delegations. Visitors include Merkel, the Belgian King and numerous foreign ministers and local governments. "We share our success stories and our mistakes so that other countries don't have to reinvent the wheel," said Florian Marcus, a digital transformation adviser at the center.The government's infrastructure relies on several layers of security, Marcus continued. "One aspect is that we've always made sure that we store as little data as possible, and that when we store data that we store it as separately as possible," he said, explaining the government's "once only" principle."There is no duplicated data within the government service, so for example, only the population register is allowed to store my address, and if any other register, like the tax authority or the voting committee, needs my address, they have to ask the population register through an encrypted data exchange that uses blockchain to verify the data integrity."Tzifas said this approach is much more secure compared to having large super databases that contain all kinds of data -- from addresses and ID numbers to dates of birth and heath care and insurance data -- all on one platform."We are talking the banking system, insurance companies, government databases where all this data is gathered, this is real gold for hackers, because this data can be very easily used for impersonation attacks. When you want to create [a] fake identity, you need all this data," he said.The NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Tallinn conducts research and training on cyber security.Estonia has built secure IT systems, fostered international cooperation and spent a lot of money and time training its citizens. But in a world where hackers are, most of the time, one step ahead of governments, the country is constantly trying to find ways to improve its system."Being purely defensive is not going to protect you from all of the wide range of cyber incidents that can occur. Because of the changing nature of the techniques that are used by criminal groups, you need to think about resilience and take proactive mitigation measures," Naylor said.Hackers have a devastating new targetOne example she gives is Estonia's focus on cyber incident response. "They are simulating cyberattacks on either critical infrastructure or in an industry, so that [they] are better prepared to respond to a potential attack."The combination of citizen awareness, the monitoring of potential attacks and flexible countermeasures are all key pieces of successful cyber defense, Tzifas said, "because whatever technology you install, it will be bypassed in the future."For Lorenz, the success of Estonia's cyber program boils down to one simple principle: everybody, from the top levels of the government to school children, is doing their bit."In a way, it's very Estonian," she said. "We don't have a leader who tells us what to do. We go to [the] sauna and one person says 'my neighbor is thinking about doing this' and another says 'my neighbor is thinking about doing that' ... and nobody is talking about what they will do and nothing gets decided, but then everybody goes home and does that thing and somehow it's all working."
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As part of its ongoing Vault 7 leaks, the whistleblower organisation WikiLeaks today revealed about a CIA contractor responsible for analysing advanced malware and hacking techniques being used in the wild by cyber criminals.
According to the documents leaked by WikiLeaks, Raytheon Blackbird Technologies, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) contractor, submitted nearly five such reports to CIA as part of UMBRAGE Component Library (UCL) project between November 2014 and September 2015.
These reports contain brief analysis about proof-of-concept ideas and malware attack vectors — publically presented by security researchers and secretly developed by cyber espionage hacking groups.
Reports submitted by Raytheon were allegedly helping CIA's Remote Development Branch (RDB) to collect ideas for developing their own advanced malware projects.
It was also revealed in previous Vault 7 leaks that CIA's UMBRAGE malware development teams also borrow codes from publicly available malware samples to built its own spyware tools.
Here's the list and brief information of each report:
Report 1 — Raytheon analysts detailed a variant of the HTTPBrowser Remote Access Tool (RAT), which was probably developed in 2015.
The RAT, which is designed to capture keystrokes from the targeted systems, was being used by a Chinese cyber espionage APT group called 'Emissary Panda.'
Report 2 — This document details a variant of the NfLog Remote Access Tool (RAT), also known as IsSpace, which was being used by Samurai Panda, Identified as another Chinese hacking group.
Equipped with Adobe Flash zero-day exploit CVE-2015-5122 (leaked in Hacking Team dump) and UAC bypass technique, this malware was also able to sniff or enumerate proxy credentials to bypass Windows Firewall.
Report 3 — This report contains details about "Regin" -- a very sophisticated malware sample that has been spotted in operation since 2013 and majorly designed for surveillance and data collection.
Regin is a cyber espionage tool, which is said to be more sophisticated than both Stuxnet and Duqu and is believed to be developed by the US intelligence agency NSA.
The malware uses a modular approach that allowed an operator to enable a customised spying. Regin's design makes the malware highly suited for persistent, long-term mass surveillance operations against targets.
Report 4 — It details a suspected Russian State-sponsored malware sample called "HammerToss," which was discovered in early 2015 and suspected of being operational since late 2014.
What makes HammerToss interesting is its architecture, which leverages Twitter accounts, GitHub accounts, compromised websites, and Cloud-storage to orchestrate command-and-control functions to execute the commands on the targeted systems.
Report 5 — This document details the self-code injection and API hooking methods of information stealing Trojan called "Gamker."
Gamker uses simple decryption, then drops a copy of itself using a random filename and injects itself into a different process. The trojan also exhibits other typical trojan behaviours.
Previous Vault 7 CIA Leaks
Last week, WikiLeaks revealed CIAs Highrise Project that allowed the spying agency to stealthy collect and forwards stolen data from compromised smartphones to its server through SMS messages.
Since March, the whistle-blowing group has published 17 batches of "Vault 7" series, which includes the latest and last week leaks, along with the following batches:
BothanSpy and Gyrfalcon — two alleged CIA implants that allowed the spying agency to intercept and exfiltrate SSH credentials from targeted Windows and Linux operating systems using different attack vectors.
OutlawCountry – An alleged CIA project that allowed it to hack and remotely spy on computers running the Linux operating systems.
ELSA – the alleged CIA malware that tracks geo-location of targeted PCs and laptops running the Microsoft Windows operating system.
Brutal Kangaroo – A tool suite for Microsoft Windows used by the agency to targets closed networks or air-gapped computers within an organisation or enterprise without requiring any direct access.
Cherry Blossom – An agency's framework, basically a remotely controllable firmware-based implant, used for monitoring the Internet activity of the targeted systems by exploiting vulnerabilities in Wi-Fi devices.
Pandemic – A CIA's project that allowed the agency to turn Windows file servers into covert attack machines that can silently infect other computers of interest inside a targeted network.
Athena – A CIA's spyware framework that has been designed to take full control over the infected Windows PCs remotely, and works against every version of Microsoft's Windows operating systems, from Windows XP to Windows 10.
AfterMidnight and Assassin – Two alleged CIA malware frameworks for the Microsoft Windows platform that has been designed to monitor and report back actions on the infected remote host computer and execute malicious actions.
Archimedes – Man-in-the-middle (MitM) attack tool allegedly created by the CIA to target computers inside a Local Area Network (LAN).
Scribbles – A piece of software allegedly designed to embed 'web beacons' into confidential documents, allowing the spying agency to track insiders and whistleblowers.
Grasshopper – Framework that allowed the spying agency to easily create custom malware for breaking into Microsoft's Windows and bypassing antivirus protection.
Marble – Source code of a secret anti-forensic framework, basically an obfuscator or a packer used by the CIA to hide the actual source of its malware.
Dark Matter – Hacking exploits the agency designed to target iPhones and Macs.
Weeping Angel – Spying tool used by the agency to infiltrate smart TV's, transforming them into covert microphones.
Year Zero – Alleged CIA hacking exploits for popular hardware and software.
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(CNN)Five emergency responders were killed when a helicopter crashed during a search and rescue operation in the French Alps, French President Emmanuel Macron said. Macron tweeted Tuesday that the crash took place in the Savoie department. One person was injured in the incident and is "fighting for their life." Three of the victims were members of the French Air Rescue and two were from the CRS Alps, a mountain police unit that provides medical and rescue services. Macron said that the France nation would support the "families, friends and colleagues of these French heroes." Pascal Bolot, a Savoie official, said at a news conference Tuesday night that the pilot of the crash was being evacuated in "difficult condition."Read MoreAn investigation is ongoing.
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(CNN)Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty Monday to a recently reinstated sexual assault charge in California.Last month, a Los Angeles County judge dismissed one of the 11 charges against him after his defense team argued that the statute of limitations on a sexual battery charge had run out. A criminal grand jury then amended the indictment to include a May 2010 incident involving Jane Doe #3.During Monday morning's hearing in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom, prosecutors revealed they are seeking to admit other evidence of alleged sexual misconduct currently under seal.After the hearing, Weinstein's defense attorney, Mark Werksman, said he wants what he calls a tsunami of unproven bad acts from prosecutors to not be allowed in trial.Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 23 years in prison after addressing his accusers in courtThe producer, in a wheelchair, was dressed in a dark brown jail jumpsuit and wore glasses in court. Werksman said his client cannot walk or see and needs eye surgery. His next court date in the case is October 25.Read MoreWeinstein was found guilty last year in New York of first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree rape. He is serving a 23-year prison sentence at a maximum security prison outside Buffalo, New York, but has been transferred to California for these court hearings.His attorneys have decried the sentence as a de facto life sentence. His legal team filed an appeal earlier this year, saying a biased judge and a biased juror tainted the trial.The hearings come nearly four years after investigative stories by The New York Times and The New Yorker revealed Weinstein's alleged history of sexual abuse, harassment and secret settlements as he used his influence as a Hollywood power broker to take advantage of young women.CNN's Eric Levenson contributed to this report.
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Story highlightsHamilton claims 65th career pole Briton equals Senna's pole tally Vettel second on grid, Bottas third (CNN)Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix on pole after setting a blistering pace in Saturday's qualifying session in Montreal.The three-time Formula One world champion set the fastest lap ever seen at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve circuit by an F1 car clocking one minute 11.459 seconds around the 4.361-kilometer (2.709-mile) track.In doing so, Hamilton equaled the career pole tally of his hero Ayrton Senna who started from the front of the grid 65 times during a glittering F1 career. Lewis Hamilton claimed his sixth Canadian Grand Prix pole at Saturday's qualifying session. Ferrari's Sebatian Vettel pushed the Briton all the way -- at one point just four one-thousandths of a second separated the pair, before Hamilton found even more speed as the clocked ticked down in the top 10 shootout. "Montreal been good to me over the years and it's been a battle with Ferrari -- they've been quick all year," Hamilton said.Most poles in Formula One 68 - Michael Schumacher 65 - Lewis Hamilton, Ayrton Senna47 - Sebastian Vettel33 - Jim Clark, Alain ProstRead More"It was a sexy lap. I can't believe it came together so well. The team did a fantastic job. I owe it all to them." The celebrations didn't end there for Hamilton who was then presented with a race-worn Senna helmet, donated by the late Brazilian driver's family. HAM: "I'm shaking. For many of you, Ayrton was your favourite driver. He was mine too. To receive this and match him is a great honour" #F1 pic.twitter.com/OybcWrefmr— Formula 1 (@F1) June 10, 2017 "I'm shaking," Hamilton said, gazing at his hero's crash helmet. "To receive this and match him is a great honor. Ayrton inspired me to be where I am today -- a big thank you to the Senna family."The 32-year-old is now just three short of the all-time pole record set by seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher. Hamilton will be gunning for a sixth victory in Canada on Sunday with his Mercedes car seemingly over the troubles that dogged him around the streets of Monaco two weekends ago where he finished seventh. The race around the Principality was dominated by Ferrari, but Vettel, who currently leads Hamilton by 25 points in the F1 Drivers' Championship, will do well to repel what appears to be a resurgent Mercedes team. He's a regular visitor to the #CanadianGP 🇨🇦Great to see Oscar-winning Hollywood legend Michael Douglas again 🎥 pic.twitter.com/Li4U3ADn6P— Formula 1 (@F1) June 10, 2017 Vettel will start with Hamilton ahead of him and Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas directly behind after the Finn qualified third with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen joining his compatriot on the second row of the grid. The third row of the grid is a lockout for the Red Bull pairing of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, with Williams' Felipe Massa finishing seventh and Sergio Perez in eighth for the Force India team. Elsewhere, Fernando Alonso, returning to F1 after his Indy 500 hiatus, finished qualifying down in 12th while Massa's teammate, rookie Lance Stroll had a disappointing qualifying in front of his home crowd and will start Sunday's grand prix down in 17th place.
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Story highlightsLewis Hamilton looking to ignite 2016 challengeBriton's hero Senna won Monaco six times The 74th Monaco GP takes place Sunday (CNN)Lewis Hamilton may have equaled Ayrton Senna's tally of three Formula One world titles and overtaken his childhood hero's career total of race wins and podiums.But as the Briton will be all too aware, the great Brazilian is streets ahead -- six victories compared to just one -- at the Monaco Grand Prix.It was on the principality's winding roads -- widely considered the sport's most technically challenging circuit -- where Senna routinely showcased the genius that so enthralled Hamilton when he was growing up."Ayrton was sitting in the car shifting and turning, looking like he was on the edge, which he obviously was. I was like, 'I wanna do that, I can do that' -- that's where it started," Hamilton told CNN's The Circuit.It was in 1993 -- the same year of Senna's sixth Monaco triumph -- that an eight-year-old Hamilton first started karting. Before then, he was dreaming of two wheels, not four.Read More"Motorbikes were what I actually wanted to do before I started racing cars ... I wanted to do dirt bikes, that's what I loved," he explains."I am grateful that my dad didn't let me motorbike -- F1 is a much better job to do (and) a bigger sport."MONACO GP: MOST WINS6 Senna5 Hill (G), Schumacher (M)4 Prost3 Moss, Stewart, Rosberg (N) Hamilton is arguably now the biggest name in F1, who, when he's not in the cockpit of his Mercedes, can often be seen mixing with celebrities from music, film and fashion in the United States. An admirer of how America makes such a spectacle of their sports, Hamilton doesn't rule out lining up on a grid stateside in the future."I like NASCAR. I probably would do a couple of races in NASCAR at some stage at my career," he says."I wish that times would not exactly be how they are in the sense that, John Surtees (the Briton who raced in both F1 and motorcycle world championships) was able to do several different races, different sports ... there's no reason why I can't do a NASCAR race and then come back and do F1 — I would love to be able to do that in the mid part of the season." MORE: 'Strength' can help Schumacher recover For now though, the focus is on F1 and notching a second win at Monaco.Last year was perhaps his most frustrating failure yet — a miscalculation by his Mercedes team saw Hamilton squander the lead late in the race, handing victory to his teammate and arch rival Nico Rosberg. A misfiring start to the 2016 season — Hamilton is winless so far — and a calamitous collision with Rosberg at the Spanish Grand Prix, have raised the stakes in Monaco to unprecedented new heights.Lewis Hamilton's battered Mercedes lies at the side of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. A win this weekend would revive a stalling title challenge, helping claw back a 43-point deficit with Rosberg.Championship points aside, Hamilton doesn't really want for much else these days -- apart from maybe one thing. "Right now, I wish could have some pancakes but I can't have pancakes because I've gotta be a certain weight, but otherwise, no," he says. "Along the way there is a lot of sacrifices that you and your family goes through ... you just have to find the right balance. Ultimately, winning the championship and succeeding is what you want to do most.Follow @cnnsport
"I don't know who said it but, winning a gold medal or winning a championship or winning a race is a great thing but if you are not enough without it, you will never be enough with it."So it's all about trying to make sure you're enjoying, you're growing outside because that uplifts you when you do succeed."MORE: Will Verstappen be as big as Cruyff?Who will win in Monaco? Have your say on CNN Sport's Facebook pageGet more F1 news at cnn.com/motorsport Photos: Formula One's showpiece on French RivieraThe Monaco Grand Prix made its Formula One debut in 1950 but races have been held in the principality since 1929.Hide Caption 1 of 16 Photos: Formula One's showpiece on French RivieraThe 2.07-mile (3.34-kilometer) circuit runs around Monte Carlo's famous streets, including Casino Square.Hide Caption 2 of 16 Photos: Formula One's showpiece on French RivieraThe rich and famous watch the race from yachts lining the harbor. Hide Caption 3 of 16 Photos: Formula One's showpiece on French RivieraMonaco's famous Fairmont hairpin -- the slowest corner on the F1 calendar. Drivers tiptoe around it at just 31 mph (50 kph).Hide Caption 4 of 16 Photos: Formula One's showpiece on French RivieraGraham Hill won in Monaco five times during an 18-year F1 career. Here he is racing during the 1965 grand prix where he was crowned champion for the third time despite having to push his car back on track and restart it after taking avoiding action up an escape road. Hide Caption 5 of 16 Photos: Formula One's showpiece on French RivieraHill was one of F1's great characters, whose record in the principality earned him the nickname "Mr Monaco."Hide Caption 6 of 16 Photos: Formula One's showpiece on French RivieraHill seen here showing his son, Damon, the ropes at Silverstone in 1967. Hill Jr. would follow in his father's footsteps winning the F1 world title in 1996. Graham won the title twice -- in 1962 and 1968 -- before tragically being killed in a plane crash in 1975. Hide Caption 7 of 16 Photos: Formula One's showpiece on French RivieraThis year marks the 50th anniversary of Hill's solitary success at the Indianapolis 500.Hide Caption 8 of 16 Photos: Formula One's showpiece on French RivieraJackie Stewart refuels after winning the first of his three Monaco titles in 1966. Stewart began his F1 career partnering Hill at the BRM team. "Graham was the man at that time and I learned a lot from him... it was a happy relationship -- he was a gentleman on the race track," Stewart told CNN. Hide Caption 9 of 16 Photos: Formula One's showpiece on French RivieraThere has been just one fatality at the Monaco GP. In 1967, Italian motor racing driver Lorenzo Bandini lost control of his Ferrari at the harbor chicane and crashed before his car burst into flames. Bandini would succumb to his injuries three days later. Hide Caption 10 of 16 Photos: Formula One's showpiece on French RivieraHill's record of five victories in Monaco lasted more than two decades before being broken by the great Ayrton Senna. The Brazilian can be seen here driving to victory for the sixth and final time in 1993. Hide Caption 11 of 16 Photos: Formula One's showpiece on French RivieraSenna won a remarkable five consecutive Monaco races from 1989-1993. Hide Caption 12 of 16 Photos: Formula One's showpiece on French RivieraHill's haul of five victories was equaled by Michael Schumacher in 2001.Hide Caption 13 of 16 Photos: Formula One's showpiece on French RivieraAnother German, Nico Rosberg (seen here crossing the line in 2015) has dominated the race in recent seasons. The Mercedes driver will be hoping to take the checkered flag for a fourth consecutive time in 2016. Hide Caption 14 of 16 Photos: Formula One's showpiece on French RivieraRosberg's teammate Lewis Hamilton will be looking to improve his Monaco GP record. The Briton has won in the principality once -- in 2008. At last year's race he was leading before his Mercedes team miscalculated a pit stop, handing victory to Rosberg. Hide Caption 15 of 16 Photos: Formula One's showpiece on French RivieraAll eyes will be on Max Verstappen at this year's race. After his sensational win at the Spanish Grand Prix two weekends ago, the Dutch teen, who became F1's youngest-ever winner in Barcelona, will be looking to upset the odds again on the streets of Monte Carlo. Hide Caption 16 of 16
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Story highlightsSpain is declared Ebola-free by the World Health OrganizationThere have been no new cases since a nurse's aide recovered from Ebola in OctoberSpanish authorities had been monitoring scores of people who had contact with her (CNN)Spain is officially clear of Ebola, the World Health Organization declared Tuesday, after no new cases were reported since a nurse's assistant who contracted the virus there tested negative for it.Since then, 42 days have passed -- double the maximum known incubation period for the virus -- without another case, allowing Spain to be declared free of Ebola.Spanish authorities had been monitoring 87 people who came into contact with healthcare worker Teresa Romero Ramos, 15 of whom were considered high-risk and were quarantined at a Madrid hospital, WHO said.Another 145 hospital employees who helped care for Romero during her month-long stay at the Carlos III Hospital were also monitored.The WHO statement said it "commends Spain for the measures put in place to identify potential cases and prevent further transmission of the Ebola virus."Read MoreRomero contracted the illness while helping to care for an infected missionary who had been brought back from West Africa. He died of the disease.CNN's Anna Maja Rappard contributed to this report.
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Adobe has been one of the favorite picks of the Hackers to mess with any systems devoid of any operating systems, as Flash Player is a front runner in all the browsers.
Hackers have already been targeting Flash Player for long by exploiting known vulnerabilities roaming in the wild.
Despite Adobe's efforts, Flash is not safe anymore for Internet security, as one more critical vulnerability had been discovered in the Flash Player that could crash the affected system and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the system.
Discovered by a French Researcher Kafeine, FireEye's Genwei Jiang, and Google's Clement Lecigne, the flaw affects Adobe Flash Player 21.0.0.197 and its earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh, Linux and Chrome OS.
The vulnerability, assigned under CVE-2016-1019, also expands back to Windows 7 and even towards Windows XP.
Adobe had also confirmed that the newly discovered vulnerability in its Flash Player is being exploited actively in the wild.
Update Adobe Flash Player Software
This issue caused the Adobe engineers to urgently work on a mitigation method and release an emergency update under Flash Player 21.0.0.182, which is expected to get released this Thursday.
Usually, Adobe releases its patch on the second Tuesday of the month, the same day as Microsoft, but rolls out emergency patches on an ad hoc basis, analyzing the seriousness of the bug.
The endless Adobe updates and upgrades had failed to ensure the user security in the real time scenario. So it's high time for users to disable or completely uninstall Adobe Flash Player.
Believe or not, Adobe Flash Player is dead and its time has passed.
In January last year, YouTube moved away from Flash for delivering videos.
Although in between Flash made an effort to beef up its security in a bid to justify its existence, things got a bit heated when Firefox became aware of a critical bug and blocked the Flash plugin entirely.
Facebook's Security Chief publicly called for Adobe to announce a kill date for Flash. In fact, Google Chrome has also begun blocking auto-playing Flash ads by default.
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The cybercrime syndicate behind Babuk ransomware has leaked more personal files belonging to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) after negotiations with the DC Police broke down, warning that they intend to publish all data if their ransom demands are not met.
"The negotiations reached a dead end, the amount we were offered does not suit us, we are posting 20 more personal files on officers, you can download this archive, the password will be released tomorrow. if during tomorrow they do not raise the price, we will release all the data," the gang said in a statement on their data leak site.
"You still have the ability to stop it," it added.
The Babuk group is said to have stolen 250GB of data, including investigation reports, arrests, disciplinary actions, and other intelligence briefings.
Like other ransomware platforms, DarkSide adheres to a practice called double extortion, which involves demanding money in return for unlocking files and servers encrypted by the ransomware, as well as for not leaking any data stolen from the victim prior to cutting off access to them.
"We are some kind of a cyberpunks, we randomly test corporate networks security and in case of penetration, we ask money, and publish the information about threats and vulnerabilities we found, in our blog if company doesn't want to pay," the group describes itself on the dark web site, calling its attacks an "audit."
Screenshots shared by the Babuk group, and seen by The Hacker News, reveal that the data was published after the amount DC Police was willing to pay did not match their ransom amount of $4 million. The MPD has allegedly offered $100,000 to fend off the release of stolen information.
"Our final proposal is an offer to pay $100,000 to prevent the release of the stolen data. If this offer is not acceptable, then it seems our conversation is complete. I think we both understand the consequences of not reaching an agreement. We are OK with that outcome," a message from MPD's side read.
Exchanges between Babuk and the department also highlight a similar pattern of assurances that stolen data will be deleted upon payment, with the group saying that "we are not interested in the international politics and other issues between governments, conflicts, e.t.c."
Following the ransomware attack against MPD late last month, the Babuk operators made announcements to the effect of winding down their operations, along with their affiliate program, to focus on data theft and extortion. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
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Story highlightsRafael Nadal beats Leonardo Mayer in straight setsAndy Murray locked in five set struggle when play halted Gael Monfils wins epic five-setter against Fabio FogniniSloane Stephens to face Simona Halep in last 16 Rafael Nadal took another big step towards a ninth French Open title Saturday while one of his chief rivals in his half of the draw Andy Murray hovered on the brink of elimination before play was halted in fading light.Wimbledon champion Murray and Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber were locked at 7-7 in the fifth and final set on Suzanne Lenglen.The British seventh seed will be ruing several lapses of concentration, seeming to have the match in his grasp when a break up in the fourth set and again in the decider.Each time Kohlschreiber, who won the Dusseldorf event last week, hit back and survived some nervous moments in the final game on his own service to keep the match alive.JUST WATCHEDWho will be the tennis ace of 2014?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHWho will be the tennis ace of 2014? 04:52JUST WATCHEDSecret to beating tennis' big fourReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSecret to beating tennis' big four 05:40The pair will come back Sunday with the winner to face either home favorite Richard Gasquet or Fernando Verdasco in the fourth round.Gasquet trailsVerdasco led 12th seed Gasquet by two sets and it was 2-2 in the third set when their match was also halted in the gloom.Earlier, top seed Nadal dispatched Leonardo Mayer in straight sets 6-2 7-5 6-2 and has yet to drop a set, while his Spanish compatriot David Ferrer also went through in fine style against Italy's Andreas Seppi.Ferrer is a potential quarterfinal opponent for Nadal but first the four-time defending champion must get past fast-rising Serb Dusan Lajovic.Match of the middle Saturday at Roland Garros may well have been Gael Monfils' five-set defeat of Italian 14th seed Fabio Fognini.Ever popular Monfils prevailed 6-2 in the decider after dropping the fourth to love.JUST WATCHEDRafael Nadal: Comeback was difficultReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRafael Nadal: Comeback was difficult 02:35JUST WATCHEDAndy Murray wins Wimbledon men's finalReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHAndy Murray wins Wimbledon men's final 01:53Halep hopesWhile the established order is, in the main, still on top in the men's draw, Simona Halep, a 22-year-old Romanian, is the highest surviving seed in the women's tournament.The fourth-ranked Halep was impressive again in a 6-4 6-0 win over Spain's Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor, but standing in her way for a quarterfinal place is Sloane Stephens of the United States.Stephens, 21, reached her sixth straight grand slam fourth round, the best record on the WTA Tour, with a 6-3 6-4 win over Russian Ekaterina Makarova.Stephens, who many see as a natural successor to Serena Williams, says she is more motivated at the big four events rather than regular tournaments."I just peak at four tournaments a year. Every other tournament just gets me ready for these," she told the official French Open website.JUST WATCHEDAndy Murray's historic Wimbledon winReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHAndy Murray's historic Wimbledon win 03:48JUST WATCHEDSharapova's love affair with ParisReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSharapova's love affair with Paris 01:53Stephens nextHalep is determined to make amends for a defeat to Stephens the only time they have met."I played her in Australia a couple of seasons ago and she beat me very fast. Now I think I'm more prepared than I was then. I have confidence I can take revenge."Former French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova will be a representative of the "old guard" in the last 16, with the 28-year-old, a 100-1 outsider at the start of the tournament, emerging as a real threat.She battled to a 6-7 6-1 9-7 victory over Czech fifth seed Petra Kvitova, her 10th appearance in the last 16 at Roland Garros in 11 years.Ivanovic beatenShe will next play Lucy Safarova, who continued the string of upsets with a 6-3 6-3 win over 2008 champion Ana Ivanovic.Only one player from the top six of the rankings, Halep, is in the last 16, with seventh seed and 2012 champion Maria Sharapova favored by many to claim a second French Open title.She will play Samantha Stosur of Australia in an eagerly-awaited fourth round clash Sunday.Second seed Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer headline the action on Philippe Chatrier with intriguing match ups against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Ernests Gulbis respectively.
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Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump on Monday expressed skepticism about foreign disinformation campaigns related to the coronavirus pandemic, contradicting Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who has been a strong critic of China and Iran in particular.Asked about reported efforts by China, Russia and Iran to mislead the public about the source of the deadly pandemic and the US response to it, Trump countered by voicing doubt about the media reports and suggesting that they were aimed at damaging his presidency."Number one you don't know what they're doing, and when you read it in the Washington Post, you don't believe it," Trump said on Fox & Friends. "I believe very little of what I see. I see stories in the Washington Post that are so fake, that are so phony."Pressed on the fact that the Chinese government has engaged in such a disinformation campaign, the President seemed to downplay the matter.Trump strikes friendly tone on China with trade in mind, as his top officials point fingers over pandemic"They do it and we do it and we call them different things and you know, I make statements that are very strong against China, including the Chinese virus, which has been going on for a long time," Trump said. "Every country does it."Read MoreTrump's apparent nonchalance about the targeted foreign influence campaigns come in stark contrast to his own State Department, where key officials, including Pompeo, have sought to highlight disinformation as cornerstones of their coronavirus messaging.Pompeo has taken an aggressive approach in calling out disinformation, particularly from Beijing and Tehran. The top US diplomat, speaking from the White House podium on March 20, said the US had seen these activities "come from places like China and Russia and Iran, where there are coordinated efforts to disparage what America is doing in our activity to do all the things that President Trump has set in motion here." He urged people to "ensure that where they turn to for information is a reliable source and not a bad actor trying to create and flow information that they know is wrong." Trump says he will speak with Putin to discuss oil market and tradePompeo said that "the intentional disinformation campaign that China has been and continues to be engaged in" was a key topic of discussion at last week's Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers' meeting. The US scuttled the traditional joint statement from that coalition over insistence on the use of the phrase "Wuhan virus" -- a term which Pompeo and State Department officials have claimed is meant to counter misinformation about the source of the illness.Two weeks ago, the top official in the State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs summoned Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai after China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson suggested coronavirus originated with the US Army.On Friday, the head of the State Department's Global Engagement Center told reporters that since January, they have "been tracking narratives promoted by Russian, Chinese, and Iranian-sponsored sites or different platforms related to the coronavirus." "During the crisis, we've seen Russian, Chinese, and Iranian state disinformation and propaganda ecosystems all converge around some disinformation themes intended to promote their own agendas," Lea Gabrielle said. "The COVID-19 crisis has really provided an opportunity for malign actors to exploit the information space for harmful purposes, and really been providing unnecessary distractions from the global communities focused on this crisis."CORRECTION: This article has been updated to reflect the top official in the State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs summoned the Chinese ambassador.CNN's Alison Main, Alex Marquardt, Kylie Atwood and Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.
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I am quite sure that you must be syncing your Smartphone with your Computers for transferring files and taking backup of your device.
If you are using windows operating system and Android devices, then it's a bad news for you, because FireEye Security Researchers have identified a new piece of windows malware that can also infects your Android Devices.
During an investigation of a targeted attack on a US based financial institution, researchers spotted a new version of Windows Remote Access Trojan (RAT) called 'Win-Spy Software Pro v16', a spying and monitoring tool. WinSpy was embedded in macro documents to kick off a spam campaign via a spear phishing email.
"The recent surge in Android-based RATs such as Dendroid and AndroRAT shows a spike in the interest of malicious actors to control mobile devices. GimmeRAT is another startling example of malicious actors venturing into the Android ecosystem," security firm said.
The Researchers dubbed the Android spying component pre-loaded with WinSpy as GimmeRat, that allow hackers to control the victims' device by using their own phone remotely over SMSs, or alternatively through a Windows-based controller.
"We also discovered various Android components that can be employed to engage in surveillance of a target." security firm said in a blog post.
To install the Android malware, WinSpy communicates with mobile devices connected to the infected computer using a command line tool called Android Debug Bridge (ADB), that allows the Windows malware to execute commands on the Android device. ADB is a legitimate tool and part of the official Android software development kit (SDK). If USB debugging Mode is enabled on the device, it initiates the installation process.
The new Android components also smooth the ways for surveillance of the target and there are three different applications that are part of the Android surveillance package.
"We have found three different applications that are a part of the surveillance package. One of the applications requires commandeering via a window controller and requires physical access to the device while the other two applications can be deployed in a client-server model and allow remote access through a second Android device," wrote the researchers.
The technique is now new, Similar payload was used by other windows malware called 'Trojan.Droidpak' to infect Android Device, that was discovered by Antivirus firm Symantec in January.
Using Android malware, the attackers could trace victims' GPS location, can take screenshots of victims' devices and could send these data to the remote Command-and-Control servers. Trojan is also perfect in monitoring the device' text messages.
"The hostname, port, username, and password are used to connect to the attackers' FTP server to send screenshots, which is explained, in a later section. Once this intent is received the GlobalService is restarted with the interval parameter.." FireEye said.
When Windows system infected with WinSpy, an attacker can take screenshots, log keystrokes and even can also use it to open a backdoor for remote commands, upload and download of more files and the execution of remote commands.
With the widespread use of Smartphones, the adoption of the mobile platforms such as Android has been increased, and so the new market of cyber criminals demands for RATs to support these platforms. Such interesting tactics can be used to serve fake Mobile Banking apps.. Fairly evil Ideas!
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Story highlightsNeil Heywood was found dead in a Chinese hotel in NovemberThe wife of a former top Communist Party official is being investigated over the deathHeywood had worked for a firm founded by former British intelligence officersBut the British foreign secretary denies that he worked for the governmentA U.K. businessman whose death is at the center of a huge political scandal in China was not a spy working for Britain, the foreign secretary said. Neil Heywood was found dead in a hotel in the southwestern Chinese metropolis of Chongqing in November. The cause of death was reportedly ascribed to excessive alcohol consumption initially, and his body was cremated without an autopsy.But Britain asked China in February to investigate the matter further after being informed of growing concern about Heywood's case.The Chinese authorities have since put Gu Kailai -- the wife of the former Chongqing party chief, Bo Xilai -- under investigation in relation to Heywood's death. And Bo has been ousted from his top Communist Party posts and placed under investigation in connection with "serious discipline violations."Speculation has been rife about the nature of Heywood's work in China and his ties to Bo's family.JUST WATCHEDInside hotel of murder mystery in ChinaReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHInside hotel of murder mystery in China 03:21JUST WATCHEDBritain demands probe into Heywood deathReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBritain demands probe into Heywood death 02:18JUST WATCHEDBo Xilai's wife arrested in Briton deathReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBo Xilai's wife arrested in Briton death 01:37Heywood had lived in China for more than a decade and was married to a Chinese woman. Among the companies Heywood advised was Hakluyt and Company a consulting firm founded by former officers of the British spy agency MI6.That link fueled rumors that Heywood might have had connections to the British intelligence services.But in a letter to a British lawmaker this week, William Hague, the British foreign secretary, denied that possibility."Mr Heywood was not an employee of the British Government in any capacity," Hague said in the letter, which was seen Thursday by CNN.Hague noted that government policy is usually "neither to confirm nor deny speculation of this sort." But he said he was making an exception "given the intense interest in this case."
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Story highlights TV and radio suspend entertainment programming to mourn victims of landslidesThe site in Badakhshan province has been declared a mass graveAuthorities are now scrambling to help 4,000 survivors and evacueesMore rain in the forecast creates fear there may be another landslideSunday is a day of mourning in Afghanistan for the victims of two landslides that turned a village into a mass grave last week.TV and radio stations suspended the broadcast of entertainment programming to commemorate Friday's tragedy.The first landslide, triggered by heavy rain, swallowed 300 to 400 homes in the Argo district of Badakhshan province in northeastern Afghanistan, where an estimated 2,700 people lived, authorities said.When as many as 600 people from a nearby village came to help dig people out, another landslide swept through, burying most, if not all, of the rescuers, according to provincial governor Shah Waliullah Adeeb.The governor's office said at least 2,000 people died in all.Efforts are now focused on about 4,000 survivors and evacuees. United Nations humanitarian groups are rounding up food, water and medical supplies. A NATO team is sending a C-130 transport plane from Kabul airport with supplies, including tents and blankets, officials say. Afghans are also donating to charities to help the victims. Hamim Jalalzai, an Afghan journalist, said on Facebook that he was part of a group of people who went from shop to shop in Kabul, taking up donations.Meteorologists warn that potential rain forecast for Monday and Tuesday could further hamper rescue efforts and trigger another landslide.
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Beware! If you are using UC Browser on your smartphones, you should consider uninstalling it immediately.
Why? Because the China-made UC Browser contains a "questionable" ability that could be exploited by remote attackers to automatically download and execute code on your Android devices.
Developed by Alibaba-owned UCWeb, UC Browser is one of the most popular mobile browsers, specifically in China and India, with a massive user base of more than 500 million users worldwide.
According to a new report published today by Dr. Web firm, since at least 2016, UC Browser for Android has a "hidden" feature that allows the company to anytime download new libraries and modules from its servers and install them on users' mobile devices.
Pushing Malicious UC Browser Plug-ins Using MiTM Attack
What's worrisome? It turns out that the reported feature downloads new plugins from the company server over insecure HTTP protocol instead of encrypted HTTPS protocol, thus allowing remote attackers to perform man-in-the-middle (MiTM) attacks and push malicious modules to targeted devices.
