Mirai Source Code Release Leads to Huge Increase in Botnet
When the source code for the malware behind the Mirai botnet was released nearly three weeks ago, security researchers immediately began poring over it to see how the malware worked. Of course, attackers took notice too, and in that time, the number of devices infected by Mirai and associated with the botnet has more than […]
DHS Warns Mirai Malware is Targeting Sierra Wireless Gateways
DHS is warning users that the Mirai malware is infecting wireless gateways sold by Sierra Wireless and using the compromised devices as part of a botnet for DDoS attacks. The Mirai malware has been targeting a variety of embedded devices, especially CCTV cameras, that have default telnet credentials enabled and compromising them. The attackers deploying […]
Pork Explosion Backdoor Found in Some Android Bootloaders
A security researcher has uncovered a debugging feature left in some Android firmware images on devices assembled by Foxconn that essentially serves as a fully functioning backdoor that can be exploited in as little as five seconds. Researcher Jon Sawyer found the backdoor in a bootloader that Foxconn provides on some of the Android phones it […]
The Infowar Shaping the Election
Depending upon your definition of the word, this presidential campaign cycle has included perhaps more surprises than any other in recent memory. Leaked videos, tax returns, and other data dumps have turned the 2016 campaign into the first to be defined by a modern information war. Political campaigns by their very nature always have been […]
There’s Another Hacking Team Going After SWIFT Banks
Security researchers have uncovered evidence that there is a second group of attackers who have been targeting banks in the SWIFT network, using a new Trojan that hides SWIFT message records and overwrites the master boot record of some hard drives. The newly discovered group is using a piece of malware known as Odinaff, which […]
Zombie IoT Devices Are Flooding the Internet With Garbage Traffic
The last couple of weeks have seen two of the larger DDoS attacks ever recorded, and researchers have attributed them in part to a large botnet called Mirai comprising mostly infected IoT devices. Looking closely at some other large-scale DDoS attacks with similar characteristics, researchers at Cloudflare discovered that the attackers are specifically using Layer 7 attacks […]
StrongPity Attackers Use Malicious Crypto Apps to Target Users
Organized APT groups have been using watering-hole attacks for many years, targeting highly specific groups of victims by compromising legitimate sites or setting up their own malicious copycat sites. Researchers have now uncovered a group that is using this tactic to deliver compromised encryption apps to victims. The group, known as StrongPity, has been operating […]
U.S. Charges Two in Lizard Squad DDoS, Phone Bombing Attacks
The Department of Justice has charged two teenagers in connection with a scheme that involved hacking-for-hire activities as well as a service that would make repeated harassing phone calls to victims for a price. The charges are related to an investigation into the Lizard Squad hacking group, which has been tied to a number of DDoS […]
On the Wire Podcast: Mike Mimoso
It’s been a weird and wild week in the security world, with the Yahoo mail-scanning scandal, the arrest of another NSA contractor for allegedly stealing classified documents, and the FBI asking for cyber help. So we called up Mike Mimoso of Threatpost to unpack all of it and see where things stand. Music by Chris […]