{"id":3646,"date":"2013-10-01T12:30:49","date_gmt":"2013-10-01T16:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=3646"},"modified":"2013-10-01T12:30:49","modified_gmt":"2013-10-01T16:30:49","slug":"java-called-favorite-target-for-hack-attacks-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2013\/10\/01\/java-called-favorite-target-for-hack-attacks-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Java called favorite target for hack attacks this year"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Java was the most targeted development platform for exploit attacks during the first half of the year, and attacks have increasingly shifted to zero-day vulnerabilities, according to F-Secure’s new threat report.
\n“Of the top five most targeted vulnerabilities, four are found in the Java development, either the Runtime Environment (JRE) or the browser plug-in,” according to the report, based on information about attacks detected through F-Secure’s sensors and telemetry systems. The company notes that it’s not surprising Java is an appealing target since “next to the Windows operating system (also a popular target for exploits), Java is probably the second most ubiquitous program in an organization’s IT setup.”
\nAnalysis of attacks shows the top five exploited vulnerabilities accounting for 95 percent of all attacks, with the U.S. the geographic location most targeted. F-Secure estimates 78 out of every 1000 users in the U.S. saw a detection identifying an exploit of a specific vulnerability in the last six months. Germany also saw a fairly high number of attacks with about 60 out of 1000 users hit within the same time frame.
\n“Unfortunately, removing either the runtime or plug-in may not be a feasible option for companies that use Java in business-critical instances,” the F-Secure report points out. Defense and mitigation strategies might involve something more complicated than uninstalling a program, such as “some combination of tweaking Java’s security settings, configuring web browser settings to minimize unwanted applet execution (or installing other third-party plug-ins to do so) and monitoring network traffic.”
\nF-Secure says 70 percent of the exploit-related attacks are carried out by means of five kits: BlackHole, SweetOrange, Crimeboss, Styx, and Cool. All of these remain under active development.
\nAnother security threat to be reckoned with in the first half of 2013: Mac malware. F-Secure reports it saw the “first Mac malware signed with a valid Apple Developer ID,” an ominous event because this allowed the malware to bypass Apple’s first line of defense. After independent researcher Jacob Appelbaum identified the malware, Apple was swift in revoking the misused developer ID attributed to “Rajinder Kumar” (hence this malware has been dubbed “Kumar in the Mac”).
\nWhile this is noteworthy, malware targeting Android continued to dominate mobile threats in the first half of the year, according to the report. Of interest is the discovery of Android malware dubbed Stels, which is designed for distribution via spam e-mails and a bot that uses Twitter to update its command-and-control server addresses.
\nBitcoin draws cybercrooks
\nThe rise of Bitcoin as a crypto-based computer-based digital currency is also luring the online criminal underworld as a money-making option, F-secure says.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Bitcoin is not linked to any existing currency, but it does have value based on what people think it’s worth for use in instant transactions, notes Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure Labs. “Today, there are massively large networks of computers mining Bitcoins and other competing crypto currencies (such as Litecoin),” Hypponen says in the report. Because at least six members of the peer-to-peer network have to confirm Bitcoin transactions before they go through, the Bitcoin system rewards users participating in this needed mining with Bitcoins.
\n“The basic idea behind mining is easy enough: if you have powerful computers, you can make money,” Hypponen says, but adds, “unfortunately, those computers don’t have to be your computers.”
\nIn analyzing malware, F-Secure has found that infected computers taken over by cybercrimals can also be commandeered to make Bitcoins, and that’s what has happened in some instances.
\nThere has been a rise in the first half of the year in several types of malware targeting Bitcoin, and a botnet based on the ZeroAccess family of malware includes a powerful rootkit to hide its presence. F-Secure has spotted a large ZeroAccess botnet operator running a Bitcoin mining operation with various plug-ins on infected PCs. “We estimate them to be make over $50,000 a day by mining Bitcoins on infected computers,” Hypponen says. “If such operations are already happening today, it’s easy to see that mining botnets will become very popular for online criminals in the future.”
