Cyberespionage For Everyone

Mephistophocles writes "A chilling article by Darkreading's Kelly Jackson Higgins describes how the growing accessibility of hacking tools like RATs (Remote Access Trojans) have made cyber-espionage possible for more than just those financially backed by large nation-states, and speculates on what the implications of this may be: 'Researchers at Norman Security today revealed that they recently analyzed malware used in phishing emails targeting Israeli and Palestinian targets and found that attackers used malware based on the widely available Xtreme RAT crimeware kit. The attacks, which first hit Palestinian targets, this year began going after Israeli targets, including Israeli law enforcement agencies and embassies around the world. Norman says the same attacker is behind the attacks because the attacks use the same command-and-control (C&C) infrastructure, as well as the same phony digital certificates. This attack campaign just scratches the surface of the breadth and spread of these types of attacks around the world as more players have been turning to cyberspying. "We're just seeing the tip of the iceberg," says Einar Oftedal, deputy CTO at Norman.'"

Comments

Amazing.

[blackicye]

Norman Security is not only still around as a company, but they're now regarded as a news source.

Re:Amazing.

[jhoegl]

Your message intrigues me. Tell me more of your obvious distrust of Norman Security.

Re:Amazing.

[blackicye]

Your message intrigues me. Tell me more of your obvious distrust of Norman Security.

My first experience with this out of nowhere Norton Clone was as preinstalled software on a brand new Acer laptop that I had to uninstall because it was interfering with fresh software installs.

Re:Amazing.

[L4t3r4lu5]

Well your first mistake was not wiping any new PC completely before use. Microsoft have acknowledged that malware can be installed on new PCs at the factory, so using it at all without wiping is russian roulette with your personal information.

Download a DBAN ISO and keep it somewhere for when you buy a new PC. Wipe it, reinstall Windows, install drivers (which you should download from the vendor's website from a different PC. Don't put a memory stick in to the new PC before wiping). It's more work, but your experience with the new PC will be better for it.

Is there a point to this article?

[Press2ToContinue]

I mean, other than "everybody panic!" ?

Re:Is there a point to this article?

[Anonymous Coward]

I mean, other than "everybody panic!" ?

It's more revisionist history bullshit intended to spread FUD. They're trying to pretend like script kiddies and lone hackers are just now showing up, and OMFG they have tools as well! They want people to believe that in the past, the only notable hacks have come from large, wealthy governments.
In reality, the governments have been playing "catch-up" for the last 30 years (or more) and other than the overly sensational Stuxnet story, I have yet to see anything done by a government which has not already been bested by a lone hacker or small group.

What's the Cyberespionage alternative for...

[SpaghettiPattern]

What's the Cyberespionage alternative for using a window as a mirror to observe the target? What's the counterpart of sitting on a park bench with a newspaper with a hole in it? Cyber Grouch Marx mask anyone?

Re:What's the Cyberespionage alternative for...

[DavidClarkeHR]

What's the Cyberespionage alternative for using a window as a mirror to observe the target? What's the counterpart of sitting on a park bench with a newspaper with a hole in it? Cyber Grouch Marx mask anyone?

let #text = Script Kiddies.
$print "The term is"; #text


OH NOES, imma terrorist now for using cyber-espionage tools! Even though I didn't use it for cyber-espionage, the tool could be used to destabilize a government.

"Growing Accessibility"

[Anonymous Coward]

Did everyone already forget freely available rats like Sub7, BO and NetBus that used to be around in the late 90ies?

Re:"Growing Accessibility"

[theArtificial]

I remember when BO2K came out. The "mouse cam" plugin was pretty cool at the time, streaming an area around where the client's mouse cursor was very cool. Sub7 2.3 was released in 2010 but by another developer who had their site hacked. Mobman, the original developer, also stated that they'll be back...

So, tell me about these new "script kiddies"...

[DavidClarkeHR]

So, rather than celebrate the possibility of having transparency for all (it's not government spying when everyone is doing it to the government in return) ... Norman Security is reporting on the emergence of script kiddies?

Weapons that need vulnerabilities

[Anonymous Coward]

They're not weapons, lethal or otherwise, if they cannot do harm. The problem here is the open OS's, and companies, notably Adobe, that create vectors (vulnerabilities) for doing harm.