"Since UC Browser works with unsigned plug-ins, it will launch malicious modules without any verification," the researchers say.
"Thus, to perform an MITM attack, cybercriminals will only need to hook the server response from https://puds.ucweb.com/upgrade/index.xhtml?dataver=pb, replace the link to the downloadable plug-in and the values of attributes to be verified, i.e., MD5 of the archive, its size, and the plug-in size. As a result, the browser will access a malicious server to download and launch a Trojan module."
In a PoC video shared by Dr. Web, researchers demonstrated how they were able to replace a plugin to view PDF documents with a malicious code using an MiTM attack, forcing the UC Browser into compiling a new text message, instead of opening the file.
"Thus, MITM attacks can help cybercriminals use UC Browser to spread malicious plug-ins that perform a wide variety of actions," researchers explain.
"For example, they can display phishing messages to steal usernames, passwords, bank card details, and other personal data. Additionally, trojan modules will be able to access protected browser files and steal passwords stored in the program directory."
UC Browser Violates Google Play Store Policies
Since the ability allows UCWeb to download and execute arbitrary code on users' devices without reinstalling a full new version of UC Browser app, it also violates the Play Store policy by bypassing Google servers.
"This violates Google's rules for software distributed in its app store. The current policy states that applications downloaded from Google Play cannot change their own code or download any software components from third-party sources," the researchers say.
"These rules were applied to prevent the distribution of modular trojans that download and launch malicious plugins."
This dangerous feature has been found in both UC Browser as well as UC Browser Mini, with all version affected including the latest version of the browsers released to this date.
Dr. Web responsibly reported their findings to the developer of both UC Browser and UC Browser Mini, but they refused even to provide a comment on the matter. It then reported the issue to Google.
At the time of writing, UC Browser and UC Browser Mini are "still available and can download new components, bypassing Google Play servers," researchers say.
Such a feature can be abused in supply chain attack scenarios where company's server get compromised, allowing attackers to push malicious updates to a large number of users at once—just like we recently saw in ASUS supply chain attack that compromised over 1 million computers.
So, users are left with just one choice to make... get rid of it until the company patches the issue.
Update: A spokesperson for UCWeb provides The Hacker News a statement saying, "As per concerns raised by Dr Web, UC has updated the UC Browser app on Google Play. UC is an International company and stands by its commitment to create a product that helps millions of users access benefits of mobile internet."
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Story highlights On Syria, Putin says he and Obama "agreed to push the parties to the negotiating table" Obama says it's important to make sure chemical weapons don't proliferate in SyriaCameron: G8 summit aims to "fire up our economies and drive growth"Obama says negotiations for a U.S.-EU trade deal will start in WashingtonRussian President Vladimir Putin says he still doesn't see eye to eye with the United States on Syria.But "all of us have the intention to stop the violence in Syria ... and to solve this situation peacefully," Putin said Monday after a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama at the Group of Eight Summit in Northern Ireland.Putin said he and Obama "agreed to push the parties to the negotiating table." But the Russian president didn't specify who could be involved in Syria talks, when they would take place or what their end goal would be.The G8 summit comes days after the United States pledged to play a greater role in assisting Syrian rebels, citing evidence that President Bashar al-Assad's regime used chemical weapons against the rebels and his own people. The move was backed by seven of the eight nations represented at this week's conference in Loch Erne, while Russia remains the sole G8 nation supporting al-Assad.JUST WATCHEDG8 leaders inspire new ice cream flavorsReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHG8 leaders inspire new ice cream flavors 01:35JUST WATCHEDEconomic boost for G8 summit host ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHEconomic boost for G8 summit host 01:55JUST WATCHEDNorth Korea high on G8 agendaReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHNorth Korea high on G8 agenda 02:57And global leaders at the conference are poised to pressure Putin over his support for Syria's government. On Monday, Obama stressed the importance of making sure chemical weapons "are neither used nor subject to proliferation" in Syria -- a topic that Putin didn't mention in his public remarks after meeting with the U.S. president. Russia has downplayed the claims of chemical weapons use, and Putin has opposed outside intervention into the county's 2-year-old internal conflict.On Sunday, Putin sharply criticized the decision to provide arms to Syrian rebels, referencing a widely circulated video of an opposition fighter appearing to eat the heart of a dead solider.Speaking to reporters in London after meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron, Putin warned against arming Syrian rebels "who kill their enemies and eat their organs.""Do you want to support these people? Do you want to supply arms to these people?" Putin asked.Putin warns against arming organ-eating Syrian rebelsOpinion: A new breed of terror in Northern IrelandThe White House announcement last week that it was increasing the "size and scope" of its material support to Syrian rebels came after months of political debate over the U.S. role in the conflict. Great Britain and France, two other G8 members, were strong backers of the May decision to end the European Union arms embargo on Syria, and both countries asserted that al-Assad's regime had used chemical weapons before the United States did. The meeting between Obama and Putin Monday was the first time the two leaders have spoken face to face since last year's G-20 summit in Mexico."It's in Russia's interest to join us in applying pressure on Bashar al-Assad to come to the table in a way that relinquishes his power and his standing in Syria, because we don't see any scenario where he restores his legitimacy to lead the country," Obama's deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes noted before Monday's meeting.Other G8 nations have expressed similar viewpoints, calling on Russia to back United Nations intervention in Syria. Russia's permanent position on the United Nations Security Council has made action through that body difficult for countries intent on removing al-Assad from power.After meeting with Putin on Monday, Obama said the possibility of negotiations remains on the table."We want to try to resolve the issue through political means, if possible," Obama said.Before this week's meetings, the U.S. president spoke by videoconference with the leaders of Britain, France, Italy and Germany to discuss "ways to support a political transition to end the conflict" in Syria, the White House said.The White House has not yet publicly specified what exact steps it would take to support members of Syria's opposition, though sources have told CNN small arms, ammunition and possibly anti-tank weapons would be part of the assistance package.On Friday, Rhodes said further discussions with other nations were necessary to determine next steps.Though Syria will likely dominate discussions behind the scenes at this week's summit, leaders began the conference Monday by heralding a possible trade deal they said could create millions of jobs.The first round of negotiations for a trans-Atlantic trade agreement between the United States and the European Union will take place next month in Washington, Obama said."I believe that we can form an economic alliance as strong as our diplomatic and security alliances," he told reporters after the leaders of eight of the world's most powerful nations kicked off their meeting."The whole point of this meeting ... is to fire up our economies and drive growth and prosperity around the world. ... There's no better way than by launching these negotiations on a landmark deal between the European Union and the United states of America," Cameron said.Cameron, the host of this week's conference, named the problem of tax avoidance by large corporations as a central issue for G8 leaders to resolve at this year's summit. The British prime minister hopes to secure agreements among nations on sharing tax information, with the goal of ensuring global companies aren't able to dodge tax bills.The measure met resistance from firms' chief executives, though Cameron said he's willing to withstand corporate ire for a fairer global tax system."You don't get anywhere unless you are prepared to give the lead and perhaps make a few enemies along the way," Cameron said. "In setting the G8 agenda around trade, tax and transparency, yes, you are taking on some vested interests, you are taking on some difficult decisions. But actually will it help both the developing world and us in the West? I believe it can."While in Europe, Obama will also likely be forced to defend U.S. Internet surveillance techniques that were disclosed in a series of newspaper articles in early June. The intelligence programs, which were previously considered top secret, involved large tech companies who operate globally, including Facebook, Google and Yahoo.Snowden says online he had to 'get out' of the U.S. before leaks
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Story highlightsWorld No. 1 Novak Djokovic and younger brother Marko in action at the Dubai OpenNovak wins in straight sets in first match since his Australian Open win in JanuaryDjokovic watches brother Marko lose in first round clash before his own matchWorld No. 8 Mardy Fish into second round with a 6-1 6-1 victory over Andreas BeckThey share the same surname -- Djokovic -- but for now at least, that is where the similarity ends.Novak is at the pinnacle of his sport and was the center of attention in Dubai after completing in his first victory since winning the Australian Open in January.At 20, Marko is four years younger, and 868 places further down the rankings -- and on Monday he slumped to an opening-round defeat in front of his elder sibling.Djokovic senior was on hand to watch his brother's elimination, at the hands of Russian qualifier Andrey Golubev, but says that Marko can make his mark in the upper echelons of the game.Del Potro too strong for Llodra in Marseille final"He has to face the pressure of having the Djokovic surname," Novak said in quotes carried by AFP."He's trying to fight with his mind more than with his game. When he is able to focus on that and not on his doubts he can become a world-class player."He admitted it was tough to watch Marko's 6-3 6-2 reverse. "It was difficult for me to sit courtside," he said. "I have not done it too much."At least when I'm playing I know what's going on. But I was happy my brother got a wild card. He is not at his level yet, but he's getting there."As for Marko, he said there were plenty of positives and negatives to being the brother of the world's No. 1 player."Financially, you know, I have all I need and can get the coaches and the right practice environment. But everybody expects you to be like your brother, which is really tough to achieve."Sometimes I have an advantage because maybe opponents get scared. But others think, 'He's Novak's brother, so I must beat him.' And that can be tough."Novak had no such trouble in negotiating his opening round test, defeating German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 6-4 6-2 in his first outing since securing his fifth grand slam crown in Melbourne.He has won four straight titles in Dubai and will face either Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky or Omar Awadhy, from the United Arab Emirates, in round two. Elsewhere, world No. 8 Mardy Fish made light work of Andreas Beck, beating his German opponent 6-1 6-1. Fish will play Russia's Mikhail Youzhny or Frenchman Richard Gasquet next.
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(CNN)All good things must come to an end, and so it is that Jill Ellis has stepped down as coach of the United States women's soccer team.Ellis, who took charge in 2014, led the side to two World Cup final victories, most recently in France earlier this year. She oversaw her final match Sunday, a 1-1 draw against South Korea in Chicago. The 53-year-old stands down as the most successful coach in USWNT history with 106 wins, 19 draws and just seven losses.She is the only person to take charge of two successful Women's World Cup campaigns, recording victories in all 15 games across her two tournaments bar a 0-0 draw against Sweden in 2015. The US defeated the Netherlands 2-0 in Lyon in July to lift its fourth World Cup title and over the past two months has contested matches against Ireland, Portugal and South Korea as part of a Victory Tour.Read MoreREAD: Jill Ellis: The shy girl from England who became US Soccer's record-breaking head coachREAD: Megan Rapinoe praises Raheem Sterling, 'Blue Girl' in FIFA award speechEllis took charge of her final game in Chicago on October 6."I'm privileged to have done this job for so long," Ellis told reporters Sunday."Numbers and all that kind of fade away and it becomes about the players, the staff, the people, and the memories. I've got a trunk full of memories from this for sure and it's been fantastic."It was her penultimate game in charge -- a 2-0 victory over South Korea on October 3 -- that saw Ellis surpass Tony DiCicco's record of 105 wins as USWNT manager. During Ellis' five years in charge, the US team has become a powerful collective voice for gender equality in sport. A lawsuit filed by players against the US Soccer Federation has been scheduled for trial starting on May 5 next year.Former player Kate Markgraf, who was appointed as the USWNT's general manager in August, lis leading the hunt for the team's next manager.READ: Hugo Lloris in agony after freak injury during Spurs defeat JUST WATCHEDReal Madrid to launch women's teamReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHReal Madrid to launch women's team 01:25Markgraf previously named Laura Harvey, Paul Riley, Vlatko Andonovski and Mark Krikorian as potential candidates to take over from Ellis. Carli Lloyd scored the USA's only goal in Sunday's game against South Korea, a first-half equalizer three minutes after Ji So-yun had given the visiting side the lead. The US next faces Sweden on November 8 in Columbus.
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(CNN)Poland marks 100 years of independence on Sunday, at the same time as the centenary of the armistice that ended World War I is commemorated around Europe.The occasion should be one for celebration in Poland. But controversy and confusion over a planned far-right independence march in the capital Warsaw has overshadowed preparations.A court in Warsaw on Thursday overturned a decision by the city's mayor to ban the march over security concerns after the organizers appealed.Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, of the opposition Civic Platform party, had declared Wednesday that the march should not go ahead because Warsaw had "suffered enough due to aggressive nationalism," Reuters news agency said.Hours after she announced the ban, Poland's President and Prime Minister said the government would stage its own official march Sunday along the same route as the planned far-right march.Read MoreIt's now unclear what will happen on the day.The situation has been complicated by mass protest action by Poland's police, which has cast doubt over their capacity to ensure security during the march. Gronkiewicz-Waltz said Thursday she would appeal the court ruling that reinstated the unofficial march. "We have an argument in the form of yesterday's order of the Prime Minister that directs the military police to help the police," she said. "It means that our assessments were correct that police would not be able to do it."She argued that in banning the march, she was primarily guided by security considerations. "We do not know to what extent the policemen will return to work," she said.Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, of the ruling right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, on Wednesday called on Twitter for marchers to unite under Poland's white and red flag to celebrate the centenary.Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, pictured in July, called for the country to unite to celebrate the centenary.Organizers of the unofficial "March of Independence" -- including two nationalist groups, the All-Polish Youth and the National Radical Camp -- welcomed the court ruling overturning the ban.But Robert Bąkiewicz, chairman of the organizing group, said they were talking to authorities with the public image of their homeland in mind. "We want (November 11) to be the holiday of all patriots," he tweeted Friday.Last year, ultra nationalists and fascist groups disrupted the main independence day march in Warsaw.One of the lead organizations involved in the march was the National Radical Camp, which had previously taken to the streets to protest against Muslim immigration, gay rights, the European Union and anything it considers undermines Polish Catholic values.The day celebrates the rebirth of Poland in November 1918, 123 years after the Prussian, Habsburg and Russian empires carved up Poland among themselves and erased it from the map of Europe.
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A security researcher has just discovered a stealthy cryptocurrency-mining malware that was also using Windows SMB vulnerability at least two weeks before the outbreak of WannaCry ransomware attacks.
According to Kafeine, a security researcher at Proofpoint, another group of cyber criminals was using the same EternalBlue exploit, created by the NSA and dumped last month by the Shadow Brokers, to infect hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide with a cryptocurrency mining malware called 'Adylkuzz.'
This malicious campaign went unnoticed for weeks because unlike WannaCry, this malware does not install ransomware or notify victims, but instead, it quietly infects unpatched computers with malware that only mine 'Monero,' a Bitcoin-like cryptocurrency.
This Malware Saves Computers From Getting Hacked By WannaCry
The Researcher believes Adylkuzz malware attack could be larger in scale than WannaCry ransomware attack because it has been designed to block SMB ports of a targeted computer after hijacking it.
In other words, Adylkuzz malware infects unpatched computers and then closes SMB ports to prevent them from further infections, which may have indirectly saved hundreds of thousand of computers from getting hacked by WannaCry ransomware as well.
Mining cryptocurrencies can be a costly investment as it requires an enormous amount of computing power, but the Adylkuzz cryptocurrency-mining malware makes it easier for cybercriminals by allowing them to utilize computing resources of compromised systems and makes lots and lots of dollars.
"Once infected through use of the EternalBlue exploit, the cryptocurrency miner Adylkuzz is installed and used to generate cybercash for the attackers," said Robert Holmes, vice president of products at Proofpoint.
One Monero is currently valued at around US$26.77.
"While an individual laptop may generate only a few dollars per week, collectively the network of compromised computers appears to be generating five-figure payouts daily," the researchers added.
According to Proofpoint, tens of thousands of computers across the world have been infected by the Adylkuzz malware.
Despite people's efforts to patch their systems to prevent themselves from the WannaCry menace, Proofpoint believes the Adylkuzz attack is still growing and targeting Windows machines.
Last week, in a separate research, GuardiCore researchers uncovered a new botnet malware, dubbed BondNet, that was also infecting Windows machines worldwide, with a combination of techniques, for mining cryptocurrencies — primarily Monero, but also ByteCoin, RieCoin, and ZCash.
If this isn't enough, you'll find yourself worry after knowing that the hacking group, Shadow Brokers, who last month leaked the Windows SMB exploit, is back, promising to release more zero-days vulnerabilities and exploits starting from June.
So, the best key to keeping yourself safe is that instead of worrying about your devices, just patch them with the latest updates and follow some basic security tips that I have mentioned in my previous article about how to disable SMB and prevent your machines from WannaCry, cryptocurrency mining malware, and other malware.
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(CNN)Jurors in the manslaughter trial of Kim Potter, the White former Minnesota police officer who says she mistook her firearm for her Taser and fatally shot Daunte Wright, concluded deliberations for the day Tuesday after earlier asking what they should do if they can't reach a verdict.They are expected to return Wednesday after deliberating just over nine hours Tuesday and more than five hours the day before. "If the jury cannot reach consensus, what is the guidance around how long and what steps should be taken?" jurors wrote in one of two notes to the court Tuesday. Judge Regina Chu sent them back to work after rereading an earlier instruction that they "deliberate with a view toward reaching agreement if you can do so without violating your individual judgment."Jurors also asked the court that zip ties securing the weapon to an evidence box be removed so the handgun can be held during deliberations. Read MoreChu allowed the zip ties to be removed so the gun -- which she said is not loaded and is fully secured -- can be handled by jurors.Potter, 49, has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree and second-degree manslaughter in the killing of Wright, a 20-year-old Black man.Wright was shot in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, in April after police pulled him over for an expired tag and an illegal air freshener. During the stop, officers learned he had an outstanding warrant and attempted to arrest him, but Wright pulled away and tried to drive off in his vehicle.As video of the incident shows, Potter yelled "Taser" repeatedly before she shot Wright with her handgun. She then said, "Holy sh*t! I just shot him!" She added: "I grabbed the wrong f**king gun, and I shot him." She resigned from the department days later.The core of the case is the jury's interpretation of Potter's fatal error: Was it, as the prosecution argued, due to her recklessness and negligence? Or was it an unfortunate accident that does not rise to the level of a crime, as the defense has argued?More than 30 witnesses, including Potter herself, took the stand during the trial's eight days of testimony. An emotional Potter testified for hours and broke down in tears several times as she described the "chaotic" moments that led up to the shooting."I was very distraught. I just shot somebody. I'm sorry it happened," she said, crying, in court. "I'm so sorry."JUST WATCHEDFormer police officer Kim Potter becomes emotional during testimonyReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHFormer police officer Kim Potter becomes emotional during testimony 02:05Under cross-examination, Potter said Wright had not threatened the officers before she fired. She said she did not remember much of what happened after the shooting but acknowledged she did not help treat Wright's injuries or check on her fellow officers.Potter was far from a rogue officer. She testified that before that day she had never deployed her Taser or fired a handgun while on duty, and she had never had a complaint against her.The fatal shooting -- just miles from where former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin stood trial for killing George Floyd -- set off days of unrest in Brooklyn Center after a summer of coast-to-coast protests over how police treat people of color.Ex-police officer Kim Potter weeps, says she's 'sorry' as she recalls fatally shooting Daunte WrightIn closing arguments, Assistant Minnesota Attorney General Erin Eldridge argued Potter made a series of bad choices during the traffic stop that led to the fatal mix-up."Accidents can still be crimes if they occur because of recklessness or culpable negligence," the prosecutor said. "It's not a defense to the crimes charged."The defense has characterized the killing as an unfortunate accident that should not be considered a crime. "Everybody makes mistakes, nobody's perfect," said attorney Earl Gray. "This lady made a mistake and a mistake is not a crime."He also argued Potter was within her rights to use deadly force to protect a fellow officer, who was reaching into the vehicle when Wright attempted to drive away."Even though she didn't know she was using it, she had the right to, and that's what the law is," he said.CNN's Ashley Killough, Carma Hassan, Brad Parks and Anna-Maja Rappard contributed to this report.
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Story highlights Court judgment is "unacceptable" and over emotional, Kremlin spokesman saysCourt: There were "serious shortcomings" in the Russian investigation into the attack (CNN)The European Court of Human Rights ruled Thursday that there had been "serious failings" in the Russian authorities' handling of a 2004 terrorist attack on a school in Beslan, North Ossetia, where more than 330 people were killed.The case was brought by 409 relatives of those killed or injured and survivors of the attack, in which more than 1,000 people were held hostage for more than two days in a school gymnasium rigged with explosives by heavily armed Chechen separatists.More than 180 children were among those killed by the end of the siege, which began as the school held a ceremony to mark the start of a new school year. Photos: Beslan siege: In pictures Photos: Beslan siege: In picturesBeslan siege – On September 1, 2004, armed Chechen rebels took approximately 1,200 children and adults hostage at a school in Beslan, North Ossetia. Hundreds of people were killed as a result of the three-day siege in southern Russia.Hide Caption 1 of 15 Photos: Beslan siege: In picturesBeslan siege – Ossetian soldiers take position near the school where a group of gunmen, wearing belts laden with explosives, held the hostages.Hide Caption 2 of 15 Photos: Beslan siege: In picturesBeslan siege – Soldiers wait in position near the school in Beslan. Russian commandos took over the school and freed many hostages on the third day of the siege.Hide Caption 3 of 15 Photos: Beslan siege: In picturesBeslan siege: In pictures – An Ossetian policeman and volunteers carry a stretcher with injured schoolgirl during the rescue operation.Hide Caption 4 of 15 Photos: Beslan siege: In picturesBeslan siege: In pictures – A special police soldier carries an injured colleague, as two soldiers and two women take cover behind an armored personnel carrier during the siege.Hide Caption 5 of 15 Photos: Beslan siege: In picturesBeslan siege – A soldier takes cover as special forces storm the school to free remaining hostages.Hide Caption 6 of 15 Photos: Beslan siege: In picturesBeslan siege – A mother hugs her son in front of soldiers cordoning off the school building.Hide Caption 7 of 15 Photos: Beslan siege: In picturesBeslan siege – Ossetians comfort children during the rescue operation at Beslan school. Around 700 local residents were wounded in the hostage siege.Hide Caption 8 of 15 Photos: Beslan siege: In picturesBeslan siege – The siege ended on September 3, 2004, leaving 334 people dead -- including 186 children -- and more than 700 people wounded.Hide Caption 9 of 15 Photos: Beslan siege: In picturesBeslan siege – People look for their relatives among the bodies of the Beslan siege victims at the morgue in Vladikavkz, North Ossetia, on September 4, 2004.Hide Caption 10 of 15 Photos: Beslan siege: In picturesHide Caption 11 of 15 Photos: Beslan siege: In picturesBeslan siege – People look for relatives among the dead bodies of the Beslan victims in Vladikavkz, North Ossetia.Hide Caption 12 of 15 Photos: Beslan siege: In picturesBeslan siege – Russian women light candles after a special memorial service at a church on September 7, 2004.Hide Caption 13 of 15 Photos: Beslan siege: In picturesBeslan siege – People take part in a "Russia-against terrorism" mass-meeting next to St Basil's Cathedral, on the Red Square in Moscow, September 7, 2004.Hide Caption 14 of 15 Photos: Beslan siege: In picturesBeslan siege – Nurpashi Kulayev stands in the defendant's cage during the proceedings of his trial in Vladikavkaz, May 24, 2006. Kulayev was the only surviving terrorist responsible for a terrorist act staged at the school. He was found guilty of terrorism and other charges and sentenced to life in prison.Hide Caption 15 of 15Survivors and relatives of those caught up in the bloody attack have long called for answers about what happened and whether the security forces' armed response led to unnecessary deaths among the hostages.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the court's judgment against a country which had suffered a terror attack was "unacceptable" and overly emotional.Read MoreBeslan school siege: 'Time doesn't heal at all''Serious shortcomings'In its ruling, the court said the Russian authorities had not done enough to keep the school safe."The authorities had been in possession of sufficiently specific information of a planned terrorist attack in the area, linked to an educational institution. Nevertheless, not enough had been done to disrupt the terrorists meeting and preparing; insufficient steps had been taken to prevent them travelling on the day of the attack; security at the school had not been increased; and neither the school nor the public had been warned of the threat," a press release on the judgment said.The court also identified "serious shortcomings" in the investigation into the attack by the Russian authorities.There had been no proper examination of how the victims had died, it said. Russian authorities did not carry out a full forensic examination of the majority of victims and failed to properly record the location of most of the hostages' bodies.In addition, other evidence at the scene was not properly secured and recorded, the court said, causing "irreparable harm to subsequent analysis of the event."Powerful weaponsThe court also criticized "serious shortcomings in the planning and control of the security operation" by Russian authorities responding to the hostage situation. "In the absence of proper legal rules, powerful weapons such as tank cannon, grenade launchers and flame-throwers had been used on the school. This had contributed to the casualties among the hostages," it said. A woman cries as she looks at the pictures of children killed in the school sports hall in Beslan, 30 August 2005. A number of domestic investigations have been held in the years since the attack on Beslan's Middle School Number One and, in 2006, the only surviving hostage-taker was sentenced to life in prison. But the court ruled that the Russian authorities had breached the applicants' rights, because "the investigation had not been 'effective', as it had not been capable of leading to a determination of whether the force used by the State had been justified in the circumstances. It also noted that the public scrutiny aspect of the investigation had been breached by the victims' restricted access to it."Friends and relatives of those killed hold a minute of silence in the wreckage of the school hall to commemorate the six-month anniversary of the Beslan attack.The court ordered Russia to pay the 409 applicants a total of 2.9 million euros (almost $3.1 million) in compensation. The ECHR is not a European Union body. It was established in 1959 to rule on violations set out in the European Convention on Human Rights, of which Russia is a signatory. However in late 2015 the Russian parliament passed a law allowing it to overrule judgments for the court and allowing the Russian constitution to take precedence.Asked if the Russian government would abide by the court's decision, Peskov said: "All the necessary legal actions about this decision will take place."
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Rome (CNN)Pope Francis has urged the Catholic faithful to embrace the "light of Christ" to help end conflict and injustice around the world, during his Christmas Day address. Speaking from the Vatican balcony under a clear blue sky on Wednesday, the Holy Father prayed for people struck by war, political instability, natural disasters and disease among other hardships in his annual "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message. The 83-year-old pope listed several places -- including Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Venezuela and Ukraine -- while calling for peace. "There is darkness in human hearts, yet the light of Christ is greater still," the pope told the thousands gathered in St. Peter's Square."There is darkness in personal, family and social relationships, but the light of Christ is greater. There is darkness in economic, geopolitical and ecological conflicts, yet greater still is the light of Christ," he added. Read MorePope Francis waves from the balcony of St Peter's basilica during the traditional "Urbi et Orbi" Christmas message on Wednesday.The Pope also singled out those persecuted for their Christian faith "particularly in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria."At least 35 civilians, most of them women, were killed in an attack by Islamic militants on Christmas Eve in Burkina Faso, several news outlets reported Wednesday citing local authorities. In a speech that marked his seventh Christmas as pontiff, the Bishop of Rome also highlighted the plight of refugees and migrants. Pope Francis donates $500,000 to help Central American migrants in MexicoHe said: "It is injustice that makes them cross deserts and seas that become cemeteries. It is injustice that forces them to ensure unspeakable forms of abuse, enslavement of every kind and torture in inhumane detention camps. It is injustice that turns them away from places where they might have hope for a dignified life, but instead find themselves before walls of indifference."Francis concluded his address by urging his flock to "soften our often stony and self-centered hearts.""May he bring his smile, through our poor faces, to all the children of the world: to those who are abandoned and those who suffer violence." the pope added. "On this joyful Christmas Day, may he bring his tenderness to all and brighten the darkness of this world.Earlier Wednesday, the pontiff made a rare joint appeal with other church leaders for peace in South Sudan."In this Christmas season and at the beginning of a new year, we wish to extend to you and to all the people of South Sudan our best wishes for your peace and prosperity, and to assure you of our spiritual closeness as you strive for a swift implementation of the Peace Agreements," said the pope, Archbishop of Canterbury and former moderator of the Church of Scotland in a statement. For a year, Catholics have pleaded for this bishop to resign. He finally did On Tuesday, Francis ushered in the Christian holiday by reminding churchgoers that "God continues to love us all, even the worst of us," according to Reuters.In remarks widely interpreted as a reference to recent sexual abuse scandals involving the church, the pontiff said: "Whatever goes wrong in our lives, whatever doesn't work in the Church, whatever problems there are in the world, will no longer serve as an excuse. It will become secondary, for faced with Jesus' extravagant love, a love of utter meekness and closeness, we have no excuse."Earlier this month, Francis abolished Vatican secrecy rules for cases of sexual abuse, effectively allowing the Catholic church to share documents and information with civil authorities, and enable survivors to be updated of the status of their cases.CNN's Richard Allen Greene and Sharon Braithwaite contributed to this report.
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Security researchers have find out ways to hijack the Intel-compatible PCs running Linux by exploiting the physical weaknesses in certain varieties of DDR DRAM (double data rate dynamic random-access memory) chips and gaining higher kernel privileges on the system.
The technique, dubbed "rowhammer", was outlined in a blog post published Monday by Google's Project Zero security initiative, a team of top security researchers dedicatedly identifies severe zero-day vulnerabilities in different software.
Rowhammer is a problem with recent generation DRAM chips in which repeatedly accessing a row of memory can cause "bit flipping" in an adjacent row which could allow anyone to change the value of contents stored in computer memory.
WHAT IS ROWHAMMER BUG
DDR memory is arranged in an array of rows and columns, which are assigned to various services, applications and OS resources in large blocks. In order to prevent each application from accessing the memory of other application, they are kept in a "sandbox" protection layer.
However, Sandbox protection can be bypassed using Bit flipping technique in which a malicious application needs to repeatedly access adjacent rows of memory in a tiny fraction of a second.
As a result, hammering two aggressor memory regions can disturb neighbouring locations, causing charge to leak into or out of neighbouring cells.
"With enough accesses, this can change a cell's value from 1 to 0 or vice versa. In other words, the selected zero area will be transferred to the victims, or vice versa." researchers explained.
The Bit flipping technique was first presented in an experimental study paper published by Carnegie Mellon University, entitled, "Flipping Bits in Memory Without Accessing Them: An Experimental Study of DRAM Disturbance Errors."
Bit flipping technique shouldn't be confused with Buffer overflow or use-after-free memory corruption techniques where an attacker funnels malicious shellcode into protected regions of victim's computer.
TWO WORKING EXPLOITS DEMONSTRATE THE FLAW
As we know, DRAM manufacturing scales down chip features to smaller physical dimensions. Latest Technology demands more memory capacity onto a chip, so it has become harder to prevent DRAM cells from interacting electrically with each other.
The Project Zero team has folded such bit flipping into an actual attack by demonstrating two proof-of-concept exploits that successfully take over control of many x86 computers running Linux and believes the same could be done with other operating systems as well.
First, Page table entries (PTEs) based exploit uses rowhammer induced bit flips to achieve kernel privileges on x86-64 Linux and hence, gain read-write access to entire of physical memory.
Second exploit demonstrates the exploitation of same vulnerability by escaping from the Native Client sandbox.
MITIGATION TECHNIQUES
Cyber Security experts also provided a way to mitigate kernel privilege escalation attack. Researchers changed Native Client to disallow the x86 CLFLUSH instruction that's required to make the first exploit works.
Whereas, preventing the Row Hammer exploit with the second proof-of-concept is a more difficult task to achieve on existing machines.
With the help of above exploits, the Project Zero team conducted tests on eight models of x86 notebook computers, built between 2010 and 2014, using five different vendors of DDR3 DRAM and five different CPU families. A large subset of these machines i.e. 15 out of 29 were found to be vulnerable.
The above attack doesn't work against the latest DDR4 silicon or DIMMs that contain ECC (error correcting code) capabilities.
Project Zero team is asking DRAM manufacturers, CPU makers, and BIOS creators to release details about the steps they've taken to mitigate rowhammer-like security issues on their products.
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Chinese search engine Baidu has just launched a security product called Baidu Antivirus 2013. Described as a ultra light weight, easy to use, extremely fast anti-virus program that promises to protect your system from malware, viruses, spyware, adware and other malicious programs.
Most interesting thing is that Baidu Antivirus comes only in English. Back in January, Baidu launched Baidu PC Faster, a software suite designed to fix speed and performance issues.
The program combines the Baidu Antivirus Engine and Baidu Cloud Security Engine with the Avira Antivirus engine to provide you with complete protection against all online threats.
"Baidu Antivirus offers an easy to use interface with several advanced configuration options as well as quarantine of infected files. It also has an extremely small memory footprint, so you can actually do other things while it is running on your computer. Other features include automatic updates, Host Intrusion Prevention System (HIPS), scan reports and more." description reads.
You can download Baidu Antivirus 2013 here and please note that, its a Chinese product, so use at your own risk !
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THN Report : ACER hacked because of their own stupidity !
Yes ! you read right , ACER hacked because of their own stupidity. Yesterday we report that Pakistan Cyber Army hacked Acer Europe Server and 40,000 Users Data, Source Codes & Server Compromised .
Today we investigate on this and try to find out that how exactly Pakistan hackers got the FTP access . Here in above image you can see the screenshot taken by us from a ASP forum of Acer-Euro. Acer ASP Support Team posted some Hot Fix Release and give FTP access to other members , so that they can download that Hot Fix. This was posted on January 11, 2008 . Pakistan hackers got this and explore the FTP and In "PB" directory they get "Country Wise Customer Data.zip" file, which include the 40000 users data managed according to country wise.
Now this Data breach is only because of ACER's own Stupidity. The link of Forum post is "https://asp.acer-euro.com/FORUM/Topic472-8-1.aspx".
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A new threat has hit head the headlines (Robinhood anyone?), and you need to know if you're protected right now. What do you do?
Traditionally, you would have to go with one of the options below.
Option 1 – Manually check that IoCs have been updated across your security controls.
This would require checking that security controls such as your email gateway, web gateway, and endpoint security have all been updated with the latest threats' indicators of compromise (IoCs) usually published by AV companies who detect the malware binaries first.
Option 2 – Create a 'carbon copy' of your network and run the threat's binary on that copy.
While safe, IT and security teams may be unaware of certain variations from the real deal. So while the attack simulation is running against an 'ideal' copy, your real network may have undergone inadvertent changes, such as a firewall running in monitoring mode, a patch not being installed on time, and other unintentional variations. The resulting mirror image has inadvertently become a 'filtered' one.
Option 3 – Build a homegrown simulation.
While effective, developing your own malware simulation is a time- and resource-intensive effort that usually requires a dedicated threats or vulnerability assessment team.
Moreover, even if you have the resources, the turnaround time for getting a live and safe simulation to work may not be ideal.
Option 4 – Run an automated simulation of the threat in your production environment.
What if you could challenge your controls with a threat on the day that it hits the headlines? This is where automated security effectiveness testing can help.
By running simulations of the latest cyber attacks against the controls required to detect them correctly, you can make sure your current security arsenal is catching risky IoCs, and close any gaps faster.
Testing Security Control Effectiveness Faster
Using a dedicated golden image of a standard workstation (or server), attack simulations can be run continually on a designated system in a production network. This way, a real user's data is not jeopardized, while enabling you to check the latest threat's ability to bypass your security controls.
By running ongoing or daily simulations of the newest menaces across your network, you can determine if your controls are catching IoCs such as command & control (C2) URLs and malicious file hashes.
Immediate Threats Available for Simulation After Their Discovery [click the image to view full size]
Real vs. Simulated Cyber Attacks – What's the Difference?
So what is the difference between a real attack and a simulated one? First and foremost, simulations usually run on a dedicated system to avoid compromising a real user's system.
For C2 communications, a simulation will attempt to establish a connection over HTTP/S, with an agent installed on the endpoint serving as a proxy to block any malicious requests sent and dropping the connection at the end of the test.
When testing endpoint security controls, rather than executing a real payload, one simulation technique involves dropping a malware sample to see if security controls can detect and remove it.
To test the effectiveness of an email gateway, a simulated attack will send emails with weaponized attachments that contain different malicious behaviors but are harmless to the target system. An agent sitting on top of the email client handles incoming emails and deletes them immediately thereafter.
Immediate Insights Against Immediate Threats
What kind of insights can simulations uncover? Challenging email security controls can reveal whether your email gateway is blocking multi-layer nested files, whether a policy is set up to filter out spoofed email addresses or rarely-used file formats, or whether archive files (e.g., ZIP) are scanned to prevent executables from landing in a user's mailbox.
To prevent drive-by-downloads, it may alert that your web gateway is not blocking downloads associated with the newest threat's URLs. And vis-à-vis endpoint security, you may learn that your current solution is failing to block or detect dropped payloads on disk.
