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Safer Net Surfing

by NIST When you type www.irs.gov—or the Web address of your bank or an e-commerce site—into your web browser, you want to be sure that no one is hijacking your request and sending you to a bogus look-alike page. You’re relying on the integrity of the Internet’s “phone book,” the Domain Name System (DNS). Computer [...]

Tracking GhostNet: Investigating a Cyber Espionage Network

This report documents the GhostNet – a suspected cyber espionage network of over 1,295 infected computers in 103 countries, 30% of which are high-value targets, including ministries of foreign affairs, embassies, international organizations, news media, and NGOs. The capabilities of GhostNet are far-reaching. The report reveals that Tibetan computer systems were compromised giving attackers access [...]

Conficker Worm Targets Microsoft Windows Systems

US-CERT is aware of public reports indicating a widespread infection of the Conficker worm, which can infect a Microsoft Windows system from a thumb drive, a network share, or directly across the network if the host is not patched with MS08-067. The presence of a Conficker infection may be detected if a user is unable [...]

Java Security Vulnerabilities

Sun Releases Updates for Java SE added March 26, 2009 at 08:54 am Sun has released updates for Java SE to address multiple vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities may allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code, cause a denial-of-service condition, or operate with escalated privileges. US-CERT encourages users to review the Sun Java SE 6 Update Release [...]

Microsoft Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities

Source: US-CERT As part of the Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for March 2009, Microsoft released updates to address vulnerabilities that affect Microsoft Windows and Windows Server. A remote, unauthenticated attacker could gain elevated privileges, poison the DNS cache, execute arbitrary code, or cause a vulnerable application to crash. Solution Microsoft has provided updates for these [...]

Is Your Computer Part of a Zombie Army?

(NAPS) — Hackers and spammers may be using your computer right now. They invade secretly and hide software to get access to the information on your computer, including your e-mail program. Once on your computer, they can spy on your Internet surfing, steal your personal information and use your computer to send spam to other [...]

Waledac Trojan Horse Spam Campaign Circulating

US-CERT is aware of public reports of malicious code circulating via spam email messages related to bogus terror attacks in the recipient’s local area. These messages use subject lines implying that a fatal bomb attack has occurred near the recipient and contain a link to “breaking news.” Users who click on the link will be [...]

Next World Cyber-security Contest

Next World Cyber-security Contest Launched by FIRST, CERT Coordination Center Pittsburgh, PA, February, 25 2009 – The second international competition honoring best practices and advances in safeguarding the security of computer systems and networks was announced today by FIRST (the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams) and the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute CERT [...]

New Variant of Conficker/Downadup Worm Circulating

US-CERT is aware of public reports concerning a new variant of the Conficker/Downadup worm, named Conficker B++. This variant propagates itself via multiple methods, including exploitation of the previously patched vulnerability addressed in MS08-067, password guessing, and the infection of removable media. Most significantly, Conficker B++ implements a new backdoor with “auto-update” functionality, allowing machines [...]

Active Exploitation of Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 Vulnerability

US-CERT is aware of a public report indicating active exploitation of a previously patched vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer 7. This vulnerability was addressed in Microsoft Security Advisory MS09-002. Additional information is available in US-CERT Technical Cyber Security Alert TA09-041A. US-CERT encourages users to apply the update or workarounds as specified in Microsoft Security Advisory [...]