• Tag Archives new viruses
  • Proteus botnet Malware with Remote Access

     

    The Proteus botnet emerged toward the end of November 2016.  Only a few samples of it were found in the wild and, at the moment, it doesn’t seem to have a widespread campaign.  So, what does it do? It launches a multi-layered attack on an infected machine where it runs several processes aimed at coin mining, credential theft, and keylogging.  In addition, the bot can perform on its own; it offers the cybercriminal to send commands over HTTP to download malicious executables and execute them.

     

    In some samples, the botnet disguises itself as a Google Chrome executable. The functionality of the botnet is highly reliant on its C&C (command and control) server, hxxp://proteus-network[.]biz or hxxp://proteus-network[.]ml (the latter is inaccessible). The URL is hardcoded in the sample and is contacted multiple times to obtain necessary credentials for the tasks the botnet performs. The host name also appears in Pastebin, under the URL hxxp://pastebin[.]com/raw/LidbEiiR, in its encrypted form, and the botnet can retrieve the domain from there as well.

     

    The botnet starts by identifying the infected machine and obtaining the operating system’s info (whether 64 or 86 bit), the machine’s name, and the Windows version. All of the information is sent to the C&C to “register” the machine.

     

    After the machine is acknowledged by the C&C, the botnet proceeds to perform different tasks. As the botnet contacts the C&C to receive various pieces of information, the web requests are sent along with an encrypted string specifying the purpose of the request. These encrypted strings perform the following functions:

     

    • api/register – Register the infected machine
    • api/ping – Check if the machine is already registered
    • api/module – Check the mining module
    • api/proxy – Use reverse proxy
    • api/command – Receive commands from the C&C
    • api/account – Receive an account from the C&C
    • api/log – Handle the key logging document

     

    The header section of the HTTP requests is similar throughout the different sections of the source code:

    Content-type: application-json

    Authorization: {2D592824-48DE-49F8-8F96-A40B3904C794}

     

    When contacting the C&C, a POST request is sent with one of the above modes appended to the domain’s name, for example, hxxp://proteus-network.biz/api/log. The C&C sends a response to this request, which is then parsed by the botnet in search for the C&C’s reply.

     

    CheckerTask:

     

    The CheckerTask starts by contacting the C&C with the api/account string appended to the domain’s name. After sending a POST request, it receives a four-tuple composed of an account ID, an e-mail, a password, and the account type. The botnet attempts to access and steal the user’s credentials from a number of online websites, including:

     

    • eBay.com
    • otto.de
    • amazon.de
    • breuninger.com
    • dhl.de
    • netflix.com
    • coderbay.net
    • zalando.de

     

    The majority of these websites are German-based and the botnet searches for German words appearing in the responses. This leads us to believe this specific sample of Proteus targets are German victims. For example, if the message received from the website includes the phrase “stimmen nicht mit den bei uns hinterlegten Daten”, which means, “This does not match the data provided by us”. The botnet attempts to change the password’s first character from lower case to upper case or to append the character “1” to the end of the password and tries to log in again after three seconds. The response from the website is then checked to harvest more information about the victim, including name, address, country, bought and sold items, seller type and the last feedback received.

     

    Some of the websites which the CheckerTask tries to steal the credentials from may include a Captcha to prevent such automated logins. The Proteus botnet uses Death by Captcha (DBC), an API which solves any given Captcha and turns it into a text that the botnet can insert into the website, and proceeds with the login. Using DBC requires a username and a password, which are both hardcoded into the sample to enable Captcha analysis. We have managed to access the DBC account used in the sample, and found that it resolved 200 Captchas so far, which could hint to the number of successfully infected machines.

     

    LoggerTask:

     

    This task performs key logging on the infected machine. It starts by initializing a list of all the keyboard keys, and stores the logged keys into a file called tmpV213.txt found under the TEMP directory. When this file includes more than 250 characters, it is cleared and its content is sent to the C&C along with the api/log string.

     

    CommandsTask:

     

    This task receives commands from the C&C. The botnet sends a request to the C&C with the fingerprint and the api/command string. If the C&C sends a command to download a file, a new directory is created in the TEMP folder using a GUID, and a file called temp.exe is created in that directory. Alternatively, if the command is to “kill”, the process is killed. The task checks for new commands every two minutes.