Immediate Threats Simulation Results – Blocked or Penetrated [click the image to view full size]
Ready to test the effectiveness of your security controls against the very latest threats?
Get started here, or learn more about SaaS-based breach and attack simulation.
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(CNN)Ferrari has competed in every Formula One season since it began in 1950 but its threatening to walk away from the sport if owners Liberty Media push through new engine changes.Liberty Media, which gained control of F1 in an $8 billion takeover in early 2017, proposed changes Tuesday designed to make engines cheaper and louder.Follow @cnnsport
"If we change the sandbox to the point where it becomes an unrecognizable sandbox, I don't want to play anymore," Ferrari's CEO, Sergio Marchionne, said in a conference call with analysts.Liberty Media want to make the sport more exciting and, after months of work with F1's governing body the FIA, presented their proposals to the 10 teams at a meeting in Paris.Mercedes beat Ferrari to the 2017 Constructors title (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)Their main aims are to make the V6 turbo hybrid power units louder to please the fans and cheaper to help reduce the gap between the wealthier manufacturers and smaller privately-owned outfits with smaller budgets. Read MoreThese changes are being lined up for the 2021 season but they've been negatively received by Mercedes, Renault and now Ferrari.Formula One declined to comment when approached by CNN regarding Marchionne's statement.Sergio Marchionne, Ferrari CEO, pictured at the Italian Grand Prix (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)Marchionne, 65, who has been CEO of the Scuderia the since 2016, welcomes the idea of reducing costs but he is not a fan of standardizing the engines as he feels it would make all the cars too similar."There are a couple of things we don't necessarily agree with," he said. "One is the fact that somehow powertrain uniqueness is not going to be one of the drivers of distinctiveness of the participants' line-up. I would not countenance this going forward. "I don't want to play NASCAR globally. I just don't," Marchionne said referring to the American racing series where the cars are largely the same and the races tend to be a lot closer than Formula One. Ferrari is synonymous with F1 and, after 68 seasons, they are the most successful team in the sport's history with 16 constructors championships and 15 drivers titles.They have threatened to pull out of the sport before but never under Marchionne's leadership and he is adamant that he is prepared to withdraw when their contract ends in 2020. "The fact that we now appear to be at odds in terms of the strategic development of this thing, and we see the sport in 2021 taking on a different air, is going to force some decisions on the part of Ferrari," he said. "You need to be absolutely clear that unless we find a set of circumstances the results of which are beneficial to the maintenance of the brand in the marketplace and to the strengthening of the unique position for Ferrari, Ferrari will not play."F1 team bosses are set to meet Liberty Media again on Tuesday for further talks. Head to CNN.com/sport for more stories & features."I don't want to prejudge any of this," Marchionne said. We're walking into this meeting next Tuesday with the best of intentions. We'll see where it takes us". In the wake of the CEO's comments, a Ferrari spokesman repeated those sentiments when approached by CNN and said the team remains "open to discussion."
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Just Imaging — What if, you enter into your home from a chilling weather outside, and the heating system fails to work because of a cyber attack, leaving you in the sense of panic?
The same happened late last month when an attack knocks heating system offline in Finland.
Last week, a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack led to the disruption of the heating systems for at least two housing blocks in the city of Lappeenranta, literally leaving their residents in subzero weather.
Both the apartments are managed by a company called Valtia, a facilities services company headquartered in Lappeenranta.
Valtia CEO Simo Rounela confirmed to English language news outlet Metropolitan.fi that the central heating system and hot water system in both buildings had become a target of DDoS attacks.
In an attempt to fight back the cyber attacks, which lived for a short time, the automated systems rebooted — and unfortunately got stuck in an endless loop, which restarted repeatedly and eventually shut down heating systems for more than a week.
Also Read: Someone is Using Mirai Botnet to Shut Down Internet for an Entire Country.
The incident is extremely worrying because in a location as cold as Finland – where temperatures at this time month are below freezing – taking heating systems offline for over a week could result in death, particularly with old-aged people.
Fortunately for the buildings' residents, it was not that cold in Lappeenranta.
The attack started in late October and ended on 3rd November afternoon. Here's what a brief post on the company's website reads:
"Over 90 percent of the [remote systems] in the area of terraced houses or larger buildings will not send an alarm at the moment, even if the heat is switched off or radiator pressure disappears," as the systems are designed to shut down for safety. "The systems must be actively monitored and adjusted."
According to another local media outlet, Helsingin Sanomat, Valtia quickly relocated those affected systems and switched the heating systems over to manual, while the company addressed the DDoS attacks and brought the control systems "back into the grid, this time from behind a firewall."
The report attributes the cyber attack to the Mirai botnet – the same infamous IoT botnet that caused vast internet outage over two weeks ago by launching massive DDoS attacks against DNS provider Dyn.
Dangerous Threats of Massive IoT Botnets
Mirai botnet malware scans for insecure IoT devices, like security cameras, DVRs, and routers, that uses their default passwords and then enslaves them into a botnet network, which is then used to launch DDoS attacks.
The latest incident isn't a disastrous situation, but it is enough to make it crystal clear that these Internet-connected systems can cause a significant consequence in our physical world as well.
Just imagine if these control systems can not be manually adjusted by the people who truly rely on them?
In this case, any cyber attack that knocks these systems down is potentially dangerous and even deadly in the event of extreme temperatures.
This incident once again highlights the dangerous threats of massive DDoS attacks, which are now emerging from Millions of insecure Internet of Things (IoT) devices, whereby attackers can simply launch a DDoS to take down any critical service – no need to infect it with malware or viruses.
So the best way to protect your smart devices from being a part of DDoS botnet is to be more vigilant about the security of your internet-connected devices.
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We found a high concern for cybersecurity tactics and an increased awareness of the challenges that it brings.
This week, we shared lots of stories with our readers, and to help them in identifying the biggest malware threats to their online safety.
We are here with the outline of our last week stories, just in case you missed any of them (ICYMI).
We recommend you read the entire thing (just click 'Read More' because there's some valuable advice in there as well). Here's the list:
➢ How Hackers Can Hack Your Gmail Accounts?
Getting smarter in their phishing tactics, hackers have found out ways to fool Gmail's tight security system by bypassing its two-step verification.
Hackers are now using text messages and phone-based phishing attacks to circumvent Gmail's security and take over your Gmail accounts. — Read more.
➢ Not Just Windows 10, Windows 7 and 8 Also Spy on You
Laughing at controversial data mining and privacy invasion features within Windows 10? Well, Windows 7 and 8 users should laugh no longer as Windows 10 spying is now headed their way too…
Microsoft has been criticized for installing latest updates onto Windows 7 and Windows 8 computers that indiscriminately upload users' data to Microsoft's servers, which might be a significant privacy concern for many users.
To check out and uninstall those creepy updates — Read more.
➢ Top Features Expected in Next iPhone Release
The new iPhones – likely called the iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus or iPhone 7 – will be introduced at Apple's fall event on September 9, and the leaked photos highlighted its key new features:
Force Touch
A Larger FaceTime Camera
4K Video Support
For the detailed explanation of these features — Read more.
➢ Six Teenagers Arrested for Using Lizard Squad's DDoS Tool
Six U.K. teenagers were arrested and then released on bail for using Lizard Squad DDoS attack tool and launching cyber attacks on several websites and online retail services.
Lizard Squad DDoS tool, popularly known as Lizard Stresser, was allegedly used for knocking down the largest online gaming networks – PlayStation Network and Xbox Live – last year — Read more.
➢ 26 Android Phone Models Shipped with Pre-Installed Spyware
The latest report from G Data claimed that more than two dozens of Android smartphones from popular handset manufacturers, including Xiaomi, Huawei, and Lenovo, have pre-installed spyware in the firmware that can not be removed without unlocking the phone.
The spyware, disguised as popular Android apps like Facebook and Google Drive, have the capability of listening in to telephone conversations, accessing the Internet, reading contacts, gallery and location data, installing unwanted apps, and many more.
For more details — Read more.
➢ Weaponized Drones Are Now Legal
After arguments over the Drones law, finally news came out, and the local police of North Dakota in the U.S. became the first state to get an approval of flying weaponized drones. — Read more.
➢ Critical OS X Flaw Grants Mac Keychain Access to Malware
Mac's DYLD_PRINT_TO_FILE flaw got worse.
The privilege-escalation bug that was once used to circumvent security protections and install malware on Mac computers has now been upgraded to infect Mac OS X machines even after Apple fixed the issue last month.
The updated version of the same highly questionable Genieo installer is now accessing user's Mac OS X keychain without user's permission. For more details — Read more.
➢ Popular Baby Monitors Are Hackable
Baby monitors made parents' life a calmed one, as they could see and be with their toddlers while they were away working.
But, recent research showed results where baby monitors from several vendors were at risk of getting breached. US- CERT also alarmed about the flaws in these IoT devices. — Read more.
➢ Government Ruled: FBI to Get Warrant for Spying
The new policy announced Thursday by the US Department of Justice would now force the Federal law agencies to get a legal warrant to spy on cell phone users using "Stingrays" or "IMSI catchers."
Stingrays, which essentially mimic mobile phone tower, has been used by local police and federal authorities for years to track cell phones in countless investigations without obtaining the court order.
However, now under the new policy, the federal agencies will have to present their annual data revealing how many times they have used stingrays. — Read more.
➢ 'AppLock' Android App is Useless
AppLock is present on almost all the Android phone users, after the report by security researchers which depicts practical examples where you can see that you lived under the belief that the app is acting as promised.
But actually, it is lacking in offering essential security features. — Read more.
➢ Enjoy Faster and More Efficient Browsing Experience with 'Chrome 45.'
Google launched Chrome 45 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android last week that solves two major issues Chrome users came across:
Memory Consumption
Battery Consumption
Both the issues have been fixed in Chrome 45. So for your question: How to Fix Chrome Massive Memory Usage?
The Answer is — Simply Try 'Chrome 45'. For full details — Read more.
➢ Apple to Charge Your iPhones and Macbooks for Weeks
Apple is looking to fix the major problem its device users came across — short battery life.
According to a new patent filed by Apple for a 'fuel cell system', the technology giant is working on batteries that could Power its MacBooks and iPhones for days or even weeks without refueling.
Not just this, the new report also revealed that Apple is working closely with British firm Intelligent Energy to deploy a hydrogen fuel cell in iPhone 6 prototype announced this month. — Read more.
➢ Twitter Open Sources 'Diffy' that Automatically Catches Potential Bugs in Code
This came as joy to the software developers, as they can now use Diffy- a comparison based regression analysis tool now open source (that Twitter also uses) to differentiate between the new and the old codes programmer has written and eliminate the bugs in the code. — Read more.
➢ How to Hack Popular Belkin Wi-Fi Routers
This one is a serious issue for you to look upon. As, US-CERT prepared a list of vulnerabilities that tag along with the next generation Belkin routers.
The routers are so vulnerable that several severe cyber attacks like privilege escalation and man-in-the-middle attack are probable to happen.
In the end, the US advisory comes with mitigation procedures that you can follow. — Read more.
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The malicious Russian Tor exit node, which was claimed to be patching binary files, is actually distributing a malware program to launch cyber-espionage attacks against European government agencies.
The group behind the rogue Tor exit node had likely been infecting files for more than a year, causing victims to download and install a backdoor file that gave hackers full control of their systems.
Last month Josh Pitts of Leviathan Security Group uncovered a malicious Tor exit node that wraps Windows executable files inside a second, malicious Windows executable. But when Artturi Lehtiö of F-Secure carried out an in-depth research, he found that the exit node was actually linked to the notorious Russian APT family MiniDuke.
"MiniDuke" previously infected government agencies and organizations in more than 20 countries via a modified Adobe PDF email attachment. MiniDuke malware is written in assembly language with its tiny file size (20KB), and uses hijacked Twitter accounts for Command & Control and incase twitter accounts are not active, the malware located backup control channels via Google searches.
The rogue Russian exit node identified by Pitts was banned from the Tor network, but the new research carried out by F-Secure has revealed that the malicious Tor exit node is specifically being used to plant a new variant of the MiniDuke advanced persistent threat (APT) malware which the researcher has dubbed 'OnionDuke'.
OnionDuke is a completely different malware family, but some of its command and control (C&C) servers were registered by the same miscreant that obtained MiniDuke C&C servers.
"This strongly suggests that although OnionDuke and MiniDuke are two separate families of malware, the actors behind them are connected through the use of shared infrastructure," the F-Secure researchers said in a blog post Friday.
The malware has ability to steal login credentials and system information from the machines it infected, along with ability to evade from antivirus. But the main component of the malware is to download additional pieces of malware onto the infected computer.
Besides spreading through the Tor node, the malware also spread through other, undetermined channels. "During our research, we have also uncovered strong evidence suggesting that OnionDuke has been used in targeted attacks against European government agencies, although we have so far been unable to identify the infection vector(s)," the F-Secure post stated.
"Interestingly, this would suggest two very different targeting strategies. On one hand is the 'shooting a fly with a cannon' mass-infection strategy through modified binaries and, on the other, the more surgical targeting traditionally associated with APT [advanced persistent threat] operations."
The rogue Tor node infects uncompressed executable files passing through unencrypted traffic. The researcher said that whenever a victim tries to download a file via the malicious Tor exit node, they actually receive an executable "wrapper" that added a second executable. Using a separate wrapper, the miscreants could bypass any integrity checks, might present in the original executable.
"Upon execution, the wrapper will proceed to write to disk and execute the original executable, thereby tricking the user into believing that everything went fine. However, the wrapper will also write to disk and execute the second executable."
Those users who use Tor anonymity network and download executable from an HTTPS-protected server and those using a virtual private network were not affected by the malware.
Also users who installed only those apps that were digitally signed by the developer would likely be safe. Although no assurance can be guaranteed to the users because it's not difficult for hackers to compromise legitimate signing keys and use them to sign malicious packages.
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Story highlightsThe coach noticed when he drove the player home, it was always to different placesBraheam Murphy moved in with his coach and they treat each other as familyCharlotte, North Carolina (CNN)A quarterback sprinting 95 yards for a touchdown in the final minutes to help win a high school state championship is legendary on its own.Guiding his team to its first North Carolina state title in more than 60 years is also impressive. Especially when the team, just two years ago, won only one game and had barely enough players to fill a roster.Especially when two years ago, the quarterback was constantly finding a new place to live and was really struggling in the classroom. Braheam Murphy was a young man who was all but homeless, in need of some stability and guidance.Read MoreHis new football coach, Sam Greiner, was getting to know Murphy and would often give him a ride home. But it was rarely to the same place. "I didn't know it at first. I didn't know that Braheam didn't have a home," Greiner told CNN. "Eventually he just opened up to me. And he was like, 'I have to stay with my sister from place to place.' ... And I didn't know what to do at the time, so I go into my office and I'm thinking, something's tugging at my heart."Greiner called his wife, Connie, and asked to have a guest for dinner who would need to stay the night. One night turned into two, and then it became a week. A week then became a month and eventually "Braheam just became a family member. He's been living with us ever since."That was more than two years ago.And since then, the coach with a huge heart has nurtured Murphy, helping him grow not only into a star athlete but also a star student with plans to attend the US Military Academy at West Point next year.Tough times began earlyWhen Murphy was 5, his mother had a fatal brain aneurysm. JUST WATCHEDPilot surprises parents on planeReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHPilot surprises parents on plane 00:54His father remarried, but when he had a daughter who was born with cerebral palsy, the family situation became too challenging to care for three children. Murphy said he and his older sister didn't fit with his stepfamily."My dad loves me, but he had to take care of my little sister, and I'd rather have my little sister being taken care of more than me," Murphy told CNN.Living in an unstable family situation and never quite sure where he would spend the night, Murphy said he and his older sister basically "couch-surfed.""A lot of times I'd stay at my friends' houses," Murphy said. "We'd go back and forth."Welcomed into the familyMurphy never talked about his circumstances -- that is, until his coach inquired.Now, they've known each for barely three years but call themselves family.JUST WATCHEDTwins get bears made from fallen dad's uniformReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHTwins get bears made from fallen dad's uniform 00:52"He's a family member of ours. I knew when I met the kid," said Greiner. And his wife and their two small children, Charli and Journi, feel the same."They love him. That's their brother. They don't look at anything else -- that's their brother," Connie Greiner said, smiling.But for the Greiners, it finally felt official when the family needed to move and Connie Greiner insisted that they find a home with a bedroom for each child."I'll never forget the day she says to me, 'Hey, we need to look at these homes. It needs to be four bedrooms.' ... And I was like, she loves him," the coach said.Turnaround to a titleHarding University High School is in one of the poorest neighborhoods in West Charlotte.JUST WATCHEDVeteran gets dying wish to see 'The Last Jedi'ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHVeteran gets dying wish to see 'The Last Jedi' 01:20Greiner took the school's football team from an abysmal 1-10 record to a 14-1 season in just three years. In December, the Rams won the North Carolina 4-A state championship game, the school's first title since 1953.Murphy's 95-yard touchdown came with less than two minutes remaining and sealed the 30-22 win. He was selected as offensive MVP of the title game.His coach was emotional after the game."It was just an amazing experience. We knew we could get there, but the situation of winning the state championship ... what we overcame," Greiner said while choking back tears. "And it all came full circle. ... Greatest moment ever to have your family experience that -- it really was."Scoring in the classroomBut Murphy says it's about more than being a football champion.When he first met Greiner, Murphy had a 1.8 GPA. JUST WATCHEDBodycam shows officer saving newborn's lifeReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBodycam shows officer saving newborn's life 01:17"The athletic director comes to me and is like, 'By the way, Braheam Murphy and some other guys are not eligible.' And I was like 'Braheam's not eligible?' I was blown away because he's so smart," Greiner recalled.Murphy, who says football was his dream, was determined not to be sidelined after missing that season. "I just know that when I have someone caring for me, I feel like it makes me do better in school and makes me want to do better in life," he said.Since moving in with the Greiner family, Murphy upped his GPA to a 3.7.He said everything that has happened -- his better grades, finding a home and a new family, winning state -- fell into place thanks to his faith in God.Game changerMurphy's turnaround is a success story that Greiner, who was selected as the state coach of the year, hopes other Harding players emulate."I think when they look at Braheam, it's just pure evidence that you can overcome if you strive and believe," Greiner said.Murphy's leadership skills will play a crucial role in his next step in life. JUST WATCHEDSee airman's tearful reunion with daughterReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSee airman's tearful reunion with daughter 00:51"The Academy is the best place for me," he told CNN. "Everything that I went through in the past, I felt like it will set me up to do good in that environment, you know?"The Greiners admit that seeing Murphy go off to college will be bittersweet."He's doing a 'family-tree changer.' I never had an opportunity to go to West Point. He's better than me. Connie is now trying to go to college, get her career in order. Maybe one day, we'll be working for our own son," Greiner beamed.Murphy said his older sister graduated and moved in with her boyfriend. He still sees her regularly and she sometimes spends the holidays with him at the Greiners' home.He also maintains a relationship with his biological father and little sister. They even made it out to cheer for him at his Senior Night football game. Murphy said his father tells him he is proud of the man he is becoming. As are the Greiners.Thinking about his past three years, Murphy gets emotional. Of the Greiners, he said, "They're my family. And I can't imagine where I would be without their support."CNN's Steve Almasy contributed to this report.
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Can you ever imagine that a single text message is enough to hack any Facebook account without user interaction or without using any other malicious stuff like Trojans, phishing, keylogger etc. ?
Today we are going to explain you that how a UK based Security Researcher, "fin1te" is able to hack any Facebook account within a minute by doing one SMS.
Because 90% of us are Facebook user too, so we know that there is an option of linking your mobile number with your account, which allows you to receive Facebook account updates via SMS directly to your mobile and also you can login into your account using that linked number rather than your email address or username.
According to hacker, the loophole was in phone number linking process, or in technical terms, at file /ajax/settings/mobile/confirm_phone.php
This particular webpage works in background when user submit his phone number and verification code, sent by Facebook to mobile. That submission form having two main parameters, one for verification code, and second is profile_id, which is the account to link the number to.
As attacker, follow these steps to execute hack:
Change value of profile_id to the Victim's profile_id value by tampering the parameters.
Send the letter F to 32665, which is Facebook's SMS shortcode in the UK. You will receive an 8 character verification code back.
Enter that code in the box or as confirmation_code parameter value and Submit the form.
Facebook will accept that confirmation code and attacker's mobile number will be linked to victim's Facebook profile.
In next step hacker just need to go to Forgot password option and initiate the password reset request against of victim's account.
Attacker now can get password recovery code to his own mobile number which is linked to victim's account using above steps. Enter the code and Reset the password!
Facebook no longer accepting the profile_id parameter from the user end after receiving the bug report from the hacker.
In return, Facebook paying $20,000 to fin1te as Bug Bounty.
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Story highlightsLiverpool 3-0 Manchester CityKlopp's side stun opponents in 30-minute blitzKlopp issues City apology after team bus was smashed (CNN)The most highly-anticipated Champions League tie on British soil for years began with an apology.In the lead up to the game, sections of Liverpool fans had been posting on social media to urge fellow supporters to bring "flares and flags, banners and bangers, pints and pyro" to try and scare Manchester City ahead of their match.Follow @cnnsport
Amid warnings to fans that the use of pyrotechnics outside the ground could be illegal and with concerns over safety, Liverpool took the decision to re-route the team buses to Anfield.Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp praised the "very positive" atmosphere generated by the hundreds of supporters lining the streets -- some there up to four hours before kick-off -- unaware of what had happened to Manchester City's team bus just moments before.Several projectiles had been launched from the crowds, one causing a window to shatter. Such was the extent of the damage, the bus was deemed undriveable and a replacement had to be sent from Manchester to pick up the players after the match.Read MoreManchester City's team bus is hit by projectiles thrown by Liverpool fans."I really don't understand it," Klopp told BT Sport before the game. "There was a lot of talk about it before and we tried everything to avoid a situation like that. "When we came through it was obviously very positive, but we didn't know when we were on the bus what had happened before because the City bus was in front of us. "From Liverpool FC I have to say sorry."Merseyside Police said although no-one on the bus was injured there were injuries to two policemen."This behaviour by a number of people who threw bottles, cans and pyrotechnics towards the bus is completely unacceptable and we will conduct enquiries to identify who was responsible and bring them to justice," said Merseyside Police Match Commander Superintendent Paul White in a statement."We worked very closely with both clubs to ensure the safety of the public and the teams themselves, and it is disappointing to see that a number of people behaved in this appalling way."Pep Guardiola was visibly upset, the Manchester City manager referring to the bomb attack on Borussia Dortmund's team bus last season."I want to say thank you to Jurgen for his words apologizing," he said. "I know I didn't expect that, we didn't expect that. After what happened last season in Dortmund, I didn't expect it. "Yesterday in the press conference, people asked me about that and I thought the police would know that. Fortunately nothing happened to the players for their health. "I know that is not Liverpool, I know the history of the club is much bigger than this."READ: Cristiano Ronaldo's 'Playstation goal' is talk of the worldREAD: Where does Cristiano Ronaldo's bicycle kick rank among the greatest ever?30-minute madnessThat atmosphere was carried into the ground, Liverpool fans beginning an unrelenting 90 minutes of noise with a spine-tingling rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone."The first goal came after just 12 minutes, dramatically increasing the decibels levels inside an Anfield stadium which had been rocking well before kick-off.Sadio Mane intercepted a stray pass on the edge of his area, before playing a through ball between two defenders to set Mohamed Salah haring down the line.The Egyptian, in contention for the Player of the Season award in his first season back in the Premier League, freed Roberto Firmino who wriggled inside and forced a save from Ederson.City right back Kyle Walker dawdled on the ball as the rebound fell at his feet, allowing Firmino to prod the ball into Salah's path and Liverpool's player of the season hammered the ball into the net.It was somewhat against the run of play, with City dominating both possession and territory inside the opening 10 minutes but it caused the first-half momentum to shift completely.The Liverpool fans, now in true party mood, didn't even have to wait another 10 minutes for their side to double the lead.James Milner, who at times seemed to be in two places at once, won possession back from Ilkay Gundogan and the ball rolled kindly into Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's path on the edge of the box.Anfield erupts! 🔴⚪️Mo Salah nets in front of the Kop and it's first blood to Liverpool! 👊 pic.twitter.com/0oIczhhgE2— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 4, 2018
The midfielder took one touch, before arrowing the ball into the corner -- reminiscent of many a Steven Gerrard goal in front of the Kop on a Champions League night.Guardiola's side, which is close to winning the Premier League title, were visibly reeling. Usually full of unshakeable confidence and swagger, his players looked lost and frightened in possession, while individual mistakes were allowing endless waves of Liverpool attacks.And if they thought the opening 20 minutes were bad, it was about to get worse. Salah was again at the heart of the move, floating a cross towards to far post to allow Mane a simple header to give Liverpool a scarcely believable 3-0 lead after just half an hour.By the time the referee blew his whistle to signal the end of the half, Manchester City -- who have so often blitzed opposition teams this season -- hadn't even registered a single shot on target.Much-maligned goalkeeper Loris Karius was having arguably the most comfortable evening of his Liverpool career.Klopp appeared to have set his side out perfectly, his forwards and midfielders hunting City players down in perfectly choreographed packs.WHAT. A. HIT! 🚀Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with an absolute screamer!Liverpool 2-0 Man City 😮 pic.twitter.com/W21fO3v9lc— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 4, 2018
When out of possession, Liverpool's often leaky and chaotic back line looked confident and assured, barely breaking a sweat when Kevin De Bruyne and Co. were bearing down on goal.The on-pitch performance only served to further encourage those in the stands, the Liverpool players conducting the sizable orchestra in the Kop end. Every misplaced City pass -- of which there were many -- was met with jubilant jeers from the home crowd, while every time Salah got in possession the murmur of excitement would intensify.Liverpool understandably began the second half cautiously, not displaying the same gung-ho approach which had earned them such a huge lead.An early injury to Salah, which appeared to be a groin tweak, forced Klopp into a defensive change, replacing his star forward with midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum.It was an enforced substitution which paid dividends, as Liverpool nullified City every time it looked as though they might trouble them.However, Guardiola will have every right to feel aggrieved after Raheem Sterling's goal was incorrectly ruled out following an offside called against Leroy Sane on the wing.Man City failed to register a single shot on target against Liverpool this evening 😳 pic.twitter.com/vq7TiH508h— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 4, 2018
It will be a bitter pill to swallow, in particular as it looked as though Salah was offside in the build up to Liverpool's opening goal.When it looked as though City may find that crucial away goal, Sterling and Gabriel Jesus contrived to tackle each other in the attacking half. If there was a moment to sum up City's performance, it was that.But one final ear-bursting rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone" from the Liverpool faithful urged their team across the line.An underwhelming Manchester City side will need to regroup quickly ahead of next week's second leg at the Etihad, with Guardiola's Champions League hopes hanging by a thread.
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Story highlightsThe U.S. loses to Finland 5-0 in hockey's bronze medal game The result comes a day after a demoralizing loss to Canada in the semisAustria's Mario Matt becomes the oldest man to win gold in alpine skiing Norway's Marit Bjoergen makes history by collecting 10th Olympic medal It's been a tough last few days for U.S. hockey at the Sochi Winter Olympics. First the U.S. women lost in heartbreaking fashion to arch-rival Canada, unable to protect a lead late in the third period of the final. Then the men lost to the Canadians in the semifinals Friday, ending hopes of a first men's hockey gold since the famous Miracle on Ice in Lake Placid 34 years ago. And now the men will be going home with no medal at all after being crushed by Teemu Selanne's Finland 5-0 in the bronze medal game Saturday. Surely no one saw this coming after the U.S. stunned Russia in the group stage and scored 20 goals in its first four games. "The way we played the last two games we didn't deserve (a medal)," U.S. captain Zach Parise told NHL.com. "We got outplayed. Coming into the final round I thought we were playing well. I'm kind of embarrassed where we're at now."The 43-year-old Selanne scored two goals in what was expected to be his farewell match at the Games and Tuukka Rask made 27 saves for the shutout as Finland collected yet another hockey medal at an Olympics. JUST WATCHEDWill Obama show Canada's PM some love?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHWill Obama show Canada's PM some love? 01:48JUST WATCHEDBoitano: Wagner's scores were fairReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBoitano: Wagner's scores were fair 03:04JUST WATCHEDSilver medalist rescues dogs from SochiReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSilver medalist rescues dogs from Sochi 04:02Selanne opened Finland's account early in the second period and with the U.S. still trying to recover, Jussi Jokinen made it 2-0 11 seconds later. The U.S. didn't recover -- and some would say it didn't recover from the defeat to Canada. Summing up the evening for the U.S. was Patrick Kane missing penalty shots in the first two periods. "We didn't show up," U.S. forward Max Pacioretty told NHL.com. "We let our country down, that's it."But while there was despair for the U.S., Selanne was overjoyed and mobbed by his teammates. "Maybe this was his last game for the national team and as a captain," Finland coach Erkka Westerlund told reporters. "It was an excellent game to finish."Canada goes for a second straight gold in men's hockey when it faces Sweden on Sunday. Read: Saturday as it happenedMatt oldest winner There was also disappointment for the U.S. in arguably Saturday's biggest event, the men's slalom, on the penultimate day of the Olympics as Ted Ligety couldn't complete the second run. But at least Ligety already had a gold from the giant slalom. Top spot went to Austria's Mario Matt, a feel-good story since the 34-year-old became the oldest man ever to claim alpine skiing gold. He edged his countryman and the heavy favorite, Marcel Hirscher. "Most impressive day in my career," Matt told reporters. "It started 14 years ago, and I'm totally happy that I made it to the finish."Hirscher leads the circuit in both the slalom and overall standings and almost made up a 1.28-second first-run deficit, finishing 0.28 seconds behind Matt. JUST WATCHEDSochi-Style CuisineReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSochi-Style Cuisine 01:41JUST WATCHEDBode Miller reflects on SochiReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBode Miller reflects on Sochi 04:39JUST WATCHEDDutch speed skating domination at SochiReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHDutch speed skating domination at Sochi 01:53Ligety was left frustrated with the difficulty of the course and he wouldn't have been the only one, since half of the top-10 finishers from the first run didn't complete the second. The casualties allowed Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen to nab the bronze. At 19, he became the youngest man to win a medal in alpine skiing. "Not all the best guys had the chance to make it down, unfortunately, but it is what it is," Ligety told the U.S. ski team's website. "I would have liked to have done better, and I put myself in a position to have a chance. "This course was difficult and it was a battle of attrition."Julia Dujmovits gave Austria a second gold on snow Saturday, bettering the field in snowboard's parallel slalom.Norwegian legend If this was Marit Bjoergen's last Olympics, she went out on a high. Bjoergen led a Norwegian sweep in Nordic skiing's 30-kilometer race to pick up her third gold of the Games and 10th Olympic medal overall -- no woman has gotten more at the Winter Games.The 33-year-old hinted that she wouldn't be competing at the 2018 Games in South Korea. "Four years is a long time, and I'm not getting younger," Bjoergen told reporters. "I'm also thinking about having a family. I don't want to do this at 90 percent." Wild makes history, too Vic Wild, born in the U.S. before switching nationalities to Russia when he married a Russian snowboarder, became the first athlete to win two snowboarding gold medals at the same Olympics when he triumphed in the men's parallel slalom ahead of Slovenia's Zan Kosir. Wild is snowboarding for Russia because he said funding was an issue in the U.S. JUST WATCHEDWarm temps turning Sochi into 'slushy'ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHWarm temps turning Sochi into 'slushy' 03:56JUST WATCHEDUnder Armour: Don't blame our suitsReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHUnder Armour: Don't blame our suits 05:53JUST WATCHEDKelly Clark hauls in another medalReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHKelly Clark hauls in another medal 03:14"I would not have snowboarded for the United States," Wild told the Wall Street Journal. "I was done snowboarding. I would have moved on. I would have gone to college and I would have had a great life. "I had another option -- the only option to snowboard was to go to Russia and snowboard."With only three medals up for grabs Sunday, Wild boosted Russia's chances of topping both the medal and gold-medal standings. Russia's biathlon team also chipped in, capturing gold in the 4 x 7.5km relay despite missing eight targets. Russia has 29 medals, leading the U.S. by two, and is tied with Norway for 11 golds. Elsewhere, was there any doubt about who would claim the team pursuit gold medals in speed skating? Probably not. The Netherlands have cleaned up in Sochi and the men and women stood tallest on Saturday, a fitting conclusion given the nation's superiority on the -- speed skating -- ice.
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Story highlightsMedvedev says Putin has a better chance of being electedHe says he and Putin belong to "the same political force"Putin has suggested Medvedev take over as prime ministerPresident Dmitry Medvedev said Friday he had ceded his presidency bid to the country's powerful Prime Minister Vladimir Putin because the latter is a more popular politician in Russia, who has higher chances to be elected. "Prime Minister Putin is definitely the most authoritative politician in our country and his rating is somewhat higher (than mine)," Medvedev said in a taped interview with Russia's national TV networks. Public opinion polls in Russia have invariably indicated that Putin has been ahead of Medvedev in popularity ever since they constructed their ruling tandem almost four years ago. According to the most recent poll, conducted by independent Levada Center, the approval rating of Medvedev stood at 62 per cent in September, compared to Putin's 68 per cent. In his Friday television interview Medvedev said that he and Putin belong to "the same political force" and have "very close positions on all strategic and tactical issues" and therefore shouldn't compete or quarrel. "Can we possibly imagine, for instance, (U.S. President) Barack Obama competing with (Secretary of State) Hillary Clinton?" Medvedev asked. "Both of them were bidding for the presidential nomination ... Both were from the Democratic Party, and (the party) finally decided which of them should run to gain the best election result. Our decision was the same," Medvedev said. JUST WATCHEDPutin backed for 2012 presidencyReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHPutin backed for 2012 presidency 01:46 "We want to achieve a political result, to win the elections -- the parliamentary elections in December and the presidential elections in March -- not to be nursing our ambitions," Medvedev said. "Any responsible person's ambition is to serve his country, and I insist on that," he said. Commenting on the statements made by some people that the outcome of the Russian presidential elections is "predetermined", Medvedev said, "I consider such statements absolutely irresponsible, deceitful, and even provocative." "The decisions made at the congress are only recommendations to the party to support two people in the elections, no more than that," he said. Last Saturday Medvedev called on the ruling United Russia party to endorse Putin for president in 2012. Putin in turn suggested that Medvedev should take over the role of prime minister if the party wins parliamentary elections in December, in what would be a straight swap of their roles. The announcement ended more than two years of speculation about whether Putin or Medvedev, his hand-picked successor, would seek to run for a second term. Putin had stepped down as president in 2008 because the Russian constitution at that time limited the office to two consecutive four-year terms. Under amendments to the constitution that came into force on December 31, 2008, the presidential term was extended to six years. This means that if Putin is elected in March 2012 for six years, he would be eligible to run for another six-year term after that, potentially keeping him in charge until 2024.
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A simple yet serious application-level denial of service (DoS) vulnerability has been discovered in WordPress CMS platform that could allow anyone to take down most WordPress websites even with a single machine—without hitting with a massive amount of bandwidth, as required in network-level DDoS attacks to achieve the same.
Since the company has denied patching the issue, the vulnerability (CVE-2018-6389) remains unpatched and affects almost all versions of WordPress released in last nine years, including the latest stable release of WordPress (Version 4.9.2).
Discovered by Israeli security researcher Barak Tawily, the vulnerability resides in the way "load-scripts.php," a built-in script in WordPress CMS, processes user-defined requests.
For those unaware, load-scripts.php file has only been designed for admin users to help a website improve performance and load page faster by combining (on the server end) multiple JavaScript files into a single request.
However, to make "load-scripts.php" work on the admin login page (wp-login.php) before login, WordPress authors did not keep any authentication in place, eventually making the feature accessible to anyone.
Depending upon the plugins and modules you have installed, the load-scripts.php file selectively calls required JavaScript files by passing their names into the "load" parameter, separated by a comma, like in the following URL:
https://your-wordpress-site.com/wp-admin/load-scripts.php?c=1&load=editor,common,user-profile,media-widgets,media-gallery
While loading the website, the 'load-scripts.php' (mentioned in the head of the page) tries to find each JavaScript file name given in the URL, append their content into a single file and then send back it to the user's web browser.
How WordPress DoS Attack Works
According to the researcher, one can simply force load-scripts.php to call all possible JavaScript files (i.e., 181 scripts) in one go by passing their names into the above URL, making the targeted website slightly slow by consuming high CPU and server memory.
