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Hacker's Account of How He Took Down Hacking Team's Servers (softpedia.com)
An anonymous reader writes: FinFisher, the hacker that broke into Italian firm Hacking Team, has published a step-by-step account of how he carried out the attacks, what tools he used, and what he learned from scouting HackingTeam's network. Published on PasteBin, the attack's timeline reveals he entered their network through a zero-day exploit in an (unnamed) embedded device, accessed a MongoDB database that had no password, discovered backups in the database, found a BES admin password in the backups, and eventually got admin access to the Windows Domain Server. From here, it was easy to reach into their email server and steal all the company's emails, and later access Git repos and steal the source code of their surveillance software.
sigh, MongoDB.
On install
1. no authentication, no passwords
2. default read access to everything for any user
3. no granularity.
4. data sent in the clear
5. no encryption
6. binds to all available interfaces
It's like we've learned nothing
I read the whole account, and although I by no means understood everything, it was a fascinating read.
It appears that almost any route into a system will lead to more exploitable routes, and those lead to even more, and so on, until you're basically free to roam at will, read and change key files, install all the backdoors you like, and so on. He basically ended up with an embarrassment of riches, so to speak, with as much (or likely more) access than all of the legit admins combined.
It would appear that truly locking down a large, complex network is next to impossible- there are so many moving parts and so many places to prod and poke that sooner or later, someone will find that one little vulnerability that opens the door.
It's hard not to admire someone with skills and the persistence it took to do this.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
sigh, MongoDB.
On install
1. no authentication, no passwords
2. default read access to everything for any user
3. no granularity.
4. data sent in the clear
5. no encryption
6. binds to all available interfaces
If I didn't know better (and I don't) it would seem that one of MongoDB's design goals was "easy to hack right out of the box".
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
It's likely that the same person who took down FinFisher took down HT. Maybe he adopted the name FinFisher as a badge of honor? Here's an example of his previous writing. http://0x27.me/HackBack/0x00.t...
100 REM PISS OFF CODE FASCISTS 200 GOTO 100
When you client list is oriented towards repressive regimes that suppress dissent using tactics like torture and murder, it's not just "These guys just sell the software, they don't use it". It's like knowingly selling blood diamonds. There is no plausible deniability. The business model is based on violence and killing.
They are in the same category as drug cartels or the pirates of West Africa. The only difference is that Hacking Team has a veneer of legitimacy, and they also sell to first world countries like the US and Germany. Frankly I expect that "legitimate" governments abuse this software to engage in illegal acts both at home and all over the world.
Pulling the "shades of grey" argument in this case is utter bullshit. We know who they are, we know what they do, and we know who they work for. They have chosen to work for some of the worst governments on the planet. They have no excuse.
And if you had any doubts about the political motivation of Hacking Team, the emails revealed
Vincenzetti, the CEO, liked to end his emails with the fascist slogan "boia chi molla".
That translates as "death to traitors".
Why is Snark Required?