     

    MiningTask, EMiningTask:

     

    The C&C determines the type of mining which the infected machine attempts, as well as the mining pool it will join. The EminingTask downloads an executable to the TEMP directory with the name loader.exe. The types of mining that appear in the sample are CPU, Zcash, Scrypt, and SHA256. During the mining task, and depending on the chosen type, the resources of the infected machine, such as the memory, CPU, and RAM, are used to provide the computing power necessary to produce the hashes accepted as a proof of work by each method. Even using a pool instead of individual mining, CPU usage soared rapidly and reached 100% in our labs when we ran the sample, which shows the processing power needed for the mining tasks.

     

    Conclusion:

     

    To summarize, the botnet conducts a complex attack: it infects a machine, steals credentials, logs keys and mines for currency, causing CPU level to reach 100%. Although the botnet has many of the crucial implementation tools needed for its attack, it heavily depends on communication with its C&C server and the information it transmits for the execution of its most basic functions.


  • Android Trojan Switcher Infects Routers via DNS Hijacking – Android Trojan Switcher Infects Routers via DNS Hijacking

    A new Android Trojan uses a victims’ devices to infect WiFi routers and funnel any users of the network to malicious sites. The malware doesn’t target users directly – instead its goal is to facilitate further attacks by turning victims into accomplices.

     

    Researchers at Kaspersky Lab, who discovered the malware and dubbed it Switcher Trojan, claim they’ve seen two versions of the malware. Attackers have used both iterations to commandeer 1,280 wireless networks, most of them in China, according to Nikita Buchka, a mobile security expert with the firm.

    One version of the malware mimics a mobile client for the Chinese search engine Baidu. Another passes itself off as a version of an app used for locating and sharing WiFi login information. Once a victim has downloaded one of the versions, it gets to work attacking the router.

    The malware does so by carrying out a brute-force password guessing attack on the router’s admin web interface. Once in, Switcher swaps out the addresses of the router’s DNS servers for a rogue server controlled by the attackers along with a second DNS, in case the rogue one goes down.

    This makes it so queries from devices on the network are re-routed to the servers of the attacker, something that can open victims to redirection, phishing, malware and adware attacks.

    “The ability of the Switcher Trojan to hijack [DNS] gives the attackers almost complete control over network activity which uses the name-resolving system, such as internet traffic,” Kaspersky Lab said Wednesday, “The approach works because wireless routers generally reconfigure the DNS settings of all devices on the network to their own – thereby forcing everyone to use the same rogue DNS.”

    The creators of the Trojan were a little sloppy when it came to crafting parts of its command and control website however; they left a table complete with internal infection statistics publicly viewable. According to Buchka, who has reviewed the site, the attackers boast to have infiltrated 1,280 WiFi networks over the last several weeks.

    In a Securelist post on the malware posted Wednesday Buchka cautioned users to review their routers’ DNS settings for the following rogue servers: 101.200.147.153, 112.33.13.11, and 120.76.249.59. He also took the opportunity to encourage users – although for many it goes without saying – to verify that they’ve changed their routers’ default login and passwords.

    Several weeks ago a handful of router users in Germany fell victim when a variant of Mirai, the nasty malware that’s become synonymous with internet of things vulnerabilities, took hold of their devices. While those routers didn’t suffer from a hardcoded username/password vulnerability, they did have port 7547, usually used by internet service providers to remotely manage the device, open.

    The behavior of Switcher is somewhat similar to that of DNSChanger, malware that’s been repurposed as an exploit kit as of late. A recent campaign observed by Proofpoint was targeting wireless routers and changing DNS entries in order to steal traffic. In that instance routers made by D-Link, Netgear, Pirelli and Comtrend were vulnerable. According to Buchka, the hardcoded names of input fields and the structures of the HTML documents that the Switcher Trojan tries to access suggests it may work only on web interfaces of TP-LINK Wi-Fi routers.


