Summing it up...

Here we are, finals week. This will be my last post for this class.

Over the last 10 weeks I have posted on many things but the overall theme seems to be regarding security flaws and malware attacks, including DDoS. For the most part, I chose topics that have or could easily affect myself or my friends. I did this because it is easier to write about what you know and I needed all the help I could get since I despise blogging/writing.

To find my topics I used several InfoSec news sites including Ars Technica, C|net, and ZDnet. For the most part I would look at the SANS ISC InfoSec News Feed and see if a headline caught my eye. I would then read the article and blog my opinion about it. I would usually insert some snark as well. There can never be too much snark.

Overall I am not sure if something like this blog would be useful to others. Maybe if the blogger was someone that is actively working in the industry and can report about specific cases and tips/tricks. But for me it would be just as easy to read the articles. If you are interested in creating your own blog I can only suggest to choose what you enjoy. If that means to focus solely on malware attacks, so be it. Just find what you are comfortable with and let the words flow. I let me dislike for what I was doing make this way more of a chore than it needed to be.

How to scare a gamer to death...

TeslaCrypt...that one word can scare gamers and mediaphiles to death. A relatively new threat, seen first in late February, is ransomware and can encrypt a large amount of file types, including those associated with popular video games. The malware is distributed through a compromised WordPress website setup to redirect visitors to a page hosting the Angler exploit kit.

Once it infects a system, the malware informs victims that their photos, videos and documents have been encrypted. Unlike other ransomware, TeslaCrypt also encrypts files associated with video games, including Call of Duty, Diablo, Fallout, Minecraft, Warcraft, F.E.A.R, Assassin’s Creed, Resident Evil, World of Warcraft, League of Legends, and World of Tanks.

In addition to profile data, saved games, mods, and maps, the ransomware encrypts files associated with Steam and game development software such as Unity3D, Unreal Engine, and RPG Maker. The malware targets a total of 185 file extensions, including iTunes-related files.

To be free of this victims are given a "free decryption" button. When the button is clicked users are taken to a site where they can pay 1.5 Bitcoin (about $415) or pay $1,000 through PayPal.

“Bitcoin is the preferred method of payment as it is a untraceable secure method of receiving payment from you so they give you a better price of only $415. If you wish to use payment systems like PayPal My Cash Card, then the price increases to $1000 (this is because they lose a percentage through the middleman). The choice is very clear that they want the hefty discount to sway you into using bitcoin as payment,” Webroot researchers wrote.

Overall a crappy situation. Watch  what you click on folks!

10 years later...

A security flaw has been discovered that is 10 years old that can leave users vulnerable to attack via Apple's Safari or Androids browsers. Apple is working on a fix and Android is as well but the fix has to be sent out to users via their wireless providers so who know if/when they will ever receive it.

Researchers said there was no evidence hackers had exploited the vulnerability, which they blamed on a former US policy that banned US companies from exporting the strongest encryption standards available, according to the newspaper. The restrictions were lifted in the late 1990s, but the weaker standards were already part of software used widely around the world, including the web browsers.

One would think that if this was known about 10 years ago, it would have been in the queue to fix as soon as they could...not in 2015.

 Researchers have been alerting affected government and commercial websites for a few weeks in hopes of taking corrected measures before the vulnerability was publicized, the newspaper reported. Whitehouse.gov and FBI.gov have been repaired, but NSA.gov remains vulnerable, researchers told the newspaper.

Just wanted to make sure y'all saw the last part...the NSA website remains vulnerable...LOL! How's that for a backdoor you turds.