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Target Confirms Point-of-Sale Malware Was Used In Attack
wiredmikey writes "According to Target Chairman and CEO Gregg Steinhafel, point-of-sale (POS) malware was used in the recent attack that compromised millions of credit and debit card account numbers of customers across the country. Steinfhafel told CNBC's Becky Quick in an interview that malware was used in attacks that compromised the company's point of sale registers. According to a report from Reuters, Target and Neiman Marcus may not be alone, as other popular U.S. retailers may have been breached during the busy the holiday shopping season. According sources who spoke to Reuters, attackers used RAM scraper, or Memory parser malware to steal sensitive data from Target and other retail victims. Visa issued alerts about attacks utilizing these types of malware in April 2013 and again in August 2013. Memory parser malware targets payment card data being processed 'in the clear' (unencrypted) in a system's random access memory (RAM). 'The malware is configured to hook into a payment application binary responsible for processing payment transactions and extracts the systems memory for full track data,' Visa explained in a security advisory."
"Smaller breaches on at least three other well-known U.S. retailers took place and were conducted using similar techniques as the one on Target," Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the attacks. "Those breaches have yet to come to light...
What the hell, why not? I had to cancel one of my family debit cards because of Target, do I now have to cancel my other one from an unnamed store?
After gaining access to a merchant’s network, attackers can install memory-parsing malware on register systems or backend processing servers to extract magnetic-stripe data as it moves through the through the payment process.
How are they gaining access to Target's network? Maybe it's from the ever-famous wireless network that's in all Target stores, and is prone to attacks, based purely on it's password policy (changes automatically once a month - or doesn't at all - I hear)
“The malware is configured to hook into a payment application binary responsible for processing payment transactions and extracts the systems memory for full track data,” Visa explained in a security advisory.
Again, how did they not only get into the system, but how'd they know the executable binary that was running? I mean, this isn't something that was done in one day, it had to be a collective goal for more than one person.
Visa first warned about these types of attacks targeting grocery merchants, but said merchant segment is vulnerable. According to Visa, these types memory parser malware attacks have been found only targeting Windows-based operating systems.
This one is my favorite. Why any retailer is running Windows on a POS PC is beyond anyone that knows how computers work. It should be illegal.
In March 2013, new malware was found targeting point-of-sale (POS) systems and ATMs and was behind the theft of payment card information from several US banks. Called "Dump Memory Grabber", the malware scans the memory of point-of-sale systems and ATMs looking for credit card data.
And how the shit does one gain access to an ATM's RAM?
All in all, I feel that this must have been an inside job of some kind. Not just a Target employee, but a Target employee(s) and someone who has access to ATMs inner-workings.
Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
I'm sure it all looked great, until this happened, then they get 200% more wise.
Experience is learning from mistakes you make
Wisdom is learning from the mistakes other people make
Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
In 2015, EMV becomes required in the US. Those retailers who don't black box their card readers will be 100% liable for fraud at their point-of-sale (including stolen cards).
I'm very surprised that Target thinks that every register in every store was infected. Just getting them all running the same malware is a major feat. And how did this POS malware get ahold of the 70 million "guest" records that weren't on the POS devices?
I worked on POS systems back in the late 90s - so, keep in mind my knowledge is not recent - no really, retailers move at a snails pace when it comes to technology.
First, this was an inside job. POS systems are too stupid to connect to the Internet.
Second, back in my day, the register was a very dumb PC (DOS with an extender and later moved to Windows - yeah, I know). Network security NEVER entered the picture because it is a closed system: POS->Store server->Local/Main office over leased lines or VPN on the internet. The servers were slow shit. All they need to do is record sales data.
In other words, IF the POS servers were in fact connected to the Internet so that crackers could get it, then someone really really really screwed up because there was absolutely no reasons to do so. Too slow.
And if these servers WERE connected to the Internet, all the crackers would see is unencrypted transaction data: CC #s, exp dates, amounts, what was bought, names, and all the other data collected by the POS computer. Yeah, wide open - because it was thought that no one outside the store would ever see it.
Retailing, in general, is a VERY competitive business with razor thin margins. Go to your finance website of choice and compare Walmart's,Target's,Sear's or whoever's operating margins with any other industry's company - Pharma is my favoriate comparison: try Bristol Meyers Sqibb (BMY). So, they take THE cheapest way out every time.
I'm sure it all looked great, until this happened, then they get 200% more wise.
Seems everywhere I go these cheap systems are in place and the malware may already be chugging along for years without detection.
I worked for a MAJOR retailer that was involved with a credit card crisis. The only reason the registers didn't get raped was the fact they ran linux. The actual POS servers ran Windows 2000 so that is what got cracked. Management was working hard to get away from these solid state linux computers for the "cost savings" in administration of the Windows platform. I can tell you that a multipurpose platform is not appropriate for a specialized task.
I got an e-mail from Target offering me free credit monitoring.
Yeah, they leaked my name, address, credit card number etc and now they want me to sign up for credit monitoring with them. Just input your social security number and answer a few questions ...
We have been hearing about how Target figures out if you're pregnant before your family does. They have been doing all sorts of data mining on people.
I suspect what is leaked is just not the name, address and credit card info on their subscribers. What if they have a profile on each of their customers that is also leaked? What if they compiled all sorts of data about their customers from various sources, like relationships, employment field, estimated incomes and other bits of info from the credit history? What if all that was leaked?
Maybe instead, there is something Target should NOT have used in their store POS systems.
http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Case_Study_Detail.aspx?CaseStudyID=4000009407
I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
This.
For the attack to happen the way Target says, there must be two MAJOR flaws in their network:
- the POS machines must be accepting software updates from the network - to allow the attackers to download their firmware;
- the POS machines must be able to connect to an arbitrary server not on the Target network - to allow the POS machines to transmit the collected data.
There is no valid reason for either of these. Need to update firmware? Have the IT guy at each store do it manually. And, install a decent firewall so that random machines inside your store can't talk to the outside world. (This will both prevent security breaches, *and* stop the employees in the photo department from surfing the web when they're supposed to be working).
> the card companies ought to be black boxing the readers, so that the POS system never has access to unencrypted transaction information
You're on the right track. Keep going! Don't stop yet.
How about black boxing the cards?!!!
AKA, Smart Cards. The card itself has a complete computer running Java just like the SIM card in your GSM phone. The computer on the smart card is black boxed. That computer has a private certificate. When transactions are signed by the processor in the card itself, the certificate chain can be verified that the certificate within the smart card is genuine and signed the transaction. Attempting to learn the secret data within the smart card destroys the data, or at least is extremely expensive -- and would only compromise that card making the attack not economically attractive.
I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.