"There is a well-defined list ($wp_scripts), that can be requested by users as part of the load[] parameter. If the requested value exists, the server will perform an I/O read action for a well-defined path associated with the supplied value from the user," Tawily says.
Although a single request would not be enough to take down the whole website for its visitors, Tawily used a proof-of-concept (PoC) python script, doser.py, which makes large numbers of concurrent requests to the same URL in an attempt to use up as much of the target servers CPU resources as possible and bring it down.
The Hacker News has verified the authenticity of the DoS exploit that successfully took down one of our demo WordPress websites running on a medium-sized VPS server.
"It is time to mention again that load-scripts.php does not require any authentication, an anonymous user can do so. After ~500 requests, the server didn't respond at all any more, or returned 502/503/504 status code errors," Tawily says.
However, attack from a single machine, with some 40 Mbps connection, was not enough to take down another demo website running on a dedicated server with high processing power and memory.
But that doesn't mean the flaw is not effective against WordPress websites running over a heavy-server, as application-level attack generally requires a lot fewer packets and bandwidth to achieve the same goal—to take down a site.
So attackers with more bandwidth or a few bots can exploit this flaw to target big and popular WordPress websites as well.
No Patch Available – Mitigation Guide
Along with the full disclosure, Tawily has also provided a video demonstration for the WordPress Denial of Service attack. You can watch the video to see the attack in action.
Knowing that DoS vulnerabilities are out-of-scope from the WordPress bug bounty program, Tawily responsibly reported this DoS vulnerability to the WordPress team through HackerOne platform.
However, the company refused to acknowledge the issue, saying that this kind of bug "should really get mitigated at the server end or network level rather than the application level," which is outside of WordPress's control.
The vulnerability seems to be serious because WordPress powers nearly 29 percent of the Web, placing millions of websites vulnerable to hackers and making them unavailable for their legitimate users.
For websites that can't afford services offering DDoS protection against application-layer attacks, the researcher has provided a forked version of WordPress, which includes mitigation against this vulnerability.
However, I personally wouldn't recommend users to install modified CMS, even if it is from a trusted source other than the original author.
Besides this, the researcher has also released a simple bash script that fixes the issue, in case you have already installed WordPress.
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Watering hole Internet Explorer 8 zero-day attack on the US Department of Labor website last week has spread to 9 more global websites over the weekend, including those run by a big European company operating in the aerospace, defense, and security industries as well as non-profit groups and institutes
Attacks exploiting a previously unknown and currently unpatched vulnerability in Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser have spread to at least. Researchers analyzing the attacks say that the attack tie it to a China-based hacking group known as "DeepPanda".
Security firm CrowdStrike said its researchers unearthed evidence suggesting that the campaign began in mid-March. Their analysis of logs from the malicious infrastructure used in the attacks revealed the IP addresses of visitors to the compromised sites.
The logs showed addresses from 37 different countries, with 71 percent of them in the US, 11 percent in South/Southeast Asia, and 10 percent in Europe.
Microsoft confirmed the remote code-execution vulnerability on Friday night. Versions 6, 7, 9, and 10 of the browser are immune to these attacks. Microsoft has simply suggested IE8 users upgrade to a newer version for now.
This is just the latest in a series of so-called "watering hole" attacks targeting government workers and political figures within the U.S. government. In January, a compromise at the website of The Council on Foreign Relations was widely seen as an effort to gain access to influential D.C. policymakers and officials. A similar incident affecting the website of The National Journal was reported in March.
In watering hole attacks, victims are not attacked directly. Rather, attackers compromise a trusted, third-party website that the intended targets are likely to visit, then launch a silent attack when they visit the site.
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(CNN)A California man who had symbols linked to the extremist Boogaloo movement pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder charges related to a 2020 "drive-by shooting" outside a federal building complex in Oakland, the US Department of Justice said in a news release Friday.Steven Carrillo, who was an active-duty staff sergeant stationed at Travis Air Force Base at the time of the shooting, admitted his actions resulted in the death of Dave Patrick Underwood, a federal protective services officer, while another officer was injured, the Justice Department said.Carrillo, 33, "admitted that he aligned himself with an anti-government movement and wanted to carry out violent acts against federal law enforcement officers." the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California said in the release, adding Carrillo "regularly discussed and encouraged violence against law enforcement." Carrillo acknowledged he got into a van with another individual and surveilled protests over the killing of George Floyd, the federal complex, and the surrounding area on May 29, 2020, according to the Justice Department statement.A man allegedly linked to the Boogaloo movement accused of going to a BLM protest with a homemade machine gun to kill copsWhile the other person drove the van, Carrillo opened the rear passenger-side sliding door and shot approximately 19 bullets at the officers, killing one officer and injuring another.Read MoreCiting a plea agreement, the US Attorney's Office said the federal government will not seek the death penalty. Prosecutors recommended a 41-year prison sentence as well as "a lifetime term of supervised release."Judge Gonzalez Rogers of the US District Court for the Northern District of California has scheduled proceedings to determine whether to accept the plea agreement.Carrillo's attorney did not respond to CNN's request for a comment. Carrillo is also the suspect in the June 6, 2020 death of a Santa Cruz County, California, sheriff's deputy, Sheriff Jim Hart said in June. Carrillo pleaded not guilty to murder charges in that case.At that time, US Attorney David Anderson said Carrillo had symbols linked to the Boogaloo movement.During the 2020 shootout with Santa Cruz sheriff's deputies, Carrillo used his own blood to write Boogaloo phrases on a vehicle he allegedly carjacked while trying to flee, Anderson said, describing evidence found in the case.The Boogaloo Bois or Boys are an emerging incarnation of extremism that seems to defy easy categorization. Boogaloo members appear to hold conflicting ideological views, with some identifying as anarchists and others rejecting formal titles. Some pockets of the group have espoused White supremacy while others reject it.Carrillo was a team leader for the Phoenix Raven, a highly trained security team that guards US Air Force aircraft in high-terrorist and high-crime areas overseas, according to US Department of Defense records.He served in Kuwait, Texas and Utah.CNN's Cheri Mossburg, Theresa Waldrop and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
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Roger Federer's clashes with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have become part of tennis legend, but the 16-time grand slam champion will renew one of his oldest rivalries on Sunday.Seeking a record-extending sixth title at the Gerry Weber grass-court event in Germany, Federer will face the man who denied him a chance to play for an Olympic gold medal 12 years ago.Former world No. 2 Tommy Haas continued his career rejuvenation on Saturday as he beat Nadal's conqueror and defending champion Philipp Kohlschreiber to reach the final in Halle.The 34-year-old triumphed 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 against his younger, higher-ranked compatriot to set up his first clash with Federer since 2009.The 30-year-old Swiss won both their meetings that season, in the fourth round at the French Open and then the semifinals at Wimbledon -- where Federer went on to win the grass grand slam for the sixth time. He holds a 10-2 career advantage over Haas."Tommy and I share many years together on the tour and also our families are close," world No. 3 Federer said on the ATP Tour website after crushing Russia's Mikhail Youzhny 6-1 6-4 on Saturday to set up a chance of his 75th career title. JUST WATCHEDRafael Nadal on French Open triumphReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRafael Nadal on French Open triumph 00:52JUST WATCHEDSharapova: It's a special victoryReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSharapova: It's a special victory 01:54 Photos: Rafael Nadal wins French Open Photos: Rafael Nadal wins French OpenRafael Nadal wins French Open – Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates after beating Novak Djokovic of Serbia to win his seventh French Open title in Paris on Monday, June 11.Hide Caption 1 of 9 Photos: Rafael Nadal wins French OpenRafael Nadal wins French Open – Djokovic and Nadal volley during Sunday's match, which was delayed twice because of rain and finished Monday.Hide Caption 2 of 9 Photos: Rafael Nadal wins French OpenRafael Nadal wins French Open – Nadal returns to Djokovic, who is ranked No. 1 in the world.Hide Caption 3 of 9 Photos: Rafael Nadal wins French OpenRafael Nadal wins French Open – Djokovic was going for the fourth and final entry in his Grand Slam, the first man in 43 years to do so.Hide Caption 4 of 9 Photos: Rafael Nadal wins French OpenRafael Nadal wins French Open – Nadal dries his face during the third set of the match.Hide Caption 5 of 9 Photos: Rafael Nadal wins French OpenRafael Nadal wins French Open – Djokovic leaves the court for a rain delay during the third set after officials haulted play during a downpour. The match was delayed a second time in the fourth set and finished Monday.Hide Caption 6 of 9 Photos: Rafael Nadal wins French OpenRafael Nadal wins French Open – Nadal reaches and slides on the clay to return a ball from Djokovic.Hide Caption 7 of 9 Photos: Rafael Nadal wins French OpenRafael Nadal wins French Open – Djokovic reacts in frustration late in the match against Nadal.Hide Caption 8 of 9 Photos: Rafael Nadal wins French OpenRafael Nadal wins French Open – Nadal is embraced by friends and family in the stands after his victory.Hide Caption 9 of 9 Photos: History man: Chang's 1989 French Open triumph Photos: History man: Chang's 1989 French Open triumph History in the making – Michael Chang came through two epic five set wins over Ivan Lendl and Stefan Edberg to claim the 1989 French Open title.Hide Caption 1 of 7 Photos: History man: Chang's 1989 French Open triumph Lendl upset in epic encounter – World No.1 Ivan Lendl serves to Michael Chang during their extraordinary fourth round match at the French Open in 1989.Hide Caption 2 of 7 Photos: History man: Chang's 1989 French Open triumph Edberg beaten in final – Michael Chang and Stefan Edberg contested a five-set final of the French Open at Roland Garros in 1989.Hide Caption 3 of 7 Photos: History man: Chang's 1989 French Open triumph Muster foils repeat triumph – Michael Chang with winner Thomas Muster after the final of the French Open at Roland Garros in 1995.Hide Caption 4 of 7 Photos: History man: Chang's 1989 French Open triumph Love match – Michael Chang with his wife of four years Amber Liu, herself a former Stanford University and collegiate tennis star. They have a young daughter.Hide Caption 5 of 7 Photos: History man: Chang's 1989 French Open triumph Long-standing record – Michael Chang remains the youngest grand slam winner in history as he claimed the French Open title in 1989 while still only 17.Hide Caption 6 of 7 Photos: History man: Chang's 1989 French Open triumph Famous friend – Jeremy Lin has starred in the No.17 shirt for the New York Knicks this season before being hit by injury. The Chinese American has spoken with Michael Chang about their Christian beliefs and wider responsibilities. Hide Caption 7 of 7"I'm happy for him that he made it so far and beat such top players. I hoped that he'd find his way into the tournament and would have a good run. He's very dangerous on grass. So, it won't be an easy final for me." Haas, who has struggled with injuries in recent years, won the event at Halle in 2009 -- the last of his 12 career titles. He has been runner-up in nine tournaments, including the 2000 Sydney Olympics -- where he beat a teenage Federer in the semis."To be in another final on German soil is fantastic for me," said Haas, now ranked 87th after reaching the third round at Roland Garros this month as a qualifier. "It's something I really hoped for to happen one more time. I'm going for my 13th title tomorrow, which is one huge goal that I still have, against possibly the greatest player of all time."Haas has twice lost to Federer in semifinals at Halle, in 2005 and 2006 as the Swiss won the title four years in a row."It's an honor in many ways, but at the same time, once the ball is in play, I really don't care who's on the other side. You just try to win those big points and try to win the match," said Haas, whose only other win over Federer came at the 2002 Australian Open as he reached the semifinals in Melbourne for the second of three times.In the other men's Wimbledon warmup tournament at London's Queen's Club, Croatian sixth seed Marin Cilic will play veteran Argentine David Nalbandian in Sunday's final.Cilic beat 2010 Queen's champion Sam Querrey of the U.S. 6-3 3-6 6-3 in Saturday's semifinals, while 2002 Wimbledon runner-up Nalbandian defeated young Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-4, as both matches were played in strong winds hitting the UK capital.The women's tournament in England has been hit even harder by weather, with only one of four scheduled matches played by Saturday evening due to rain.China's Jie Zheng, who was the first Asian player to reach at grand slam semifinal at Wimbledon in 2008, progressed to the semifinals in Birmingham after beating Italian fourth seed Roberta Vinci 6-3 5-7 6-4.In Austria, Belgian second seed Yanina Wickmayer will play France's No. 2 Alize Cornet in Sunday's final of the Bad Gastein tournament.
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As part of its "October Patch Tuesday," Microsoft has today released a large batch of security updates to patch a total of 62 vulnerabilities in its products, including a severe MS office zero-day flaw that has been exploited in the wild.
Security updates also include patches for Microsoft Windows operating systems, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Skype, Microsoft Lync and Microsoft SharePoint Server.
Besides the MS Office vulnerability, the company has also addressed two other publicly disclosed (but not yet targeted in the wild) vulnerabilities that affect the SharePoint Server and the Windows Subsystem for Linux.
October patch Tuesday also fixes a critical Windows DNS vulnerability that could be exploited by a malicious DNS server to execute arbitrary code on the targeted system. Below you can find a brief technical explanation of all above mentioned critical and important vulnerabilities.
Microsoft Office Memory Corruption Vulnerability (CVE-2017-11826)
This vulnerability, classified by Microsoft as "important," is caused by a memory corruption issue. It affects all supported versions of MS Office and has been actively exploited by the attackers in targeted attacks.
An attacker could exploit this vulnerability either by sending a specially crafted Microsoft Office file to the victims and convincing them to open it, or hosting a site containing specially crafted files and tricking victims to visit it.
Once opened, the malicious code within the booby-trapped Office file will execute with the same rights as the logged-in user. So, users with least privilege on their systems are less impacted than those having higher admin rights.
The vulnerability was reported to Microsoft by security researchers at China-based security firm Qihoo 360 Core Security, who initially detected an in-the-wild cyber attack which involved malicious RTF files and leveraged this vulnerability on September 28.
Microsoft Windows DNSAPI Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2017-11779)
Among other critical vulnerabilities patched by Microsoft include a critical remote code execution flaw in the Windows DNS client that affects computers running Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, and Windows Server 2012 through 2016.
The vulnerability can be triggered by a malicious DNS response, allowing an attacker gain arbitrary code execution on Windows clients or Windows Server installations in the context of the software application that made the DNS request.
Nick Freeman, a security researcher from security firm Bishop Fox, discovered the vulnerability and demonstrated how an attacker connected to a public Wi-Fi network could run malicious code on a victim's machine, escalate privileges and take full control over the target computer or server.
"This means that if an attacker controls your DNS server (e.g., through a Man-in-the-Middle attack or a malicious coffee-shop hotspot) – they can gain access to your system," the researcher explains.
"This doesn't only affect web browsers – your computer makes DNS queries in the background all the time, and any query can be responded to in order to trigger this issue."
For full technical details, you can watch the video demonstration by Bishop Fox's Dan Petro and head on to Bishop Fox's blog post.
Windows Subsystem for Linux Denial of Service Vulnerability (CVE-2017-8703)
This denial of service (DoS) issue is yet another noteworthy vulnerability which resides in Windows Subsystem for Linux.
The vulnerability, classified by Microsoft as "important," was previously publicly disclosed, but wasn't found actively exploited in the wild.
The vulnerability could allow an attacker to execute a malicious application to affect an object in the memory, which eventually allows that the application to crash the target system and made it unresponsive.
The only affected Microsoft product by this vulnerability is Windows 10 (Version 1703). "The update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how Windows Subsystem for Linux handles objects in memory," Microsoft said in its advisory.
Microsoft Office SharePoint XSS Vulnerability (CVE-2017-11777)
Another previously disclosed but not yet under attack vulnerability is a cross-site scripting (XSS) flaw in Microsoft SharePoint Server that affects SharePoint Enterprise Server 2013 Service Pack 1 and SharePoint Enterprise Server 2016.
The vulnerability, also classified by Microsoft as "important," can be exploited by sending a maliciously crafted request to an affected SharePoint server.
Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker to perform cross-site scripting attacks on affected systems and execute malicious script in the same security context of the current user.
"The attacks could allow the attacker to read content that the attacker is not authorised to read, use the victim's identity to take actions on the SharePoint site on behalf of the user, such as change permissions and delete content, and inject malicious content in the browser of the user," Microsoft explains.
Besides these, the company has patched a total of 19 vulnerabilities in the scripting engine in Edge and Internet Explorer that could allow web pages to achieve remote-code execution, with the logged-in user's permissions, via memory corruption flaws.
Just opening a web page could potentially land you in trouble by executing malware, spyware, ransomware, and other nasty software on the vulnerable computer.
More RCE And Other Vulnerabilities
Redmond also patched two vulnerabilities in the Windows font library that can allow a web page or document to execute malicious code on a vulnerable machine and hijack it on opening a file with a specially crafted embedded font or visiting a website hosting the malicious file.
The update also includes fixes for a bug in Windows TRIE (CVE-2017-11769) that allows DLL files to achieve remote code execution, a programming error (CVE-2017-11776) in Outlook that leaves its emails open to snooping over supposedly secure connections.
Other issues patched this month include two remote code execution flaws in the Windows Shell and a remote code execution bug in Windows Search.
Microsoft also published an advisory warning user of a security feature bypass issue affecting the firmware of Infineon Trusted Platform Modules (TPMs).
Surprisingly, Adobe Flash does not include any security patches. Meanwhile, Adobe has skipped October's Patch Tuesday altogether.
Users are strongly advised to apply October security patches as soon as possible in order to keep hackers and cybercriminals away from taking control over their computers.
For installing security updates, simply head on to Settings → Update & security → Windows Update → Check for updates, or you can install the updates manually.
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Joomla – one of the most popular open source Content Management System (CMS) software packages, has reportedly patched three critical vulnerabilities in its software.
The flaws, exist in the Joomla version 3.2 to 3.4.4, include SQL injection vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to take admin privileges on most customer websites.
The patch was an upgrade to Joomla version 3.4.5 and only contained security fixes.
The vulnerability, discovered by Trustwave SpiderLabs researcher Asaf Orpani and Netanel Rubin of PerimeterX, could be exploited to attack a website with SQL injections.
SQL injection (SQLi) is an injection attack wherein a bad actor can inject/insert malicious SQL commands/query (malicious payloads) through the input data from the client to the application.
The vulnerability is one of the oldest, most powerful and most dangerous flaw that could affect any website or web application that uses an SQL-based database.
The recent SQLi in Joomla discovered by Orpani are:
CVE-2015-7297
CVE-2015-7857
CVE-2015-7858
CVE-2015-7857 enables an unauthorized remote attacker to gain administrator privileges by hijacking the admin session. Once exploited, the attacker may gain full control of the website and execute additional attacks.
The vulnerability discovered in a core module that doesn't require any extensions, therefore, all the websites that use Joomla versions 3.2 (released in November 2013) and above are vulnerable.
Researchers also discovered the related vulnerabilities, CVE-2015-7858 and CVE-2015-7297, as part of their research.
Actually the Joomla code resided in /administrator /components /com_contenthistory/ models/history.php was vulnerable to SQL injection.
Orpani came across many weak links in this code, that could:
Exploit the vulnerability to gain the administrator session key
On executing the request on Joomla site returns the admin session key
Using the admin key to hijack the session and further gaining:
Access to the /administrator/ folder
Administrator privileges
Access to the administrator Control Panel
Vulnerability in DRUPAL
The popular CMS Drupal has also patched an Open Redirect vulnerability in the Overlay module in its Core project (7.x versions prior to 7.41).
The Overlay module in Drupal core project displays administrative pages as a layer on the current page, rather than replacing the page in the browser window.
However, the module doesn't sufficiently validate URLs prior to displaying their contents, which leads to an open redirect vulnerability, according to Drupal's official blog.
The vulnerability affected the site users with administrative rights; i.e. if only the "Access the administrative overlay" permission is enabled the vulnerability could be exploited.
The fix for the open redirect vulnerability was released and required the sites to upgrade to Drupal version 7.41.
If you were not aware of these vulnerabilities, do not panic you can patch your CMS now!
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XKCD—one of the most popular webcomic platforms known for its geeky tech humor and other science-laden comic strips on romance, sarcasm, math, and language—has suffered a data breach exposing data of its forum users.
The security breach occurred two months ago, according to security researcher Troy Hunt who alerted the company of the incident, with unknown hackers stealing around 562,000 usernames, email and IP addresses, as well as hashed passwords.
However, the leaked data was actually discovered by security researcher and data analyst Adam Davies, who shared a copy of it with Hunt.
At the time of writing, XKCD has taken down its forum and posted a short notice on its homepage, as shared below, urging its users to change their passwords immediately.
"The xkcd forums are currently offline. We've been alerted that portions of the PHPBB user table from our forums showed up in a leaked data collection. The data includes usernames, email addresses, salted, hashed passwords, and in some cases, an IP address from the time of registration."
"We've taken the forums offline until we can go over them and make sure they're secure. If you're an echochamber.me/xkcd forums user, you should immediately change your password for any other accounts on which you used the same or a similar password."
The forum administrators are also notifying affected users via email.
As mentioned, XKCD uses phpBB, a free and open-source forum and bulletin board software built in the PHP programming software.
However, at this moment it's unclear if XKCD was using an older version of the forum software vulnerable to a security flaw or the attackers exploited any previously undiscovered flaw in phpBB to extract the data unauthorisedly.
Besides this, even if XKCD was running over phpBB version 3.1 and later, which uses more secure BCRYPT hashing algorithm, it's possible that the passwords for early users of the XKCD forum were encrypted via the older, less secure MD5 hashing method.
What you can do now: affected users are strongly advised to immediately change their XKCD password, as well as passwords for any other online accounts which re-use the same password.
Created in 2005 by American author Randall Munroe, XKCD is a popular webcomic that focuses on tech, science, and internet culture, with its subject matter varies from statements on life and love to mathematical, programming, and scientific in-jokes.
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(CNN)Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios has continued his ongoing spat with fellow player Casper Ruud in an explosive tweet Thursday. Kyrgios labeled the Norwegian "boring" in response to comments made by Ruud about the pair's first meeting at this year's Italian Open, in which the Australian was disqualified for throwing a chair in rage.Ruud, who had passionately celebrated his default victory, later said his opponent was "totally crazy" and an "idiot on court" in an exclusive interview with TennisportalenI Wednesday. Kyrgios, who initially took to Twitter in May to laugh at Ruud's reaction to the win, reignited the bitterness after the latest dig. "Next time you have something to say, I would appreciate you say it to my face, I'm sure you wouldn't run your mouth so much after that," he tweeted at Ruud. Read More"Until then I will continue to rather watch paint dry then watch you play tennis, boring af." Kyrgios added: "But again, I also understand why you have to keep my name in your mouth because people don't even realize that you play tennis. Goodluck in Milan champ x."READ: Nick Kyrgios smashes two rackets and curses at umpire in Cincinnati defeatREAD: Is Nick Kyrgios good for tennis?Hey @CasperRuud98 next time you have something to say, I would appreciate you say it to my face, I'm sure you wouldn't run your mouth so much after that. Until then I will continue to rather watch paint dry then watch you play tennis, boring af.— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) October 24, 2019 History of controversyKyrgios is no stranger to controversy and is on probation for his on-court behavior. He was initially fined $113,000 for smashing two rackets and calling chair umpire Fergus Murphy a "f***ing tool" in his three set defeat by Russia's Karen Khachanov at the Cincinnati Masters in August.However, the sport's governing body identified a pattern of behavior and put him on probation for six months with the stipulation he consults a behavioral management expert. In 2016, he was banned for eight weeks and fined $25,000 for failing to "give best efforts" at the Shanghai Masters.In March, he became engaged in a verbal spat with a heckling fan at the Miami Open, which resulted in the fan being removed from the court.More recently, he labeled the ATP as "pretty corrupt" during the US Open.
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In the last two weeks, Florida has paid more than $1.1 million in bitcoin to cybercriminals to recover encrypted files from two separate ransomware attacks—one against Riviera Beach and the other against Lake City.
Lake City, a city in northern Florida, agreed on Monday to pay hackers 42 Bitcoin (equivalent to $573,300 at the current value) to unlock phone and email systems following a ransomware attack that crippled its computer systems for two weeks.
The ransomware attack, dubbed "Triple Threat" since it combines three different methods of attack to target network systems, infected Lake City systems on June 10 after an employee in city hall opened a malicious email.
Though the IT staff disconnected computers within just 10 minutes of the cyber attack starting, it was too late. The attack locked down the city workers' email accounts and servers.
Since the police and fire departments operate on a different server, they were the only ones not impacted by the attack. While other Lake City networks are currently disabled, Public Safety services remain unaffected by this attack.
The unknown hackers contacted the city's insurer and negotiated ransom payment of 42 bitcoins, currently $573,300. Lake City officials voted on Monday to pay the ransom to regain access to their important files.
The ransom payment would be mostly covered by insurance, although $10,000 would be incurred by taxpayers.
"Our systems are shut down, but there is no evidence to indicate any sensitive data has been compromised. All customer service payment data, such as credit card data, is stored off-site by third-party vendors and would not have been accessed by an attack like this on our network," said City Information Technology Director Brian Hawkins.
Lake City is the second city in Florida recently being hit by a ransomware attack.
Riviera Beach, another city in Florida, became a victim of a ransomware attack on May 29 after a city employee clicked on a malicious link in an email, according to local media reports.
The ransomware attack crippled the city's computer systems for at least three weeks after which the Riviera Beach City Council authorized the city's insurer to pay a ransom of 65 Bitcoin ($897,650 at today's value) to regain access to their locked systems.
Federal authorities and cybersecurity experts have always advised victims not to pay ransoms since it encourages cybercriminals, and also there's no guarantee of your files or computer systems being completely restored.
Instead of paying hackers a ransom, organisations, and companies should have robust backups of their important and required files and data as well as educate their employees to avoid being a victim of any cyber attack.
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(CNN)The House January 6 committee's aggressive approach to seeking accountability from ex-President Donald Trump, on full display this week, may be setting up a choice for Attorney General Merrick Garland that would trigger a legal and political storm. In a torrent of legal filings, subpoenas, contempt referrals and hundreds of interviews, the panel has constructed a probe that is sweeping in scope and seems certain to bust open the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that led to the worst attack on US democracy in generations.In a new gambit this week, the committee argued to a judge in a case related to the probe that Trump and a conservative lawyer were part of a "criminal conspiracy" to try to reverse the results of the 2020 presidential election. The court filing sparked political intrigue over whether the former President could ultimately end up facing a jury over the insurrection. Then, in a fresh sign of its industriousness, the committee targeted Kimberly Guilfoyle, the fiancée of Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., with a subpoena on Thursday. Public hearings designed to expose Trump's plotting against the Constitution are expected to begin next month. And given what is known about the evidence the committee has already collected, a scathing final report lambasting Trump's attempt to stay in power in defiance of the people's will seems assured.Takeaways from the House's January 6 committee's claims of a potential Trump 'criminal conspiracy'Yet the committee is facing fundamental challenges. First, it has no powers to bring criminal charges on its own. Second, it is almost certainly living on borrowed time. Pro-Trump Republicans have vowed to close it down if the GOP wins back the House in November's elections. And US public opinion is so polarized about Trump that even a shocking report detailing unfettered totalitarianism by the ex-President -- and possible 2024 Republican nominee -- seems unlikely to shift the political needle much. And any attempts to trigger changes to the law to prevent repeats of the insurrection will come up against that ticking political clock, with Senate Republicans able to wield the filibuster to block measures they oppose. But if the panel were to successfully convince the Justice Department that a prosecution of Trump or acolytes was justified, its work could live on and force Trump to face elusive accountability even if a new Republican House majority ends its mandate.Still, on its own, the committee has limited capacity to enforce the accountability that Trump has long skipped past in politics, business and life.Read MoreIndeed, Trump secured at least temporary relief on a separate front in New York on Thursday. The ex-President's lawyers reached a deal with the New York attorney general to postpone depositions in the civil suit into the Trump Organization. Trump, Trump Jr., and his daughter Ivanka will now not be deposed until they learn the results of their appeal against a lower court ruling that they must sit for interviews. The deal will likely push off any depositions for at least several months.Next steps A more formal move against Trump by the committee -- possibly including a criminal referral to the Justice Department at the end of the investigation -- could be a way of getting around the obstacles in its path. That is why the court filing this week -- in which the panel accused Trump and right-wing lawyer John Eastman, who allegedly masterminded the ex-President's attempt to steal the election in Congress, of a "criminal conspiracy" -- is so interesting. The move came as the committee tries to force Eastman to hand over emails he argues are protected by attorney-client privilege. Trump and Eastman have not been charged, and the court filing does not mean they are in immediate legal jeopardy. The conspiracy argument is an attempt to vitiate Eastman's attorney-client privilege defense. But it is being interpreted by legal observers as a clear signal of the January 6 panel's ultimate intent and, potentially, as a way to increase pressure on Garland to bring charges.The single most damning email exchange in the new January 6 committee filing"The Select Committee, I think, is saying here implicitly, they are going to seek a criminal referral," former federal prosecutor and CNN legal analyst Jennifer Rodgers told CNN's Kate Bolduan Thursday. Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California, who sits on the panel, told CNN on Thursday that he didn't want to get ahead of whether or not it should make a referral. "We're obviously not a criminal, prosecutorial body. That'll be up to the Justice Department," he said. "But I think there were multiple lines of effort to overturn the election. Some of those lines of effort appear to violate federal law, and we don't think that any communications in the service of that fraud and that obstruction should be privileged in any way."Wednesday's filing was also interesting because it included evidence -- in the form of emails between then-Vice President Mike Pence's lawyer Greg Jacob and Eastman -- that appear to show that people inside the White House knew the scheme to overturn the election in the Electoral College was wrong. Such evidence could be critical in any criminal case against the ex-President or other officials in his White House.Mounting pressure on GarlandA House referral would deposit a boiling political hot potato in Garland's lap. The attorney general, at the direction of Biden, has sought to restore the wall between the Justice Department and partisan politics that was torn down by Trump as he sought to use the agency much like a personal law firm. The claims in the new court filing only step up the heat on him."From my perspective as a former prosecutor with the Department of Justice, the department shouldn't be waiting on our committee for any referral," Schiff said. "If the Justice Department believes there is evidence of crime, involving anyone, including the former President, they should be investigating.""The Justice Department has no requirement to wait for Congress, historically doesn't wait for Congress, and I don't think should wait for Congress here," he added. The California lawmaker had previously raised concerns that the department was not taking the investigation into January 6 seriously, and he said Thursday that concern remains.Garland would have to consider whether a case outlined by the House committee would have a good chance of success in a court of law. Ultimately, the question of whether it is in the national interest to prosecute a former President with future political ambitions would be raised given the far reaching implications of such a case. But if presidents can get away with trying to overturn an election, as publicly available evidence of Trump's statements and actions suggests is what happened, it would have implications for US democracy in the long term. The Justice Department has already received two criminal contempt referrals from the committee and the full House -- targeting Trump's former political guru, Steve Bannon, and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, both regarding a refusal to testify to the panel. The department initiated a prosecution against Bannon, who's facing trial this summer. So far, it has not taken action on the case of Meadows, who, as a serving official at the time of the insurrection, may have better claims that his conversations with Trump are protected by executive privilege. CNN legal analyst Elie Honig suggested on Thursday that the committee's move was a gambit specifically designed to increase the heat on Garland as the most critical months of the investigation begin to unfold."The DOJ has prosecuted over 700 people, but all people who were physically present at the Capitol," Honig said on CNN's "Newsroom." "I think what the committee is trying to do here is amp up the pressure on Merrick Garland, (saying) we want you to start looking at the bosses, we want you to start looking at the people who plotted this in advance."Extending the committee's legacy While it's one thing for the committee to make a conspiracy argument in a case relating to attorney-client privilege, it's another thing to produce compelling evidence that would stand up in a straight prosecution. And given the stakes, prestige and identify of the potential accused -- a ex-President of the United States -- the burden of proof would seem to be even more elevated.A committee decision to make a criminal referral of the former President to the Justice Department would be certain to trigger an extraordinary political uproar. It would unfold right in the middle of the midterm campaign, ensuring that for a second election in a row, Trump's lies about voter fraud would take center stage. The ex-President would be sure to claim the referral was just the latest attempt by the political establishment to persecute him and his followers -- a charge right-wing propagandists on conservative media would embrace following their efforts to whitewash the history of the Capitol insurrection. Such a referral could also further mobilize Trump supporters to get to the polls in 2022 in pursuit of a GOP-controlled Congress. It could also motivate Democrats alarmed by fresh evidence of the ex-President's lawlessness as he contemplates another presidential campaign in 2024. And a reminder of the extreme efforts to which the ex-President resorted to cling to power could renew his toxic impact on suburban voters, who were alienated by his radicalism in elections in 2018 and 2020.But a criminal referral against Trump would be one way for the committee to extend an active legacy even if it is wiped out in a Republican landslide in November's midterms. A final report into that day of infamy, when the Trump-incited mob stormed the Capitol to try to stop Congress ratifying Joe Biden's victory, that gets big headlines and drops in the last few months of the 2022 campaign could impact public opinion, raise pressure for Congress to enact reforms and be a milestone in history. Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria of Virginia, a member of the panel, teased on Thursday that the information revealed in the filing is only a fraction of what the committee has."The information that was shared in that filing is just a tiny piece of information that the committee has been able to gather over the months of work," she said. Still, it's just as likely that the fruits of the investigation will fade over time.A potential criminal prosecution, however, could represent a significant return for the two GOP members of the panel, Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who have put their political careers on the line to oppose Trump. Cheney is facing a Trump-backed primary challenger and lost her House leadership post for telling the truth about the ex-President's lies. Kinzinger, who has been ostracized by his colleagues, is not running for reelection in November. This week's court filing is not the first time that the committee has hinted at a potential criminal referral of Trump. Cheney told CNN in January that his attempt to obstruct the certification of a fair election was certainly a dereliction of duty and that the committee was looking at whether it constitutes a crime.Annie Grayer and Ryan Nobles contributed to this report.
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(CNN)Actors Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are promising to match every donation up to $1 million for refugees fleeing war in Ukraine, the couple said on social media. "In 48 hours, countless Ukrainians were forced to flee their homes to neighboring countries. They need protection. When you donate, we'll match it up to $1,000,000, creating double the support," Reynolds wrote Saturday on Twitter in promoting donations to the United Nations refugee agency.Lively posted a UNHCR photo on Instagram showing a child, saying the agency is "providing life saving aid." Putin orders Russian deterrence forces onto high alert as troops battle for control of Ukrainian citiesUkrainians crowded onto trains and waited in long lines for hours to leave the country after Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine on Thursday. About 368,000 refugees have managed to leave, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported Sunday. EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said Sunday the European Union needs to prepare for millions of refugees to arrive.Read More"It's very difficult to guess how many, but I think we should be prepared for millions," Johansson said. The UN agency said that because of "years of violence," more than 2 million people had left Ukraine even before Russia troops invaded last week, and almost 3 million people in Ukraine will need humanitarian assistance this year. "Those fleeing for their lives need immediate shelter, protection and safety," the non-profit USA for UNHCR said on the site where donations can be made.
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Story highlightsFans of Cadbury Creme Eggs are upset about a recipe change Cadbury Creme Eggs appear on shelves from January until EasterAmerican food giant Kraft acquired British-based Cadbury in 2010 (CNN)The makers of Cadbury Creme Eggs are walking on eggshells with fans of the beloved Easter treat after a recent tweak in the recipe.The chocolate eggs, filled with a cloying "yolk" of yellow and white fondant, were originally made in the United Kingdom with Cadbury's signature Dairy Milk chocolate. Now, under the new recipe, they're made with "a standard, traditional Cadbury milk chocolate," said a spokeswoman for Mondelez International, a spinoff of Kraft Foods, in a statement. Kraft acquired British candy maker Cadbury in 2010 for roughly $19 billion.The change applies only to Cadbury eggs sold in the United Kingdom. The goo-filled eggs usually appear on shelves starting in January until April."We have always used a range of milk chocolate blends for different products, depending on their shape or consistency," the spokeswoman said. "The fundamentals of the Cadbury Crème Egg remain exactly the same -- delicious milk chocolate and the unique creme centre that consumers love." Read MoreHowever, fans aren't buying it. Some took to Twitter to vent their displeasure.New Kraft ad campaign:
Cadbury's Creme Eggs, how don't you eat yours?— David Stokes (@scottywrotem) January 12, 2015
Hey @CadburyUK! YOU MIGHT AS WELL HAVE JUST CANCELLED EASTER. I'M HIGHLY EMOTIONAL AND PROTECTIVE OF CHOCOLATE EGGS.— Matty Tyler (@TylerMattyJames) January 12, 2015
Thank God I was already sitting down when I heard about Cadbury's Cream Eggs.— Richard Sandling (@squat_betty) January 12, 2015
According to Cadbury, 500 million creme eggs are made each year, and about two-thirds of those are consumed in the UK.This is not Cadbury's first controversy of 2015's creme-egg season: Fans expressed similar disappointment when the number of eggs in each pack was cut from six to five.
