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Project Sauron Malware Brings a Sophisticated Threat

Sep 2016

In order to avoid being detected and cause maximum damage, hackers are constantly enhancing their tools and the Project Sauron malware sets a new high.

An enigmatic piece of software, no one has been able to identify who designed Project Sauron and this underlines its sophistication. However, it’s such a complex piece of coding that researchers believe it must have originated from the hands of a top level organization.

The malware has been discovered on computers in locations such as Iran, Russia and China, so there are murmurings of the US government having an involvement and this wouldn’t be the first time. At present, however, the true creator is unknown.

Malware is ever evolving, though, and there’s no saying that Project Sauron won’t have its targets realigned at the US in the future, so let’s take a look at exactly what it does.

What is Project Sauron?

Referred to, in the trade, as an Advanced Persistent Threat, Project Sauron is an intricate piece of malware with a keen emphasis on espionage. And Project Sauron is so clever at disguising itself as an array of standard Microsoft files that it has gone undetected for up to five years.

Project Sauron is particularly sophisticated and effective as it utilizes the following features:

Targets PC’s memory without infecting the hard drive to aid its concealment

Zero day exploits are systematically searched for to ensure maximum infection time

Unknown operating system functions help to facilitate persistent attack techniques

Project Sauron can spread through networks by exploiting legitimate software distribution channels

It’s these novel approaches to hacking that has allowed Project Sauron to infiltrate multiple government organizations around the world, but what exactly does it do?

Project Sauron’s Hidden Threat

Project Sauron is packed full of technical threats and carries these out on a maximum stealth setting. In particular, the malware focuses on the following areas:

Through the use of a back door exploit, Project Sauron allows the hackers to spy on password filter systems to harvest network passwords and gain widespread access

Once the infection has taken hold, Project Sauron can steal files and transmit them back to the source of the malware

Project Sauron can steal encryption keys to help ensure that a network is compromised to its maximum level

In extreme cases, Project Sauron can infect USB drives to help facilitate the infection of ‘air-gapped’ computers which are not connected to the network

Due to its ambitious nature and complex build, Project Sauron has been able to stealthily operate in the background for several years; it’s this long term nature of the attack which is particularly troubling as it means that huge swathes of data have been compromised in this time.

Final Thoughts

Project Sauron sure is an advanced threat and one that even the experts are struggling to deal with. As ever, though, the best way to protect your business from malware attacks such as Project Sauron is to practice caution when dealing with data coming into your network.

However, when you consider the possible perpetrators behind Project Sauron, you do begin to wonder just how secure your data can be. By paying attention to the basics of good cyber security, though, you’re providing yourself with the best level of defense to protect your business.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

Case Study: Hackers Steal 10 Million Customer’s Details

Internetcase study, hacking, securityOphtek, LLC

Sep 2016

North Korea is ramping up its hacking activity with a recent hack on South Korea stealing the personal data of around 10 million customers.

Yes, this latest attack by North Korean hackers has created widespread fear for a huge number of individuals who felt that their sensitive data was protected. Unfortunately, in this day and age, it’s a brave company that can attest to their data being protected 100% securely.

It’s the kind of attack which should really make your ears prick up and take data security seriously, so it’s time to investigate the story!

Hacking Interpark

The hacked company at the centre of this attack is Interpark, an online shopping mall located in South Korea. Founded in 1996, Interpark has risen to such a lofty position in their market that they can boast transactions which are measured in hundreds of millions of dollars, so it’s no surprise that Interpark was such an attractive target.

But how exactly does a company as large as Interpark fall down in the security stakes and get hacked?

Well, unfortunately, it was through the simple execution of a malware attack through email. A careless employee fell for a deceptive email and effectively left the back door unlocked for North Korea to gain entry.

Now, we seem to be discussing malware on here on a regular basis, but this attack is something else in terms of its ambitions. Not only have the hackers compromised sensitive customer details such as email addresses, telephone numbers and other personal data, but they’re demanding that Interpark pay a ransom of nearly $3 billion in Bitcoin to prevent the data being leaked.

What’s particularly embarrassing for Interpark is that the initial hack took place in May, but was only brought to Interpark’s attention on July 11 when the ransom message was delivered. This highlights the sophistication with which the hackers have been able to cover their tracks through a simple email attack, but also underlines how lax Interpark have been with their monitoring.

