Oracle Releases Fix For Java CVE-2012-4681 Flaw

Oracle on Thursday released a new version of Java that included a fix for the CVE-2012-4681 vulnerability that has been used in limited targeted attacks in the last couple of weeks. The release of Java 7 update 7 comes about four days after the Java flaw was publicly disclosed, but several months...

New Java Zero Day Being Used in Targeted Attacks

There is a newly discovered zero day vulnerability in Java 7 that is being used in some targeted attacks right now. The vulnerability works against Internet Explorer and Firefox and researchers say that attackers are exploiting in the wild and installing a version of the Poison Ivy RAT on...

Shamoon Malware : Permanently wiping data from Energy Industry Computers

Malware researchers have uncovered an attack targeting an organization in the energy industry that attempts to wreak havoc by permanently wiping data from an infected computer's hard drive and rendering the machine unusable. Symantec would not name the victimized firm, and so far has seen the...

Microsoft Patches Critical MS12-060 Office Flaw Being Used in Targeted Attacks

Microsoft on Tuesday fixed a critical vulnerability in a component of Office, SQL Server and other widely deployed applications that attackers already are using in targeted attacks. The flaw in the Microsoft Common Controls component, which was one of the 26 vulnerabilities fixed in nine bulletin...

Adobe Flash Player 11.3 Kern Table Parsing Integer Overflow

This module exploits a vulnerability found in the ActiveX component of Adobe Flash Player before 11.3.300.271. By supplying a specially crafted .otf font file with a large nTables value in the 'kern' header, it is possible to trigger an integer overflow, which results in remote code execution und...

Experts Say Better Security Rests on Cooperation, More Data

LAS VEGAS–Reflecting on the successes and failures in the industry in the last 15 years, a panel of security experts at Black Hat said that while defenses have gotten better, attackers have as well and there is a long way to go before defenders have the upper hand. If that ever happens, they said...

Rash Identity Theft Sweeps Small Kentucky Town

Dozens of individuals from Winchester, a small Kentucky town east of Lexington have been targeted by hackers, according to a report earlier this week in the Lexington Herald-Leader. The newspaper claims between 50 and 100 diners at Puerta Grande, a small Mexican restaurant, were hit with bank fra...

Blackshades RAT Pops Up in Attacks on Syrian Activists

They just do not stop having targeted malware attacks in Syria. Just a few days after the author of the Dark Comet RAT announced he was shutting down development and sales of the tool, partly because it was used in attacks by the Syrian government, experts have found that pro-government attackers...

Targeted Attacks on Small Businesses Increase in 2012

In the first six months of 2012, 36 percent of targeted attacks focused on small businesses of fewer than 250 employees, and there were an average of 58 attacks per day, according to a new research report. At the end of 2011, small businesses were on the receiving end of only 18 percent of such...

Dalai Lama's Birthday Used As Bait In Targeted Attacks

Followers and supporters of Tibetan Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama were the targets of an e-mail borne attack that used news of the spiritual leader’s birthday to trick recipients into installing a surreptitious monitoring program on their computers. Researchers at Kaspersky Lab identified a numb...

LeBron James, Advanced Attackers and the Best Man Theory

There is a line of thinking that pervades and pollutes the discussions of many sporting events, and it goes something like this: “You can’t let LeBron James/Derek Jeter/Lionel Messi beat you. You have to force someone else to beat you.” It’s a flawed strategy for a number of reasons, but it’s eve...

Syrian Dissidents Hit By Another Wave of Targeted Attacks

One of the attackers who has been targeting Syrian anti-government activists with malware and surveillance tools has returned and upped the ante with the use of the BlackShades RAT, a remote-access tool that gives him the ability to spy on victims machines through keylogging and screenshots. The...

IXESHE Malware Avoids Easy Detection to Remain a Persistent Threat

Trend Micro today issued a report on an advanced persistent threat that uses stealthy data-stealing malware called IXESHE “i-sushi” to infect machines. So far it’s hit East Asian governments, Taiwanese electronics manufacturers and German telecommunications firms operating across Asia. Though the...

What's the Meaning of This: Flame Malware

From all indications, it would appear that attackers are continuing to attack and malware authors are carrying on writing malware. The latest bit of evidence to support these conclusions is the discovery of the Flame malware, which, initial analyses show, is an advanced data-stealing tool that is...

Months After A Patch, Targeted Attacks Still Using Adobe Flash Bug

More than three months after it was patched, attackers are still using a vulnerability in Adobe’s Flash product in targeted, ‘APT-style’ attacks. The vulnerability, identified as CVE-2012-0754 was patched in February and linked to targeted attacks weeks later. But new attacks targeting unpatched...

Report: Strategic Web Compromises Behind Recent Hack of Amnesty, Others

A recent string of Web site hacks at Amnesty International and other NGOs are evidence of a campaign of cyber espionage directed against human rights orgnaizations, according to a report from The Shadowserver Foundation. In a report on Tuesday, the Foundation said that its members had witnessed a...

Adobe Releases Patch for Flash Bug Being Used in Targeted Attacks

Adobe has released a patch for a serious Flash vulnerability that is being used in targeted attacks right now. The updates fix the vulnerability in Windows, Mac, Linux and Android systems. There is an exploit in the wild that is targeting systems running vulnerable versions of Flash on Windows in...

New Mac Malware, SabPub, Used In Targeted Attacks

Researchers at Kaspersky Lab says a new malicious program, dubbed SabPub, exploits the same Java security hole as the Flashback Trojan and enables targeted attacks against Mac users. The new malware was identified in a blog post by Kaspersky Lab expert Costin Raiu on Saturday and is described as ...

US Airways Spam Redirects to Blackhole, Zeus Infection

Cybercriminals are targeting US Airways customers with malicious spam emails containing a link that, once clicked, initiates a series of redirects, eventually leading users to a domain hosting the Blackhole exploit kit. The fraudulent email presents itself as a check-in notification from US...

Dan Guido on Attacker Math and Exploit Intelligence

Dennis Fisher talks with Dan Guido, security researcher and CEO of Trail of Bits, about the new company’s plan to help enterprises defend against targeted attacks, the way that attackers think and the value of exploits versus vulnerabilities. They also discuss a new initiative to help share...