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(CNN)On a typical year, the Golden Globe Awards serve as the gold standard for tipsy fun. But this is not a typical year for Hollywood's quirkiest award show.Still, even as the Globes serve a time out as The Hollywood Foreign Press Association works to repair its reputation, there is no break being taken from recognizing the best films and television of the year.In a toned down, untelevised presentation, the winners of the Golden Globes were announced Sunday night. A full list of nominees follows below with winners indicated in bold.TelevisionRead MoreBest Performance by an Actor in a Television Series -- Musical or ComedyAnthony Anderson, "Black-ish"Nicholas Hoult, "The Great"Steve Martin, "Only Murders in the Building"Martin Short, "Only Murders in the Building"Jason Sudeikis, "Ted Lasso" *WINNERBest Performance by an Actress in a Television Series -- Musical or ComedyHannah Einbender, "Hacks"Elle Fanning, "The Great"Issa Rae, "Insecure"Tracee Ellis Ross, "black-ish"Jean Smart, "Hacks" *WINNERBest Performance by an Actor in a Television Series -- DramaBrian Cox, "Succession"Lee Jung-jae, "Squid Game"Billy Porter, "Pose"Jeremy Strong, "Succession" *WINNEROmar Sy, "Lupin"Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series -- DramaUzo Aduba, "In Treatment"Jennifer Aniston, "The Morning Show"Christine Baranski, "The Good Fight"Elisabeth Moss, "The Handmaid's Tale"Mj Rodriguez, "Pose" *WINNERBest Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for TelevisionPaul Bettany, "WandaVision"Oscar Isaac, "Scenes From a Marriage"Michael Keaton, "Dopesick" *WINNEREwan McGregor, "Halston"Tahar Rahim, "The Serpent"Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for TelevisionJessica Chastain, "Scenes From a Marriage"Cynthia Erivo, "Genius: Aretha"Elizabeth Olsen, "WandaVision"Margaret Qualley, "Maid" Kate Winslet, "Mare of Easttown" *WINNERBest Television Series Drama"Lupin""The Morning Show""Pose""Squid Game""Succession" *WINNERBest Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television"Dopesick""Impeachment: American Crime Story""Maid""Mare of Easttown""The Underground Railroad" *WINNERBest Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for TelevisionJennifer Coolidge, "White Lotus"Kaitlyn Dever, "Dopesick"Andie MacDowell, "Maid"Sarah Snook, "Succession" *WINNERHannah Waddingham, "Ted Lasso"Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for TelevisionBilly Crudup, "The Morning Show"Kieran Culkin, "Succession"Mark Duplass, "The Morning Show"Brett Goldstein, "Ted Lasso"Oh Yeong-su, "Squid Game" *WINNERBest Television Series -- Musical or Comedy"The Great""Hacks" *WINNER"Only Murders in the Building""Reservation Dogs""Ted Lasso"FILMBest Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy"Cyrano""Don't Look Up""Licorice Pizza""Tick, Tick ... Boom!""West Side Story" *WINNERBest Motion Picture -- Drama"Belfast,""CODA""Dune" "King Richard" "The Power of the Dog" *WINNERBest Motion Picture -- Foreign Language"Compartment No. 6" "Drive My Car" *WINNER"The Hand of God" "A Hero" "Parallel Mothers"Best Screenplay -- Motion PicturePaul Thomas Anderson, "Licorice Pizza"Kenneth Branagh, "Belfast" *WINNERJane Campion, "The Power of the Dog"Adam McKay, "Don't Look Up"Aaron Sorkin , "Being the Ricardos"Best Original Song -- Motion Picture"Be Alive" from "King Richard" - Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Dixson "Dos Orugitas" from "Encanto" - Lin-Manuel Miranda "Down to Joy" from "Belfast" - Van Morrison "Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)" from "Respect" - Jamie Alexander Hartman, Jennifer Hudson, Carole King "No Time to Die" from "No Time to Die" - Billie Eilish, Finneas O'Connell *WINNERBest Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion PictureBen Affleck, "The Tender Bar"Jamie Dornan, "Belfast"Ciarán Hinds, "Belfast"Troy Kotsur, "CODA"Kodi Smit-McPhee, "The Power of the Dog" *WINNERBest Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion PictureCaitríona Balfe, "Belfast"Ariana DeBose, "West Side Story" *WINNERKirsten Dunst, "The Power of the Dog"Aunjanue Ellis, "King Richard"Ruth Negga, "PassingBest Actor in a Motion Picture -- Musical or ComedyLeonardo DiCaprio, "Don't Look Up" Peter Dinklage, "Cyrano"Andrew Garfield, "Tick, Tick ... Boom!" *WINNERCooper Hoffman, "Licorice Pizza"Anthony Ramos, "In the Heights"Best Motion Picture -- Animated"Encanto" *WINNER"Flee""Luca""My Sunny Maad""Raya and the Last Dragon"Best Actor in a Motion Picture -- DramaMahershala Ali, "Swan Song"Javier Bardem, "Being the Ricardos"Benedict Cumberbatch, "The Power of the Dog"Will Smith, "King Richard" *WINNERDenzel Washington, "The Tragedy of Macbeth"Best Actress in a Motion Picture -- DramaJessica Chastain, "The Eyes of Tammy Faye"Olivia Colman, "The Lost Daughter"Nicole Kidman, "Being the Ricardos" *WINNERLady Gaga, "House of Gucci"Kristen Stewart, "Spencer"Best Actress in a Motion Picture -- Musical or ComedyMarion Cotillard, "Annette"Alana Haim, "Licorice Pizza"Jennifer Lawrence, "Don't Look Up"Emma Stone, "Cruella"Rachel Zegler, "West Side Story" *WINNERBest Director -- Motion PictureKenneth Branagh, "Belfast"Jane Campion, "The Power of the Dog" *WINNERMaggie Gyllenhaal, "The Lost Daughter"Steven Spielberg, "West Side Story"Denis Villeneuve, "Dune" Best Original Score"The French Dispatch""Encanto""The Power of the Dog""Parallel Mothers""Dune" *WINNER
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Story highlightsPavel Petel had built up a career as a model, performance artist and DJ in RussiaHe is now losing business and blames it on a Russian law banning gay "propaganda"Most of Moscow's gay population lives in secret and city has few gay clubs "Don't ask, don't tell" is the unspoken rule outside Moscow's gay "ghetto," says one manPavel Petel was once an open, flamboyant bisexual man from Ukraine who built up a career as a model, performance artist and DJ in Russia. Photographs of him semi-naked while riding a horse and brandishing a gun are a feast for web surfers.But after he and his partner Sergey Ostrikov were attacked outside Moscow, and especially since a bill banning gay "propaganda" was passed in June, Petel has feared for his safety. He is losing business -- and blames that on the law and an increasingly less tolerant climate towards homosexuality."People in the regions are very aggressive towards gays. Sergey and I were lucky to be alive last year because some people wanted to kill us. My fear has been growing since then."And recently, "I was working on my video when I turned on the TV and saw video of one anchor of a Russian channel who said that you need to burn the gays' hearts," he told CNN. "I had to continue to smile, perform, say 'hello sexy' but it was difficult. I started to be afraid. "I'm dressed down now when I go on to the street and I'm afraid police could arrest me. They can implement the law against me. I know that I'm not safe. "I'm afraid to do what I used to. I'll probably change. I'm scared to come to the streets now wearing wigs or heels. I've started to wear them much more rarely." Photos: Pavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' law Photos: Pavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' lawPavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' law – Pavel Patel built up a career in Russia as a model, performance artist and DJ.Hide Caption 1 of 16 Photos: Pavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' lawPavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' law – Petel is now losing business -- and blames that on the anti-gay law implemented in Russia in June and increased violence towards gays.Hide Caption 2 of 16 Photos: Pavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' lawPavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' law – He says he and his partner, Sergey Ostryakovskij, were attacked outside Moscow. "Sergey and I were lucky to be alive last year because some people wanted to kill us," says Petel. "My fear has been growing since then."Hide Caption 3 of 16 Photos: Pavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' lawPavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' law – "I was working on my video when I turned on the TV and saw video of one anchor of a Russian channel who said that you need to burn the gays' hearts," Petel told CNN. "I had to continue to smile, perform, say 'hello sexy' but it was difficult."Hide Caption 4 of 16 Photos: Pavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' lawPavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' law – "I'm dressed down now when I go on to the street and I'm afraid police could arrest me. They can implement the law against me. I know that I'm not safe."Hide Caption 5 of 16 Photos: Pavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' lawPavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' law – "I'm scared to come to the streets now wearing wigs or heels. I've started to wear them much more rarely."Hide Caption 6 of 16 Photos: Pavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' lawPavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' law – When he was growing up in the Soviet era, "life was easier," he recalled. In fact, he doesn't even define himself as a gay man at all. "I've never actually thought about myself being a gay or a straight or anything else."Hide Caption 7 of 16 Photos: Pavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' lawPavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' law – Photographs of Petel semi-naked while riding a horse and brandishing a gun are a feast for web surfers.Hide Caption 8 of 16 Photos: Pavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' lawPavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' law – Russia insists the new law, which bans "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations around minors," is intended to protect children. It bars discussion of gay rights and relationships within earshot of children.Hide Caption 9 of 16 Photos: Pavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' lawPavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' law – International rights groups have called the legislation highly discriminatory, as anti-gay attacks are on the rise in Russia and are sometimes perpetrated by the police themselves.Hide Caption 10 of 16 Photos: Pavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' lawPavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' law – An international backlash against Russia's anti-gay propaganda law is gathering speed, from calls for a boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia to gay bars in Los Angeles planning "vodka-dumping" protests.Hide Caption 11 of 16 Photos: Pavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' lawPavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' law – Petel, who lives in Moscow, said that although he believes the law is "designed against people with non-traditional sexuality" he does not support a boycott. Such a move could cause a backlash against gays, he fears. Hide Caption 12 of 16 Photos: Pavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' lawPavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' law – "People will say that it's gays who sabotaged and boycotted the Olympics and people will just burn us with our hearts. This is the silliest thing you could do."Hide Caption 13 of 16 Photos: Pavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' lawPavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' law – He says that if he lived abroad as a gay person he would avoid a country with repressive laws. ""I wouldn't feel pleasure. I wouldn't be afraid, it would be just unpleasant."Hide Caption 14 of 16 Photos: Pavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' lawPavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' law – "Russia would benefit from appreciating gays the same way that Indians appreciate their cows," says Petel. "To me, gays are usually kind, talented, genial, creative and I feel sorry that they're leaving. It's not civilized." Hide Caption 15 of 16 Photos: Pavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' lawPavel Petel on Russia's 'anti-gay' law – "I think it will be back to normal again in 10 years but the new young generation should come to power and change the laws. Maybe we'll see the first Russian gay president in 10 years. Or maybe it will be a woman."Hide Caption 16 of 16JUST WATCHEDOpen Mic: Russia's anti-gay lawReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHOpen Mic: Russia's anti-gay law 02:07JUST WATCHEDAthlete speaks out against anti-gay law ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHAthlete speaks out against anti-gay law 02:00When he was growing up in the Soviet era, "life was easier," he recalled. "There was no pressure to make you chose who you are." Indeed he doesn't even define himself as a gay man at all. "I've never actually thought about myself being a gay or a straight or anything else. I still don't think about it and I didn't think about it in my childhood."Russia insists the new law, which bans "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations around minors," is intended to protect children. It bars discussion of gay rights and relationships within earshot of children.International rights groups have called the legislation highly discriminatory, as anti-gay attacks are on the rise in Russia and are sometimes perpetrated by the police themselves.There have been widespread calls for boycotts and protests -- including a vodka-dumping demonstration in Los Angeles -- casting a pall over the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The gay rights group, All Out, has delivered a petition with hundreds of thousands of signatures denouncing Russia's stance on gay rights.Petel, who lives in Moscow, said that although he believes the law is "designed against people with non-traditional sexuality" he does not support a boycott."I hear a lot now about boycotting the Olympics or vodka. It makes me laugh. Why? First of all, because we all know that no one will ever boycott Olympics for the sake of this because financial interests of the countries are more important than the freedom."Such a move could cause a backlash against homosexuals, he fears. "It may even be designed against the gay community of Russia to turn everyone against them. Because people will say that it's gays who sabotaged and boycotted the Olympics and people will just burn us with our hearts."JUST WATCHEDAthletes: Sochi boycott not the answerReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHAthletes: Sochi boycott not the answer 01:34JUST WATCHEDRussian journalist comes out on airReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRussian journalist comes out on air 02:59JUST WATCHEDA dangerous time to be gay in RussiaReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHA dangerous time to be gay in Russia 03:52OPINION: Make Olympics in Russia "the gayest ever"Moscow, a city of more than 11 million people, has only a handful of gay night clubs, none of which would allow CNN's cameras inside. And on the street, few people are willing to be identified. Viktor Michaelson says most of Moscow's gay population has always lived in secret -- and that they now have even greater reason to embrace anonymity. The gay scene here is often referred to as a ghetto. Michaelson says: "[Gay people] aren't imposed to stay in the ghetto but they feel more comfortable because they can be themselves."Alexander Gudkov says outside the ghetto there's a clear rule -- don't ask, don't tell -- but that he wants more from life."It's very bad. I want to live in open life. And I want to live my life. It's not my choice, it's my life," Gudkov says.What does the future hold then for gays in Russia? Petel understands why acceptance in the country has come slowly, but says: "Russia would benefit from appreciating gays the same way that Indians appreciate their cows. To me, gays are usually kind, talented, genial, creative and I feel sorry that they're leaving. It's not civilized. "I think it will be back to normal again in 10 years but the new young generation should come to power and change the laws. Maybe we'll see the first Russian gay president in 10 years. Or maybe it will be a woman."
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Story highlightsChen Guangcheng's mother lives with memories of guards in their homeDissident Hu Jia says Chinese authorities are playing cat-and-mouse gamesNew breed of activists make mark in China, posing threat to the Communist PartyThe memories are still raw for 78-year-old Wang Jinxiang. In her own home, guards put her through the daily humiliation of body searches. This is where guards repeatedly beat her youngest son, prominent blind human rights advocate Chen Guangcheng, and his wife. Wang's eyes well with tears when she described how officials refused to let her say goodbye to a different dying son.For more than 18 months, Wang was largely confined to house arrest along with her son. Unlike Chen, she was still allowed to go out to buy groceries from time-to-time, accompanied by several guards. "The guards moved in, eating here, sleeping there -- and two usually sat right outside Guangcheng's bedroom day and night," said Wang, pointing to different areas in her courtyard. Her chronic arthritis worsened during her son's captivity.The dozens of burly plainclothes guards who blocked all entrances to this small village, turning away -- often violently -- would-be visitors including CNN crews on three different occasions, are now gone.JUST WATCHEDChinese dissident Chen's new lifeReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHChinese dissident Chen's new life 03:48JUST WATCHEDRetracing Chen Guangcheng's escape ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRetracing Chen Guangcheng's escape 02:38JUST WATCHEDBale presents award to Chen GuangchengReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBale presents award to Chen Guangcheng 03:06They have left the farmer's house tucked away in the rural Shandong province. All that remains are the clucking chickens roaming free in Wang's courtyard. The lone reminder of that period seems to be a surveillance camera watching over a footpath where Chen's arguably most famous supporter -- "Batman" star Christian Bale -- was roughed up and chased out last December.Her youngest son, the blind activist, is now thousands of miles away in New York. His arrival in the United States on May 19 -- along with his wife and children -- brought an end to a diplomatic firestorm between Beijing and Washington that erupted after he fled from house arrest in late April and hid inside the U.S. embassy in China's capital for a week."They spent millions of dollars to keep me away from public view, but I still end up talking to you today," Chen, who turned 41 on Monday , told CNN via Skype. "They should realize the effect of suppression and persecution won't last."In 2006, the self-taught legal activist was sentenced to four years and three months in prison for "damaging property and organizing a mob to disturb traffic." His supporters have maintained that the charges were trumped up by local officials -- the same group that Chen said was responsible for the grotesque abuses he and his family suffered after his release -- to punish his legal advocacy.Chen has fought for victims of what he called abusive practices of the country's draconian family planning policy, including forced abortions and sterilizations. Like him, a new breed of grassroots activists for a myriad of causes -- united by their goal for a freer and more just society -- is making its mark in China, posing a rising threat to the Communist government obsessed with control and stability.Hu Jia is an old friend of Chen and among the first people he met after fleeing to Beijing. A champion of democracy and political freedom, Hu, 39, was arrested and sentenced to three and a half years in prison on subversion charges before the Beijing Olympics in 2008.Now technically a free man, Hu says his continued effort in exposing corruption and injustice after release from prison has led to constant harassment from the authorities, including frequent house arrest in his apartment complex in eastern Beijing -- ironically named Freetown."They try to destroy your dignity, your freedom, everything except your life -- and I think the root of such tyranny actually reveals their own insecurity," Hu told CNN in a recent interview, before officials forced him to leave town to ensure a trouble-free 18th Communist Party National Congress where a once-in-a-decade leadership transition will take place at its conclusion."I've always told the authorities, we're playing the game of cat and mouse -- but I am the cat," he added.JUST WATCHEDChinese dissident's death sparks outrageReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHChinese dissident's death sparks outrage 02:36JUST WATCHEDAi Weiwei: My freedoms are restrictedReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHAi Weiwei: My freedoms are restricted 00:51JUST WATCHEDInside China's Communist Party CongressReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHInside China's Communist Party Congress 03:30Inspired by the likes of Hu and Chen, analysts see a trend of more people in the younger generation -- armed with legal knowledge and Internet skills -- joining the ranks of human rights activists at a time when mass discontent over problems like a widening income gap and rampant official corruption simmer beneath the surface.Former English teacher He Peirong -- known by her online name Pearl -- was so touched by Chen's story that she became involved in the plan to rescue him from his village to Beijing. Police in her hometown of Nanjing detained her for a week after Chen's escape in April, but she says she feels no regrets."As we become more educated and better off, I think our political conscience will become stronger, as more people wake up to stand up for their rights," she said, adding that police had warned her not to go to Beijing during the Party Congress.As the West relies more on China economically during a global slump, observers say the issue of human rights has taken a backseat in its interaction with the Chinese leadership, noting that it was barely mentioned during the recent U.S. presidential election campaign.Read: Security tightens for China dissident after Chen"This is compensated greatly by the fact that Beijing is more worried than ever about the domestic human rights movement, about the fact that its citizenry is increasingly framing their demands through legal rights and human rights language," said Nicholas Bequelin, a Hong Kong-based senior Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch."The Party sees the stakes as getting higher and higher, and therefore we are seeing an increase in unlawful tactics and means of suppression of dissent."Chen and his family say they have borne the brunt of such tactics, and relatives left behind continue to face official retribution after the activist's escape. His oldest brother, Chen Guangfu, hasn't seen his son for half a year. Authorities arrested the younger Chen for attempted murder in late April and told his family that no one except police officers was allowed to see him during the investigation.The Chens have maintained that the activist's nephew injured a few officials with a kitchen knife in self-defense when they broke into his house in the middle of the night and attacked his family after his uncle ran away.An official with the local police department, who declined to give his name, told CNN that the younger Chen's case is now "in the judicial process" and would not comment further. Repeated phone calls to the local prosecutor's office went unanswered."My family is ruined, but I don't regret helping Guangcheng -- and we have done nothing illegal," Chen Guangfu said. "He helped those in need with his knowledge and skill -- and at least we can answer to our conscience."With Vice President Xi Jinping expected to be appointed the new Communist Party chief Thursday, Pearl says she feels more optimistic about the country's future direction while Hu emphasizes he has lost all hope on the current regime. Chen, citing Chinese history, views the leadership change as almost irrelevant when it comes to the inevitable fall of tyranny and move toward a constitutional democracy. While activists seem divided on whether a new generation of leaders will improve China's human rights record, Chen Guangcheng's elderly mother says she has a more basic worry: Will her youngest son ever be allowed back home to live freely and safely?
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Beziers, France (CNN)The train speeds out of the darkness of the channel tunnel, emerging into a landscape of high security fences and barbed wire. Welcome to France."The migrants have come back, you know," the conductor says as we pull into Calais station. "Trying to get to England. It's going to be a big problem again."For years, Calais -- just 20 miles from the English coast -- was the last stopping-off point on the migrant route that led from warzones and trouble spots the world over. Thousands gathered, setting up camp as they waited to cross to the UK, through the tunnel, or hidden in trucks and cars. Their camp, "the Jungle," was demolished in October 2016, and the migrants and refugees it housed dispersed. Aid agencies have since been banned from handing out food in the area.The camp may be gone, but some migrants are still here, clustered around an ornamental pond in the park, or sitting together on a roadside verge.Read MoreThat they have ended up in Calais may be down to a quirk of geography, but their presence in a region already struggling with high unemployment has provoked resentment among the community, helping to fuel a rise in support for the far right.Election posters in Calais.At one of the town's many "friteries" (fast food stands), Jessy Boin says he plans to vote for Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front, because she has vowed to cut the number of migrants allowed into the country, "it's a big problem here."Meanwhile, customer Loic Focquer, who is unemployed at the moment, believes a vote for Le Pen "will make the job situation better."Loic Focqueur hopes that voting for Marine Le Pen will give him a better chance of finding work.In the first round of the presidential election, Le Pen scored a convincing win here. She ran on a euroskeptic and anti-globalization platform, promised to improve the lot of workers, and -- perhaps most importantly -- offered something many here in Calais and elsewhere in France crave: Change.After decades of economic stagnation and high unemployment, regardless of which of the two traditional main parties -- Republican or Socialist -- were in power, voters in France are looking for something different.And this Sunday, one way or the other, they'll get it.They are faced with a choice between Le Pen, who has spent years trying to make the xenophobic, anti-immigrant party her father founded "respectable" to mainstream voters, and Emmanuel Macron, a relative newcomer to politics, who has never held elected office and whose En Marche! movement didn't exist 18 months ago.READ: Will Europe ride the populist wave? The heart of ParisMacron was a distant third in Calais, but came first across the country overall. He performed strongly in larger towns and cities, including the capital, Paris, where he handily beat more seasoned politicians, including the conservative Francois Fillon and left-wing firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon.The Place de la Republique is at the heart of the people's Paris. It is where Parisians come together to mourn in times of sadness -- mass protests were held here after the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack -- and celebrate in times of joy.One of the lions at the base of the statue in Paris' Place de la Republique has been defaced with graffiti. With the final round of the presidential election just days away, it is also where people come to debate and demonstrate. The statue at the center of the square, surrounded by flowers and candles after the Paris attacks, is now covered in political graffiti.As May Day marchers prepared to set out from the square on Monday, Assan Kericha cooked kebabs and sausages on a food stall. He said he voted for Melenchon in the first round: "I don't like the others, but this time I'll vote for Macron -- of course -- to stop racism and to stop Le Pen."For Assam Kericha, a vote for Emmanuel Macron is a vote against racism. Natassja Naguszewski set up an anti-Le Pen protest in the square on May Day, at which scores of campaigners wore masks combining Marine Le Pen's hair with the face of her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, calling into question Le Pen's attempts to sanitize his anti-Semitic legacy.Naguszewski said she fears that, if Le Pen wins, France will become an insular police state, in which those considered "foreigners" are demonized.As well as trade union demonstrations, May 1 in Paris is also traditionally the day when people sell sprigs of lily of the valley in the street.Nastassja Naguszewski, pictured right, founded a group campaigning for people to vote against Le Pen. One such "muguet" vendor, who had set out her stall on the Champs-Elysees -- near where policeman Xavier Jugele was gunned down days before the first round vote -- said she was still deciding who to support, but wanted to back a candidate who would solve France's unemployment and security issues.The differences between Le Pen and Macron's support bases demonstrate the deep divisions in society that France's new president -- whoever he or she is -- will have to repair: urban versus rural, rich versus poor, elite versus working class.A quick glance at a map of the first round results shows another divide too: east vs. west.READ: The beginner's guide to the French elections Macron countryThe next stop is Bordeaux, a prosperous university city near France's midwestern coast. The train hurries out from the station into the spring green of the French countryside, through bright yellow rapeseed fields and past the occasional fairytale chateau, until vineyards spring up on both sides of the track.Bordeaux's mayor, Alain Juppe, was briefly in the running for the 2017 presidency himself, but lost out to Francois Fillon in the Republican primaries. In the first round of the election, Macron came out on top here, followed by Melenchon and Fillon; Le Pen came in fifth.Jean-Michel Dewelle, who runs a plant and flower stall at the city's Capuchins' Market, says he voted for Macron in the first round, and will do so again: "I'm convinced he'll bring progress ... it'll be a lot better for France if Macron wins."Macron has won flower merchant Jean-Michel Dewelle's vote in both the first and second rounds. As for Le Pen, "she's a fascist," he says, bluntly. "I absolutely wouldn't vote for her. I voted against her father in 2002 -- I supported [former President Jacques] Chirac; I didn't much care for him, but I didn't hesitate for one minute."Students Camille Baudoux and Sarah Sanchez say they will follow the 2002 pattern -- voting for Macron, who they would not normally back, in order to stop Le Pen."We're picking the least worst option," says Baudoux, adding she isn't sure who'll come out on top. "I think there are going to be a lot of people who just don't vote."READ: The french election spells trouble for the EUCelestin Hernandez (left) and Adil Houdaibi, both students in Bordeaux, are also planning to vote Macron.Fellow student Celestin Hernandez cautions that, should Macron win, he will face a tough time in the months ahead. "He won't have a majority in the legislature, and that means it will be difficult for him."In his men's clothing store in one of Bordeaux's main shopping streets, Karim Laiche says he isn't convinced Macron has it in the bag just yet: "We don't know how it will go -- we could have a surprise," he said.But Karim Laiche warns that a Macron victory is hardly a sure thing, urging people to vote on Sunday. "The polls are saying it's 60-40 to Macron, but polls can be wrong -- Trump happened in the US, and we could end up with Le Pen here," he says. "So, we pray, and above all, we vote!"Heading southeast from Bordeaux, the landscape changes slowly, becoming hillier, drier, rockier. The view from the train window looks, at times, like a Cezanne landscape.READ: Defiant rebel valley opens doors to refugeesLe Pen countryThe final destination is Beziers, near the Cote d'Azur. Many here are hoping Le Pen will find some way of swinging those unfavorable polls her way in the final days of the campaign.Beziers voted overwhelmingly in support of the far-right leader in the first round. Its mayor, Robert Menard, was elected with the support of the National Front, and has turned his town into a "laboratory of the far right," where the limits of France's famously secular society are being tested.Menard was recently convicted of provoking hatred and discrimination (and fined 2,000 euros) for suggesting that there were too many Muslim children in Beziers' schools.The walkway in front of Beziers' St. Nazaire Cathedral honors Jacques Hamel, who was murdered in his Normandy church in July 2016 as he led mass. "Everyone's voting Le Pen, even if they won't admit it," says one Beziers café owner, who asks not to be identified for fear his political views could damage his business. "Le Pen has solutions that everyone wants, but nobody wants to talk about."I like Macron a lot, but we've had enough," he adds. "Economically, Macron would be a lot better for France, but Le Pen will actually do the things she says. I'm voting for her, to change the system."OPINION: France's election ending in a verbal cage fightElection posters outside Beziers' town hall is seen with Macron's eyes scratched out.Change is coming to France regardless of the outcome, and the winning candidate will face an uphill climb to repair the damage done by a bitterly divisive campaign.Many in Beziers are hoping Le Pen can overcome long odds to secure the win. But others in town, including restaurateur Maxime Roque, are preparing to hold their noses and vote for Macron in order to keep Le Pen out."Voting in the second round isn't necessarily a pleasure," Roque says. "You do what's best."
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Bitcoin Talk, the popular Bitcoin discussion forum, has been hacked and as it stands the site is currently unreachable.
Bitcointalk has been down for nearly 6 hours. The forums have been allegedly hacked and Defaced by "The Hole Seekers" and selling 150,000 emails and hashed passwords stolen from Bitcointalk.org for 25 Bitcoins, where the passwords are hashed with sha256crypt.
Hacker embedded the "1812 Overture" song in the background with a dazzling animated picture show.
According to Bitcointalk admin Theymos, it's possible that the hackers gained access to the database. He says the website will not be restored until he figures out precisely what vulnerability the hackers leveraged. He's offering 50 Bitcoin to the first individual who can pinpoint the security hole.
See the video below for the Hack-in-Action:
"Hello friend, Bitcoin has been seized by the FBI for being illegal. Thanks, bye" reads one the message in the video.
To be safe, it is recommended that all Bitcoin Forum users consider any password used on the Bitcoin Forum in 2013 to be insecure.
There is no further information available currently, but on a Reddit thread the source code of Bitcointalk and JavaScript payload have been made available online for anyone to download.
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A threat actor believed to be working on behalf of Chinese state-sponsored interests was recently observed targeting a Russia-based defense contractor involved in designing nuclear submarines for the naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces.
The phishing attack, which singled out a general director working at the Rubin Design Bureau, leveraged the infamous "Royal Road" Rich Text Format (RTF) weaponizer to deliver a previously undocumented Windows backdoor dubbed "PortDoor," according to Cybereason's Nocturnus threat intelligence team.
"Portdoor has multiple functionalities, including the ability to do reconnaissance, target profiling, delivery of additional payloads, privilege escalation, process manipulation static detection antivirus evasion, one-byte XOR encryption, AES-encrypted data exfiltration and more," the researchers said in a write-up on Friday.
Rubin Design Bureau is a submarine design center located in Saint Petersburg, accounting for the design of over 85% of submarines in the Soviet and Russian Navy since its origins in 1901, including several generations of strategic missile cruiser submarines.
Content of the weaponized RTF document
Over the years, Royal Road has earned its place as a tool of choice among an array of Chinese threat actors such as Goblin Panda, Rancor Group, TA428, Tick, and Tonto Team. Known for exploiting multiple flaws in Microsoft's Equation Editor (CVE-2017-11882, CVE-2018-0798, and CVE-2018-0802) as far back as late 2018, the attacks take the form of targeted spear-phishing campaigns that utilize malicious RTF documents to deliver custom malware to unsuspecting high-value targets.
This newly discovered attack is no different, with the adversary using a spear-phishing email addressed to the submarine design firm as an initial infection vector. While previous versions of Royal Road were found to drop encoded payloads by the name of "8.t," the email comes embedded with a malware-laced document, which, when opened, delivers an encoded file called "e.o" to fetch the PortDoor implant, implying a new variant of the weaponizer in use.
Said to be engineered with obfuscation and persistence in mind, PortDoor runs the backdoor gamut with a wide range of features that allow it to profile the victim machine, escalate privileges, download and execute arbitrary payloads received from an attacker-controlled server, and export the results back to the server.
"The infection vector, social engineering style, use of RoyalRoad against similar targets, and other similarities between the newly discovered backdoor sample and other known Chinese APT malware all bear the hallmarks of a threat actor operating on behalf of Chinese state-sponsored interests," the researchers said.
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Global IT consultancy giant Accenture has become the latest company to be hit by the LockBit ransomware gang, according to a post made by the operators on their dark web portal, likely filling a void left in the wake of DarkSide and REvil shutdown.
"These people are beyond privacy and security. I really hope that their services are better than what I saw as an insider," read a message posted on the data leak website. Accenture said it has since restored the affected systems from backups.
LockBit, like its now-defunct DarkSide and REvil counterparts, operates using a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) model, roping in other cybercriminals (aka affiliates) to carry out the intrusion using its platform, with the payments often divided between the criminal entity directing the attack and the core developers of the malware.
The ransomware group emerged on the threat landscape in September 2019, and in June 2021 launched LockBit 2.0 along with an advertising campaign to recruit new partners. "LockBit also claims to offer the fastest data exfiltration on the market through StealBit, a data theft tool that can allegedly download 100 GB of data from compromised systems in under 20 minutes," Emsisoft noted in a profile of the crime syndicate.
Some of LockBit's past victims include the Press Trust of India and Merseyrail.
The development comes as ransomware incidents have become a critical threat to national and economic security that have left businesses scrambling to pay hefty extortion demands.
The spike in attacks against corporate and critical infrastructure have also been increasingly accompanied by a tactic called "triple extortion," wherein sensitive data on a target's systems is extracted prior to locking up through encryption, followed by applying pressure on victim companies into paying up by threatening to publish the stolen data online, failing which, the attackers then adopt a third phase, using that data to blackmail its customers or launch DDoS attacks.
"Through our security controls and protocols, we identified irregular activity in one of our environments. We immediately contained the matter and isolated the affected servers. We fully restored our affected systems from back up. There was no impact on Accenture's operations, or on our clients' systems," Accenture said in a statement shared with The Hacker News.
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(CNN)Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs was found dead at a Hilton hotel in Southlake, Texas, Monday, officials said.Skaggs, 27, was found unresponsive at the hotel in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb, police said in a statement. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Southlake Police said in a statement that foul play is not believed to be a factor at this point. The Los Angeles Times reported that a police spokesman said suicide "is not suspected."Angels statement on the passing of Tyler Skaggs. pic.twitter.com/6XA2Vu1uWV— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) July 1, 2019
"Tyler has, and always will be, an important part of the Angels Family," the Angels tweeted.In a statement, the Texas Rangers said Monday's game with the Angels at Globe Life Park in Arlington was postponed and will be made up at a later date. Read More"The Texas Rangers organization wants to express its deepest sympathies to the family of Tyler Skaggs and to the entire Angels organization on this shocking loss," the statement said. The rest of the series with the Angels will continue as scheduled starting Tuesday, Major League Baseball told CNN Sports.Skaggs attended Santa Monica High School in California. The Angels drafted him in 2009, according to his biography. He made his Major League Baseball debut on August 22, 2012, and pitched for the Arizona Diamondbacks for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. "We are heartbroken with this tragic news. Tyler began his MLB career as a Diamondback and he will always be remembered here as a great teammate and wonderful young man," Derrick Hall, Diamondbacks president and CEO, said in a statement. pic.twitter.com/JEGF0D3kL0— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) July 1, 2019
Skaggs wore No. 45. His nickname was "Swaggy," according to his bio. He pitched Saturday for the Angels, completing 4 1/3 innings in the team's game against the Oakland A's at Angel Stadium, according to MLB.com.He had a 7-7 record this year. He was 28-38 for his MLB career, with a 4.41 ERA, according to his bio. Our deepest sympathies are with the family of Tyler Skaggs & the entire @Angels organization. pic.twitter.com/Xi1qNEmbRa— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) July 1, 2019
"I am deeply saddened by today's tragedy in Texas," Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. "All of us at Major League Baseball extend our deepest condolences to Tyler's wife Carli, their family, their friends and all of his Angels' teammates and colleagues."A new marriage Skaggs was married at the end of 2018, according to both his and his wife's Instagram accounts. Photos show them kissing and embracing on their wedding day. A December 31 post on Skaggs' Instagram page showing him and his wife said: "2018 was the best year yet." Carli Skaggs on Sunday night shared a photo of her husband wearing a cowboy hat. That night, Tyler Skaggs posted a picture on his Instagram account of what appears to be teammates wearing cowboy hats, standing near a plane. Tyler Skaggs posted this photograph after the team arrived in Texas."Howdy y'all," Skaggs' post said. "#TexasRoadtrip"'We love you, 45'The Los Angeles Times reported the Angels' clubhouse did not open on Monday and the team and traveling party left the Rangers stadium after learning of Skaggs' death. "There were a lot of pretty emotional guys in our clubhouse. Some guys knew him. Guys were physically shaken," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said, the Times reported. "This isn't something we deal with on a daily basis." Ben Villa, his wife, Cindy, left, with their sons' Alex, second from left, and Benji give their condolences for pitcher Tyler Skaggs at Angel Stadium.In Anaheim, a banner honoring Skaggs was hoisted outside Angel Stadium. Mourners left flowers and memorabilia in front of the stadium. "RIP 45," was written on an Angels hat. Skaggs' death stirred memories of the death of another Angels players a decade ago. One fan wore the jersey of Los Angeles Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart, 22, who was killed in a car crash in 2009 in California. A memorial is set up in front of Angel Stadium for Tyler Skaggs. Jonathan Pickens, an Angels fan from Orange County, posted a picture of the memorial for Skaggs on social media. Pickens told CNN he heard the news of Skaggs' death and "felt like we had to get up and go to be there to pay respect."Words cannot express the deep sadness we feel right now. Our thoughts and prayers are with Carli and their families. Remembering him as a great teammate, friend, and person who will forever remain in our hearts... we love you, 45. pic.twitter.com/zCO8Ne01Gy— Mike Trout (@MikeTrout) July 2, 2019
Angels star outfielder Mike Trout, who was drafted with Skaggs, posted on Twitter: "Words cannot express the deep sadness we feel right now.... Remembering him as a great teammate, friend, and person who will forever remain in our hearts... we love you, 45," the post said. CNN's David Close, Nicole Williams, Amanda Jackson, Dave Alsup and Kevin Dotson contributed to this report.
