Month: July 2014

Cisco Systems – Spying Systems

July 18, 2014 — Leave a comment

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This is what happens when you leave an open door for the politics in the cyber space. The Chinese have become extremely spying sensitive and let us admit it even paranoid about this one. First, we had a situation with an iPhone, which was to blame for the tracking jeopardy completely unacceptable for the Chinese.

Now, the blacklist in China is very likely to include an additional name from the USA. The Cisco Systems are accused for supporting the US funded and organized spying activities. As expected, the Cisco Systems have denied it all, but the damage was already done. In the meantime, even Microsoft had some tough times.

Google has to play according to Chinese rules. Windows is no longer welcome on government’s computers. Apple is suspicious. Cisco is unreliable. It seems that Made In China definitely does not go hand in hand with the Made in the USA. Is there a solution for this serious problem?

Well, if the USA players want a piece of a billion market pie in China, they will have to play according to the Chinese rules with no exceptions or excuses. China can certainly afford it. One serious rumor has it that China has an infrastructure to launch a completely independent Internet on its own, any time they want. Enough said. Right?

Dragonfly Make You Cry

July 18, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Here is something you do not see very often in the world of cybercrime. The Dragonfly is a highly skilled and specialized hacking group, which targets specifically energy related IT infrastructure. According to one of the rumors Russia stands behind this group in both staff and logistics. This is how the Dragonfly got one more name.

The Energy Bear is its other name. You know how it goes, don’t you? The bear is an obvious association for Russia itself. And, the energy is for all the energy facilities under a direct threat of this group. It is worth mentioning that these Russian hackers target exclusively EU and USA based or related energy related companies.

Are they exaggerating? Are they sure these are Russian guys on the run? For what is worth, someone is causing so many troubles to the energy focused corporations. The Energy Bear has very powerful malware claws, that is for sure. On the other hand, after the recent events in Ukraine the energy sustainability is of the greatest importance for the Western Hemisphere.

Let us face it. The war is on. You can call it the continuation of the cold war. It has all the elements of an unprecedented energy conflict. Nowadays, the hackers are wearing government suits or even worse military uniforms. Cyber war is a reality more than ever. There has to be an appropriate answer coming from the West.

The NSA Loves the USA

July 17, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Under some other circumstances, this title could have been used as a nice slogan or children’s song for the 4th of July. However, when you read what is to follow, you are very likely to spoil your good mood about this story. As always, Edward Snowden is to blame for your privacy worst nightmares.

It seems that the NSA has always nine of its ten eyes and all the time for the US citizens. Only one eye left is being used for the international terrorist threats. How is that possible? For what is worth, if you are an American citizen, who for some reason communicate with foreigners.

If for the purpose of this communication you use a foreign language, you qualify immediately for the NSA favorite target of the month. Sad but true, the NSA “cares” more about the potential domestic threats than the international ones. And, this is how we got to the privacy dead-end street.

It may seem as a huge contradiction, but the terrorists all over the world provide such a nice alibi and justification for the NSA’s activities on the home ground. This the trouble with the curve, which is not likely to be solved quickly or easily in the NSA case. Edward Snowden is not the person you should blame, that is for sure.

Malware On The Run

July 17, 2014 — Leave a comment

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According to the recent findings of the Anti-Phishing Group more than one third of all world’s computers could have been infected with some form of malware by now. Who or what is responsible for this unprecedented malware explosion? Well, the things have changed immensely in the meantime.

Not so long ago you had only one virus, which attacked thousand computers. Nowadays, you thousands and thousands of completely different types of viruses, which attack only one computer. This was a rather simplified illustration of the problem, but very nice one for you to get the right picture.

Here is one more thing to contribute strongly to the dawn of the malware rule. The catch is to do your thing without being detected in the first place. Compared to the “traditional” viruses the modern day malware may cause less damage, but they are extremely hard to be detected by the anti-virus programs.

So, what can we do about it? There is a good news in this endless pessimistic sea filled with trouble. The modern day malware always knocks at your device’s door. This way or another you take part in your own IT doom, if you are not careful enough. Think about it.

Bank Fraudsters World Cup

July 15, 2014 — Leave a comment

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It seems that the German football team was not the only trouble to hit the Brazilians this summer. While they were watching their national team’s unparalleled embarrassment, there were some busy little bees with no interest in football at all. So, what happened?

Well, the most popular online banking system in Brazil called Boleto Bancario suffered a serious damage as a result of a malware doings. Unfortunately, the hackers picked up the moment of the greatest possible vulnerability. Yes, they were working like crazy during a match between Brazil and Germany.

As a result Brazilians lost a little bit of their national pride, and a lot of their money. Now, they have to fight back the ugly memories and unwanted financial losses. Could all of these been prevented in the first place? Well, you can eliminate a threat, but you can certainly diminish it.

