History made How often can we say that an IT blunder might have changed the course of world history? Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server whilst serving as outgoing US President Barack Obama’s Secretary of State became a key element in the US presidential election this year.…
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A year in infosec: Bears, botnets, breaches … and elections
2016 sucked. 2017 won’t be much better, sorry DDoS attacks have been around since at least 2000, and they’re not going away. In fact, as the number of devices online grows, the volume and velocity of these attacks is also increasing.…
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DDoS in 2017: Strap yourself in for a bumpy ride
Thirty four people, including teenagers, are arrested after an international police operation involving EU and US authorities.
Young ‘uns hire tools to hit infrastructure, info systems Law enforcement bods at Europol have arrested 34 users of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) cyber-attack tools and interviewed and cautioned 101 suspects in a global crackdown.…
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DDoS script kiddies are also… actual kiddies, Europol arrests reveal
The cloud offers organizations a number of benefits, from simple off-site storage to rent-a-server to complete services. But 2017 will also see cloud infrastructure increasingly the target of attacks, with criminals lured by the data stored there and the possibility of using it to launch distributed denial of service attacks. That’s one of the predictions for the new year from security vendor Forcepoint. Hacking a cloud provider’s hypervisor would give an attacker access to all of the customers using the service, Bob Hansmann, Forcepoint’s director of security technologies, told a Webinar last week. “They’re not targeting you, they may not even know you exist until they get into the infrastructure and get the data. Then they’re going to try to maximize the attack” by selling whatever data is gained. Also tempting attackers is the bandwidth cloud providers have, to possibly be leveraged for DDoS attacks. As attacks on cloud infrastructure increase it will be another reason why CISOs will be reluctant to put sensitive data in the cloud, he said, or to limit cloud use to processing but not storing sensitive data. CIOs/CISOs have to realize “the cloud is a lie,” he said. “There is no cloud. Any cloud services means data is going to someone’s server somewhere. So you need to know are they securing that equipment the same way you’re securing data in your organization … are the personnel vetted, what kind of digital defences do they have?” “You’re going to have to start pushing your cloud providers to meet compliance with the regulations you’re trying to be compliant with,” he added. That will be particularly important for organizations that do business in Europe with the coming into force next year of the European Union’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) So answering questions such as now long does a cloud service hold the organization’s data, is it backed up securely, are employees vetted, is there third party certification of its use of encryption, how is it protected from DDoS attacks are more important than ever. Other predictions for next year include: –Don’t fear millennials. At present on average they are they second largest group (behind boomers) in most organizations. They do increase security risk because as a tech-savvy group they tend to over-share information – particularly through social media. So, Hansmann says, CISOs should use that to their advantage. “Challenge them to become security-savvy. Put in contests where employees submit they think are spam or phishing attacks, put in quarterly award recognitions, or something like that. Challenge them, and they will step up to the challnge. They take pride in their digital awareness.” Don’t try to make them feel what they do is wrong, but help them to become better. “They will be come a major force for change in the organiztion, and hopefully carry the rest of the organization with them.” –the so-called Digital Battlefield is the world. That means attackers can be nation-states as well as criminals. But CISOs should be careful what they do about it. Some infosec pros – and some politicians – advocate organizations and countries should be ready to launch attacks against a foe instead of being defensive. But, Forcepoint warns, pointing the finger is still difficult, with several hops between the victim and attacker. “The potential for mis-attribution and involving innocents is going to grow,” Hansmann said. “Nations are going to struggle with how do they ensure confidence in businesses, that they are a safe and secure place to do business with or through — and yet not over-react in a way that could cause collateral damage.” –Linked to this this the threat that will be posed in 2017 by automated attacks. The widespread weaponization of autonomous hacking machines by threat actors will emerge next year, Forcepoint says, creating an arms race to build autonomous patching. “Like nuclear weapons technology proliferation, weaponized autonomous hacking machines may greatly impact global stability by either preventing national defense protocols being engaged or by triggering them unnecessarily,” says the company. –Get ready for the Euopean GDPR. It will come into effect in May, 2018 and therefore next year will drive compliance and data protection efforts. “We’ve learned compliance takes a long time to do right, and to do it without disrupting your business.” Organizations may have to not only change systems but redefine processes, including training employees. CIOs need to tell business units, ‘We’re here to support you, but if you’re going to run operations through the EU this regulation is going to have impact. We need to understand it now because will require budgeting and changes to processes that IT doesn’t control,’ said Hansmann. –There will be a rise in what Forcepoint calls “corporate-incentivized insider abuse.’ That’s shorthand for ‘employees are going to cheat to meet sales goals.’ The result is staff falsifying reports or signing up customers signed up for services they didn’t order. Think of U.S. bank Wells Fargo being fined $185 million this year because more than 2 million bank accounts or credit cards were opened or applied for without customers’ knowledge or permission between May 2011 and July 2015. Over 5,000 staff were fired over the incidents. If organizations don’t get on top of this problem governments will regulate, Hansmann warned. Source: http://www.itworldcanada.com/article/cloud-infrastructure-attacks-to-increase-in-2017-predicts-forcepoint/389001
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Cloud infrastructure attacks to increase in 2017, predicts Forcepoint
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are sometimes used by cybercriminals to distract businesses while hackers sneak in through the back door, a survey from Kaspersky Lab and B2B International suggests. Over half of businesses questioned (56%) are confident that DDoS has been used as a smokescreen for other kinds of cybercrime, and of those business respondents, a large majority (87%) reported that they had also been the victim of a targeted attack. The Kaspersky Lab IT Security Risks 2016 study showed that when businesses have suffered from cybercrime, DDoS has often been part of the attack tactics (29%). For example, a worrying quarter (26%) of businesses that have suffered data loss as a result of a targeted attack, named DDoS as one of the contributing vectors. Overall, 56% of business representatives surveyed believed that the DDoS attacks their companies had experienced were a smokescreen or decoy for other criminal activities. Kirill Ilganaev, Head of Kaspersky DDoS Protection, explained why DDoS attacks may appeal to cybercriminals as part of their tactics. He said, “DDoS prevents a company from carrying on its normal activities by putting either public or internal services on hold. This is obviously a real problem to businesses and it is often ‘all hands on deck’ in the IT team, to try and fix the problem quickly, so the business can carry on as before. DDoS can therefore be used not only as an easy way to stop the activity of a company, but also as a decoy to distract IT staff from another intrusion taking place through other channels.” The study found that when DDoS attacks have been used by cybercriminals as a smokescreen, businesses also faced threats such as losses and exploits through mobile devices (81%), the actions of other organizations (78%), phishing scams (75%) and even the malicious activity of internal staff (75%). The majority (87%) were also victims of targeted attacks. Ilganaev continued, “The research shows us that DDoS attacks are often aligned with other threats. Businesses therefore need to be aware of the full threat landscape, and prepared to deal with multiple types of criminal activity at any one time. Failure to do this could increase the collateral damage, on top of already significant losses caused by downtime and the resulting impact on reputation. Businesses need to use a reliable DDoS protection service to reduce the risk of DDoS and help staff concentrate their efforts on protecting the business from any threats that can be hidden as a result.” Source: http://www.networksasia.net/article/cybercriminals-use-ddos-smokescreen-other-attacks-business.1480989900
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Cybercriminals use DDoS as smokescreen for other attacks on business
DDoS attacks on the horizon as White House cybersecurity report issues recommendations CloudFlare has warned of another massive botnet that appears to be ramping up and targeting the US West Coast.…
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CloudFlare warns of another massive botnet, er, flaring up
2017 is set to feature new attacks on internet infrastructure and advancements in Internet of Things security One of 2016’s key events in the tech world was the massive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack in October that brought many of the internet’s most heavily trafficked sites to their knees. There were two main takeaways from the event. Firstly, DNS infrastructure is highly vulnerable. And secondly, the growing proliferation of cheap, connected Internet of Things (IoT) devices – webcams, Wi-Fi speakers, wearables etc. – is making it far easier for cybercriminals to launch massive DDoS attacks. Why? Because many of these devices are shipped with default usernames and passwords, which are never changed by the enduser, and so are easily taken over. Earlier in October, the Mirai botnet malware was made public, and it evidently played a role in the attack. In 2017 businesses are sure to suffer more DDoS attacks and internet shutdowns powered by cheap, insecure IoT devices. But while these attacks could become more common, they’re also likely to become less lethal as backbone providers harden their defenses and device manufacturers adopt identity-based security to close vulnerabilities. However, the sheer number of cheap AND insecure IoT devices deployed globally will ensure DDoS attacks continue sporadically through 2017. Catastrophic DDoS attacks might dominate tech media coverage, but the failure of IoT device, service and infrastructure to adopt and scale robust security and privacy tactics will play out in several ways. Here are four sectors that will face the brunt of this as digital transformation takes hold in 2017. 