After all, if there has been movement of 10 million customers’ details on your network, it really should be detected…

Combatting Malware

North Korea has been the center of hack controversies for a few years now, with their alleged involvement in the Sony Pictures hack perhaps the most famous example. And, it’s unlikely that Interpark will be their last target either, so you need to understand how to protect yourself from malware.

As ever, ensure that you and your employees are taking the following steps:

Always install all the latest software updates to prevent easy access for hackers who have identified vulnerabilities in specific software.

Display awareness when opening emails and being presented with links and attachments. Although they may look harmless, this is often part of the clever deception at play and it’s always best to double check.

Be careful when using removable hardware such as disk drives and USB sticks as these can easily be tampered with to contain automatic software which will download malware silently and quickly.

Keep a close eye on network activity on your servers. An increase in activity could indicate that something unusual is happening such as wholesale removal of personal data.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

6 Tips to Protect Yourself From Ransomware

Securityransomware, securityOphtek, LLC

Aug 2016

Ransomware is a fairly new security risk, but one which is on the rise and it’s vital that you know how to protect your data from ransomware attacks.

I’ve covered ransomware attacks on this blog on a number of occasions and detailed the damage it can do to businesses. It’s a particularly nasty evolution for hacking and one which often leaves you no option but to pay the ransom to decrypt your data.

Obviously, no business wants to find itself in the position where it has to give in to the hackers’ demands, so prevention is the key. And to help you get your defenses more secure, I’m going to share 6 tips to protect yourself from ransomware.

Backup Your Data

If your data becomes the victim of a ransomware attack then it may seem as though you have no option but to pay the attackers to release your data. However, the simplest way to reduce the damage in this instance is to ensure that your most crucial data is backed up offline. This can be as simple as backing up data to portable storage devices.

Create Strong Passwords

To cut hackers off early on in their ransomware attacks, it’s crucial that you ensure your systems are protected by strong passwords. Whilst you might think that no one is going to predict that you’ve used your mother’s maiden name, it’s relatively easy to hack this through brute force. To make this harder, you should add numbers and symbols to prevent the password being cracked.

Identify Suspicious Email Attachments

The most common route for ransomware to infiltrate your systems is through seemingly harmless email attachments. And it’s important that your staff know what makes for a suspicious attachment.

In particular, emails which contain attachments from senders you don’t recognize should always be double checked. However, you need to be aware that people in your contacts list could be hacked and then used to distribute the ransomware, so vigilance is always important.

Disable Macros

Many ransomware attacks involve Microsoft Office documents which are loaded with malicious macros which allow backdoor access into networks. Thankfully, Office documents will always give you the option to enable or disable macros; if you suspect that anything about the Office document doesn’t seem right then disable the macros or, more simply, just close the document.

Install Patches ASAP!

Ransomware loves finding vulnerabilities in software and this underlines the importance of installing updates released by software publishers. It may seem a little time consuming – particularly when you need to shut down your system – but it’s essential that you install all patches immediately to provide you with maximum protection.

Shut Down Your Network

Once a piece of ransomware has breached part of your network it can spread very quickly. Therefore, the best course of action may be to simply disconnect your network. This may cause a huge disturbance to your businesses activities, but it may be less painful than compromising your data. With the spread halted, you can then investigate your options for decrypting any affected data.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

Microsoft Rushes Patch for Printers on Windows

Office ITprinters, security, updatesOphtek, LLC

Aug 2016

Even in this so called ‘paperless’ age, almost every business still uses a printer on a daily basis, but did you know that even these can get hacked?

Yes, printers are vulnerable pieces of hardware which can allow hackers to gain access to your systems. And this recent scare was all down to a vulnerability identified in the Windows Print Spooler server. Luckily, this susceptibility was identified and Microsoft quickly released a patch to nip this matter in the bud.

However, it’s a troubling scenario given that we’re not used to our printers being used as a back door for hackers to take control of our networks, so I’ve decided to dig a little deeper into the story.

Hacking a Printer

When a new printer is installed, the files required will be downloaded from the Windows Print Spooler server to get the printer up and running. Usually, the correct files will be downloaded and everything will go smoothly. However, Microsoft discovered a critical flaw which meant that Windows would not handle the installation correctly and this would lead to users not connecting securely to their printer.

