Vulnerabilities


Backdoor In Equipment Used For Traffic Control, Railways Called “Huge Risk”

UPDATE: Security researchers are warning about the risk posed by an embarrassing security hole in industrial control software by the firm RuggedCom. A hidden administrative account could give remote attackers easy access to critical equipment that is used to manage a wide range of critical infrastructure, including rail lines, traffic control systems and electrical substations.

DNSChanger – Cleaning Up 4 Million Infected Hosts

By Kurt BaumgartnerThe FBI’s “Operation Ghost Click” announcement in Nov 2011, involving the Rove Digital botnet delayed cleanup efforts that we previously discussed, continues to haunt both the internet networks and the mass media. A Forbes article and a Times article yesterday brought the apparition back to the front, with some claiming that the site offered by the DNSChanger Working Group is a new one, which it is not. The 2011 Operation being described, and the temporarily outsourced DNS server replacements and delayed cleanup, is the same.


The OpenSSL developers have had to re-release the fix for a serious vulnerability in the software’s ASN.1 implementation that could allow an attacker to cause a denial of service or potentially run arbitrary code on a remote machine. The updated fix only applies to version 0.9.8v; all of the other previously affected versions are already protected with the existing patch.

Editor’s Note: This post is the second in a multi-part series on Application Security, or “AppSec” prepared by our friends over at application testing firm Veracode. The series will define the components of a sound AppSec program, delineate the growing threats to software, weigh the costs of a data breach, and outline the CISO’s responsibility in managing software security risk. Taken together, they are a primer on AppSec best practices that will help organizations build the business case for further investment in this critical IT security discipline.By Fergal Glynn, Veracode Inc.

A new version of the WordPress software is available, and the update includes fixes for a number of security vulnerabilities, including a bug in components that are used to upload media to WordPress sites. Version 3.3.2 also has some other fixes for cross-site scripting and other flaws.

A South Carolina man was arrested yesterday on charges stemming from a data breach that may have leaked personal information on more than 200,000 Medicaid beneficiaries in the state, including their names, phone numbers, addresses, birth dates and Medicare ID numbers according to a report in the newspaper The State.