  • Keylogger Optimized with AutoIT Infected Thousands of Computers

    A new surge of malware has been discovered which goes on to infect hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide and allegedly steals users’ social and banking site credentials.

     

    Few days back, a list of 5 million combinations of Gmail addresses and passwords were leaked online. The search engine giant, Google said that Gmail credentials didn’t come from the security breaches of its system, rather the credentials had been stolen by phishing campaigns and unauthorized access to user accounts.

     

    Just now, we come across another similar incident where cyber criminals are using a malware which has already compromised thousands of Windows users worldwide in an effort to steal their Social Media account, Online account and Banking account Credentials.

     

    A Greek Security Researcher recently discovered a malware sample via a spam campaign (caught in a corporate honeypot), targeting large number of computers users rapidly. He investigated and posted a detailed technical analyses of the malware on his blog.

     

    After reverse engineer the malware sample file, he found that the cybercriminals are using a combination of software AutoIT (Automate day-to-day tasks on computers) and a “commercial” Keylogger named “Limitless Keylogger” to make it FUD i.e. Fully Undetectable from static analysis.

     

    Keylogger is a critical type of software program for cyber criminals, which records every input typed into the keyboard and easily detects passwords for users’ Email accounts, Social Media accounts and Online Bank accounts.

     

    This malicious application captures every keystrokes users press and send them to a specified email address linked to the cyber criminal. More interestingly, the malware uses AutoIT in order to evade detection by Antivirus programs.

     

    Limitless Keylogger Optimized with AutoIT Infected thousands of Computers

     

    The malware distributed in the spam campaign comes as a WinRAR SFX executable file with a custom icon which drops 4 malicious files onto the victim’s computers with hidden and system attributes.

     

    The Malware archive includes:

     

    • AutoIT script ‘update.exe’ of 331MB
    • Python script to “deobfuscate” AutoIT script
    • oziryzkvvcpm.AWX – Settings for AutoIT script
    • sgym.VQA – Another Encrypted malware/Payload Binary
    Initially the obfuscated AutoIT Script is of size 331MB, because it contains lots of garbage content, but after deobfuscate process it becomes only 55kbyte in size with clean malicious code.

     

    Researcher found lot of functions and various functionalities in the malware code those allow the malicious software to protect itself from detection.

     

    On Further reserve engineering, he found that the malware sends the collected keystroke data to the cybercriminal via SMTP email server. So he sniffed the whole conversation of malware SMTP traffic and discovered that the keylogger was sending all keystrokes of the user, screenshots, recovery data (saved passwords from several applications/browsers) to an email ID – “ontherun4sales@yandex.ru”.

     

    He also extracted the hardcoded SMTP email ID username and passwords of the respective Yandex mail address from the malware source code.
    Limitless Keylogger Optimized with AutoIT Infected thousands of Computers
    Researcher told SecNews, “The detection was accomplished in the past few days and found that the malware was being Greek is targeting users (minimum numerical cases).
    Possibly some Indonesian hackers might have used the malicious software available on the Russian hacking forum sites” they said. “and the targets are well known companies from retail industry,oil,airlines etc
    At last, the researcher also disclosed some online FTP servers using Google hacks, where the data has been uploaded by the different variants of the Limitless Logger by various hacking groups.

    Please Visit our Computer News Website and Blog

    for latest computer repair and online news.

    Local and Online Virus removal and computer repairs anytime, anywhere

    Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach and all South Florida


  • Chinese Hackers Brake into The United States Database of Federal Employees

    Chinese hackers broke into the computer systems of United States government agency that keeps the personal information of all federal employees, according to the paper published in the New York Times.

    The attack occurred on the Office of Personnel Management and Senior American officials believe that the attackers successfully gained access to some of the agency’s databases in March before the federal authorities detected the threat and blocked them from the network.

    The hackers targeted the files of tens of thousands of federal employees who have applied for top-secret security clearances, the newspaper reported.

    The intrusion at the Office of Personnel Management was particularly disturbing because it oversees a system called e-QIP, in which federal employees applying for security clearances enter their most personal information, including financial data. Federal employees who have had security clearances for some time are often required to update their personal information through the website,” states the New York Times.

