Security

DDoS Attacks Are Not The Only Way To Disrupt the Global Internet

The biggest cyberattack ever, triggered by a dispute between Spamhaus and Cyberbunker, was done using a distrubuted denial of service (DDoS) attack. But relatively high-tech techniques are not the only way to severely slow down the global Internet. As it turns out, you can achieve the same damage, and probably even more, with an axe.

On Wednesday, three Egyptian divers were arrested when they were trying to cut off a SeaMeWe 4 undersea cable, one of the main Internet wires that connects countries throughout Europe and Asia, as reported by Reuters. While their motives are still unknown (although we can see their faces, uploaded by the Egyptian navy on Facebook), their action might be linked to a series of disruptions and severed connections suffered by SEACOM, an African submarine cable operator, in the last few weeks.

Last Updated on Thursday, 28 March 2013 19:30

Anonymous hacker charged for attack on Koch Industries

According to a statement from the US Department of Justice (DoJ), Eric J. Rosol, 37, is charged with one count of conspiracy to damage a protected computer and one count of damaging a protected computer.

The indictment alleges that he got swept up in the cyber attack on the company by Anonymous hacktivists.

It claims that the hacktivist group began sending out messages over internet relay chat that asked for participants to launch a Low Orbit Ion Cannon attack as a denial of service weapon against the Koch Industries in February 2011.

"In February 2011, a loosely organized group of computer hackers called Anonymous began using Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channels to advertise a dedicated denial of service attack against Koch industries and seeking participants to the attack," said a statement from the DoJ.

Last Updated on Thursday, 28 March 2013 19:29

Microsoft issues four critical updates for Patch Tuesday

Microsoft has issued seven security bulletins across its software line in its Patch Tuesday release for March.

The release comprises of four updates tagged with Microsoft's highest security rating of Critical, and three rated Important. The patches fix 20 vulnerabilities overall, including resolutions for flaws in Internet Explorer (IE), Silverlight, and Visio Viewer.

"This security update resolves eight privately reported vulnerabilities and one publicly disclosed vulnerability in Internet Explorer," Microsoft said on its security bulletin report webpage on Tuesday.

The Redmond firm warned that the most severe vulnerability the release addresses could allow remote code execution if a user views a "specially crafted webpage" using IE6 through IE10.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 13 March 2013 15:04

Chrome; Firefox; IE 10; Java; Win 8 fall at #pwn2own hackfest

Web browsers Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and Firefox along with Windows 8 and Java have been exploited in the Pwn2Own hacking contest in Canada today.

Each attack at the CanSecWest competition used zero-day vulnerabilities on a fully patched Windows 7, 8 and OS X Mountain Lion operating system with default configurations.

Firefox was popped with a use-after-free vulnerability and a new technique that bypasses Address Space Layout Randomisation (ASLR) and Data Execution Prevention (DEP) in Windows, Vupen said.

Last Updated on Thursday, 07 March 2013 19:03

Kaspersky Internet Security 2013 bug can freeze computers

Kaspersky Lab's Internet Security 2013 product contains a bug that can be exploited remotely, especially on local networks, to completely freeze the OS on computers running the software.

The bug can be attacked by sending a specifically crafted IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) packet to computers running Kaspersky Internet Security 2013 and other Kaspersky products that have the firewall functionality, security researcher Marc Heuse said earlier this week in an advisory published on the Full Disclosure mailing list.

"A fragmented packet with multiple but one large extension header leads to a complete freeze of the operating system," he said. "No log message or warning window is generated, nor is the system able to perform any task."

Last Updated on Thursday, 07 March 2013 19:00