37 replies to this topic

[AplusWebMaster]

Warning: We strongly suggest that readers NOT visit websites mentioned as being behind the attacks discussed. They should be considered dangerous and capable of infecting your system.

- http://www.securewor...s/danmecasprox/
May 13, 2008 - Author: Joe Stewart - "Danmec is a password-stealing trojan which has been around for a couple of years, but in the last year new components have been introduced by the author, turning it into a more complete crimeware family. One of these components (developed last year) is the Asprox trojan, which is designed to create a spam botnet which appears to be solely dedicated to sending phishing emails. As of yesterday, we observed the Asprox botnet pushing an update to the infected systems, a binary with the filename msscntr32 .exe. The executable is installed as a system service with the name "Microsoft Security Center Extension", but in reality it is an SQL-injection attack tool. When launched, the attack tool will search Google for .asp pages which contain various terms, and will then launch SQL injection attacks against the websites returned by the search. The attack is designed to inject an iframe into the website source which will force visitors to download a javascript file from the domain direct84 .com. This file in turn redirects to another site, where additional malicious javascript can be found. Currently the secondary site appears to be down, however it is likely that when successful, the site attempts to exploit the visitor's web browser in order to install additional copies of either Danmec, Asprox and/or the SQL attack tool... the SQL attack tool does not spread on its own, it relies on the Asprox botnet in order to propagate to new hosts. Additionally, a similar attack technique is currently being seen spreading game-password-stealing trojans from China. Whether the tool is related or just the attack syntax is shared, it is clear that SQL injection attack activity is on the rise from multiple sources..."

Edited by AplusWebMaster, 14 May 2008 - 09:25 AM.

[AplusWebMaster]

FYI...

Romanian Whack-A-Mole and Linux Bots
- http://www.f-secure....s/00001443.html
May 27, 2008 - " It doesn't always have to be the latest and greatest zero-day exploit that causes you to lose control of your computer or server to external attackers. Today's example comes in the relatively ancient form of brute force SSH.
We recently received a sample containing several different files:
- A psyBNC installation; legitimate software used by many for normal purposes, but it's also a common tool in an attacker's toolkit.
- And a collection of scripts, binaries, and password files that were used to scan for machines that have their SSH port open.
The binaries that were used maliciously in this case were connecting to a large public IRC network. We see quite many such as these, all headed for the same network even though it does have a working abuse address and the network's administrators actually do something to the botnet channels that get reported. In our experience, the botnets are most often run by various small gangs coming largely from eastern Europe; notably from Romania.
Once one of the botnet channels has been suppressed, it takes only a few hours for a new one to pop up in the same IRC network but under a different channel name.... The botnet in this case was made up of about forty infected Linux machines, and judging by their DNS Resource Records, most of them are either webservers or mail servers, which usually have a bit fatter Internet connection than you average Joe Consumer. The moral? Even unsophisticated attackers don't need the latest and greatest techniques if the target's passwords are weak."

[AplusWebMaster]

FYI...

- http://atlas.arbor.n...ummary/fastflux
"Fastflux hosting is a technique where the nodes in a botnet are used as the endpoints in a website hosting scheme. The DNS records change frequently, often every few minutes, to point to new bots. The actual nodes themselves simply proxy the request back to the central hosting location... Many different kinds of botnets use fastflux DNS techniques, for malware hosting, for illegal content hosting, for phishing site hosting, and other such activities. These hosts are likely to be infected with some form of malware. Many times a single botnet will host several different fastflux domains at once. We try to find these distinct bot networks by looking for domains whose IPs match those of other domains... Currently monitoring 551 fastflux domains..." [2008.07.02]

More SQL Injection with Fast Flux hosting
- http://isc.sans.org/...ml?storyid=4645
Last Updated: 2008-07-01 04:46:52 UTC

Fast Flux and New Domains for Storm
- http://asert.arborne...ains-for-storm/
June 28, 2008 ...updated 1 July 2008

[AplusWebMaster]

FYI...

