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Chinese Hackers Infiltrate Firms Using Malware-Laden Handheld Scanners
wiredmikey (1824622) writes China-based threat actors are using sophisticated malware installed on handheld scanners to target shipping and logistics organizations from all over the world. According to security firm TrapX, the attack begins at a Chinese company that provides hardware and software for handheld scanners used by shipping and logistics firms worldwide to inventory the items they're handling. The Chinese manufacturer installs the malware on the Windows XP operating systems embedded in the devices.
Experts determined that the threat group targets servers storing corporate financial data, customer data and other sensitive information. A second payload downloaded by the malware then establishes a sophisticated C&C on the company's finance servers, enabling the attackers to exfiltrate the information they're after. The malware used by the Zombie Zero attackers is highly sophisticated and polymorphic, the researchers said. In one attack they observed, 16 of the 48 scanners used by the victim were infected, and the malware managed to penetrate the targeted organization's defenses and gain access to servers on the corporate network. Interestingly, the C&C is located at the Lanxiang Vocational School, an educational institution said to be involved in the Operation Aurora attacks against Google, and which is physically located only one block away from the scanner manufacturer, TrapX said.
Experts determined that the threat group targets servers storing corporate financial data, customer data and other sensitive information. A second payload downloaded by the malware then establishes a sophisticated C&C on the company's finance servers, enabling the attackers to exfiltrate the information they're after. The malware used by the Zombie Zero attackers is highly sophisticated and polymorphic, the researchers said. In one attack they observed, 16 of the 48 scanners used by the victim were infected, and the malware managed to penetrate the targeted organization's defenses and gain access to servers on the corporate network. Interestingly, the C&C is located at the Lanxiang Vocational School, an educational institution said to be involved in the Operation Aurora attacks against Google, and which is physically located only one block away from the scanner manufacturer, TrapX said.
The Chinese manufacturer installs the malware on the Windows XP operating systems embedded in the devices.
China-based threat actors are using sophisticated malware installed on handheld scanners to target shipping and logistics organizations from all over the world [...] The Chinese manufacturer installs the malware on the Windows XP operating systems embedded in the devices.
Okay... first, is a "China-based threat actor" anything like a Chinese hacker? Or are we talking about thespians who specialize in instilling apprehension and dread, while standing on top of dinnerware? Because these are two different things.
Also... Windows XP?!? There's the problem right there. Why in the name of Bob does someone have Windows EMBEDDED in a scanner? You need a GUI to make something go "BEEP"?!? Seriously? Next you'll say that your vacuum cleaner has Windows XP embedded. Hey, look, here's a Windows XP embedded PENCIL! This new eraser I just bought... Windows 8! Yeah!
Check for uncanny puts and calls on the market before earnings reports come out that can be traced to related parties...
Don't buy stuff from China. It built with the bones of children AND it contains malware.
In 3 months when absolutely nothing has been done to identify or punish the people responsable for this:
Look! NSA Spy on you! Snowden nice guy, spend time in Hong kong running from US Government. This, little problem, everyone forget soon!
Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
This was most likely done way before Windows XP was EOL, so blaming it on that isn't right. The big problem is that embedded software usually is closed source, hardly ever edited and almost never gets updated unless there are obvious bugs that limit functionality of the device.
Really we are just seeing a failure in widely used proprietary software.
Obscure proprietary software is less of a problem because hackers are less likely to attack it.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
That China has always been our best friend. It was Frederick of Pinchfield who masterminded Operation Aurora and all the handheld scanner attacks.
If the summary is at all accurate, the manufacture built both the hardware and the software. So blaming the OS is silly. This is a case where any OS could be used, even a custom one, and they would add the spying functionality as they were building it. The real issue is buying hardware systems from unethical folks, no OS hardening in the world will help you when the manufacture controls it.
If China doesn't improve their stand on ethics, they will be relegated to building bath toys and partial systems where their leaks and theft aren't super critical. If they hope to join the rest of the developed world, they need to get their shit together.
embedded systems get less OS updates / fail behind on patching so any os can be at risk.
Also does that Linux system hook into exchange / AD? Your DB? Ect?
[citation needed]
Seriously, if you've got evidence of this, post it. Name names.
Making vague "infected EFI" comments is utterly unhelpful.
No, not "good work". And we're not going to fire any missiles at China.
The article essentially told us absolutely nothing useful.
I don't give a crap where the command and control for the malware is.
I need to know who the manufacturer is, what brands that manufacturer produces, and what specific products we're talking about.
And that's exactly what the rest of you need to know as well, because at least some of us need to know what scanners we need to find and toss in a bin. And we need to know what to look for on the backend systems that have apparently been affected so we can clean them and lock them down.
Lanxiang Vocational School (no idea if that's the right one, or, after looking at the map, if there are any scanner manufacturers in the area) is not someplace I've ever heard of before, and I don't see any obvious factories on that map.
Horrible FUD article.
I agree with you on the 'nothing useful' point. The linked pdf in the post was nothing more than 'Look at this serious threat' on the first page, and how wonderful the virus detection company's product was on the rest.
V for Vendetta: People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.
Ethics are only a problem for people that are well fed and comfortable. Just saying.
Would you steal bread from the wealthy decadent neighbor if your family was starving? Would it be more ethical to let your children starve?
Contrived example, I know. But as wealth inequality gets worse, so too do these issues. If your standard of living is 2 orders of magnitude better, I'm pretty sure the people living in poverty will all heave a great sigh of pity at this injustice to your stock portfolio.
Seriously? Bath toys? Underestimating China might just be the last thing the American Empire ever does.
American government officials: It's wrong for the Chinese government to engage in mass surveillance Chinese government officials It's wrong for the American government to engage in mass surveillance. Principled people with actual ethics: It's wrong for *any* government to engage in mass surveillance.
funny how all those "Chinese hackers" who are so dumb that don't even know how to use a simple proxy to hide their IP addresses coincidentally began appearing at about the same time the US government decided China and Russia will be the new enemy. And now that China has stopped buying US treasure bonds I bet we will be hearing about new "Chinese hackers" every single day. coincidentally, NATO wants to do a conventional warfare against hackers, too. Whatta coincidence indeedy
What the hell is a "threat actor"?
Why use jargon when "criminal" is a perfectly good word? And if this is a specific type of criminal, say a terrorist or a thief or the intelligence apparatus of a foreign country, then there are very descriptive and precise words for those as well. If it's corporate espionage, then "crook" works well, too.
Why do people who use technology feel the need to create neologisms for the most mundane things? Just the other day, I saw someone from a news web site refer to an "article" as an "explainer cardstack". I'm not shitting you. I immediately took that news source out of my RSS feed because if they're that dedicated to lexical obfuscation, I don't trust anything they write.
English motherfucker. Do you speak it?
You are welcome on my lawn.
A bad choice, obviously: it's not compatible with a WinXP pencil!