Can we predict something like this? Absolutely, you do not have to be a rocket scientist to expect that major events attract major security threats with a magnetic force. Someone has to be always on a watch. If we have to watch a game, our software solutions certainly do not have to.

The Philippino Storm

July 15, 2014 — Leave a comment

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This one you have to hear. It seems that the Internet frauds are as efficient as we are willing to believe them. Yes, they are that simple and shameless, because sometimes we can be so naive that it hurts. So, here goes our story. We are talking about a group of scammers from China and Taiwan.

The Philippines were their base of operations, but they were targeting their countrymen in this case. The funny or sad part of this story is that they were able to convince their victims that the bank accounts used, were under a tremendous jeopardy.  What happened next?

Believe it or not, these poor people bought their story that the safest way for them to save the money was to transfer to this group. Maybe, you do not have to be a rocket scientist to learn some hacking 101. But, to be able to convince people about this one is really a magical manipulation.

So, why did they choose to operate from the Philippines? Well, someone told them that there they will be safe from prosecution there. It was their turn to be ridiculously naive. What is the moral of this story? Do not worry about hackers do your best to detect liars on time.

Emergency Surveillance Laws. Invisible Claws.

July 14, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Is not this a crazy world we live in? In the USA the Supreme Court orders the police to keep their hands away from your smartphone. On the other side of the ocean, the UK lawmakers are busy little bees. In a blink of an eye, they have passed some important data surveillance laws.

The bloody attacks in London were the very trigger for the UK security plans. It has not been an easy thing to make telecommunication companies and Internet providers to keep a record of data for as long as it may be necessary for the police. And, now you have it the main boxing event privacy vs security.

Security and police officers in the UK can access your phone data and Internet records more easily. And, there is not too much you can do about it. To make things even worse this story is the stubbornness of both parties. Both privacy and security protectors feel strong about their causes.

And yes, they want more authority. What does it mean? A little bit of less warranty requirements can improve our security. We all know where this one leads, don’t we? There has to be some compromising solution, but it seems we cannot find it for the time being. Until then, stay safe and eyes open all the time.

Cyber Terror. Human Error.

July 13, 2014 — Leave a comment

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According to the recent findings of the Ponemon institute for “The State of Data Centric Security” human errors and attitudes remain to be the biggest problem for the adequate IT security. The statistical percentages in this field are simply too depressing and discouraging to handle.

Although, the companies which took part in this survey recognized the threats and even suffered from cyber-attacks, more than 60% of them missed to take a serious action about it. Really hard to believe, and almost impossible to justify. There are so many excuses to simply paralyze all your efforts instantaneously.

We do not have enough qualified personnel. Our budget is limited. Other projects are our priority right now. We do not have time to do it right now. Do these excuses sound.familiar to you? What kind of a catastrophic damage we have to suffer from in order to come to our senses?

We can create a state of the art security solution all in vain. What is the use, if there is no one to use it properly or on time? Unfortunately, a human error still remains to be cyber-cryme’s most helpful ally. What do we have to do to change all of that? Think about it. Will you?

Are You Talking To My Smartphone?

July 12, 2014 — Leave a comment

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This is how it should be done. No warrant – no smartphone. According to the Supreme Court’s decision police will not longer be able to examine the very content of your smartphone without a proper warrant. Well, it is about time. This news is much more serious than you might have thought.

Here is a name of case, which started an entire avalanche in this story, Riley v. California. The person from this case with a name Riley got himself convicted for a murder based on the evidences found by the police in his smartphone. The Supreme Court Judges were prety much determined about this one.

For them modern smartphones were much more than one additional gadget at our disposal. They have a greater legal potential in terms of evidences compared to your wallet or purse, for instance. No one can enter your home without a warrant, and no one can examine your smartphone without a warrant.

This is quite an unexpected, but extremely important recognition, which will definitely shake things a little bit. Police will from now on think twice once they get their hands on your smartphone this way or another. We have just won a battle in an endless war for our privacy.

Public Enemy No.1

July 12, 2014 — Leave a comment

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It is official. iPhone is the Chinese public enemy No. 1. Why? Well, for Chinese its tracking and location feature is extremely problematic, and as it seems unacceptable. Frequent Locations is the name of this feature, and the national security is the primary concern in this matter.

The Chinese are worried that this tracking option can reveal some serious and sensitive information of the greatest priority for their national security, including the entire national economy?! To successfully track one billion people in China?! How many of them can afford an iPhone in the first place?

Or, maybe the Chinese are emotionally compromised in this matter. It is not a secret that the NSA-phobia is more than present in China. On the other side, there are constant complaints about the quality of technical support for Apple’s products in China. How to comment and interpret all of these.

Perhaps, the Chinese should find some better way to send a message that Apple is definitely not welcome there. Really confusing and tense, indeed. It is left to be seen what will be Apple’s official reaction about this one. It is hard to say to the biggest market on the planet: you are wrong.