...Asprox lying around
- http://isc.sans.org/...ml?storyid=4840
Last Updated: 2008-08-07 14:43:56 UTC - "...looking for something completely different I came across our old friend ASPROX (see previous diary from Marc: http://isc.sans.org/...ml?storyid=4645 .
It seems that a lot of the domains used by this are still or again active. Typically using fast flux. The script that is being injected tends to be ngg.js, fgg.js, b.js or js.js. This links to an IP address (still up) where a CGI script starts the road of pain.
Doing a quick search using our friend Google I ended up with 1,470,000 sites that are currently infected. Now about 591,000 or so are b.js which seems to point to inactive domains so these are unlikely to do damage. The rest is a mixture of active and inactive links. The high number of infected sites points to a couple of issues.
1. Sites are compromised and nobody notices
2. Sites that are infected are not cleaned up.
Now the number of infected sites is high, but the sky is not falling. However if you have a spare few minutes do the following Google search replacing yoursite with your domain, e.g. sans.org (just cut and paste the whole search).
site:yoursite "script src=http://*/""ngg.js"|"js.js"|"b.js"
If the search returns results, you have some cleaning to do.
I did a quick breakdown of infected sites:
.gov - 238 .com - 474K
.gov.au - 927 .org - 79.9K
.gov.uk - 2,930 .com.au - 19.5K
.gov.cn - 34K .co.uk - 19.3K
.gov.za - 424 .ca - 13.1K
.gov.br - 263
I'll let you know next week if things are getting better or worse."

- http://www.theregist...ew_sql_attacks/
7 August 2008 - "...Given the prevalence of pages from supposedly reputable organizations that threaten their users, Firefox using the NoScript* extension is an effective, but by no means perfect, measure to insulate yourself against these attacks."
* http://noscript.net/

Edited by AplusWebMaster, 08 August 2008 - 07:09 AM.
Added "NoScript" note...

[AplusWebMaster]

FYI...

RBN (Russian Business Network) now nationalized, invades Georgia Cyber Space
- http://rbnexploit.blogspot.com/
Sat – 2008 08 09 5:00 EST - "As requested by community relay, the following is a report on the cyber war underway in parallel with conventional warfare. Many of Georgia’s internet servers were under external control from late Thursday, Russia’s invasion of Georgia commenced on Friday. It is further requested of any blog reader the information below is further relayed to the International Press and Community to ensure awareness of this situation..."
- http://www.theregist...ttack_reloaded/
11 August 2008

- http://www.theinquir...-launch-georgia
11 August 2008

Edited by AplusWebMaster, 11 August 2008 - 11:06 AM.
Added Inquirer link...

[AplusWebMaster]

FYI...

Georgian Websites Under Attack - DDoS and Defacement
- http://www.shadowser...lendar.20080811
11 August 2008 - "... we had not seen any other C&C servers taking aim at Georgian websites... until last Friday (August 8, 2008). The date appears to coincide with military movement that has since escalated into fighting between the two countries. Since August 8 we have witnessed multiple C&C servers attacking websites that are Georgian or sympathetic to the country. Some of the first targets we saw once again involved the Georgian government. The website for the President (www.president.gov.ge) and the website for the Parliament of Georgia (www.parliament.ge) were both targeted. However, the attacks were not limited to just government websites. We have witnessed at least six different C&C servers attacking various websites that are not government sites. In some cases the various C&C servers were and still are attacking the same websites. The following websites have come under attack in the past few days:
www.president.gov.ge
www.parliament.ge
apsny.ge
news.ge
tbilisiweb.info
newsgeorgia.ru
os-inform.com
www.kasparov.ru
hacking.ge
mk.ru
newstula.info
skandaly.ru
One will notice that not all of these are Georgian websites. However, it is interesting to see that the same groups involved with targeting various Russian media outlets have also been taking aim at various Georgian websites... these attacks have expanded beyond just denial of service attacks. At the time of this writing the websites for the Georgian Pariliament has been defaced by a group claiming to be from South Ossetia. On the website the attackers have inserted a large image made up of several smaller side-by-side images of pictures of both the Georgian President and Adolf Hitler...
Edit: (08-11-2008 9:10 PM EDT): We have since removed a screen shot of the defaced page as we do not want to glorify the group behind it. At this time the page is still defaced and can be viewed. However, we would caution against visiting the site as it may still be under control of the attackers...
While this flurry of activity appears to coincide with recent events involving Russia and Georgia, we do not have solid information surrounding the who and the why. We have no reason to think the government is involved and can only speculate that it could be a grass root effort by the attackers. What is clear is that there are groups that are looking to keep Georgian websites offline."

