January 2, 2013
'Expect us 2013', Anonymous Issues threat
Along with the statement, the group created a video that boasts of its campaigns and exploits carried out in 2012. The video details the group's temporary shutdown of the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI, Universal Music, and the Motion Picture Association of America's Web sites in protest of the U.S. government's indictment of the operators of popular file-hosting site MegaUpload.
The video also shows newsreels of Anonymous' campaign against Syrian government Web sites because of that government's alleged shutdown of the Internet, along with Anonymous' "cyberwar" against the Israeli government in protest of government attacks on Gaza. The group also recounts its hack into the Web site of the Westboro Baptist Church in response to plans by the controversial church to picket the funerals of those massacred at the elementary school in Newtown, Conn.
"The operations which are listed in the video are only examples, there are far more operations," Anonymous wrote in the statement. "Some of them still running, like Operation Syria. We are still here."
Despite the hacking group's threats, some believe that the collective may not actually make a big impact in the online world in the coming year. Security firm McAfee Labs released its "2013 Threat Predictions" last week and claimed the decline of Anonymous.
The firm argued that a lack of structure and organization, false claims, and hacking for the simple joy of it has affected the group's reputation. McAfee also said, however, that higher-level professional hacking groups may take up the slack, and promote a rise in military, religious, political, and "extreme" campaign attacks.
Categories:
Anonymous,
Cyber Security,
Hacking,
Politics
June 28, 2012
Which is the most popular antivirus software?
In an over-crowded antivirus software market, end and corporate users are often finding it difficult to differentiate between a value-added market proposition, next to the “me too” vendors of solutions. As in every other market segment, any scientific insight into the market share of various vendors offers an invaluable perspective into the market dynamics, what are customers purchasing, and most importantly, are they living in a world of ‘false feeling of security’.
Using a data set consisting of 120,000 data points, researchers from OPSWAT recently released an informative overview of the antivirus market, answering an important question - which is the most popular antivirus vendor?
According to their findings, that’s avast! Free Antivirus, followed by Microsoft Security Essentials and ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
Detailed market share statistics:
Avast - 17.4% worldwide market share
Microsoft - 13.2% worldwide market share
ESET - 11.1% worldwide market share
Symantec - 10.3% worldwide market share
AVG - 10.1% worldwide market share
Avira - 9.6% worldwide market share
Kaspersky - 6.7% worldwide market share
McAfee - 4.9% worldwide market share
Panda - 2.9% worldwide market share
Trend Micro - 2.8% worldwide market share
Other - 11.1% worldwide market share
Microsoft is the market leader in North America, followed by Symantec and AVG. Not surprisingly, the market leading avast! Free Antivirus is relying on the so called “freemium” business model, where the company grows and gains market share by offering a free alternative of their software, and earns revenue thanks to the successful conversion of free users to paid ones. Earlier this year, the company announced that it has 150 million active users worldwide, a clear indication of a working “freemium” business model.
What do you think? Is antivirus software still relevant in the age of Stuxnet, Duqu and Flame, the so called poster kids of the DIY targeted attack toolkits and weaponized malware releases? Do think free antivirus is offering a ‘false feeling of security’ compared to subscription based license models?
September 19, 2011
Japan's biggest defence contractor hit by hackers
The firm said that the attack resulted in the infection of 10 of its sites across Japan, including its submarine manufacturing plant in Kobe and a facility in Nagoya which makes engine parts for missiles. In total 45 network servers and 38 PCs became infected with eight strains of malware, including Trojan horse programs.
News of the security breaches emerged over the weekend. Mitsubishi said the circumstances of the intrusions – first detected in mid-August – are under investigation, with a report due by the end of the month. In the mean time the firm is playing down suggestions that the malware may have been used to successfully extract industrial secrets via compromised systems.
A Mitsubishi spokesperson said "We've found out that some system information such as IP addresses has been leaked and that's creepy enough.Attacks against defence contractors have appeared frequently in the news of late. Earlier this year Lockheed Martin and L-3 Communications said they had each come under attack via an assault that relied on data stolen during the earlier RSA megahack.
"We can't rule out small possibilities of further information leakage but so far crucial data about our products or technologies has been kept safe," he added.