    Until now, it is not clear how far the hackers were able to infiltrate the networks of the US Office of Personnel Management.

    But the databases they managed to hack include information such as employment records, people seeking security clearance list their foreign contacts, previous jobs and personal data like past drug use etc, which all could be at risk.

    In response to this matter, a senior Department of Homeland Security official confirmed that the attack had occurred but said that “at this time,” neither the personnel agency nor Homeland Security had “identified any loss of personally identifiable information.” The official said an emergency response team was assigned and handled over the matter “to assess and mitigate any risks identified.”

    Again it started a cold war between China and the United States, because according to the senior US officials, the attack was traced to China. But yet it is unclear if the hackers belonged to the government.

    Where China said that it faces a major threat from hackers, accused the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command for targeting Chinese politicians and military. The United States recently charged five Chinese military officials for carrying out cyber espionage against several American companies and stealing sensitive data by breaking into corporate systems.

    Please Visit our Computer News Website and Blog

    for latest computer repair and online news.

    Local and Online Virus removal and computer repairs anytime, anywhere

    Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach and all South Florida


  • Zeus Trojan (or Zbot Trojan) steals confidential information from the infected computer.

    Pandemiya hacking trojan

    A new and relatively rare Zeus Trojan program was found which is totally different from other banking Trojans and has capability to secretly steal data from forms, login credentials and files from the victim as well as can create fake web pages and take screenshots of victim’s computer.

    Researchers at RSA Security’s FraudAction team have discovered this new and critical threat, dubbed as ‘Pandemiya’, which is being offered to the cyber criminals in underground forums as an alternative to the infamous Zeus Trojan and its many variants, that is widely used by most of the cyber-criminals for years to steal banking information from consumers and companies.

     

    The source code of the Zeus banking Trojan is available on the underground forums from past few years, which lead malware developers to design more sophisticated variants of Zeus Trojan such as Citadel, Ice IX and Gameover Zeus.

     

    But, Pandemiya is something by far the most isolated and dangerous piece of malware as the author spent a year in writing the code for Pandemiya, which includes 25,000 lines of original code written in C.
    Like other commercial Trojan, Pandemiya infect the machines through exploit kits and via drive-by download attacks to boost infection rate that exploit flaws in the vulnerable software such as Java, Silverlight and Flash within few seconds victim lands on the web page.

    Pandemiya’s coding quality is quite interesting, and contrary to recent trends in malware development, it is not based on Zeus source code at all, unlike Citadel/Ice IX, etc.,” researchers from RSA, the security division of EMC, said Tuesday in a blog post. “Through our research, we found out that the author of Pandemiya spent close to a year of coding the application, and that it consists of more than 25,000 lines of original code in C.

    Pandemiya Trojan using Windows CreateProcess API to inject itself into every new process that is initiated, including Explorer.exe and re-injects itself when needed. Pandemiya is being sold for as much as $2,000 USD and provides all the nasty features including encrypted communication with command and control servers in an effort to evade detection.The Trojan has been designed with modular architecture to load more external plug-ins, which allows hackers to add extra features simply by writing new DLL (dynamic link library). The extra plug-ins easily add capabilities to the Trojan’s core functionality, that’s why the developer charge an extra of $500 USD to get the core application as well as its plugins, which allows cybercriminals to open reverse proxies on infected computers, to steal FTP credentials and to infect executable files in order to inject the malware at start up.

     

    The advent of a freshly coded new trojan malware application is not too common in the underground,” Marcus writes, adding that the modular approach in Pandemiya could make it “more pervasive in the near future.

    The malware developers are also working on other new features to add reverse Remote Desktop Protocol connections and a Facebook attack module in order to spread the Trojan through hijacked Facebook accounts.

    HOW TO REMOVE PANDEMIYA TROJAN

    The Trojan can be easily removed with a little modification in the registry and command line action, as explained below:

      1. Locate the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run and identify the *.EXE filename in your user’s ‘Application Data’ folder. Note the name, and delete the registry value.
      2. Locate the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\AppCertDlls. Find the value with the same name as the *.EXE file in the previous step. Note the file name, and remove the value from the registry.
      3. Reboot the system. At this stage Pandemiya is installed but no longer running. Delete both files noted earlier. This will remove the last traces of the Trojan. Your system is now clean.

