The level of information security in systems run by some companies that
want to be linked electronically with the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMS) is so rudimentary that it is “almost
embarrassing,” said Julie Boughn, CMS’ chief information officer. Read the full article. [Federal Computer Week]
A rash of home foreclosures and abandoned dwellings had already taken its toll on the tax revenue for the Village of Summit, a town of 10,000 just outside Chicago. Then, in March, computer crooks broke into the town’s online bank account, making off with nearly $100,000. Read the full article. [KrebsonSecurity]
Espionage network GhostNet, first identified about a year ago, is much larger and more sophisticated than previously assumed according to a study entitled “Shadows in the Cloud”, by the Munk Centre for International Studies, the Information Warfare Monitor, the SecDev Group and the Shadowserver Foundation. Read the full article. [The H Security]
By David Emm (Securelist)Today’s threat landscape is very complex. Cybercriminals use a wide
range of threats to hijack people’s computers and to make money
illegally. These threats include Trojans of many different kinds,
worms, viruses and exploit code which is designed to enable malware to
make use of vulnerabilities in the operating system or applications.
Cybercriminals also employ a range of sophisticated techniques to hide
malware activity or to make it difficult for anti-virus researchers to
find, analyse and detect malicious code.
An internal review has found that the Justice Department has not done enough to fight identity theft, the fastest-growing crime in the country. Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine says in a report that the department is falling short in efforts to combat identity theft, and that the issue has faded as a priority over the past two years. Read the full article. [Forbes]
A security researcher shows that it’s possible to launch an attack internally from one PDF onto another already existing PDF. More information here.
By Roel Schouwenberg
As a technology enthusiast — or geek — I always enjoy looking into new technologies. Although it’s no longer directly cutting edge, I recently started exploring the wonderful world of Solid State Disks (SSDs).
SSDs may, to some extent, influence how anti-virus (AV) programs use resources on the system and I’ve been curious to see how we can exploit that fact as SSDs are slowly getting more mainstream. Imagine my surprise when I came to the shocking discovery that, under certain circumstances, an SSD may actually perform better during an AV scan than when it’s idle.
Upscale grocery conglomerate Whole Foods Market said it is
continuing to clamp down on a series of Facebook-based scams that
entice users with a purported $500 gift card from the Austin,
Texas-based supermarket chain. Read the full article. [CNet]
A new blended email threat appears to be a security alert from
eBay, said researchers. The email message with the subject line “eBay Procedural Warning
– Security Alert,” is addressed to “Dear eBay Member,” and warns
recipients that the sender has “detected security issues on behalf of
your account.” Read the full article. [Help Net Security]
Dennis Fisher talks with HD Moore, the founder of the Metasploit Project and the chief security officer at Rapid7, about the evolution of Metasploit, the difficulty of client-side exploitation in the age of DEP and ASLR and the decision on when to publish an exploit.
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