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Microsoft on Thursday disclosed that the threat actor behind the SolarWinds supply chain hack returned to the threat landscape to target government agencies, think tanks, consultants, and non-governmental organizations located across 24 countries, including the U.S.
Some of the entities that were singled out include the U.S. Atlantic Council, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Action Center (ANTAC), the EU DisinfoLab, and the Government of Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs.
"This wave of attacks targeted approximately 3,000 email accounts at more than 150 different organizations," Tom Burt, Microsoft's Corporate Vice President for Customer Security and Trust, said. "At least a quarter of the targeted organizations were involved in international development, humanitarian, and human rights work."
Microsoft attributed the ongoing intrusions to the Russian threat actor it tracks as Nobelium, and by the wider cybersecurity community under the monikers APT29, UNC2452 (FireEye), SolarStorm (Unit 42), StellarParticle (Crowdstrike), Dark Halo (Volexity), and Iron Ritual (Secureworks).
The latest wave in a series of intrusions is said to have begun on Jan. 28, 2021, before reaching a new level of escalation on May 25. The attacks leveraged a legitimate mass-mailing service called Constant Contact to conceal its malicious activity and masquerade as USAID, a U.S.-based development organization, for a wide-scale phishing campaign that distributed phishing emails to a variety of organizations and industry verticals.
"Nobelium launched this week's attacks by gaining access to the Constant Contact account of USAID," Burt said.
These seemingly authentic emails included a link that, when clicked, delivered a malicious optical disc image file ("ICA-declass.iso") to inject a custom Cobalt Strike Beacon implant dubbed NativeZone ("Documents.dll"). The backdoor, similar to previous custom malware like Raindrop and Teardrop, comes equipped with capabilities to maintain persistent access, conduct lateral movement, exfiltrate data, and install additional malware.
In another variation of the targeted attacks detected before April, Nobelium experimented with profiling the target machine after the email recipient clicked the link. In the event the underlying operating system turned out to be iOS, the victim was redirected to a second remote server to dispatch an exploit for the then zero-day CVE-2021-1879. Apple addressed the flaw on March 26, acknowledging that "this issue may have been actively exploited."
Cybersecurity firms Secureworks and Volexity, which corroborated the findings, said the campaign singled out non-governmental organizations, research institutions, government entities, and international agencies situated in the U.S., Ukraine, and the European Union.
"The very narrow and specific set of email identifiers and organizations observed by CTU researchers strongly indicate that the campaign is focused on U.S. and European diplomatic and policy missions that would be of interest to foreign intelligence services," researchers from Secureworks Counter Threat Unit noted.
The latest attacks add to evidence of the threat actor's recurring pattern of using unique infrastructure and tooling for each target, thereby giving the attackers a high level of stealth and enabling them to remain undetected for extended periods of time.
The ever-evolving nature of Nobelium's tradecraft is also likely to be a direct response to the highly publicized SolarWinds incident, suggesting the attackers could further continue to experiment with their methods to meet their objectives.
"When coupled with the attack on SolarWinds, it's clear that part of Nobelium's playbook is to gain access to trusted technology providers and infect their customers," Burt said. "By piggybacking on software updates and now mass email providers, Nobelium increases the chances of collateral damage in espionage operations and undermines trust in the technology ecosystem."
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Story highlightsRichmond, California, has seen a dramatic drop in homicides since a fellowship beganThe fellowship invites hardened teens and young men to change their waysIf they show good behavior, fellows can earn a stipend of up to $1,000 a monthRichmond, California (CNN)The four teens kick back and talk openly with their mentor. They discuss job opportunities, the need for support and the possibility of a trip out of state.They're relaxing in the lobby of a city agency, one outfitted with a couch and wing chairs to make it feel homey. Anything to provide relief from the hard streets of Richmond, California, once known as one of the most violent cities in America."What can I do better?" the mentor, Kevin Yarbrough, asks."Help us get out of Richmond and stuff," one teen mumbles. "Get us far away."The conversation sounds like one any mentor might have with a group of inner-city teens in America. Read MoreCan cities stop the bloodshed?Savannah, Georgia, and Richmond, California: Two cities on opposite sides of the country, each with a history of homicides and different approaches to ending the violence. See what's working and what isn't in this two-part series:Southern charm, deadly streetsPaying kids not to killBut this is no ordinary group. The mentor is an ex-con working for the city. The teens are suspected of the worst types of crimes but haven't faced prosecution, for lack of evidence. The mentor's job: Get them to put down their guns, stop their violent ways and transform their lives beyond the streets."They're babies growing up in a war zone," says DeVone Boggan. "But the police would tell you they're killers. 'Serial killer' is what a police officer might call some of these young men, because of what they're suspected of doing."Boggan helped found the innovative city agency, the Office of Neighborhood Safety or ONS, in the fall of 2007 after gun violence spiraled out of control in Richmond, a city of about 100,000 just north of Berkeley.Fueled by gang violence, neighborhood rivalries and large-scale unemployment among black youth, the violence led to 47 homicides in Richmond in 2007 -- a record for the city and a rate more than eight times the national average. By comparison, Oakland saw 30 killings per 100,000 residents that year; Chicago had nearly 16 per 100,000. A drastic approach was needed to turn the tide. There was so much violence, the city even considered bringing in the National Guard to restore calm.The next year, Boggan saw the killings drop to 27 -- a 40% decline -- as he began his strategy of hiring reformed ex-cons and sending them into the most violent neighborhoods to keep the peace. But those gains were followed in 2009 by another spike of 47 killings. They had put too much emphasis on "hot spots" and not enough on individuals. "We learned that focusing on hot spots [is] important, but they're not more important than hot people," Boggan says. "Why? Because hot people make hot spots."Richmond's approachThe San Francisco Bay Area city of Richmond, population 108,000, saw a record 47 gun homicides in 2007. In response, the city started hiring ex-cons and sending them into the worst neighborhoods. The next year, the killings fell to 27 but then spiked again to 47 in 2009. This time, the city invited some of the most hardened youth into a fellowship, where they would be mentored by ex-cons and offered a cash stipend. Police were left out of the picture. By 2014, gun homicides had fallen to 11, although they were back up to 21 last year after a staffing cut. Of the 68 youths who've been through the program, 94% are alive, and 79% have not been suspected of a new gun crime.And so Operation Peacemaker was born. Loosely based on an academic fellowship, the ONS program invites some of the most hardened youth into the fold: often teenage boys suspected of violent crimes but whom authorities don't have enough evidence to charge criminally. These fellows must pledge to put their guns away for a more peaceful life. They are hooked up with mentors -- the reformed criminals-turned-city workers -- who offer advice, guidance and support to get jobs. If the fellows show good behavior after six months, they can earn a stipend of up to $1,000 a month. Since the fellowship started, the city has seen dramatic results, including a low of 11 gun homicides in 2014 -- the fewest number of people killed in Richmond in four decades. The program has caught the attention of cities hoping to model programs with similar success, from Sacramento, California, to Toledo, Ohio, to Washington.In the media, the fellowship is often dubbed "cash for criminals," which makes Boggan's eyes roll. He laughs because, although it's true, the program is so much more. And it's predicated on the most basic of human elements: "We harass them with love and kindness."To understand the hardships these young men face, he says, you must know that each has had family members, friends and neighbors killed -- that it's not uncommon for a 15-year-old to have known a dozen people killed in his young life. "You grow up with that experience," he says, "and it creates a great deal of hostility, anger, untreated vicarious trauma in your life."Of the four teens discussing job possibilities with their mentor, Yarborough, when CNN visited, one's mother died when he was a young boy; another had a brother killed. Two are already fathers. The way it worksThe ONS relies on Yarborough and five other mentors, known as "neighborhood change agents," to keep the pulse of hot-spot neighborhoods and the fellows within their program. The mentors, along with a few other part-time workers involved with street outreach, monitor police scanners for shootings and have neighborhood contacts who let them know when they sense that something bad is about to happen."Like if something's going down," says Yarborough, "somebody will call me and be like: It ain't cool."He then touches base with his fellows to make sure they're alive and confirm that they haven't returned to their old ways. The mentors, Boggan says, are not naive: They've all served time in local or federal facilities for some type of gun offense. One served 18 years in San Quentin State Prison for second-degree murder. Neighborhood change agent James Houston served 18 years in San Quentin State Prison. He says it's important to help the youth not make the same bad choices he did."It's been cool knowing that I got some back-up help," says T.K. Sykes, one of the fellows being mentored by Yarborough. "There's a lot of stuff they've been through that I don't want to go through. I'm glad they get to share those kinds of situations with me."A graduate of UC Berkeley, Boggan began his career in Oakland with Safe Passages, which works to break the cycle of violence through an array of programs. When he moved his work to nearby Richmond, he says, he "decided to dedicate my life to reducing gun violence." The Office of Neighborhood Safety, he says, was formed solely "to reduce violent assaults and associated deaths." Boggan studied and borrowed from other programs, most notably one created by David Kennedy, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. Kennedy's model, which has been implemented in dozens of cities, targets those individuals believed to be the most violent and brings them together for "Call Ins."Those sessions are headed up by law enforcement, who issue stern warnings and threaten harsh punishment. Often, the people invited are on parole, and their attendance is mandatory. Boggan focused his program not on parolees but on teens and young men known to be active in gun violence who've escaped doing serious time. And Boggan took law enforcement out of the equation. He wanted to shower these youth with positivity, not threats of prison. "So many approaches to these young men are uninformed and don't take into account who these young men are and where they come from," he says. With the distrust between the black community and police, Boggan adds, having police try to persuade young men to stop their ways is not a long-term solution. Scaring people might stop violence for a short period, he says, but it won't last. His approach, Boggan admits, has led to "healthy tensions" between the ONS and local police."Our relationship with law enforcement is not perfect, but it gets better each day," he says. "It's important that we not have an adversarial relationship but clear separation and respect of those necessary lines."Richmond Police Chief Allwyn Brown says his department welcomes all efforts to reduce gun violence. "The police, the justice system can't do this whole thing," he said. "There has to be multiple interventions. We get it."Since the program began, he said, more residents have come forward with information about shootings. That's led gang rivals to take their grievances -- and shootings -- out of neighborhoods and onto the city's interstates.Still, Brown credits the agency with helping young men who are involved in "potential criminal activity" and "living outside the law" with choosing an "honest approach" instead. A decado ago, Richmond, California, was one of the nation's most violent cities. Boggan believes the vast majority of youth in rough inner-city neighborhoods are inherently good and need to be exposed to new opportunities. With ex-felons as his change agents, he says, the teens are more likely to respond. "That translates into trust on the street," Boggan says. "And trust is a major commodity with what we do." At one point, he employed seven full-time mentors, but cutbacks reduced his staff to four full-time and two part-time mentors. 2015 saw gun homicides nearly double to 21, from the low of 11 in 2014. Boggan says staffing cuts may have played a role. "Less people touched, and the people touched are not being touched as often," he says. "That's certainly an impact."How it startedThe most controversial part of the program -- fellowships offering monthly stipends -- began after gun violence jumped in 2009. Boggan says he was sitting in a room with local, state and federal law enforcement discussing the root cause of the violence. They believed that 17 suspects were responsible for 70% of the 47 homicides that year. "I began to see just how simple the problem was, albeit tough work," Boggan says. "If we could find our way towards those 17 people in a more focused, intentional, deliberate way, then change could happen."It turned out the number was actually 28. He and his team of change agents put all of their efforts into reaching out to them within three months. He rolled out the red carpet, inviting them to meetings like he would anyone else he wanted to do business with. His premise: "This city will not be healthy unless these young men are healthy."Three of the 28 young men were killed before the ONS could even get to them. That left 25. Of those, 21 -- ranging in age from 16 to 26 -- showed up. Each was receptive to change.Unlike the "Call Ins" from the Kennedy model, the agency simply asks the youths to hear them out. It's part of showing them a form of respect. "We have no authority to 'call in' anyone," Boggan says. "We ask these young men to join us. We ask them to partner with us. We ask them into the family."Thus, the fellowship began. Boggan describes the 18-month program as similar to most any post-graduate work, but this one is "designed specifically for active firearm offenders who've avoided sustained criminal consequences." Each fellow commits to promoting peace in his community and to a life without guns. They get hooked up with jobs and anger-management experts. A life map is provided, detailing the barriers they face and what they must do to overcome them.Six months into the fellowships, the young men can apply for the monthly stipend, which can go up to $1,000 depending on their participation and achievements. Most earn about $300 to $750 a month. They can make money for up to nine months. He bristles when asked whether it's a good idea to use tax dollars to pay people to stop committing violence. "That's nothing compared to the cost of gun violence in this city," Boggan says.During the fellowships, the young men meet with mothers whose children were killed by gun violence. They visit colleges and meet business leaders. With the help of private donations, they've traveled to places like the nation's capital and Chicago, as well as outside the country to spots in Mexico and South Africa. Gang rivals get paired on trips so they can talk with one another and see each other as human beings. "To share their stories," Boggan says, "is part of the healing process for these young men."Mentor Houston talks with Richmond residents; the city has seen a dramatic reduction in homicides since the program began. A total of 68 fellows -- "the most lethal young men most likely to be killed in our city" -- have been through the program since June 2010. Ninety-four percent are still alive, and 79% have not been suspected of a new gun crime, Boggan says. Of the other 21%, one has been convicted of a gun homicide, 12 have been convicted of firearm possession, and eight have been suspects in shootings.Some fellows who successfully complete the program are allowed to reapply for another 18 months. Most move on into the world. "They are no longer the person we met on Day 1 of the fellowship." Even after they leave, the ONS stays in contact with them, if for no other reason than to lend support when they might struggle. The city has experienced a 76% reduction in gun homicides since the fellowship began in 2009, the agency says. The program can't take all of the credit for the reduced crime, Boggan says; police work and an improved economy also play a part. But he adds, "I would give the credit to the young men. When you actually focus on the very people involved in gun violence, I think you can't argue that they're not contributing to the safer environment happening in this city."Boggan recently stepped down as ONS director to form a nonprofit organization called Advance Peace. He remains contracted with the city of Richmond to help advise the office but will also work with other cities to build pilot programs similar to the one started here. His life mission is to provide hope to troubled youth to "change the reality ... of this epidemic facing our nation.""America's gun violence," he says, "is a national disgrace. We should be ashamed of ourselves."He will keep pushing for change.
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SwaggSec gained access to China Telecom and Warner Bros
A hacking group is claiming to have breached the networks of Warner Bros. and China Telecom, releasing documents and publishing login credentials. Swagg Security, or SwaggSec, the same hacker collective that breached Foxconn a few months ago to highlight the poor working conditions, has made its comeback.
The hacking group posted on their Twitter account (under the name Swagg Security) that they had acquired access to the databases of both sites, as well as posted a statement on Pastebin. The group has allegedly stolen documents and login credentials, which were then posted to Pirate Bay.
The torrent file posted by SwaggSec on The Pirate Bay doesn't contain only the administrator details from China Telecom, but also some other information taken from their databases. SwaggSec said the China Telecom data is 900 user names and passwords for administrators on the company's network. The information was obtained through an insecure SQL server, SwaggSec said in its post.
The group said it notified China Telecom of the hack by planting a message in the company's network. The SQL server was moved but not fixed.
It includes a recent report titled 'Content Security Status Update', which includes a list of the company's top 10 medium-to-high-risk vulnerabilities. The top two are cross-site scripting and unsupported SSL.
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A new sensational discovered has been announced by Kaspersky Lab's Global Research & Analysis Team result of an investigation after several attacks hit computer networks of various international diplomatic service agencies.
A new large scale cyber-espionage operation has been discovered, named Red October, name inspired by famous novel The Hunt For The Red October (ROCRA) and chosen because the investigation started last October.
The campaign hit hundreds of machines belonging to following categories:
Government
Diplomatic / embassies
Research institutions
Trade and commerce
Nuclear / energy research
Oil and gas companies
Aerospace
Military
The attackers have targeted various devices such as enterprise network equipment and mobile devices (Windows Mobile, iPhone, Nokia), hijacking files from removable disk drives, stealing e-mail databases from local Outlook storage or remote POP/IMAP server and siphoning files from local network FTP servers.
According security experts involved in the investigation the cyber-espionage campaign was started since 2007 and is still active, during this long period the attackers obtained a huge quantity of information such as service credentials that hav been reused in later attacks.
The control structure discovered is very complex and extended, more than 60 domain names and several server hosting located in many countries mainly Germany and Russia. A particularity of the C&C architecture is that the network is arranged to hide the mothership-server true proxy functionality of every node in the malicious structure.
Security experts were able to sinkhole six of the 60 domains used during the period 2 Nov 2012 - 10 Jan 2013, registering over 55,000 connections to the sinkhole from 250 different victim's IPs from 39 different countries, with most of IPs being from Switzerland. Kazakhstan and Greece follow next.
Red October Geo-distribution of victims
Which are the vulnerabilities exploited for the attacks?
The security expert discovered that at least three different known vulnerabilities have been exploited
CVE-2009-3129 (MS Excel) [attacks dated 2010 and 21011]
CVE-2010-3333 (MS Word) [attacks conducted in the summer of 2012]
CVE-2012-0158 (MS Word) [attacks conducted in the summer of 2012]
Evidences collected during the investigation let security specialists to believe that attackers have Russian origins, but strangely they appear unrelated to any other cyber attacks detected until now. The exploits appear to have been created by Chinese hackers.
Attack Method
These attacks is structured in two distinct phases according a classic schema of targeted attacks:
Initial infection
Additional modules deployed for intelligence gathering
In the initial phase the malware is delivered via e-mail as attachments (Microsoft Excel, Word and, probably PDF documents), once victims opened the malicious document the embedded malicious code initiated the setup of the main component which in turn handled further communication with the C&C servers, after the malware receives from the C&C server a number of additional spy modules.
The way to infect entire network is very efficient, the hackers used a module to scan target infrastructure searching for vulnerable machines. The attacks against each machine and related services is made exploiting the above vulnerabilities or gaining access to it using credentials collected during other attacks of the same campaign. The exploits appear to have been created by Chinese hackers.
What alarms me is that such campaigns could be going on for years with disastrous consequences ... what to do at this point? How is it possible that an operation so extended escape for so long to world wide security community? Who is behind the attacks? Cyber criminals or state-sponsored hackers?
UPDATE 2013/01/15
Jeffrey Carr, founder and CEO of Taia Global, Inc, posted on his blog
The developers behind ROCRA, who are Russian, are comfortable using Chinese malware and adapting it for their own use according to the Kaspersky report. This fits the RBN profile to a 't'. I ran 13 IPs listed in Kaspersky's report against the RBN list maintained by James McQuade and found matching IP blocks for five of them:
Malicious servers
178.63.208.49 matches to 178.63.
188.40.19.247 matches to 188.40.
78.46.173.15 matches to 78.46.
88.198.30.44 matches to 88.198.
Mini-motherships
91.226.31.40 matches to 91.226.
It has been my belief for many years that the RBN has a working relationship with the Russian government; that it disappeared from view when the FBI sought the assistance of the FSB to shut down their operations in 2007 (as detailed in chapter 8 of my book); and that it has continued operating below the radar all this time. It provides distance and deniability to the FSB for certain offensive cyber operations and, in exchange, the FSB allows the RBN to operate as a criminal enterprise; a portion of which involves selling the data that it steals to whomever is interested.Red October is already the most significant find of the new year. If, in fact, Kaspersky has uncovered an RBN-controlled espionage ring, it's going to be one of the most important discoveries of the decade.
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The Hacker News Hacking Awards : Best of Year 2011
2011 has been labeled the "Year of the Hack" or "Epic #Fail 2011". Hacking has become much easier over the years, which is why 2011 had a lot of hacking for good and for bad. Hackers are coming up with tools as well as finding new methods for hacking faster then companies can increase their security. Every year there are always forward advancements in the tools and programs that can be used by the hackers.
At the end of year 2011 we decided to give "The Hacker News Awards 2011". The Hacker News Awards will be an annual awards ceremony celebrating the achievements and failures of security researchers and the Hacking community. The THN Award is judged by a panel of respected security researchers and Editors at The Hacker News.
Year 2011 came to an end following Operation Payback and Antisec, which targeted companies refusing to accept payments to WikiLeak's, such as, Visa and Amazon. Those attacks were carried out by Anonymous & Lulzsec. This year corporations, international agencies, and governments are now experiencing a flood of what is called Advanced Persistent Threats. APTs refer to a group of well-funded, highly capable hackers pursuing a specific agenda, often organized by a nation or State. Sony somehow pissed off the hacking group LulzSec, which downloaded information for millions of users, while posting to Sony's system: "LulzSec was here you sexy bastards! Stupid Sony, so very stupid."
The Hacker News Awards Categories & Winners
1.) Person of the Year : Julian Paul Assange
He is, of course, the lean, tall, and pale 39-year-old Australian master hacker at the white-hot center of the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks and, after revealing thousands of secret Afghan battlefield reports this week, the subject of investigation by U.S. authorities. 2011 could also be called the "Age of WikiLeaks". Assange described himself in a private conversation as "the heart and soul of this organisation, its founder, philosopher, spokesperson, original coder, organizer, financier, and all the rest". Wikileaks celebrate its 5th Birthday on 4th October 2011, for being only 5 years old they have done a remarkable and outstanding job of serving the people. The one thing most governments in the world have left off their agenda's. Keep up the good work Wikileaks and we stand in support and behind you.
2.) Best Hacking Group of the Year 2011 : ANONYMOUS
DECK THE HALLS AND BATTON DOWN THE SECURITY SYSTEMS…..THEY AIN'T GOIN AWAY!
Anonymous hackers have gained world wide attention because of their hacktivism. Anonymous is not an organization. Anonymous has no leaders, no gurus, no ideologists. Anonymous has performed many operations like Attack on HBGary Federal, 2011 Bank of America document release, Operation Sony, Operation Anti-Security and lots more. Complete Coverage on all Anonymous related news is here.
3.) Best Whitehat hacker of the Year 2011 : CHARLIE MILLER
CHARLIE SHOWS TUNA ISN'T THE ONLY THING TO PROFIT FROM!
Charlie Miller is a former hacker who has become an information security consultant now working with the Department of Defense (DOD) and helping out with cyber security. He spent five years working for the National Security Agency. Miller demonstrated his hacks publicly on products manufactured by Apple. In 2008 he won a $10,000 cash prize at the hacker conference Pwn2Own in Vancouver Canada for being the first to find a critical bug in the ultrathin MacBook Air. The next year, he won $5,000 for cracking Safari. In 2009 he also demonstrated an SMS processing vulnerability that allowed for complete compromise of the Apple iPhone and denial-of-service attacks on other phones. In 2011 he found a security hole in an iPhone's or iPad's security. Charlie Miller gets a kick of out defeating Apple's security mechanisms, using his hacking skills to break into Macbooks and iPhones.
4.) Best Leak of the year 2011 : HBGARY FEDERAL EMAILS LEAKED BY ANONYMOUS
GEE GREG, YOU THOUGHT WE JUST PLAYED WITH MATEL COMPUTERS! NOT!!!!!
HBGary Federal who was helping the federal government track down cyber activists was itself hacked by the very same activists! Gotta love these guys. Through an elegant but by the numbers social engineering effort those fun fellas at Anonymous, hacked and publicly shamed poor little HBGary Federal. Massive reputation damage and tons of turn-over in executive leadership resulted. Anonymous released 27,000 emails from the server of Greg Hoglund, chief executive of the software security firm HBGary. They posted 50,000 emails of Aaron Barr from the CEO of its sister organization, HBGary Federal. They obtained the emails by hacking into Hoglund's email.
5.) Best Defacement of the Year 2011 : DNS HIJACKING OF HIGH PROFILE SITES BY TURKGUVENLIGI
TURKGUVENLIGI……..THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING!!
Turkguvenligi also known by the name "TG Hacker' hacked some very high profile sites using DNS Hijacking. Sites included, Theregister.co.uk , Vodafone, Telegraph, Acer, National Geographic. He diverted visitors to a page declaring it was "World Hackers Day". TurkGuvenligi has claimed credit for dozens of similar defacement attacks since late 2008.
6.) Craziest Hack of the year: INMOTION HOSTING (Over 700,000 Websites Hacked)
BEWARE OF TIGER'S IN MOTION…….COMING TO YOUR WEBSITE SOON!
InMotion's data center got hit by the hacker that calls himself TiGER-M@TE, leaving a few hundred thousand website owners with nonfunctional pages and 700,000 web Pages defaced . He is also the one responsible for the attack carried out on Google Bangladesh. In our humble opinion, this is the craziest hack of the year.
7.) Malware of Year 2011 : DuQu
ALAH CAN'T HELP IRAN…….NOT WITH DuQu ON THE LOOSE!
This year was really hot on malware discovery and analysis. DuQu became the first known network modular rootkit. DuQu has flexibility for hackers to help remove and add new features quickly and without special effort. Some experts have doubts on relation between the Stuxnet and DuQu creators as they both aim for stealing and collecting data related to Iranian agencies activities.
8.) Best Hacking Tool of the Year 2011 - ANTI (Android Network Toolkit)
HEY CYBER WORLD, STICK THIS IN YOUR TOOL BELT!
ANTI is the smallest but most powerful hacking tool developed by the company Zimperium. Anti-Android Network Toolkit is an app that uses WiFi scanning tools to scan networks. You can scan a network that you have the phone connected to or you can scan any other nearby open networks. Security admins can use Anti to test network host vulnerabilities for DoS attacks and other threats. Features : OS detection, traceroute, port connect, Wi-Fi monitor, HTTP server, man-in-the-middle threats, remote exploits, Password Cracker and DoS attack and plugins.
9.) High Profile Hacker of the Year 2011 : LULZSEC
LULZSEC KEEPS US LAUGHING ALL THROUGH 2011!
Lulz Security, commonly abbreviated as LulzSec, is a computer hacker group that claims responsibility for several high profile attacks, including the compromise of user accounts from Sony Pictures in 2011. The group also claimed responsibility for taking the CIA website offline. It has gained attention due to its high profile targets and the sarcastic messages it has posted in the aftermath of its attacks. The group's first recorded attack was against Fox.com's website. LulzSec does not appear to hack for financial profit. The group's claimed main motivation is to have fun by causing mayhem. They do things "for the lulz" and focus on the possible comedic and entertainment value of attacking targets.
10.) Biggest Victim of the Year 2011 : SONY
SONY SHINES AS THE BIGGEST VICTIM OF ALL!
Sony gets the Most Epic fail award so we want to give the Best Victim of the year award to Sony. Almost all Sony's websites including Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Greece, Canada, Netherlands, Europe, Russia, Portugal & Sony PlayStation Network were Hacked. Defacement of various domains of Sony and Personal information of 77 million people, including customer names, addresses, e-mail addresses, birthdays, PlayStation Network and Qriocity passwords, user names, online handles and possibly credit cards were exposed. Sony expects the hack of the PlayStation Network and cost at ¥14 billion (US$170 million) .
11.) Most Spamy Social Network : FACEBOOK
FACEBOOK OUTTA FACE IT……..IT'S A RIPE TARGET FOR 2012
Social network sites such as Facebook, Google+ or Twitter are gaining popularity. But the 'Web 2.0' presents new dangers. The wave of pornographic and violent images, Spam messages, Virus and various Worms that flooded Facebook over the past year, make it the Most Spamy Social Network of the Year. Social media is the new frontier for all of this spam. The attack tricked users into clicking on a story they thought would bring them a related video or picture. Instead, Facebook members were taken to websites that attacked their browsers with malicious software and posted violent and disturbing images to their news feeds.
12.) Most Vulnerable Mobile OS of Year 2011 : ANDROIDS
MALWARE GETS A FREE RIDE ON MOBILE DEVICES!
Mobile devices are seeing a record number of Malware attacks, with Androids leading the way as the mobile operating systems are the most likely to be targeted. Android's vulnerability to malicious content including third-party apps, SMS Trojan viruses and unexpected bugs distributed through free Wi-Fi connections has risen by 45% in 2011. This year we have seen record-breaking numbers of Malware, especially on mobile devices, where the uptake is in direct correlation to popularity.
13.) Best Hacking Book of the Year: BACKTRACK 5 WIRELESS PENETRATION TESTING
ATTENTION CLASS, VIVEK RAMACHANDRAN HAS ENTERED THE ROOM!
Vivek Ramachandran is a world renowned security researcher and evangelist, who is well known for his discovery of the Wireless Caffe Latte attack, and author of the most amazing book "BackTrack 5 Wireless Penetration Testing. This book is written completely from a practical perspective. The book wastes no time in delving into a hands-on session with wireless networking. All the way through there are lots of screengrabs, so you can see what should be happening on your screen.
14.) Most Innovative Hack : DIGITAL CERTIFICATES SPOOFING BY COMODO HACKER
COMODOHACKER BRINGS OUT THE DRAGON IN CYBER SECURITY CONCERNS
The name "Comodohacker" gets the most Innovative Hacker award from THN for the breach of the Internet's trust system arising from an outmoded method for assuring that a Web site is authentic. A breach that let a hacker spoof digital certificates for Google.com, Yahoo.com, and other Web sites is prompting browser makers to rethink security. A 21-year-old Iranian patriot took credit saying he was protesting US policy and retaliating against the US for its alleged involvement with last year's Stuxnet, which experts say was designed to target Iran's nuclear program.
15.) Biggest hack of the Year 2011 : SONY PLAYSTATION
SONY, SONY, WE PLAY YOUR LEAKS ON OUR OWN STATIONS!
The PlayStation Network is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service owned and run by Sony Computer Entertainment .On April 26, 2011 Sony Playstation announced its network and Qriocity had both been compromised by hackers between April 17 and April 19 allowing access to 70 million user accounts. Get full coverage on this News.
"TRUTH IS THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPON AGAINST INJUSTICE"
For additional information, please contact us at: thehackernews@gmail.com
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(CNN)Great Britain's Ben Maher is in line to complete show jumping's Global Champions double this weekend in Doha.The world's top riders and horses have flown to Qatar for the glittering finals of the Longines Global Champions Tour and Global Champions League which are held at the vast state-of-the-art AL SHAQAB arena in Doha.After 15 legs, over the last 8 months, Maher has built an unassailable lead over his rivals in the individual Longines Global Champions Tour, and will be officially crowned the season's winner on Saturday.Surprise SeasonJUST WATCHEDGCL: Gladiators hope to rule in RomeReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHGCL: Gladiators hope to rule in Rome 02:08''It's been a long year and it's kind of surreal being the champion,'' Maher told CNN EQ in Doha. Read More"It's not something I expected starting out the year and it definitely wasn't the initial goal but things started to unfold over the summer. "I won in Madrid and then again in St Tropez on my second horse. After that, we realized that a championship bid would be possible."The 35-year-old sealed the overall title by racing to victory at the tour's previous event in Rome. It was his third win of a 2018 season which has seen events take place across the world; from Mexico City to Miami, to Shanghai and throughout Europe. Riders have competed for a record $40 million in prize money."Winning the LGCT title would definitely be one of the biggest achievements in my career so far," says the 2012 Olympic team champion. "Taking gold at your home Olympics was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity but to become LGCT champion you have to be consistent at so many events, over the whole year, at different destinations and in different countries. It's been about managing my horses and my team over the long season."A lot of work goes into that, not just from myself but also everyone around me. It's hard to make people realize just what goes in behind the scenes and how many hours and lives have been taken over to achieve the championship.''''Competing in Doha will be amazing. Having already won the championship, obviously the pressure is off a little but I also expect to end the season on a high and do well in the final grand prix class.'' Knights Can Win The BattleJUST WATCHEDLGCT Chantilly: Nicola Philippaerts impressesReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHLGCT Chantilly: Nicola Philippaerts impresses 02:14The pressure might be off Maher in the individual final but he is also the manager and a key member of the London Knights squad who are in line to take the team competition, the Global Champions League.Flying the red, white and blue colours this season, Maher has been joined by Swiss star Martin Fuchs, leading Belgian brothers Nicola Philippaerts and Olivier Philippaerts and young superstar Emily Moffitt. With victories in Shanghai, Madrid, Chantilly and London they have amassed $386,608 this season and can scoop a further $2.3 million if they seal the championship in Doha."It's almost all about the team competition for me this weekend." Says Maher. "We have the youngest team in the league and they've been amazing to work with. We've grafted hard all season to get to this point. League victory is within our grasp but it's not done yet and it's important to finish the job this weekend."The Knights hold a 23-point advantage heading into the final event but it's Valkenswaard United, the 2016 Champions and last year's runners-up, who could be the ones to prevent them from victory. "Valkenswaard have very good and experienced riders on their team but sometimes it's better to be young and hungry," said Maher. "It's worked well for us all of this year. We've used all five riders and many different horses. Being able to rotate through our squad has really helped."If Maher can add the team championship to his LGCT Championship it would be a bumper pay-day for him."I haven't thought about winning the double. When I sealed the championship in Rome, it was incredible but I'm here to do my job again and complete our season for the team."Fight For Prague PlacesDoha might signal the end of the traditional season but new to 2018 is the addition of the Global Champions Playoffs in Prague in December. The winner of the LGCT Grand Prix of Doha will take the last qualifying spot for the LGCT Super Grand Prix at the Playoffs. And the top 16 teams in the final overall ranking after Doha will go through to the GCL Super Cup Playoffs. With the top four teams being fast-tracked to the semi-finals of the GC Playoffs, another great contest will unfold between the teams currently in third, fourth and fifth places on the ranking. Miami Celtics on 244 points are only nine points ahead of Rome Gladiators and they are only one point in front of Shanghai Swans. These highly-competitive teams are fielding their star performers to ensure they finish in the top four to go into the GC Playoffs.
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Story highlightsPutin argues other countries also guilty of dopingHe directs criticism at "idiot" whistleblower RodchenkovMoscow, Russia (CNN)Russian President Vladimir Putin has admitted there had been "instances of doping use in Russia," but said the issue was a global problem.Addressing supporters on Tuesday, Putin said: "There were instances of doping use, true -- I want the audience to know this and the whole country to know this."But the Kremlin leader added: "There are many such examples around the world, but no one is making a big show of it."Follow @cnnsport
Last year the International Olympic Committee (IOC) barred Russian athletes from competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics over allegations of state-sponsored doping by Russia in the 2014 Sochi Olympics, but will allow some individuals to compete as neutral athletes.On Monday, the PyeongChang Organizing Committee confirmed to CNN that 169 Russian athletes will compete in all 15 sports at the Winter Olympics. Those 169 athletes are the ones who have been cleared by the IOC.Read MoreRussia routinely denies allegations of systematic, government-sponsored doping, and attacks whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov whose evidence led to the IOC ban.In his comments Tuesday, the Russian president directed most of his criticism toward Rodchenkov, saying he considered it "strange" that doping accusations against Russian athletes are based on words of an "idiot" who has "problems with the law."READ: Russia backs athletes wanting to take part in Winter OlympicsREAD: Rodchenkov urges Russia to come cleanREAD: Kremlin attacks 'defector'JUST WATCHEDRussia banned from 2018 Winter OlympicsReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRussia banned from 2018 Winter Olympics 01:05'Right from the top'Putin's comments followed Rodchenkov's first interview since the Russian OIympic Committee was banned for the upcoming Winter Games in PyeongChang."Of course it came right from the top, from the president," Rodchenkov todl German broadcaster ARD. "Because only the president can appoint the domestic secret service FSB for such a specific task."Appointed as the director of the anti-doping center in 2006, Rodchenkov went public with the revelations that formed the basis of the 2016 McLaren Report, alleging that Russia's doping scheme and coverup benefited more than 1,000 summer and winter Olympic athletes.The former anti-doping official fled Russia in 2015 after receiving a warning that his life was in danger. The Russian government now describes him as a fugitive and an alleged criminal.Visit CNN.com/sport for more news and featuresIn 2011, the Investigative Committee of Russia initiated a criminal case, accusing Rodchenkov of illegal substance trafficking, but the case was suspended in 2015, sources told state-run news agency RIA Novosti. Russia opened another criminal case against Rodchenkov in June 2016, accusing him of "abuse of office," according to an Investigative Committee statement. A Russian court ordered his arrest in absentia in May 2017.