    Please Visit our Computer News Website and Blog

    for latest computer repair and online news.

    Local and Online Virus removal and computer repairs anytime, anywhere

    Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach and all South Florida


  • New Malware goes viral spreading through Facebook Messages

    Facebook Malware threat

    In yet another method for cyber criminals to utilize the world’s most popular social networks for their own nefarious purposes, it appears a trojan is circulating through Facebook, stealing accounts and (probably) taking creds.

    Thanks to the vigilant mind of Malwarebytes User, Showbizz, we were able to take a look at this new threat and what it could mean for the rest of the net.

    Here is how it works:

    1. User gets a Facebook instant message from a friend of their’s, which includes the words ‘lol’ and a file waiting to be downloaded.
    2. The user downloads the file because they can assume it can be trusted.  The filename matches the usual filename of a photo: ‘IMG_xxxx’.zip.
    3. Once downloaded, the user unzips the file and clicks on what they assume is an image file, still called IMG_xxxx.jar
    4. The JAR file executes, downloads malware and infects the system.
    5. The infected users Facebook account is compromised and then used to send more malware to the users friends.

    Unlike previous versions of this scam, it is almost like the cyber criminals decided to make an amalgam of different infection tactics to obtain the normal goal.

    The first is the use of instant messaging, we have seen plenty of malware use instant messaging in various forms to send malicious files to victims, including Skype, MSN, Yahoo, etc.

    Please Visit our computer repair section page if infected

    for latest computer repair and online news.

    Local and Online Virus removal and computer repairs anytime, anywhere

     


  • AOL hit by massive data breach, Urges users to change their passwords

    Complete Computer Repair Latest Computer News Fort Lauderdale

    AOL hit by massive data breach

    The personal details of AOL’s millions of customers has been leaked in an attack on the company’s systems, resulting in thousands of accounts being hijacked to send spam.
    Internet pioneer AOL has warned of a major breach that has affected a significant number of users, leaking email and postal addresses, contact information and password details to attackers unknown.

    AOL launched in 1983 as the Control Video Corporation and produced a short-lived modem-based gaming download service for the Atari 2600 dubbed GameLine. The precursor to Valve’s Steam and similar digital distribution systems, GameLine was not a financial success; the company had better luck with the Link series of online portals for the Commodore 64, Apple II and Macintosh, and IBM compatibles. In 1989, America Online was born as a walled-garden internet service which included chat, email and several games – including the first-ever web-based interactive fiction series and the first automated play-by-email game.

    While internet-savvy consumers soon dropped AOL’s walled-garden system for more open services from generic internet service providers, the company still boasts a considerable client base. Despite an ongoing slide in customers, the company boasts a near three-million user count in the US alone – and it’s these customers who have been exposed in a serious security breach.

    ‘We have determined that there was unauthorised access to information regarding a significant number of user accounts,’ the company admitted late last night, following an investigation into spam messages sent from registered AOL accounts. ‘This information included AOL users’ email addresses, postal addresses, address book contact information, encrypted passwords and encrypted answers to security questions that we ask when a user resets his or her password, as well as certain employee information. We believe that spammers have used this contact information to send spoofed emails that appeared to come from roughly two per cent of our email accounts.’

    The company has not confirmed the nature of the ‘encryption’ used to store the passwords – which should, by industry best practice, be a salted one-way hash function, rather than reversible encryption – but does claim that it has ‘no indication’ that said encryption was broken; this despite the attackers gaining full access to the accounts from which spam is issuing, an indication that they have indeed been able to retrieve at least some passwords from the corpus.

    Users affected by the breach – and, at this point, it looks to cover anyone with an AOL email address, active or otherwise – is advised to reset their password and change their security questions; if the same password is used anywhere else, that should be changed too.

    Please visit ccrepairservices.com

    for latest computer repair and online news.

