Cyber Security: Flame Malware

In recent days there has been much press about the Flame malware being touted as the predecessor to Stuxnet.  I like this article for two reasons, both of which are in the title of the article.  Flame Malware: Boring, Bloated and Yet Still Effective. One thing we have seen over and over again is that many such cyber attacks due lack high levels of sophistication (boring).  On the flip side, hackers ‘targets of opportunities’ tend to lack adequate cyber security protection (attacks are effective).   

Flame Malware: Boring, Bloated and Yet Still Effective

Here are some interesting notes on the Flame malware, at present it is focused on the Middle East.  Flame is a sophisticated toolkit that leaves a backdoor, or Trojan, on computers and can propagate itself through a local network, just like a  worm does. According to a Kaspersky Lab, Flame can sniff network traffic, take screenshots, record audio conversations, log keystrokes and gather information about discoverable Bluetooth devices nearby and turn the infected computer into a discoverable Bluetooth device.

Cyber Security: US Corporate Espionage

FBI reports that cyber crimes have cost US companies over $13 Billion in corporate espionage.
If that was not bad enough, there have only been 8 cases of economic espionage convicted since 1996! 

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/05/fbi-cracks-down-on-economic-espionage-75896.html

Cyber Security: Natural Gas Pipelines under Cyber Attack

According to the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS). US Natural Gas pipeline have been under sustained cyber attack since December.  The scope of these attacks is yet unkown and may also affect Canadian companies.

4-Month-Long Cyber Attack on Natural Gas Companies - Topix

Cyber Security Advisor Newsletter

Volume 7 of the Invensys Critical Infrastructure and Security Practice (CISP) newsletter, focuses on Nation States.  While many companies may be focusing on internal threats or rogue hackers.  Recent research has found that IT professionaly globally view Nation-States as a Top-3 threat to their networks.

http://iom.invensys.com/EN/pdfLibrary/CISP%20Apr%202012%20vol%207%20Newsletter.pdf

Cyber Security : One in Five Mac computers found to have malware

Interesting article by Applelinks, highlighting the growing trend of malware found on Mac OS X.

Applelinks Tech Web Reader - Wednesday, April 25, 2012 - Applelinks.com

Cyber Security: Hacker warns: Get better security!

Hackers in the UK gained illicit access to the Parliment website, temporarily replacing its homepage with another and posting the warning message seen below.  Basically stating 'Get Better Security'.

http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2012-04-23/parliament-hacker-warns-get-better-security

Wonder if they will listen?

Cyber Security: Students hack school to change grades

Students in Colorado hacked their school's computer system to change their grades.

Students hack into school system, change grades - Topix

The question is why would kids that are smart enough to hack the school's computer system need to change their grades?

According to a recent report on Data Breaches by Verizon, you do not have to be very smart to be a hacker.  The report found that the majority of the hackers used relatively simple methods to breach most systems 97% of the time.

The other question is just how up-to-date is the school's cyber security compliance policies?