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London (CNN)Was the Zoom meeting of the century called illegally? Had all participants read and understood the standing orders? And, most importantly, did Jackie Weaver have the authority to kick Handforth parish council's chairman out of the discussion?Those were the questions engrossing Britain on Friday, after a chaotic, tension-packed and technologically challenged meeting of local government officials from a tiny English town went viral. Nissan's 'office pod' imagines a new kind of remote workingThe video appears innocuous enough at first -- a pre-Christmas get-together of councillors, to discuss matters relating to their quaint location in the northern English county of Cheshire.But what follows may be the greatest, most ridiculous thing to come out of the past year: A truly anarchic 80 minutes of microphone failures, flushing toilets, insurrections and outright shouting matches that perfectly encapsulated the frustrations of lockdown."This meeting has not been called according to the law. The law has been broken," the council chairman sensationally claims at one point, prompting a ripple of shock from participants. Read More"Read the standing orders. Read them and understand them!" another member later screams, sparking a round of head-shaking and furious tuts. There are sudden dismissals, power grabs and an inexplicable Britney Spears reference, all of which combine for arguably the most hellish Zoom experience since the pandemic began.And the call has made national stars of its participants -- most prominently Jackie Weaver, the dogged chief officer of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils, who found fame overnight by withstanding a barrage of fury from parish councillors."99.99% of council meetings are just not like that. They are often less exciting," Weaver told the BBC on Friday. "Of that meeting, I'm not absolutely sure who was in charge."What went down in the worst Zoom meeting ever?The meeting in question was a gathering of a parish council, which sits at the lowest tier of England's local government architecture and typically deals with matters such as the upkeep of community halls, village greens and war memorials. Weaver told the BBC that she had been brought in to support the Handforth councillors who, if YouTube videos are anything to go by, have been at loggerheads for some time."When do we plan to start?" the council's chair, Brian Tolver, asks at the outset of the call, a recording of which was posted online by an attendee. "F**k off," comes a mumbled reply, perfectly setting the tone for the discussion.Within moments, Weaver is bombarded with allegations that she is attempting to overthrow the council's governance -- its chairman angrily claiming the meeting was convened with disregard to the body's bylaws. "You have no authority here, Jackie Weaver, no authority at all!" Tolver shouts. Within seconds, he disappears."She's just kicked him out. She's kicked him out!" announces one of two members calling in from councillor Aled Brewerton's iPad. "The Vice Chair's here. I take charge!" he says, attempting to wrestle control of the meeting from Weaver. "Read the standing orders. Read them and understand them!" he screams."Dear me," David Pincombe observes with appropriate bewilderment. But the anger at Weaver continues as she seeks to appoint a new chair for the meeting, with councillor Barry Burkhill telling Weaver: "You don't know what you're talking about."Everything you need to know about Zoom and Zoom meetings"The chairman of the council is the chairman of the council," he sagely adds.After a few more tense back-and-forths, it comes to the attention of the group that the chairman labeled himself as "clerk" on his Zoom name before his dismissal. Ian Ball has a photograph, he informs the group. "He is not the clerk of parish council, whether he declares himself to be or not," John Smith observes."Please refer to me as Britney Spears from now on," Weaver dryly remarks.The meeting went viral after comedian Steven Morgan discovered the video and sliced together a 20-minute highlight reel of the most jaw-dropping exchanges. "It's such a perfect combination of the pettiness of local politics and the common troubles with video communication," Morgan told CNN."I'm not surprised it's struck such a nerve with people, it's the relatable lockdown content we all need right now."CNN has contacted Weaver and Tolver for comment. Tolver, Weaver's adversary during the call, told PA Media: "I cannot think of any other council meeting anywhere, that was taken over by an unqualified member of the public like this.""It was an appalling attack on their democratic rights," he added.Chairman Brian Tolver, before he was removed from the meeting.For Morgan and countless other Brits, the video was seen with rather more humor. "It really does read like a scripted comedy and you can't help yourself being taken along with the twists and turns," he said."What's the difference between a clerk and a proper officer? Why is the Andy Serkis character on Aled's iPad so angry? Did Barry really appoint himself clerk? Why Britney Spears?"Radio host Greg James called it "the best British comedy in decades," while comedian Sue Perkins was furious at the video's snub from the recently announced Golden Globe nominations.Others praised Weaver for withstanding aggressive behavior from several of the participants. The episode even prompted a tweet from George Osborne, the UK's former Chancellor of the Exchequer and an MP for the region until 2017. "Local democracy in action -- don't remember Handforth parish council being quite so lively when I was the MP there," he wrote.
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FBI warning about Banking trojan "Gameover"
Organized crooks have begun launching debilitating cyber attacks against banks and their customers as part of a smoke screen to prevent victims from noticing simultaneous high-dollar cyber heists. On Friday the FBI issued a warning about a banking trojan named Gameover. It's a new variant of Zeus, a user credential stealing malware that targets online bank users. Zeus has been around for years, and every now and then a new version with a new twist pops up.
Gameover has also been implicated in Distributed-Denial-of-Service attacks that temporarily-disable bank websites to draw attention away from fraudulent transactions. Like another Zeus variant, Troj/BredoZp-GY, Gameover uses e-mail spam to propagate, and the safest way to keep Gameover away from your PC is to avoid links and file attachments that are contained in unfamiliar e-mail messages.
Experts warn that any interaction with this fake NACHA link can infect your PC with the Gameover banking Trojan, which will attempt to steal bank-related information while Gameover hides its own actions from site. Gameover Trojan it must be removed immediately to make your computer clean and safe.
How do you avoid bank trojans? - ( from Norman Blog )
Never, ever click on links (in email) that encourage you to "update your account information", "check if your account has been compromised" or similar.
Always, always login to your bank by typing the address in the browser url bar.
Make sure your browser and operating system are always updated. Never, ever click "Later" when your browser or OS prompts you about a new security update.
Keep you antivirus up to date. An advanced security solution will detect any harmful sites and block any malicious files, so that you don't have to.
Because Gameover and similar forms of banking Trojans are designed to conduct their attacks in a clandestine manner, you may not see much sign of Gameover on your PC, other than some anomalies in RAM usage or file processes. However, a successful Gameover infection can be the cause of :
Loss of account login data and other forms of information that are used in bank-related websites.
Loss of other forms of information that are gathered through keylogging (a broad form of spyware attack that monitors all types of keyboard input).
Fraudulent transactions from your bank account due to abuse of any information that was stolen in the above attacks.
DDoS (or Distributed-Denial-of-Service) attacks that crash your bank's website to limit your access and conceal these transactions.
Read Here the Method to Remove "Gameover" from infected computers.
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Android - a widely used Smartphone platform offered by Google is once again suspected to affect its users with malicious software that puts their android devices at risk. This time the vulnerabilities occur in the way Android handle the updates to add new flavors to your device.
Researchers from Indiana University and Microsoft have discovered [Paper PDF] a new set of Android vulnerabilities that is capable to carry out privilege escalation attacks because of the weakness in its Package Management Service (PMS) that puts more than one billion Android devices at risk.
The researchers dubbed the new set of security-critical vulnerabilities as Pileup flaws which is a short for privilege escalation through updating, that waylays inside the Android PMS and intensifies the permissions offered to malicious apps whenever an android update occurs, without informing users.
The research was carried out by Indiana University Bloomington researchers, Luyi Xing, Xiaorui Pan, Kan Yuan and XiaoFeng Wang, with the help of Rui Wang of Microsoft.
Six different Pileup vulnerabilities have been found by the researchers within the Android PMS, those are present in all Android Open Source Project versions, including more than 3,500 customized versions of Android developed by handset makers and carriers.
"Every few months, an update is released, which causes replacement and addition of tens of thousands of files on a live system. Each of the new apps being installed needs to be carefully configured to set its attributes within its own sandboxes and its privileges in the system, without accidentally damaging existing apps and the user data they keep," the researchers wrote. "This complicates the program logic for installing such mobile updates, making it susceptible to security-critical flaws."
The researchers also found that by exploiting the Pileup vulnerabilities, a hacker can not only control the system permission and signature but also their settings. Moreover an attacker could use the malicious app to access and steal the device data, including, sensitive user information such as activity logs, user credentials, Contacts, Messages etc.
"A distinctive and interesting feature of such an attack is that it is not aimed at a vulnerability in the current system. Instead, it exploits the flaws in the updating mechanism of the "future" OS, which the current system will be upgraded to," the researchers wrote. "More specifically, though the app running on a lower version Android, the adversary can strategically claim a set of carefully selected privileges or attributes only available on the higher OS version."
In short, it means that, if an attacker sends the malicious app update and if the permission don't exist in the older version of the android that is added to the new version; the malicious app will silently acquire the permissions and when the device is upgraded to the newer version, the pileup flaws will be automatically exploited.
"A third-party package attribute or property, which bears the name of its system counterpart, can be elevated to a system one during the updating shuffle-up where all apps are installed or reinstalled, and all system configurations are reset," the researcher wrote. "Also, when two apps from old and new systems are merged as described above, security risks can also be brought in when the one on the original system turns out to be malicious."
During the update, first the PMS will install all new and existing system apps and then will proceed to install third party apps from the old OS and during the installation of malicious app packed inside PMS, the device will recognize and silently grants all the permissions that malicious app requests, as it supposes that these permissions are with an existing app and have already been approved by the user.
"With the help of a program analyzer, our research discovered 6 such Pileup flaws within Android Package Manager Service and further confirmed their presence in all AOSP (Android Open Source Project) versions and all 3,522 source code versions customized by Samsung, LG and HTC across the world that we inspected, which strongly indicates their existence in all Android devices in the market."
Moreover detecting the critical flaws, the researchers have developed a new scanner app called SecUP that search for malicious apps already on a device designed to exploit Pileup vulnerabilities. Scanning tool inspects already installed Android application packages (APKs) on the device, in an attempt to identify those that will cause privilege escalations during an update, the paper stated.
The SecUP scanning tool consists of an automated vulnerability detector, a program verification tool for Java that discovers the Pileup flaws within the source code of different Android versions and a threat analyzer that automatically scans thousands of OS images.
"The detector verifies the source code of PMS (from different Android versions) to identify any violation of a set of security constraints, in which we expect that the attributes, properties (name, permission, UID, etc.) and data of a third-party app will not affect the installation and configurations of system apps during an update," the researchers explained. "A Pileup flaw is detected once any of those constraints are breached."
All the six vulnerabilities have been reported to Google by the researchers, from which one of it has been fixed by them.
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Stuxnet was planted by Iranian double agent using memory stick
The Stuxnet computer worm used to sabotage Iran's nuclear program was planted by a double agent working for Israel. The agent used a booby-trapped memory stick to infect machines deep inside the Natanz nuclear facility, according to a report published on Wednesday.
The worm is believed to have been placed on a specially crafted USB memory stick and handed over to a Natanz worker who, by all accounts, was an Iranian national belonging to a dissident group named Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK).
"The MEK has been listed as a 'foreign terrorist organization' since 1997 because of deadly attacks on Americans abroad, but members of the group have been trained at a secret site in Nevada. U.S. officials consider them 'the assassination arm of Israel's Mossad intelligence service' as they have been connected to the killing of five Iranian nuclear scientists since 2007.
The incident with Stuxnet is not the first time that the US intelligence community used a virus to spy on and disable the systems of opponents.In the 1980s they targeted Soviet military and industrial structures, and in 1991, just before Desert Storm, the CIA and the British GCHQ injected malware into Iraqi computers.
[Read More]
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Reading a 'Note' created by anyone on the Facebook could trick you automatically to do malicious attacks against others unknowingly.
A Security researcher Chaman Thapa, also known as chr13 claims that the flaw resides in 'Notes' section of the most popular social networking site - Facebook, that could allow anyone to launch the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack of more than 800 Mbps Bandwidth on any website.
A Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack is one in which multiple compromised systems attacks a single target system or service to make it unavailable to its intended users. The flood of incoming requests essentially forces the target system or service to shut down, thereby denying service to the system to its legitimate users.
While demonstrating the vulnerability on his blog, he explained that Facebook allows its users to include
tags inside the post in order to draft a note with beautiful related images from any source.
Facebook basically downloads external images from the original source for the first time only, and then cache them, but if the image url have dynamic parameters, then Facebook cache mechanism could be bypassed to force the Facebook servers to download all included images each time whenever anybodys open the note in its browser.
'Facebook will only cache the image once however using random get parameters the cache can be by-passed and the feature can be abused to cause a huge HTTP GET flood.' he said.
DDoS FACTOR, A SCENARIO
Let's suppose if you want to DDoS a website target.com, that have an image of 1 MB Size on its server. An attacker can create a Facebook Note with some text, including same image multiple times with dynamic parameters, i.e.
This way one can force Facebook servers to load 1 mb of file 1000 times in one pageview and if 100 Facebook users are reading the same crafted note at the same time, then Facebook servers will be forced to download 1 x 1000 x 100 = 100,000 Mb or 97.65Gb bandwidth within few seconds from the targeted servers.
400 MBPS DDoS ATTACK DEMO
Researcher demonstrated the proof-of-concept with 400 Mbps attack, by attacking on his own web server. Stats shown below:
The factor and danger of DDoS attack could be even higher when the image is replaced by a pdf or video of larger size, in case Facebook would crawl a huge file but the user gets nothing.
Facebook allows a user to create maximum of 100 Notes in a short span of time and each Note could support more than 1000 links, but because there is no captcha for the Facebook Notes creation, so all this operation can be performed automatically and an attacker could easily creates hundreds of notes using multiple users at the time of performing attack.
"It seems there is no restriction put on Facebook servers and with so many servers crawling at once we can only imagine how high this traffic can get" he concluded.
STILL UNPATCHED AND DON'T EXPECT ANY PATCH FROM FACEBOOK
Unfortunately, Facebook has no plans to fix this critical vulnerability, "In the end, the conclusion is that there's no real way to us fix this that would stop attacks against small consumer grade sites without also significantly degrading the overall functionality," Facebook replied to the researcher.
Similar kind of attack was noticed in mid of 2011 year when a security penetration tester at Italian security firm AIR Sicurezza Informatica discovered flaws in Google's Plus servers that allowed hackers to exploit the search giant's bandwidth and launch a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on a server of their choice.
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Story highlightsDenmark has a long history of jihadist activismDenmark has a large immigrant population from the Muslim worldAs many as 70 Danish nationals may have returned from Syria to Denmark Paul Cruickshank and Tim Lister are co-authors, with Morten Storm, of "Agent Storm: My Life Inside Al Qaeda and the CIA." (CNN)The combination is lethal and becoming all too familiar: a long criminal record, easy access to weapons, a loathing of the countries where they were born and deep-seated anti-Semitism.So it was with the perpetrators of the Paris attacks. Now, it appears to fit the description of the man who killed two people in Denmark at the weekend. Danish police describe him as 22 years of age, born in Denmark, with a violent past, connections with gangs and weapons offenses.Jens Madsen, head of the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET), said investigators were "operating under a theory" the attack could have been inspired by last month's attacks in Paris, which were also aimed at cartoonists.Carsten Ellegaard Christensen, national security reporter at the Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten, told CNN the gunman was on the radar of Danish police and PET for gang-related activity but not extremism, according to his security sources. The gunman had recently spent time in jail for a knife attack.JUST WATCHEDLars Vilk describes cafe attackReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHLars Vilk describes cafe attack 02:47"There is a closer nexus between immigrant criminal gangs and violent extremists in Denmark than anywhere else," says Magnus Ranstorp of the Swedish National Defence College. "This interface makes violent extremists more dangerous as they are able to switch between roles and skill-sets and have easier access to illicit weapons on the underground market."Read MoreThe so-called "Nordic biker war" of the 1990s saw gang members in Denmark and Sweden attack each other with automatic weapons, grenades, and explosive devices. Morten Storm, a former Danish jihadist, moved from being part of a biker gang to Islamist extremism to spying for Western intelligence. He says that belonging to gangs and extremist groups had made him feel he belonged to a "band of brothers."In 2012, a convicted drug trafficker and gang leader -- known as Big A -- traveled to Syria to take up arms against the Assad regime. His real name was Abderozzak Benarabe. The subject of a TV documentary last year by Nagieb Khaja, Benarabe returned to Copenhagen where he allegedly raised some $75,000 for the cause. He is now in prison after conviction on aggravated assault charges unrelated to terrorism.There is a long history of jihadist activism in Denmark, and intelligence officials believe at least 110 Danes, both converts to Islam and Muslims since birth, have traveled to Syria and Iraq. Some estimates put the number as high as 200. At least 16 Danes have been killed in Syria and Iraq, according to PET, including 2 women. Last year, ISIS claimed several Danish suicide bombers had carried out attacks in Iraq, including Abu Khattab al Denmarki, said to have carried out an attack in Diyala province, and Abu Sa'ad al Denmarki, who detonated a car bomb close to an Iraqi military convoy near Mosul.It is believed as many as 70 Danish nationals have returned from Syria to Denmark.Within Denmark, according to PET's latest assessment, there are "people who sympathize with militant Islamism, but have not been in the conflict zone." They may be "inspired by individuals or groups in the conflict zone or elsewhere abroad," a danger heightened by Denmark's participation in the international coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).JUST WATCHEDDanish PM speaks to CNNReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHDanish PM speaks to CNN 01:33Recent postings on jihadist forums have singled out Denmark as a target. One entitled "O Lone Wolves, You who Reside Among the Infidels, Your Turn has Come," and posted last month, urged "sons of Islam, in Europe, America, Australia, France, and Denmark" to "light fires beneath their feet." "Developments in the Middle East in general, including in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, increase the threat of attack in the West against Israeli or Jewish targets," PET warned.A number of jihadist conspiracies in Denmark have been foiled in recent years, but early in 2013 a man tried to shoot the writer Lars Hedegaard, a prominent critic of Islam, at his home in Copenhagen. Hedegaard was not injured, but his assailant escaped on foot. Among scores of Danish jihadists to have traveled overseas in recent years was Mustapha Darwich Ramadan, who had spent time in prison for armed robbery in the 1990s. He eventually traveled to Iraq where he joined al Qaeda. Ramadan took part in the beheading of the American Nick Berg in 2004 before being killed fighting U.S. forces in Fallujah.Much more recently, according to Flashpoint Partners, a group that tracks jihadist activity, a Danish national called Abu Ikramah Al-Pakistani was killed in Anbar Province, Iraq. He was not the first to make the journey. In August 2013, a group of Danes in Syria released a video in which they fired at pictures of six Danish "kuffar attacking Islam" -- among them Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Secretary-General of NATO, Morten Storm, and the cartoonist Kurt Westergaard.Denmark has been the focus of militants' anger since the newspaper Jyllands Posten published Westergaard's cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed in 2005. In an edition of its online magazine, Inspire, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula called for the murder of Westergaard -- as well as Carsten Luste, the editor of the paper when the cartoons were published, and Lars Vilks, the Swedish cartoonist who was attending the free speech forum in Copenhagen that was attacked at the weekend.Westergaard is under police protection in Denmark after a conspiracy to murder him was uncovered in 2008, and a 28-year old Somali believed to have ties to Al-Shabaab tried to kill him in 2010.In 2012, three Swedish nationals and a Tunisian resident of Sweden were found guilty of targeting Jyllands Posten in an al Qaeda plot. Prosecutors accused the four suspects of planning a gun attack on the newspaper, to be followed by "the execution" of hostages. They had been tracked from Sweden and arrested in Copenhagen in a joint operation between Swedish and Danish intelligence.Denmark has a large immigrant population from the Muslim world -- including Palestinians, Turks, Somalis, Bosnians, Moroccans and Tunisians. While the vast majority have integrated peacefully, a small fraction of "second generation" immigrants -- as in France -- have adopted militant Salafism, especially in Odense, Aaarhus and parts of the capital.In 2010, one counterterrorism expert, Michael Taarnby, told CNN that out of Denmark's population of some 18,000 Somalis, there were at least 300 sympathizers of Al-Shabaab, the jihadist group in Somalia that is now an affiliate of al Qaeda."Those attracted are usually quite young -- there's the usual issue of a clash of cultures, of being stuck between east Africa and Scandinavia and not knowing where they belong," Taarnby told CNN.That clash of cultures threatens to shed more blood on the streets of Europe's major cities.
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Hackers successfully infiltrated the computer system controlling a water treatment facility in the U.S. state of Florida and remotely changed a setting that drastically altered the levels of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) in the water.
During a press conference held yesterday, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said an operator managed to catch the manipulation in real-time and restored the concentration levels to undo the damage.
"At no time was there a significant effect on the water being treated, and more importantly the public was never in danger," Sheriff Gualtieri said in a statement.
The water treatment facility, which is located in the city of Oldsmar and serves about 15,000 residents, is said to have been breached for approximately 3 to 5 minutes by unknown suspects on February 5, with the remote access occurring twice at 8:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
The attacker briefly increased the amount of sodium hydroxide from 100 parts-per-million to 11,100 parts-per-million using a system that allows for remote access via TeamViewer, a tool that lets users monitor and troubleshoot any system problems from other locations.
"At 1:30 p.m., a plant operator witnessed a second remote access user opening various functions in the system that control the amount of sodium hydroxide in the water," the officials said.
Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye, is a corrosive compound used in small amounts to control the acidity of water. In high and undiluted concentrations, it can be toxic and can cause irritation to the skin and eyes.
It is not immediately known if the hack was done from within the U.S. or outside the country. Detectives with the Digital Forensics Unit said an investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Although an early intervention averted more serious consequences, the sabotage attempt highlights the exposure of critical infrastructure facilities and industrial control systems to cyberattacks.
The fact that the attacker leveraged TeamViewer to take over the system underscores the need for securing access with multi-factor authentication and preventing such systems from being externally accessible.
"Manually identify software installed on hosts, particularly those critical to the industrial environment such as operator workstations — such as TeamViewer or VNC," said Dragos researcher Ben Miller. "Accessing this on a host-by-host basis may not be practical but it is comprehensive."
"Remote access requirements should be determined, including what IP addresses, what communication types, and what processes can be monitored. All others should be disabled by default. Remote access including process control should be limited as much as possible."
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Moscow (CNN)Russia is suspending its permanent mission to NATO in response to the alliance's expulsion of eight Russians, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday. Lavrov said the Kremlin's move -- which could come into effect as early as November 1 -- was a result of "NATO's actions." Russia is also suspending the activities of the NATO military liaison mission in Moscow, Lavrov said, with staff accreditation to be withdrawn on November 1. The NATO information bureau in Moscow, which was established at the Belgian embassy to explain the role of NATO and NATO policies to the Russian public, will also be terminated, he said."NATO is not interested in any equal dialogue or in any joint work," Lavrov said. "If so, then we do not see much need to continue to pretend that some change is possible in the foreseeable future. NATO has already in fact declared the impossibility of such changes."Read MoreEarlier this month, NATO expelled eight members of the Russian mission to the alliance who they determined were "undeclared Russian intelligence officers," according to a NATO official. The Kremlin's moves on Monday come as the United States steps up its support to Russia's neighbors, which a senior US defense official this weekend said were "on the frontlines of Russian aggression." At the time of the expulsion of the Russian officers, Moscow reacted by saying NATO's actions were inconsistent with the alliance's previous comments and undermined a chance for reconciliation."NATO leaders spoke about the importance of de-escalation in relations with Russia, called for resuming dialogue within the Russia-NATO Council, sending an ambassador to Brussels," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said earlier this month, according to Russian state media RIA Novosti. "If anyone believed in the sincerity of these statements, today there are none left."On Monday, NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said the alliance had "taken note" of Lavrov's comments, but that NATO hadn't received any official communication about the matter. Heightened tensionsAs Russia announced its retaliatory measures on Monday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was meeting Georgia's prime minister and his counterpart in Tbilisi. The two nations signed a new initiative to help Georgia "become more efficient and more effective and NATO interoperable," the DOD said in a statement. The program is an extension of the long-running Georgia Defense Readiness Program, "aimed to help Georgia defend its sovereign territory" after Russia invaded South Ossetia and Abkhazia in 2008. The two provinces make up 20 percent of Georgia's landmass and are still occupied by Russia, according to the DOD. Austin's visit to Georgia is the first stop on a three-part tour "to reassure allies and partners of America's commitment to their sovereignty in the face of Russian aggression," according to a US Department of Defense statement. Austin will also visit Ukraine and Romania before a visit to NATO headquarters in Brussels. Previous spats between NATO countries and Russia have had wide-ranging global implications.In 2018, in the wake of the poisoning of former Russian double-agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, England, NATO trimmed the Russian mission to 20 from 30 positions. The UK attributed the attack to a unit of Russian military intelligence.Days later, 20 nations, including the US, backed Britain by together expelling more than 100 Russian diplomats as part of a coordinated global response. Russia expelled 60 US diplomats and closed the US Consulate in St. Petersburg in retaliation.And in 2014, NATO suspended "all practical civilian and military cooperation" with Russia after it annexed Crimea.CNN's Katharina Krebs and Stephanie Halasz contributed reporting.
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(CNN)FIFA has relocated the Palestinians' World Cup qualifying match against Saudi Arabia, after the Saudi team refused to travel to the West Bank.Fulfilling the October 13 fixture at a stadium on the outskirts of Ramallah would require the Saudis to go through the West Bank's Israeli-controlled borders. Saudia Arabia is among a few dozen Arab and Muslim countries that don't recognize Israel.Follow @cnnsport
The three-member FIFA panel -- presidential candidate Michel Platini, Asian Football Confederation chief Sheikh Salman and Kuwaiti powerbroker Sheikh Ahmad -- moved the second-leg qualifier to Amman in Jordan.In a September 28 letter written to FIFA president Sepp Blatter, Palestinian Football Association (PFA) president Jibril Rajoub said he was shocked that the decision had been made unilaterally even after the Palestinians offered "to fly the Saudi team from Amman to Ramallah" by helicopter.That would have needed the approval from the Israeli authorities, given Israel controls the West Bank's borders, as well as who enters and leaves the territory.Read MoreThe political wrangling began almost as soon as the Asian qualification draw for Russia 2018 was made earlier this year. Group A threw the Palestinians together with not only the Saudis, but two other countries that don't recognize Israel: the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia. "Exceptional conditions"The first match was supposed to between the Palestinians and Saudis in the West Bank in June, but the game was swapped at the last minute. Saudi Arabia invoked "exceptional conditions" and went on to win the match in Dammam 3-2 after scoring in the fifth minute of injury time. But last month the UAE team did travel to the West Bank, where the two teams played out a 0-0 draw in front of a 15,000 strong full house. Malaysia is due to play in the West Bank on November 12. The Palestinians lie just two points behind Saudi Arabia in the Group A and still stands a chance of progressing to the next round as they try to qualify for their first ever World Cup finals, after reaching their first Asian Cup finals in Australia earlier this year.It is not the first time a country has tried to avoid traveling to the West Bank over a soccer match.The Palestinians' first home qualification tie for the 2014 World Cup finals against Afghanistan, another country that does not recognise Israel, was thrown in to doubt after the Afghan government initially refused permission for the team to travel.But, after FIFA intervened citing the organization's ban on political interference, the Afghan team flew to Jordan and crossed the Israeli Allenby Bridge checkpoint overland. The match finished 1-1.UEFA, FIFA, the PFA and the Saudi Football Federation were not immediately available for comment.Read: Disgraced former official Jack Warner banned for life by FIFA
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Facebook EXE attachment Vulnerability can Compromise with Users Security
Nathan Power from SecurityPentest has discovered new Facebook Vulnerability, that can easily attach EXE files in messages,cause possible User Credentials to be Compromised .
When using the Facebook 'Messages' tab, there is a feature to attach a file. Using this feature normally, the site won't allow a user to attach an executable file. A bug was discovered to subvert this security mechanisms. Note, you do NOT have to be friends with the user to send them a message with an attachment.
But Nathan Power Find the way to upload EXE . When uploading a file attachment to Facebook we captured the web browsers POST request being sent to the web server. Inside this POST request reads the line:
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="attachment"; filename="cmd.exe"
It was discovered the variable 'filename' was being parsed to determine if the file type is allowed or not. To subvert the security mechanisms to allow an .exe file type, we modified the POST request by appending a space to our filename variable like so:
filename="cmd.exe "
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(CNN)Denmark has passed a law allowing it to relocate asylum seekers to third countries while their asylum claims are processed, in a move that has drawn sharp condemnation from human rights groups. The bill paves the way for the establishment of offshore asylum centers outside the European Union. It was approved in Danish parliament on Thursday, a parliamentary press officer told CNN.The legislation aims to send asylum seekers to reception centers in third countries once a quick process has been completed in Denmark. But the government has yet to outline where these centers will be placed, as it has not reached an agreement with a third country, Danish government spokesperson on immigration Rasmus Stoklund told CNN.The Danish Refugee Council called the law "irresponsible." Its chief, Charlotte Slente, said lawmakers had voted blindly for legislation that advocates for an asylum processing model "that does not yet exist and which they therefore do not know what actually entails." Stoklund defended the government to CNN, saying the aim is to stop people "applying for asylum in Denmark" and free up resources, otherwise used on asylum claims, which can be used in refugee camps close to war zones where the government maintains refugees are in greatest need. In its latest lurch to the far right, Denmark plans to send some refugees back to SyriaRead MoreMore than half of asylum seeker claims in Denmark last year were rejected, he said, adding that the government hopes that reduced asylum claims would help to counter issues of integration and criminality in Danish society.The law is the country's latest hardline measure aimed at sending a blunt message to asylum seekers, and Denmark's refugee and immigrant communities. In 2019, the Scandinavian nation became the first democratic European nation to tell Syrian refugees originating from Damascus and its surrounding countryside to return to the war-torn nation. That same year, the government forced social and ethnic change in 15 low-income housing estates across the country -- which it called "hard ghettos" and which Danish regulations define partly according to the races of residents.The measures are championed by the governing coalition led by the left-wing Social Democrats, which critics maintain is copying the language and policies of the far right. On Thursday, the European Commission expressed "concerns" regarding "the compatibility of this text with Denmark's international obligations," its spokesperson for home affairs, Adalbert Jahnz, told a press briefing Thursday.He added that the kind of external processing of asylum claims is "not possible under existing EU rules or proposals under the new pact for migration and asylum."Denmark is a liberal paradise for many people, but the reality is very different for immigrantsThe EU will "now analyze the Danish laws pending their entry into force before deciding on any next steps" Jahnz added. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) warned last month that the bill could encourage a "race to the bottom" where "other countries in Europe and the surrounding areas will also explore the possibilities of limiting the protection of refugees in their own territory," the body's Nordic and Baltic countries representative, Henrik M Nordentoft, said in a statement.He added that it might be impossible to implement such a law without violating international obligations set out both in the human rights and refugee conventions -- which Denmark was the first signatory to in 1951. Denmark, like other countries in Europe, witnessed high numbers of asylum claims during the height of the migrant crisis. In 2015, it registered 11,539 asylum applications. Those figures have gone down in recent years. According to Statistics Denmark, 756 asylum applications were lodged last year.
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No More Ransom, so is the Ransomware Threat.
The European Police agency Europol has joined forces with police and cyber security companies to launch a worldwide initiative to combat and tackle together the exponential growth of Ransomware used by cyber criminals.
Europol announced today the initiative, dubbed NO More Ransom, that has been backed by technology giant Intel, cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab and the Netherlands police, aiming at decreasing an "exponential" rise in Ransomware threat.
Ransomware is a piece of malware that typically locks victim's device using encryption and demands a fee to decrypt the important data. The estimated number of ransomware victims tripled in the first quarter of this year alone.
"For a few years now ransomware has become a dominant concern for EU law enforcement," said Europol's deputy director Wil van Gemert. "We expect to help many people to recover control over their files, while raising awareness and educating the population on how to maintain their devices clean from malware."
No More Ransom
This No More Ransom initiative informs the public about the dangers of ransomware threat, how to avoid falling victim to it and how to recover data without paying money to cyber-criminals if a person or company falls for one.
Also Read: Ransomware attacks on Hospitals put Patients at Risk
The new No More Ransom online portal provides users with downloadable tools that may help decrypt computers affected by ransomware attacks.
In its initial stage, NoMoreRansom.org contains four decryption tools for ransomware, including the notorious CryptXXX and the CoinVault and Bitcryptor families.
"We can only change the situation if we coordinate our efforts to fight against ransomware," said Jornt van der Wiel, security researcher at Kaspersky.
The portal also provides a "Crytpo Sherrif" section that allows people to upload more ransomware malware samples and a description to identify the type of ransomware threat affecting a system.
We saw an enormous rise in Ransomware, both in numbers and sophistication. The latest version of Cerber ransomware is so sophisticated that it generates a different sample in every 15 seconds to bypass signature-based antivirus software.
Must Read: Ransomware attacks Shuts Down Electric and Water Utility
One of the best advice to keep yourself safe from this emerging threat, is to backup all your important data regularly. Don't pay criminals the ransom, as it motivates them to keep on infecting a large number of people.
Some organizations have paid cyber criminal's demands, including the University of Calgary in Alberta, which paid $20,000 ransom to decrypt its computer systems' files and restore access to its own email system after getting hit by a ransomware infection.
In addition, you are always advised to keep your software up-to-date, use a reputed antivirus solution, and trust no one while opening any email or message attachments.
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Microsoft and the FBI have taken down a botnet that controlled millions of infected PCs, which was responsible for massive bank fraud. Botnets are networks of computers infected with viruses that let them be controlled by hackers.
The outfit runs the Citadel Botnets and is believed to have stolen more than $500 million from bank accounts over the past 18 months. Citadel is one of the biggest botnets in operation today.
Citadel is a banking Trojan that has been in existence since 2011. As with most banking Trojans, Citadel is a full crimeware kit, providing the attackers with payload builders, a command and control (C&C) server infrastructure, and configuration scripts to target various banks.
Citadel infected as many as 5 million PCs around the world including here in Australia and according to Microsoft, was used to steal from dozens of financial institutions, including American Express, Bank of America, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, eBay's PayPal, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Royal Bank of Canada and Wells Fargo.
Citadel installed keylogging software onto a computer, which tracked everything a person typed. Microsoft also admitted that it does not expect to have wiped out the Citadel botnet fully, simply because of its sheer size.
As a result, when users access their bank accounts online, they unwittingly provide access to banking passwords and other confidential information to the hackers.
Earlier Wednesday, federal marshals escorted Microsoft officials to two data hosting facilities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where they seized data and evidence from the botnets.
Microsoft has filed a civil lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Charlotte, North Carolina against the unknown hackers and obtained a court order to shut down the botnets and identifies the ringleader as 'John Doe No. 1', who goes by the alias Aquabox and is accused of creating and maintaining the botnet.
The FBI working closely with Europol and other overseas authorities to try to capture the unknown criminals.
Microsoft and its allies did not believe the threat from Citadel was eliminated but were confident they were able to significantly disrupt the criminal operation.
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A Russian man accused of developing and distributing the Citadel Banking Trojan, which infected nearly 11 Million computers globally and caused over $500 Million in losses, has finally pleaded guilty to charges of computer fraud.
Mark Vartanyan, 29, who was very well known as "Kolypto," pleaded guilty in an Atlanta courtroom on Monday to charges related to computer fraud and is now co-operating with federal prosecutors in return for a reduced sentence of no more than five years in prison.
Vartanyan, a native of Moscow, was arrested in Norway in October 2014 and extradited to the United States in December last year. He was involved in the development, improvement, maintenance and distribution of the nasty Citadel Trojan.
"This successful extradition is yet another example of how cooperation among international law enforcement partners can be used to disrupt and dismantle global cyber syndicates," said U.S. Attorney John Horn.