    Local and Online Virus removal and computer repairs anytime, anywhere

     


  • NEW VIRUS – Windows Safety Master Virus Windows PC Computers

    Windows Safety Master is a rogue anti-spyware program from the Rogue.FakeVimes family of computer infections. This program is considered scareware because it displays fake scan results, fake security warnings, and does not allow you to run programs on your computer. Windows Safety Master is distributed through web sites that display a fake online virus scanner that states your computer is infected and then prompts you to download the installation file. This infection is also promoted by hacked web sites that contain exploit code that tries to install the infection on your computer without your permission or knowledge.

    When Windows Safety Master is installed it will be configured to automatically start when you login to Windows. Once started, it will pretend to scan your computer and then states that there are numerous infections present. If you attempt to remove any of these supposed infections, the program will state that you first need to purchase a license before being allowed to do so. As all of the scan results are false, please ignore any prompts to purchase the program.

    Windows Safety Master screen shot

     

    To protect itself from being removed, Windows Safety Master will also block you from running any legitimate application on your computer. It does this to prevent you from running legitimate security software that may detect it as an infection and remove it. The message that you will see when you attempt to run a program is:

    Firewall has blocked a program from accessing the Internet
    C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
    is suspected to have infected your PC.
    This type of virus intercepts entered data and transmits them
    to a remote server.

    When you see this message please ignore it as your programs are not infected and will work normally after this infection is removed.

    While Windows Safety Master is running it will also display fake security alerts that are designed to make you think your computer has a severe security problem. Some of these warnings include:

    Error
    Trojan activity detected. System integrity at risk.
    Full system scan is highly recommended.

    Error
    System data security is at risk!
    To prevent potential PC errors, run a full system scan.

    Warning! Identity theft attempt detected
    Hidden connection IP: xx.xxx.xxx.xxx
    Target: Microsoft Corporation keys
    Your IP: 127.0.0.1

    Just like the scan results, these warnings are fake and can be ignored.

    As you can see, this infection was created for the sole reason of scaring you into purchasing it. It goes without saying that you should definitely not purchase Windows Safety Master, and if you already have, please contact your credit card company and dispute the charges stating that the program is a scam and a computer virus. To remove Windows Safety Master and other related malware, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE

    CALL – COMPUTER REPAIR at 754-234-5598 if you are infected by any of these viruses.

    www.ccrepairservices.com


  • Windows Efficiency Kit Virus

    Windows Efficiency Kit is a rogue anti-spyware program from the Rogue.FakeVimes family of computer infections. This program is considered scareware because it displays false scan results, fake security warnings, and does not allow you to access your legitimate Windows applications. Windows Efficiency Kit is distributed through web sites that display a fake online virus scanner that states your computer is infected and then prompts you to download the installation file. This infection is also promoted by hacked web sites that contain exploit code that tries to install the infection on your computer without your permission or knowledge.

    Once Windows Efficiency Kit is installed it will be configured to automatically start when you login to Windows. Once started, it will pretend to scan your computer and then states that there are numerous infections present. If you attempt to remove any of these supposed infections, the program will state that you first need to purchase a license before being allowed to do so. As all of the scan results are false, please ignore any prompts to purchase the program.

    Windows Efficiency Kit screen shot

    To protect itself from being removed, Windows Efficiency Kit will also block you from running any legitimate application on your computer. It does this to prevent you from running legitimate security software that may detect it as an infection and remove it. The message that you will see when you attempt to run a program is:

    Firewall has blocked a program from accessing the Internet

    Internet Explorer
    C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe

    is suspected to have infected your PC.
    This type of virus intercepts entered data and transmits them
    to a remote server.

    When you see this message please ignore it as your programs are not infected and will work normally after this infection is removed.

    While Windows Efficiency Kit is running it will also display fake security alerts that are designed to make you think your computer has a severe security problem. Some of these warnings include:

    Error
    There’s a suspicious software running on your PC. For more details, run a system file check.

    Error
    Trojan activity detected. System data security is at risk. It is recommended to activate protection and run a fully system scan.

    Just like the scan results, these warnings are fake and can be ignored.