1. Healthcare In 2017, the distinction between in-home and clinical healthcare devices will continue to erode. To date, smart wearables and exercise devices like Fitbits and Apple Watches have been perceived as a means to track exercise in order to further fitness goals – distinct from clinical medical devices like heart monitors, blood pressure cuffs or insulin pumps. At the same time, it’s become common for patients with high blood pressure to monitor their levels at home by capturing them on a mobile app on their phone – exactly how fitness trackers work. The wealth of data available to clinicians flowing from such devices is leading to expectations that individuals can and perhaps should play much more active roles in preventative care. But the ease with which personal health data can now be gathered and shared will increase pressure on healthcare IT decision-makers to turn to identity management and authentication as the technology most effective for achieving security objectives. The proliferation of digital systems and devices in healthcare settings creates more vulnerabilities where personal data can get exposed or stolen. By adding contextual authentication and authorisation through strong digital identity, hacking these systems becomes more difficult. For example, adding presence, geo-location and or persistent authentication. 2. Financial services In 2017, commercial banks and investment houses will continue the race to avoid having their business models disrupted by fintech innovation such as Bitcoin and emerging artificial intelligence technologies. Banks are already co-opting these disruptive technologies and incorporating them into their own IT mix. Somewhat ironically, having established relationships with their customers, many legacy banks could be very well positioned to not just weather the digital transformation storm, but emerge even more stable and profitable in the years ahead. This is especially true for those that embrace omnichannel techniques and technologies to create seamless experiences that delight customers across devices. Banks in 2017 will work on allaying customer privacy concerns as they cope with regulations regarding data protection and sharing. There will be a continued effort to eliminate internal data silos that create impersonal customer experiences across channels, and fragmented systems that can’t support digital customer demands and business requirements. 3. Retail The race toward omnichannel will accelerate in 2017 as many retailers and B2C organisations find themselves doing more business via mobile than they’re doing on the conventional laptop and online channel. Delivering convenience and seamless experiences will depend heavily on providing customers with experiences that are not just secure but also personalised to their needs and tastes. In order to do this, they must securely connect the digital identities of people, devices and things. This requires solving complex identity challenges and creating solutions that enhance and improve customer experiences and at the same time maximise revenue opportunities. 4. Communications and media AT&T’s proposed acquisition of Time Warner at the end of 2016 highlights exactly how vulnerable legacy media and telecommunications firms perceive themselves to be to disruptive forces like cord cutting. ‘Digital pipe’ companies feel like they need to lock in content providers in order to lock in audiences and preserve value. However, regulators may frown on such industry consolidation, and independent players like Netflix and semi-independent players like Hulu and independent cable TV producers continue to find ways to directly insert successful content into the entertainment bloodstream. Here again, making content easily accessible through the full array of channels is key to locking in loyalty and preserving lifetime value (LTV). Source: http://www.information-age.com/protect-internet-unsecured-everything-123463392/
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4 sectors vulnerable to IoT attacks in 2017