This would leave a gap in security which would allow hackers to gain unauthorized system privileges and install their own malware files on users’ systems causing all kinds of security issues. There would also be the opportunity to carry out what’s known as a Man-in-the-Middle Attack which would allow the hackers to take control of information being transmitted by the infected PC and alter it.

Perhaps the most damaging effect of an attack like this is that printers tend to be behind firewalls, so any malicious activity would go unnoticed. What’s particularly worrying about this is that large numbers of PCs are usually connected to a printer, so the potential for infecting other PCs becomes greatly magnified.

Is Windows Secure?

This vulnerability in Windows is particularly embarrassing for Microsoft given their high profile security hiccups recently such as a lack of WiFi security, so this latest threat doesn’t instill confidence in Microsoft’s approach to security. To make matters worse, this recently discovered flaw is an issue which affects operating systems going back to Vista which was released 10 years ago, so a huge number of PCs are at risk.

And it’s not the first time that Windows Print Spooler service has been exploited, so it raises some important questions about how Microsoft continue to monitor security vulnerabilities once they appear to have been solved.

Make Sure You’re Safe

The most important step you can take in combating security flaws such as this is to install all updates as soon as possible. It only takes a few seconds for a hacker to gain access to your systems, so it’s vital you don’t leave that install until the morning.

With vulnerabilities which are built into operating systems, of course, you can’t really put any blame on the end users, but it’s crucial that users look out for the following activity:

In this particular case, the ability for the hackers to set up a rogue printer on the network presented itself, so any unusual printer activity could indicate a security issue

Systems shutting down of their own accord and any ‘File Installation’ progress bars suddenly appearing could be evidence of malicious code being installed

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

Wendy’s Getting Hacked Teaches Us a Valuable Lesson

SecuritysecurityOphtek, LLC

Aug 2016

At fast food restaurants you know what to expect: value and speed. Fast food joint Wendy’s, however, has also been unknowingly serving up credit card fraud.

In the last week, Wendy’s has had to contact customers who have used their credit cards in over 1,000 restaurants. That’s nearly 1 in 3 Wendy’s restaurants and it makes for a huge number of affected customers.

Wendy’s are currently unable to tell just how many customers have been affected, but they do know that this attack was delivered by malware. Now, we all love a bit of a fast food, but we most certainly do not love cyber-crime!

And that’s why I want to show you what happened to Wendy’s and how your own business can avoid a similar situation.

Wendy’s Attacked

The hackers have been able to take control of Wendy’s point of sale (POS) systems which are comprised of the cash register and credit card devices. Although it’s not been discovered how Wendy’s POS systems have been compromised, it’s been identified as a traditional malware attack.

It’s believed that malware has been used to infect franchised stores through the theft of login credentials. This could, for example, be through phishing methods whereby information is extracted by employees through dishonest means e.g. spoof emails from head office requesting login details for “security checks”.

Whatever the method, it’s been successful enough for hackers to then access the POS systems and, potentially, take sensitive credit card information about every single card which has passed through the systems. And you’ve seen the queues at Wendy’s, so you know that’s a lot of credit cards.

Wendy’s was first hacked in January 2016 following unusual activity on credit cards which had recently been used at a number of Wendy’s stores. Similar attacks have intensified recently and this has led to Wendy’s having to release a statement on the situation.

Protect Yourself and Your Customers

Your customers are your businesses lifeblood, so it makes sense that you want to protect them and their finances. And the first line of defense is your staff, so it’s crucial that they’re well versed in how to deal with any suspicious activity they may encounter.

Hackers, you see, are unable to deploy their malware if they’re unable to breach your system’s defenses. And, for most businesses, this will be the good old fashioned ‘username’ and ‘password’ combination. It’s a popular choice as it’s a difficult combination to crack.

Employees, though, can quite innocently slip up and fall prey to the deceptive and sophisticated methods of hackers. However, an increasingly popular way to reduce the impact of compromised login credentials is to employ multifactor authentication. This provides additional walls of defense such as requesting a unique code which is emailed to an employee when they need to access specific systems.

Final Thoughts

Wendy’s isn’t the first fast food chain to have credit card details stolen, but it’s certainly the biggest so far and this will send out alarm bells across the industry. It’s a troubling cyber-attack and another one which highlights the importance of a strong front line defense. Multifactor authentication is certainly useful, but a concentrated effort towards recognizing initial threats is key.

For more ways to secure and optimize your business technology, contact your local IT professionals.

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