    Without a doubt, this infection was created for the sole reason of scaring you into purchasing it. It goes without saying that you should definitely not purchase Windows Efficiency Kit, and if you already have, please contact your credit card company and dispute the charges stating that the program is a scam and a computer virus. To remove Windows Efficiency Kit and other related malware, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE

    CALL – COMPUTER REPAIR at 754-234-5598 if you are infected by any of these viruses.

    www.ccrepairservices.com


  • Oracle to issue huge security patch addressing 36 Java vulnerabilities

    ENTERPRISE VENDOR Oracle will issue its first patch update of 2014 on Tuesday and it just so happens that it’ll be one of its biggest ever that includes a slew of security patches, many of which address vulnerabilities in Java.

    The Critical Patch Update will address 144 flaws in hundreds of Oracle products, 36 of which apply to vulnerabilities in Java SE, including 34 that are bugs that can be exploited remotely by an attacker without requiring authentication.

    “Some of the vulnerabilities addressed in this Critical Patch Update affect multiple products”, Oracle said in its pre-release announcement. “Due to the threat posed by a successful attack, Oracle strongly recommends that customers apply Critical Patch Update fixes as soon as possible.”

    Five of the security fixes will apply to Oracle Database Server. One of these vulnerabilities might be remotely exploitable without authentication, meaning it could be exploited over a network without the need for a username and password.

    The patch update will be released on 14 January for Oracle products and components including JavaFX, versions 2.2.45 and earlier, Java JDK and JRE, versions 5.0u55, 6u65, 7u45 and earlier, and Java SE Embedded, versions 7u45 and earlier.

    The highest CVSS 2.0 Base Score for vulnerabilities in Oracle’s Critical Patch Update is 10.0 for Java SE, Java SE Embedded, and JRockit of Oracle Java SE, MySQL Enterprise Monitor of Oracle MySQL, Oracle FLEXCUBE Private Banking of Oracle Financial Services Software and Oracle WebCenter Sites of Oracle Fusion Middleware.

    Security firm Qualys’ CTO Wolfgang Kandek warned that plug-ins like Java are one of the main threat vectors as more companies are being infected through web based attacks.

    “One needs to pay attention to the browser plug-ins, and in that class, the most important is Oracle’s Java,” Kandek said. “Java just suffered a widely published attack during the Yahoo Ad-based attacks from [December to January 2014], where the Magnitude exploit kit was used to deliver malware to users that were running an outdated version of Java.”

    He added that Oracle’s critical patch update will “further tighten its security parameters”.

    ONLINE COMPUTER REPAIR SERVICES AND NEWS AT

    www.ccrepairservices.com

     


  • Prison Locker Virus Upcoming in 2014

    Ransomware is one of the most blatant and obvious criminal’s money making schemes out there. Ransomware malware was mostly known by the people when Cryptolocker comes into play. At the time when readers were getting aware of ransomware, Cryptolocker threat had touched the peak and other money motivated cyber criminals have started developing their own Cryptolocker versions.

    Two hackers going by the name of ‘gyx’ and ‘Porphyry’ (admin of maldev.net hacking forum) are advertizing a new ramsomware malware tool-kit called “Prison Locker” on various hacking forums with tutorials.

    They have developed the Prison Locker a.k.a Power Locker ramsomware toolkit in C/C++ programming language, proving a GUI version with customizable features for customers.

    The Ransomware is using BlowFish encryption to encrypt all available files on the victim’s hard disk and shared drives except .exe, .dll, .sys, other system files.

    During encryption it will generate unique BlowFish key for each file and then encrypts the keys further with RSA-2048 encryption and will send victim’s system information back to the command-and-control center of the attacker.

    As the developer mention in a Pastebin post, the Command-and-control center allows an attacker to set the ramsomware warning time duration, ransom amount, payment mode and also allow decrypting the files on the victim system after payment received.

    The addition features added to Prison Locker:

    • The malware is able to detect Virtual Machine, Sandbox mode, and debugging environments.
    • It Will disable Windows key & Escape key to prevent unwanted user actions.
    • Malware can startup in both regular boot mode and safe boot under HKCU.
    • Kills taskmgr, regedit, cmd, explorer, and msconfig. processes to prevent unwanted user actions.

    If you get infected with this virus call Computer Repair Services at 754-234-5598

    www.ccrepairservices.com