The more script kiddies out there, the more secure the OSs will become because the more times they'll be attacked.

Adobe, Adobe, Adobe, Adobe, Adobe, Adobe, I'll say it a million times, because I am sick of it upgrading with some critical vulnerability. It's clear to me that Adobe is the company that currently does not have a technical grip on it's products and seems to be happy with an endless upgrade cycle.

I've started kicking their **** off PCs now because they just don't seem to be able to get their act together. But then that's also part of making OSs more secure: removing software from companies seemingly incapable of making their software secure.

As for words as weapons, bugger off, there's nothing you can say that can harm me. If you claim words as weapons then free speech is no more.

Re:Weapons that need vulnerabilities

[somersault]

There's plenty that people can say to help or harm you. The right or wrong words can have massive psychological impact. The whole of politics is basically just people trying to persuade other people. You can be falsely accused of things and have your reputation irreparably damaged, or even be put in prison just because of others people's words. Words are a very effective weapon indeed.

Free speech is only meant to apply to being able to say whatever you want about the government. It is illegal to slander, harass, use hate speech etc. in relation to private individuals.

You lack imagination, and are rather ignorant of law and reality.

Yawn

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, such a new concept!

Really that prolific?

[nomad-9]

From the article:"Turns out cyberespionage malware and activity is far more prolific than imagined.".

Really? Who "imagined" that malware activity was not that "prolific"? Did they just defrost those "researchers"?. Seems like these folks are the only ones surprised by the existence of script-kiddies, hackers in the Middle-East, the extent of Chinese state-sponsored cyber-espionage, and the growing hacker communities in Brasil and other emerging nations. Globalization => globalization of hacking. Who would have imagined that....

And the article links to another one ("Scope Of APTs More Widespread Than Thought" ) that goes on:
"There's a lot of cyberespionage happening internationally. This is not going to go away," Kaspersky's Schouwenberg says.

Gee, thanks for the eye-opening, completely obvious, self-evident statement, Shouwie, Here's a question: do you experts stay constantly tuned with what's happening in the world, or do you just wake up one day, burst out of the bubble where you were busy "imagining" things, and discover reality?

"... growing accessibility of... RATs..."

[L4t3r4lu5]

You mean like Sub7 and Netbus, which were readily available in the late 90s?

Dude. This was news before Slashdot existed.

Norman != Norton

[rgbrenner]

Norman was founded in 1984 and is based in Norway:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_(company)

Norton was started by Peter Norton in 1990 and is now owned by Symantec:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norton_Internet_Security

So, as you can see.. Your experience with Norton Clone has nothing to do with Norman.

OEM windows

[Barryke]

reinstall Windows

Easyer said than done when there is no Windows CD supplied.

I have even seen cases where there is no bootable recovery partition, no supplied disks whatsoever except for a manual on a CD (no drivers even), resulting in a recovery that demands you order (and pay for) a "recovery boot CD" first. I believe that was a Gateway computer.

Re:OEM windows

[L4t3r4lu5]

I too have seen where this is the case, however the point is moot; I don't trust the factory image, so why would I trust the recovery media?

There are Windows ISOs available from Microsoft. You can legally download these ISOs without any issue; It's the license key and certificate of authenticity which are your license documents.

Re:OEM windows

[dotancohen]

I too have seen where this is the case, however the point is moot; I don't trust the factory image, so why would I trust the recovery media?

There are Windows ISOs available from Microsoft. You can legally download these ISOs without any issue; It's the license key and certificate of authenticity which are your license documents.

Since when is downloading an ISO from digitalrivercontent.net considered "available from Microsoft"? I would trust the Acer / Dell / HP install before I would trust these ISOs.

Slashdot welcome in the 90's.

[Barryke]

Slashdot i welcome you in the 90's. Nice that you are rerunning stories from the era of your inception.

Well, duh.

[flyingfsck]

Welcome to circa 1970.

digital river is a content host

[RobertLTux]

if you buy from the Microsoft Store you are sent to digital river to do your download

bonus tip if you have any win7 dvd you can install whichever version of Win7 you have the key for if the ei.cfg file has been removed/disabled (note must be correct Arch and source so an OEM 32 bit DVD can be used to install any 32 bit version)