\nvia Java called favorite target for hack attacks this year | PCWorld<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Java was the most targeted development platform for exploit attacks during the first half of the year, and attacks have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7,9],"tags":[341,583,1177],"class_list":["post-3646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-security","category-software","tag-exploit","tag-java","tag-vulnerabilities"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-WO","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5980,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/07\/15\/future-java-7-security-patches-will-work-on-windows-xp-despite-end-of-official-support\/","url_meta":{"origin":3646,"position":0},"title":"Future Java 7 security patches will work on Windows XP despite end of official support","author":"NCCT","date":"July 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Oracle has dispelled rumors that the upcoming security update for Java 7 and those it will release in the future might not work on Windows XP. \u201cWe expect all versions of Java that were supported prior to the Microsoft de-support announcement to continue to work on Windows XP for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Security"","block_context":{"text":"Security","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/security\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7766,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2015\/03\/10\/playing-minecraft-no-longer-makes-your-pc-a-juicy-target-for-hackers\/","url_meta":{"origin":3646,"position":1},"title":"Playing Minecraft no longer makes your PC a juicy target for hackers","author":"NCCT","date":"March 10, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The folks at Microsoft-owned Mojang just gave PC users one more reason to uninstall Java from their systems. The Minecraft launcher for PC now installs and manages its own instance of Oracle\u2019s software. The version of Java the new Minecraft launcher uses is contained within the game\u2019s directory\u2014meaning you no\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Security"","block_context":{"text":"Security","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/security\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8738,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2015\/11\/09\/surprise-adobes-flash-is-a-favorite-hacking-target-by-far\/","url_meta":{"origin":3646,"position":2},"title":"Surprise: Adobe’s Flash is a favorite hacking target by far","author":"NCCT","date":"November 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Jeremy Kirk | PCWorld Adobe Systems\u2019 Flash plugin gets no love from anyone in the security field these days. A new study released Monday shows just how much it is favored by cybercriminals to sneak their malware onto computers.It looked at more than 100 exploit kits, which are frameworks planted\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Security"","block_context":{"text":"Security","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/security\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5916,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/07\/08\/attack-on-dailymotion-redirected-visitors-to-exploits\/","url_meta":{"origin":3646,"position":3},"title":"Attack on Dailymotion redirected visitors to exploits","author":"NCCT","date":"July 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Attackers injected malicious code into Dailymotion.com, a popular video sharing website, and redirected visitors to Web-based exploits that installed malware. The rogue code consisted of an iframe that appeared on Dailymotion on June 28, researchers from security vendor Symantec said Thursday in a blog post. The iframe redirected browsers to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Security"","block_context":{"text":"Security","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/security\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5710,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/06\/10\/microsoft-pushes-out-massive-security-update-for-internet-explorer\/","url_meta":{"origin":3646,"position":4},"title":"Microsoft pushes out massive security update for Internet Explorer","author":"NCCT","date":"June 10, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Microsoft pushes out massive security update for Internet Explorer Six down, six to go. Today is the Microsoft Patch Tuesday for June, and it comes with seven new security bulletins. The good news is that five of the seven are only rated as Important, but one of the two Critical\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Microsoft"","block_context":{"text":"Microsoft","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/microsoft\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8465,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2015\/07\/13\/hacking-teams-arsenal-included-at-least-three-unpatched-exploits-for-flash-player\/","url_meta":{"origin":3646,"position":5},"title":"Hacking Team’s arsenal included at least three unpatched exploits for Flash Player","author":"NCCT","date":"July 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently breached surveillance software maker, Hacking Team, had access to three different exploits for previously unknown vulnerabilities in Flash Player. All of them are now out in the open, putting Internet users at risk. Milan-based Hacking Team develops and sells surveillance software to government agencies from around the world. On\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Security"","block_context":{"text":"Security","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/security\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3646\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}