Presumed industrial espionage attacks against defence contractors and energy firms are often blamed on China, an accusation that the country strongly denies. Evidence that China is involved tends to come in the form of the origin of the attack (easily faked using a compromised system in China) or regional quirks and the languages used in hostile code (harder to spoof but still inconclusive).
Categories:
Cyber Security,
Defense Contractor,
Hacking,
Mitsubishi
August 8, 2011
DefCon: The World’s Largest Hackers Conference
Hackers compete in a digital capture the flag game at the DefCon conference
There are so many ways to get hacked at the world’s largest hacker conference.
A hacker could bump against your pocket with a card reader that steals your credit card information. Or a hacker might eavesdrop on your Internet traffic through an unsecured Wi-Fi network. Or a hacker might compromise your cell phone while you charge it in the hotel’s public phone-charging kiosk.
The Internet connection here has been dubbed "the world’s most hostile network." You might want to avoid the A.T.M.'s, too.
Welcome to DefCon, where thousands of the world's best code crackers gather each year to discuss the latest hacking techniques -- then occasionally try them out on each other.
More than 10,000 hackers and security experts have descended upon the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas this weekend for three days of lectures and contests.
Admission to DefCon, now in its 19th year, is $150, far less than Black Hat, a cybersecurity conference held earlier this week at nearby Caesar’s Palace that cost around $1,500.
At both conferences, hackers can make a name for themselves by demonstrating how they found security flaws in technology that most observers would consider well-protected or harmless.
At DefCon this year, there are presentations on how to hack office printers, wireless water meters, smart phones, laptop batteries and the network used at correctional facilities to open and close prison doors.
For the paranoid, there is a presentation on how to destroy data if you're "convinced that the black helicopters are incoming and ruthless feds are determined to steal your plans for world domination," according to the conference program.
The conference also offers more than 50 games and contests to challenge hackers. In one room, techno music thumps over loud speakers as teams of hackers hunched over laptops try to steal files from each other in a game called "Capture the Flag."
Another game gives contestants five minutes to hack into a voting machine. Yet another contest, called "Crack Me If You Can," challenges teams to crack as many passwords as possible in 48 hours; the winner gets $600.
Some DefCon attendees complained Friday on Twitter that A.T.M.'s inside the convention hotel were out of service. To some, this was no surprise. After all, hacker Barnaby Jack demonstrated at Black Hat last year how to hack into an A.T.M. Two years ago, a malicious A.T.M. was placed at DefCon and stole data from conference attendees before it was detected.
Some companies see the hacker conference as a place to scout for new talent. In June, Facebook hired George Hotz, the young hacker who gained notoriety in 2007 for "jailbreaking" Apple's iPhone, getting around the phone's software controls.
Companies exposed for weak security are not the only ones being embarrassed at DefCon. If a conference attendee logs on to her email account, for example, using an unsecured wireless network, her username and password are posted on an electronic board known as the "Wall of Sheep."
Brian Markus, chief executive of Aries Security, said his company runs the "Wall of Sheep" to teach a lesson on Internet security. He compared using unsecured networks to the free-love ethic of the 1960s and 1970s when many people had unprotected sex.
"Today, everybody is connected and they need to go out and get protection because the environment has changed," Markus said.
Most DefCon attendees are particularly cautious about security, going so far as to use only their online nicknames at the conference. Many attendees are young, wear dark clothes and sport a wide range of hairstyles -- including mohawks -- with enough hair colors represented to match a Crayola box.
Not everyone here is a hacker, though. Employees of federal agencies also attend, giving panel discussions and inspiring a traditional game among hackers at DefCon called “Spot the Fed.”
Friday's program included a beer-chilling contest, where contestants competed to cool beer that had been sitting in the hot desert sun. Two participants, Chris McMinn and Chris Lopez, built an 11-foot-long contraption from aluminum and steel pipes that they said cools beer from 90 degrees to 40 degrees in four seconds.
They did not win the contest, but they didn't seem to care.
"We did it more for the glory," Lopez said. "All of our science teachers would be very proud."
McMinn added: "Where else would you chill beer for sport?"
Categories:
Black Hat Conference,
Cyber Crime,
Cyber Security,
Defcon 19,
Hackers,
Hacking
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