Black Friday will be a big day for retailers — and hopefully for all the right reasons. Some of the biggest shopping days of the year are upon us. But while retailers are focused on ensuring that they cope with huge peaks in online and in-store sales, are they as prepared as they need to be to defend against major distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks? Avoiding a cyber-crime catastrophe Black Friday is here (along with the increasingly popular Cyber Monday). As ever, crowds of shoppers will flock to retailers’ stores and websites in search of rock-bottom prices. And this will mean a huge increase in sales for both physical and online stores. Black Friday may be a sales bonanza but it’s also a period of high vulnerability that criminals could exploit to maximise the threat to a retailer’s business. With Christmas sales accounting for a sizeable chunk of most retailers’ annual revenues, from a criminal’s perspective, there could hardly be a better time to launch a cyber attack. What’s more, with systems already creaking under the load of peak volumes, it might not take much of a straw to break the camel’s back. The last thing a retailer wants is for their business to spectacularly and very visibly come to a sudden halt because they can’t defend against and mitigate a major distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. Retailers face a growing threat Talk of cyber attacks are more than mere scaremongering – the threat is very real. For example, in September, the release of the Mirai code — a piece of malware that infects IoT devices enabling them to be used for DDoS attacks — opened a Pandora’s box of opportunities for ruthless cyber entrepreneurs who want to disrupt their target markets and exploit the vulnerabilities and weaknesses of companies who honestly serve their customers. This code gives criminals the ability to orchestrate legions of unsecured Internet of Things (IoT) devices to act as unwitting participants in targeted DDoS attacks. These objects could be anything from domestic hubs and routers, to printers and digital video recorders — as long as they’re connected to the internet. The latest large DDoS attacks have used botnets just like this — proving that the bad guys are multiplying and, perhaps, gearing up for bigger things. Prevention is better than the cure There are no easy answers to the question of how to secure IoT smart devices — especially at the ‘budget conscious’ end of the market. That’s why we expect that these DDoS attacks will continue to proliferate, meaning that targeted DDoS attacks of increasing scale and frequency will almost certainly occur as a result. So how can retailers defend themselves against the threat of an attack on Black Friday? Organisations have to use a combination of measures to safeguard against even the most determined DDoS attack. These include: Limiting the impact of an attack by absorbing DDoS traffic targeted at the application layer, deflecting all DDoS traffic targeted at the network layer and authenticating valid traffic at the network edge. Choosing an ISP that connects directly to large carriers and other networks, as well as internet exchanges — allowing traffic to pass efficiently. Employing the services of a network-based DDoS provider — with a demonstrable track record of mitigating DDoS attacks and sinking significant data floods. This will safeguard specific IP address ranges that organisations want to protect. Black Friday will be a big day for retailers — and hopefully for all the right reasons. But in an increasingly digital world, consideration needs to be given to the IT infrastructure that underpins today’s retail business and the security strategy that protects it. Source: http://www.itproportal.com/features/three-ways-to-prevent-a-ddos-disaster-this-black-friday/
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Three ways to prevent a DDoS disaster this Black Friday
While businesses are preoccupied solving DDoS attacks, hackers go in the back door to do some looting. Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks make a lot of noise, and according to a new Kaspersky Lab report, that’s exactly what hackers are using them for. As businesses are preoccupied solving DDoS attacks, hackers use the opportunity for another, more targeted and more deadly type of attack. Basically, DDoS is nothing more than a smokescreen. The conclusion comes in Kaspersky Lab’s report which polled businesses about their cybersecurity experiences, and more than half (56 per cent) say DDoS is being used as a smokescreen. In more than a quarter (29 per cent) of attacks, DDoS has been part of the tactics. Another quarter (26 per cent) said when they lost data due to a targeted attack, they were also hit by DDoS. “DDoS prevents a company from continuing its normal activities by putting either public or internal services on hold,” said Kirill Ilganaev, Head of Kaspersky DDoS Protection. “This is a real problem to businesses and it is often ‘all hands on deck’ in the IT team to try and fix the problem quickly so the business can carry on as before. DDoS can therefore be used not only as an easy way to stop the activity of a company, but also as a decoy to distract IT staff from another intrusion taking place through other channels.” The usual tactics include exploiting mobile devices, phishing scams, or even malicious activity from insiders. “The research shows us that DDoS attacks are often aligned with other threats. Businesses therefore need to be aware of the full threat landscape and prepared to deal with multiple types of criminal activity at any one time,” Ilganaev continued. “Failure to do this could increase the collateral damage, on top of already significant losses caused by downtime and the resulting impact on reputation. Businesses need to use a reliable DDoS protection service to reduce the risk of DDoS and help staff concentrate their efforts on protecting the business from any threats that can be hidden as a result.” Source: http://www.itproportal.com/news/ddos-often-used-as-a-diversion-tactic/