"This defendant's alleged role in developing and improving Citadel for its use by cyber criminals caused a vast amount of financial harm to individuals and institutions around the world. His appearance in federal court today shows that cyber criminals cannot hide in the shadows of the Internet. We will identify them and bring them to justice wherever they operate."
Initially developed in 2011, Citadel Trojan – a variant of the Zeus banking Trojan – was designed to infect computer systems and steal online banking credentials and other financial information by masquerading itself as legitimate banking sites.
The offensive threat affected over 11 Million computers in at least 90 countries and estimated to have cost $500 million in losses over a three-year period.
Citadel also introduced a business model that enabled online users to solicit their feedback and then incorporate those functionalities and tweaks in the product, making the malware gain widespread popularity. It was one of the first examples of malware-as–a-service (MaaS).
Sold for up to $2,500, Citadel received regular automated updates, just like with the development of legitimate software programs, to enable the malware to avoid detection by antivirus products and other signature-based security controls.
But eventually, Citadel's source code was leaked in 2013, which helped the antivirus firms to identify and block the threat.
Vartanyan was one of many people who was involved in the development and distribution of the Citadel malware.
Another Russian hacker Dimitry Belorossov, 22, aka Rainerfox, was also arrested in September 2015 and sentenced to four years and six months in prison after pleading guilty to charges related to the distribution of Citadel and infecting over 7,000 infected machines.
Vartanyan is scheduled to be sentenced on 21 June 2017.
Despite the two arrests, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said its investigation into the creator of Citadel malware is still ongoing, indicating that further arrests may be made.
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United Arab Emirates (UAE) may terminate a $930 Million USD contract with France based companies for the supply of two two military Imaging satellites due to the discovery of several US produced components in them.
Now the deal is in danger because the UAE claims it has discovered backdoors in the components which are manufactured in the United States, reported by the Defense News.
The contract, sealed in July 2013, includes a ground station, the Pleiades-type satellites (aka Falcon Eye) are due for delivery 2018.
The revelation was provided by high-level UAE sources, the companies involved in the business are the prime contractor Airbus Defense and Space, and payload maker Thales Alenia Space.
"If this issue is not resolved, the UAE is willing to scrap the whole deal," he added. UAE authorities suspect the presence of vulnerabilities would "provide a back door to the highly secure data transmitted to the ground station".
An unnamed UAE source has confirmed that the presence of backdoor has been reported to Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed, deputy supreme commander of the UAE's armed forces.
The contract signed with French companies includes two high-resolution observation satellites and the operational support from France with training for 20 engineers.
UAE representatives are evaluating alternative partners for the supply, Russian industry may be more likely supplier.
"The UAE has drawn on Russian technology, with the GLONASS space-based navigation system fitted as a redundancy feature on a Western European weapon system," a French defense expert said.
While some security experts believe that French industry had drawn on the US technology due complexity of the payload, other specialists found intriguing that France had drawn on US technology for the satellites under the Falcon Eye program.
"France operates the Pleiades spy satellite in what is viewed as a critical piece of the nation's sovereignty. Given that core competence, it seemed strange that France would use US technology, although there is an agreement between Paris and Washington over transfer of capabilities, " said a Defense analysts.
The Defense News also speculated on the fact that the claims may be an attempt to condition another contract for Dassault Aviation Rafale fighters, both French companies were available for comment.
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In the digital age, one of the most popular sayings is—if you're not paying, then you're not the customer, you're the product.
While downloading apps on their smartphones, most users may not realize how much data they collect on you.
Believe me; it's way more than you can imagine.
Nowadays, many app developers are following irresponsible practices that are worth understanding, and we don't have a better example than this newly-reported incident about a virtual keyboard app.
A team of security researchers at the Kromtech Security Center has discovered a massive trove of personal data belonging to more than 31 million users of the popular virtual keyboard app, AI.type, accidentally leaked online for anyone to download without requiring any password.
Founded in 2010, Ai.type is a customizable and personalizable on-screen keyboard for mobile phones and tablets, with more than 40 million users worldwide.
Apparently, a misconfigured MongoDB database, owned by the Tel Aviv-based startup AI.type, exposed their entire 577 GB of the database online that includes a shocking amount of sensitive details on their users, which is not even necessary for the app to work.
"...they appear to collect everything from contacts to keystrokes."
The leaked database of over 31 million users includes:
Full name, phone number, and email address
Device name, screen resolution and model details
Android version, IMSI number, and IMEI number
Mobile network name, country of residence and even user enabled languages
IP address (if available), along with GPS location (longitude/latitude).
Links and the information associated with the social media profiles, including birth date, emails, photos.
"When researchers installed Ai.Type they were shocked to discover that users must allow 'Full Access' to all of their data stored on the testing iPhone, including all keyboard data past and present," the researchers say.
What's more?
Moreover, the leaked database also reveals that the virtual keyboard app is also stealing users' contact books, including the contacts' names and phone numbers—and already scraped more than 373 million records.
"There was a range of other statistics like the most popular users' Google queries for different regions. Data like average messages per day, words per message, the age of users, words_per_day': 0.0, 'word_per_session and a detailed look at their customers," the researchers say.
Researchers go on to raise a question that "why would like a keyboard, and emoji application need to gather the entire data of the user's phone or tablet?"
Even the recent data breaches have taught us that once our personal data gets in the hands of cybercriminals, it makes us vulnerable forever.
Therefore, the best defense to protect yourself is always—awareness.
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Sabpab - Another Mac os Backdoor Trojan Discovered
Security firm Sophos has discovered more malware for the Mac OS X platform called Sabpab. It uses the same Java vulnerability as Flashback to install itself as a "drive-by download." Users of older versions of Java now have still more malware to worry about.
It also doesn't require any user interaction to infect a system either just like Flashback all that needs to happen is for you to visit an infected webpage. Sabpab, according to Sophos, installs a backdoor that allows the hackers to capture screen snapshots, upload or download files and execute commands on infected Macs remotely.
The Trojan creates the files
/Users//Library/Preferences/com.apple.PubSabAgent.pfile
/Users//Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.PubSabAGent.plist
Encrypted logs are sent back to the control server, so the hackers can monitor activity. Although one variant of Flashback installed a file in the LaunchAgents folder, not all tools for detecting Flashback do anything with that folder.
Symantec identifies the trojan as OSX.Sabpab which exploits the Oracle Java SE Remote Java Runtime Environment Denial Of Service Vulnerability (BID 52161) in order to install itself on to the compromised computer.
Sophos products, including free Mac anti-virus for home users, detect the Trojan horse as OSX/Sabpab-A.
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Story highlightsPolice: Two people are arrested in connection with slavery offensesThree men are freed and taken to a safe placeThe operation aims to crack down on forced labor and human traffickingBritish police freed three men Sunday and arrested two people as part of a human trafficking bust, authorities announced. The rescues came in a series of raids that involved "three travelers sites, a business unit and a house in South Gloucestershire and a residential property in Bristol," police said in a statement.The three men who were freed included one in his 30s, one in his 40s and one in his 50s.How to recover after decades of slavery?Authorities didn't provide details about their conditions, but said they were taken to a safe place and given help.JUST WATCHEDSlavery case investigated in the UKReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSlavery case investigated in the UK 01:43JUST WATCHEDRetailer joins fight against slavery ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRetailer joins fight against slavery 03:55Five other people were arrested on suspicion of failure to appear, cannabis production, money laundering and handling stolen goods, Avon and Somerset Police said in the statement.Investigators found a large stash of cash in one of the locations they raided, police said.The raids were part of Operation Wanderer, which police described as "an investigation into forced labor and human trafficking.""To the outside world, the fear and intimidation faced by victims of forced labor on a daily basis are difficult to comprehend," Chief Superintendent Julian Moss said. "Today's operation is a very visible statement of our intent to protect people from this type of exploitation."Sunday's arrests came several weeks after British police arrested a couple on suspicion of holding three women captive for more than 30 years.Slavery: The victims living all around us
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Operation Ghost Click by FBI - Online advertising scam taken Down
A gang of internet 'cyber bandits' who stole $14 million after hacking into at least 4 million computers in an online advertising scam have been arrested following a joint investigation by the FBI and Nasa. Six men are in custody in Estonia, pending extradition to the United States, following a two-year investigation into an "intricate international conspiracy" that "hijacked" millions of computers around the world and stole more than US$14-million. The FBI's two-year investigation was dubbed "Operation Ghost Click".
Computers in more than 100 countries were infected by the "DNSChanger" malware, which redirected searches for Apple's iTunes store to fake pages pretending to offer Apple software for sale, as well as sending those searching for information on the U.S. Internal Revenue Service to accounting company H&R Block, which allegedly paid those behind the scam a fee for each visitor via a fake internet ad agency.
"These defendants gave new meaning to the term 'false advertising'," said Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara. "As alleged, they were international cyber bandits who hijacked millions of computers at will and re-routed them to websites and advertisements of their own choosing, collecting millions in undeserved commissions for all the hijacked computer clicks and internet ads they fraudulently engineered."
Here's some screenshots from the FBI's "Check to See if Your Computer is Using Rogue DNS" instructions.
Trend Micro, which helped supply information to the FBI on DNS Changer, hailed the law enforcement operation as the "biggest cyber criminal takedown in history." Whilst the rogue DNS servers have been replaced, many may still be infected. Head here to learn about how to check if your system is part of the DNS Changer botnet.
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A cyberespionage campaign aimed at aerospace and defense sectors in order to install data gathering implants on victims' machines for purposes of surveillance and data exfiltration may have been more sophisticated than previously thought.
The attacks, which targeted IP-addresses belonging to internet service providers (ISPs) in Australia, Israel, Russia, and defense contractors based in Russia and India, involved a previously undiscovered spyware tool called Torisma to stealthily monitor its victims for continued exploitation.
Tracked under the codename of "Operation North Star" by McAfee researchers, initial findings into the campaign in July revealed the use of social media sites, spear-phishing, and weaponized documents with fake job offers to trick employees working in the defense sector to gain a foothold on their organizations' networks.
The attacks have been attributed to infrastructure and TTPs (Techniques, Tactics, and Procedures) previously associated with Hidden Cobra — an umbrella term used by the US government to describe all North Korean state-sponsored hacking groups.
The development continues the trend of North Korea, a heavily sanctioned country, leveraging its arsenal of threat actors to support and fund its nuclear weapons program by perpetrating malicious attacks on US defense and aerospace contractors.
While the initial analysis suggested the implants were intended to gather basic victim information so as to assess their value, the latest investigation into Operation North Star exhibits a "degree of technical innovation" designed to remain hidden on compromised systems.
Not only did the campaign use legitimate job recruitment content from popular US defense contractor websites to lure targeted victims into opening malicious spear-phishing email attachments, the attackers compromised and used genuine websites in the US and Italy — an auction house, a printing company, and an IT training firm — to host their command-and-control (C2) capabilities.
"Using these domains to conduct C2 operations likely allowed them to bypass some organizations' security measures because most organizations do not block trusted websites," McAfee researchers Christiaan Beek and Ryan Sherstibitoff said.
What's more, the first-stage implant embedded in the Word documents would go on to evaluate the victim system data (date, IP Address, User-Agent, etc.) by cross-checking with a predetermined list of target IP addresses to install a second implant called Torisma, all the while minimizing the risk of detection and discovery.
This specialized monitoring implant is used to execute custom shellcode, in addition to actively monitoring for new drives added to the system as well as remote desktop connections.
"This campaign was interesting in that there was a particular list of targets of interest, and that list was verified before the decision was made to send a second implant, either 32 or 64 bits, for further and in-depth monitoring," the researchers said.
"Progress of the implants sent by the C2 was monitored and written in a log file that gave the adversary an overview of which victims were successfully infiltrated and could be monitored further."
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Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM radio's daily program "The Dean Obeidallah Show" and a columnist for The Daily Beast. Follow him @DeanObeidallah. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion articles on CNN. (CNN)Chris Farley passed away nearly 22 years ago, but for those watching Adam Sandler's funny and heartbreaking musical tribute to his former friend on "Saturday Night Live" this weekend it felt like we lost him just yesterday. And I bet for many fans of Farley, it felt like, in some ways, he never left us.I worked on the production staff at "SNL" from 1998 to 2006, and over those years I heard countless stories about Farley from people who worked on the show with him. The one thing the stories all had in common was the sheer amount of joy they would bring to the people recounting Farley's antics. Suddenly, an otherwise low-key person would light up while acting out -- to the best of his or her ability -- what Farley had done in the very place we were standing in the "SNL" offices. And of course, laughter would follow as we could all picture Farley in our mind's eye doing exactly what was being described.A 'Saturday Night Live' sketch that Trump should savorSandler's song toasting his late friend on "SNL" captured that spirit so well -- with a hint of the bittersweet.Some have pointed out that Sandler had played a version of this song before on his recent Netflix special. But what was so unique and moving about Sandler's rendition on "SNL" was that it took place on the very stage that the two close friends shared in the mid-1990s.Given the location, certain lines delivered an added emotional weight, such as when Sandler sang, "We'd tell him, 'Son, you'll wind up like Belushi and Candy,' he said, 'Those guys are my heroes, that's all fine and dandy.'" (This was, of course, referring to the late John Belushi and John Candy, both larger than life comedy stars who died way too young.)Read MoreThen there was Sanders' lyric: "If we make enough noise, maybe he'll hear us," pausing as emotion came across his face and the audience cheered.But, clearly, Sandler didn't come to make us cry. He came to remind us of the joy that Farley bestowed upon us. Sandler shared that when he first met Farley, "he cartwheeled around the room and slow danced with the cleaning lady," adding, "he was a one-man party."Stay up to date...Sign up for our new newsletter.Join us on Twitter and FacebookAnd there was something else that was remarkable about Sandler's song. It was a nearly five-minute, much-needed escape from the dysfunction that has consumed America today. Watching the clips of Farley making us laugh from the 1990s as Sandler sang conjured up a simpler time -- one in which the biggest political issues involved Bill Clinton's affair with an intern as opposed to what we are seeing today with President Donald Trump's war on the truth, Russian attacks on our elections and the emboldenment of white supremacists. Although Clinton's affair was indeed a serious matter, it was one that seemed relatively contained, as opposed to the growing issues that threaten lives and the vitality of our democracy today.As the song wound down, Sandler summed up what Farley means to him and to so many others with the line, "Buddy, life has moved on, but you still bring us so much joy." He added, "Make my kids laugh with YouTube clips or Tommy Boy," causing the studio audience to cheer as we saw an image of Farley from the hit 1995 comedy film, "Tommy Boy."Over 20 years after his passing, Farley is still bringing joy to those he touched personally and to those who just enjoyed his comedy. That's why Sandler's final lyric of his song was just so perfect: "Give it up for the great Chris Farley."
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Story highlightsVladimir Putin and Shinzo Abe attend judo tournament in Vladivostok The two world leaders took a break from the Eastern Economic ForumVladivostok (CNN)Russian president Vladimir Putin and fellow world leaders took time away from the Eastern Economic Forum Thursday to enjoy a shared passion -- judo.Putin, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga were all in attendance for the International Vladivostok Jigoro Kano Junior Judo Tournament.All three are keen advocates of the sport. Putin is a black belt, while Battugla was head of his country's judo federation and a wrestling World Cup champion in 1989.READ: "Judo saved my life"Speaking to the press Japan's Olympic gold medalist Yasuhiro Yamashita at the Eastern Economic Forum, Abe suggested he challenge Putin to a judo contest, according to Russian state news agency Itar-Tass.Read MorePutin's love for judo has helped the sport develop a keen following in Russia, according to judokas present in Vladivostok.JUST WATCHEDLegends of judo: Teddy Riner, the best ever?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHLegends of judo: Teddy Riner, the best ever? 01:15"I think the fact that Putin loves judo does help it to be a more popular sport," judo master Vladimir Sinistin told CNN."And if your leader does judo and has an athletic title, and Putin is a master of this sport, of course this sport gets more attention.JUST WATCHEDLegends of judo: Ryoko TaniReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHLegends of judo: Ryoko Tani 01:21READ: Five things we learned from the world championships"That's why Russia hired a good coach from Italy, who assembled a good team and took it to a high level, internationally."Maria Ilyushina contributed to this report.
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested the CEO of a UK-based company for allegedly advertising and selling a spyware app to individuals who suspect their romantic partners of cheating on them.
The dodgy cell phone spyware application, dubbed as StealthGenie, monitors victims' phone calls, text messages, videos, emails and other communications "without detection" when it is installed on a target's phone, according to the Department of Justice.
The chief executive officer of a mobile spyware maker is a Pakistani man collared 31-year-old Hammad Akbar, of Lahore, who was arrested over the weekend in Los Angeles for flogging StealthGenie spyware application and now faces a number of federal charges.
According to the US Department of Justice, Akbar operates a company called InvoCode, which sold the StealthGenie spyware app online that can intercept communications to and from mobile phones including Apple, Google, and BlackBerry devices.
The company's business plan for the product focused on "the spousal cheat" market, which was expected to constitute 65 percent of the StealthGenie app purchasers, as the plan even spelled that out, stating that the target audience was cheating spouses and romantic partners.
"According to our market research, the majority chunk of the sales will come from people suspecting their partners to be cheating on them or wanting to keep an eye on them," the business plan stated according to the indictment.
Once installed on the phone, it allows conversations to be monitored as they take place, enables the purchaser to call the phone and activate it at any time to monitor all surrounding conversations within a 15-foot radius, and collects the user's incoming and outgoing email and SMS messages, incoming voicemail, address book, calendar, photographs, and videos. All of these functions are enabled without the knowledge of the user of the phone.
StealthGenie spyware application, according to the law enforcement agency, is able to:
Record all incoming/outgoing voice calls;
Intercept calls on the phone to be monitored while they take place;
Allow the attackers to call the phone and activate the app any time in order to monitor all surrounding conversations within a 15-foot radius;
Monitor the user's incoming and outgoing e-mail messages, SMS messages, incoming voicemail messages, address book additions, as well as Smartphones' calendar, photographs, and videos.
The federal prosecutors said this case is the first time that the US Department of Justice has prosecuted someone for advertising and selling mobile device spyware apps that targets adults.
"Selling spyware is not just reprehensible, it's a crime," Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell of the Justice Department's Criminal Division said in a statement. "Apps like StealthGenie are expressly designed for use by stalkers and domestic abusers who want to know every detail of a victim's personal life--all without the victim's knowledge."
Akbar was charged with conspiracy, sale of a surreptitious interception device, advertisement of a known interception device and advertising a device as a surreptitious interception device in US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
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Next time when you hear an announcement in the flight, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking…," the chances are that the announcement is coming from a hacker controlling your flight.
Dangerous vulnerabilities in an in-flight entertainment system used by the leading airlines, including Emirates, United, American Airlines, Virgin, and Qatar, could let hackers hijack several flight systems and even take control of the plane.
According to security researchers from IOActive, the security vulnerabilities resides in the Panasonic Avionics In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) system used in planes run by 13 major airlines, providing a gateway for hackers which is absolutely terrifying.
The security holes could be exploited by hackers that could allow them to spoof flight information like map routes, speed statistics, and altitude values, and steal credit card information.
IOActive's Ruben Santamarta managed to "hijack" in-flight displays to change information like altitude and location, control the cabin lighting, as well as hack into the announcements system.
"Chained together this could be an unsettling experience for passengers," said Santamarta. "I don't believe these systems can resist solid attacks from skilled malicious actors. This only depends on the attacker's determination and intentions, from a technical perspective it's totally feasible."
Besides these critical issues, the researcher said in some instances; hackers could access credit card details of passengers stored in the automatic payment system and use their frequent flyer membership details to capture personal data.
The vulnerabilities affect 13 different airlines that use Panasonic Avionics system, which include American Airlines, United, Virgin, Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, FinnAir, KLM, Iberia, Scandinavian, Air France, Singapore, and Aerolineas Argentinas.
The vulnerabilities were reported to Panasonic in March last year, and the researcher waited more than a year and a half to go public, so the company had "enough time to produce and deploy patches, at least for the most prominent vulnerabilities."
Emirates is working with Panasonic to resolve these issues and regularly update its systems. "The safety of our passengers and crew on board is a priority and will not be compromised," Emirates said, reported the Telegraph.
Santamarta is the same researcher who warned of security issues in systems used by different aircraft in the past.
Back in 2014, he discovered that it was possible to reverse engineer a bug, which let him connect to the Wi-Fi signal or the in-flight entertainment system to connect to airplanes' equipment, including the navigation system.
For in-depth technical details about the new vulnerabilities discovered by Santamarta, you can head on to IOActive's official blog post published today.
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Berlin (CNN)On the streets of Berlin, you can't help but be reminded of the horrors of World War II. The stark concrete slabs of the Holocaust memorial stand just outside the city's Brandenburg Gate. Then there are the thousands of brass "stumbling stones" carefully set into the city's sidewalks, memorializing victims of the Holocaust. In Germany, it's called Erinnerungskultur, a "culture of remembrance" that takes an unflinching look into the darkest corners of the country's history. Yet, when it comes to remembering World War I, there are far fewer memorials. At the Columbiadamm Cemetery in Berlin more than 7,000 World War I soldiers are buried. The rows of crosses are kept neat and tidy but are rarely visited, said Anne-Susann Schanner, an education officer at the Berlin branch of the German National Federation for the Care of War Graves. "Sometimes I do see flowers on the war graves. People don't even have to go personally, they can ask us to put flowers on the grave. It happens when it's the death date or the birthday of the deceased," Schanner explained. "There are no witnesses left and most people don't have that emotional connection to World War I."This year marks a century since the end of the Great War. In France and the UK, the end of the war is marked every November 11 as Armistice Day, when Germany surrendered and signed a peace treaty with the Allied Powers, including Britain, France and the United States.Read MorePoppies are pinned on British lapels to remember fallen soldiers and the country pauses for two minutes of silence to mark the moment Germany surrendered. A National Service of Remembrance is held and a member of the royal family lays a wreath of poppies at the Cenotaph memorial in London.An art installation of ceramic poppies surrounds the Tower of London to mark the centenary of the start of World War I in 2014. In France, there are blue cornflowers instead of red poppies and a national holiday to remember those who died in the war. French President Emmanuel Macron is doing a week-long tour of World War I battlefields and holding commemorative events with British Prime Minister Theresa May and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, before convening a peace summit in Paris also attended by US President Donald Trump. In Germany, however, the day is marked with muted self-reflection. This year, there will be memorial speeches in parliament accompanied by an art exhibition and a separate concert. But there is no nationwide event to mark the end of the war. For some critics, Germany has a selective memory when it comes to its culture of remembrance. "Other European countries have already appointed commissions of World War I historians years ago, planned memorial events, built new museums. Only Germany did not do this," said Sevim Dagdelen, a member of parliament for the left-wing Die Linke party.She points out that until last year the German government did not organize any independent memorial events, only accepting invitations for events outside the country. "I still think that's scandalous, that the role Germany played in WWI, as the aggressor, as the cause of WWI, was consciously denied," she said.German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a memorial for fallen soldiers of World War I, in Putbus, Germany, 2017.Larger disaster to comeSo what explains Germany's World War I memory lapse in its culture of remembering? It's not just that Germany lost the war. What was the end of the war for France and Great Britain was also the beginning of a catastrophic disaster for Germany. The end of WWI changed the nation, ushering in the 1918 revolution that brought down the monarchy and installed the fractious, short-lived Weimar republic that led, ultimately, to the rise of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime. In Germany, the trauma and atrocities of World War II completely overshadow the Great War and in schools, teachers often regard the events of 1914-18 simply as a prelude to the much larger disaster to come."The Second World War was so total from a German perspective -- and the experience of defeat was much more total than in 1918 -- that people have rightly and understandably obsessed about what led them to that disaster. And it's only in that context that they give much attention to the First World War," said professor Robert Gerwarth, director of the Centre for War Studies at University College Dublin. "For a very long time the First World War was overshadowed by the Second World War, which is of course for Germany an even bigger war -- in terms of lives lost, the level of destruction within Germany and the trauma of the Holocaust. Up until 10 years ago, whenever historians or the general public discussed the First World War it was often seen as a kind of pre-history to the Second World War."Furthermore, precisely because of Germany's wartime history, the country still grapples with how to remember its war dead. At the Columbiadamm Cemetery, there is a monument to the war erected in 1925, a statue of a fallen soldier draped with a blanket, only his clenched fist visible, with his helmet and weapon laid upon him. Underneath are these words: "We died so that Germany may live. Let us live through you!" "Propaganda used to claim that Germany will win the war," Schanner, the education officer, explained. "They kept repeating how Germany won battles. And in the heads of the German people, that was the way it was. And then the war ended and they were shocked: 'We lost. And we have to give away parts of our country and pay reparations.' For many, it was a shameful peace." "The population had to be assured: "Yes, we lost the war, but the victims didn't die in vain."World War I graves at Columbiadamm Cemetery, Berlin Closer look at WWIBut those nationalist sentiments were warped by the fascism that swept the country under Hitler and the Nazi regime. During that time, there was a boom in memorial building, with many village churches installing a memorial to the war dead, says Schanner. "Those memorials are very glorifying of war heroes and for us, from today's perspective, of course that's reprehensible," she says. There's particular concern that the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD), now that it has gained seats in the German parliament, is pushing for a nationalist revision of the country's history. AfD co-leader Alexander Gauland recently told party members that Hitler and Nazism "were just a bird s**t in 1,000 years of successful Germany history." But there is also some indication that Germany is taking a closer look at its World War I history. This year, it has increased the number of commemorative events. Chancellor Merkel will hold a joint memorial with President Macron at the Compiègne Forest in France where the armistice was signed. Most symbolic, for the first time German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will attend Britain's National Service of Remembrance with Prince Charles to lay a wreath at the Cenotaph. But for critics like Dagdelen, the government needs to do more. "The German government has to be a role model for a peaceful foreign policy, which starts with a sentence by former Chancellor Willy Brandt: 'There must never be a war started from German soil again.' That is what we learned from German history and that has to be an obligation for us."CNN's Nadine Schmidt contributed to this report.
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Moscow (CNN)A Russian agent sent to tail opposition leader Alexey Navalny has revealed how he was poisoned in August -- with the lethal nerve agent Novichok planted in his underpants. The stunning disclosure from an agent who belonged to an elite toxins team in Russia's FSB security service came in a lengthy phone call following the unmasking of the unit by CNN and the online investigative outfit Bellingcat last week. In what he was told was a debriefing, Konstantin Kudryavtsev also talked about others involved in the poisoning in the Siberian city of Tomsk, and how he was sent to clean things up. Konstantin Kudryavtsev revealed he traveled to Omsk in Siberia to try to clean up evidence after Alexey Navalny was poisoned.But the agent was not speaking to an official in Russia's National Security Council as he thought. He was talking to Navalny himself, who almost died after being poisoned in August. Navalny has long been a thorn in the side of President Vladimir Putin, exposing corruption in high places and campaigning against the ruling United Russia party. Read MorePutin essentially confirmed last week that FSB agents tailed Navalny but said if Russia had wanted him dead, "they would've probably finished it." Oleg Tayakin opened the door to CNN but closed it as soon as he was asked about his role in tailing Navalny.The Bellingcat-CNN investigation found that the FSB toxins team of about six to 10 agents trailed Navalny for more than three years. After identifying most of the team, CNN and Bellingcat tried to contact them and their superiors. One man, Oleg Tayakin, slammed the door shut when questioned by CNN. Others did not respond. At the same time, Navalny was also making calls. To begin with, he told the agents who he was, and those he contacted immediately ended the call. For the final call to Kudryavtsev, his team decided on a different approach: a sting operation. How Navalny did it Navalny, who is still recovering at a secret location in Germany, posed as a senior official from Russia's National Security Council tasked with carrying out an analysis of the poisoning operation. His phone number was disguised as that of the headquarters of the FSB, according to Navalny's team and a recording of the call later provided to CNN and Bellingcat. After Kudryavtsev confirmed his identity, Navalny said he'd been tasked with getting "a brief understanding from the team members: what went wrong, why was there a complete failure in Tomsk with Navalny?" Kudryavtsev's responses in the 45-minute call provide the first direct evidence of the unit's involvement in poisoning Navalny. At times he is clearly apprehensive about talking on an unsecured line but Navalny, speaking at times in a brusque and urgent way, persuades him that senior officials are demanding a report immediately and says that "all of this will be discussed at the Security Council on the highest level." Alexey Navalny, speaking brusquely and urgently, convinced Kudryavtsev he was an official reviewing the operation.The FSB on Monday issued a statement claiming that a video of Navalny's conversation with Kudryavtsev, posted by the opposition leader on his YouTube channel, was a "fake" facilitated by foreign intelligence."The so-called investigation about actions allegedly taken against him [which was] published online by [Alexey] Navalny is a planned provocation aimed at discrediting the FSB of Russia and employees of the federal security service, which would not have been possible without the organizational and technical support of foreign special services," the statement reads, according to state news agency TASS.The FSB has launched a "check" of Navalny's investigation and will give "a procedural assessment" following its results, the statement said.Why underwear was targeted Most dramatically Kudryavtsev provided a detailed account of how the nerve agent was applied to a pair of Navalny's underpants. Navalny asked: "What item of clothing was the emphasis on? What is the most risky piece of clothing?" Kudryavtsev replied simply: "Underpants." Navalny followed by asking exactly where the Novichok was applied -- the inside or outside seams. "The insides, the crotch," replied Kudryavtsev. CNN-Bellingcat investigation identifies Russian specialists who trailed Putin's nemesis Alexey Navalny before he was poisoned Toxicologists consulted by CNN say that if applied in granular form to clothes, the Novichok would be absorbed through the skin when the victim begins to sweat. They say that, in this instance, it appears the assailants used a solid form of the nerve agent, rather than a liquid or gel as had previously been detected in the attack against former double agent Sergei Skripal in the United Kingdom.The investigation by Bellingcat and CNN used thousands of phone records plus flight manifests and other documents obtained by Bellingcat to track the team of toxin experts. It established that, on the night the Novichok somehow got into Navalny's hotel room, there was a ping from a cell phone belonging to one of the toxin team, Alexei Alexandrov, just a few hundred yards from the hotel. Kudryavtsev acknowledged knowing Alexandrov and praised his work. Unexpected outcome CNN cannot confirm that Kudryavtsev was also in Tomsk when the poison was applied. But the call showed he had intimate knowledge of what was done and that he was involved in the cleanup operation to ensure there were no traces of Novichok left after Navalny had left the hospital.Navalny was treated by paramedics within minutes of the unscheduled landing in Omsk.Navalny fell suddenly ill on a flight home to Moscow and the pilot diverted to Omsk, where he received lifesaving emergency treatment from paramedics. Had the plane flown on to Moscow, Navalny would almost certainly have died, according to experts in toxicology consulted by CNN. "The flight is about three hours, this is a long flight," Kudryavtsev said. "If you don't land the plane the effect would've been different and the result would've been different. So I think the plane played the decisive part." "[We] didn't expect all this would happen. I'm sure that everything went wrong," Kudryavtsev added -- suggesting that the FSB's intent was to kill Navalny, as many toxicologists familiar with Novichok have said. When pushed as to whether the wrong dose of poison could have been administered, Kudryavtsev countered: "As I understand it, we added [a] bit extra."The cleanup job Kudryavtsev's background suggests he is a specialist in chemical and biological weapons. He graduated from the Moscow branch of the Russian Academy of Chemical Defense. Bellingcat has established he later worked at the 42nd center of the Ministry of Defense -- its biological security research center. The Bellingcat-CNN investigation, that also involved German magazine Der Spiegel and Russian online publication The Insider, had already established through flight manifests that Kudryavtsev had flown to Omsk on August 25, five days after the poisoning. JUST WATCHEDPutin responds to CNN investigation, does not deny Navalny was trackedReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHPutin responds to CNN investigation, does not deny Navalny was tracked 03:36"When we arrived, they gave them to us, the local Omsk guys brought [them] with the police," Kudryavtsev said on the call. He added they had applied solutions, so that there were no traces left on the clothes. "So there won't be any surprises with the clothes?" asked Navalny. "That's why we went there several times," Kudryavtsev replied. Navalny and his team have several times demanded that his clothes be returned to him, but Russian authorities have refused. Later, Kudryavtsev says, "I was told to work precisely with the underpants, on the inside." Navalny asked: "Who said that? Makshakov?" "Yeah," answered Kudryavtsev.
Stanislav Makshakov is a scientist identified in the investigation as the official in charge of the toxin team, which is based at the FSB's Criminalistics Unit on the outskirts of Moscow. He previously worked as a colonel at the Shikhany Institute, a Soviet and later Russian research institute on chemical weapons. The investigation published last week established details of the toxin team's communications and travel, which showed they had shadowed Navalny on more than 30 trips outside Moscow since 2017. The data also revealed high-level contacts between the toxin unit and laboratories in Russia specializing in researching nerve agents. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov looks on as Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks via video at a news conference. Both have blamed Western intelligence agenices for being involved with Navalny.Putin and other Russian officials have dismissed the Bellingcat-CNN investigation as part of a campaign orchestrated by Western intelligence agencies. On Friday, Putin said it represented a type of "information warfare" -- describing the investigation as "a dump where everything is being dumped, dumped, dumped in hopes that it will make an impression on the citizens, instill mistrust towards political leadership." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged a surveillance operation on Navalny because of -- as he put it -- "the growing 'ears' of foreign special services." What the agents, and Navalny, saw Navalny told CNN Monday that he did not believe the new revelations would lead to an investigation in Russia. "It has become so obvious that it was Putin personally who was behind this," he said.He added that he was stunned by talking to Kudryavtsev. "I was amazed of course and couldn't believe it," he said. "Simultaneously because of my luck and the way he so routinely says phrases like 'the job was done well.' He clearly does not consider himself a member of an assassination team, just an ordinary employee."Navalny, here at a demonstration in Moscow in 2019, was very careful on his travels, Kudryavtsev said.In an almost surreal moment on the call, Navalny commiserated with Kudryavtsev that he had survived.He went on: "You've been going on so many trips with Navalny -- to Kirov in 2017 -- how do you evaluate his personality?" "Very careful, scared of everything -- on the one hand," Kudryavtsev replied. "But on the other hand -- he goes everywhere and so on. Changes rooms sometimes, very careful about that." He was then asked whether Navalny might have recognized any of the toxin team. "That would be unlikely, we are very strict about that, changing clothes and all," he said, adding that team took different flights when following Navalny across Russia. Kudryavtsev appears to have been proud of the team's security measures. "No-one filmed, no-one else saw, this is always excluded." He was almost certainly right in that respect. Navalny told CNN he did not recognize Kudryavtsev or other members of the team when shown their photographs earlier this month. But this investigation has shown that the FSB toxins team from the Institute of Criminalistics left plenty of other evidence of their movements, communications and activities. Among that evidence, Kudryavtsev's cell phone number -- through which he inadvertently allowed Bellingcat and CNN to complete the picture of Navalny's poisoning by the Russian state. CNN has reached out to Kudryavtsev, Makshakov and the Kremlin for comment. CNN's Anna Chernova, Mary Ilyushina and Darya Tarasova contributed to this story.
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Google has rolled out yet another update to Chrome browser for Windows, Mac, and Linux to fix four security vulnerabilities, including one zero-day flaw that's being exploited in the wild.
Tracked as CVE-2021-30554, the high severity flaw concerns a use after free vulnerability in WebGL (aka Web Graphics Library), a JavaScript API for rendering interactive 2D and 3D graphics within the browser.
Successful exploitation of the flaw could mean corruption of valid data, leading to a crash, and even execution of unauthorized code or commands.
The issue was reported to Google anonymously on June 15, Chrome technical program manager Srinivas Sista noted, adding the company is "aware that an exploit for CVE-2021-30554 exists in the wild."
While it's usually the norm to limit details of the vulnerability until a majority of users are updated with the fix, the development comes less than 10 days after Google addressed another zero-day vulnerability exploited in active attacks (CVE-2021-30551).
CVE-2021-30554 is also the eighth zero-day flaw patched by Google since the start of the year.
"I'm happy we are getting better at detecting these exploits and the great partnerships we have to get the vulnerabilities patched, but I remain concerned about how many are being discovered on an ongoing basis and the role of commercial providers," tweeted Shane Huntley, Director of Google's Threat Analysis Group, on June 8.
Chrome users are recommended to update to the latest version (91.0.4472.114) by heading to Settings > Help > 'About Google Chrome' to mitigate the risk associated with the flaw.
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