//

[AplusWebMaster]

FYI..

- http://voices.washin...uting_your.html
August 22, 2008 - "The allure of cyber crime lies in its promise of quick riches, much like that of the illegal drug trade. But building a network of hacked personal computers that can distribute your data-stealing malicious software is a time-consuming process that requires a modicum of skill. That is, until recently, when several online services have emerged that promise to help would-be cyber crooks graduate from common street dealers to distributors overnight. Such is the aim of services like "loads.cc," which for a small fee will take whatever malware you provide and inject it into a pre-selected number of PCs already compromised and under the thumb of the service owners. Currently, loads.cc claims to have 264,552 hacked systems in more than a dozen countries that it can use as hosts for any malicious software that clients want to install. The latest details from the "statistics" page displayed for members says the service has gained some 1,679 new infectable nodes in the last two hours, and more than 33,000 over the past 24 hours... Other up-and-coming malware distribution services are trying to gain a foothold in this nascent criminal Web 2.0 industry. Loadsforyou.biz offers slightly more competitive rates, promising to stitch your malware into 10,000 hacked PCs in the U.S. for just $120... it's probably best to avoid visiting the sites named in this post, as they exist solely to orchestrate the infection of computer systems..."

[AplusWebMaster]

FYI...

Machines controlled by Botnets has quadrupled in 3 months
- http://isc.sans.org/...ml?storyid=4963
Last Updated: 2008-09-01 16:16:33 UTC = "...some of the data put out by the Shadowserver Foundation that tracks botnets. One piece of information grabbed my eye, namely that over the last 3 months, the number of infected machines quadrupled*. During the same time period, there isn't an appreciable increase in new malware, new viruses or anything that would obviously indicated why this is so. I imagine that the bad guys have gotten better about keeping machines owned, but there is one vector that we need to get much better about tracking and managing, and that's direct web-based malware. The timing, very roughly, coincides with when we started to see increase SQL injection attacks against webservers (mind you, this is an educated guess that SQL injections are a big part of this, not a statement of fact). We are very good at tracking email-based malware (including lead-the-user-to-the-bad-website variety) and certainly network based attacks. Short of spidering the web on a consistent basis, it gets difficult to find infected sites for that malware..."
* http://www.shadowser...BotCount90-Days

- http://www.shadowser...lendar.20080905
September 05, 2008

Edited by AplusWebMaster, 07 September 2008 - 05:19 AM.
Added Shadowserver link - 9.05.2008...

[AplusWebMaster]

FYI...

- http://asert.arborne...t-observations/
October 7, 2008 - "...Fast flux botnets are gathering a great deal of attention, and for good reason. Several groups have been working on similar research questions and have found similar results... Botnet herders often use fast-flux DNS techniques to host unwanted or illegal content within a botnet. These techniques change the mapping of the domain name to different bots within the botnet with constant shifting, while the bots simply relay content back to a central server. This can give the attackers additional stepping stones to thwart takedown and can obscure their true origins. Evidence suggests that more attackers are adopting fast-flux techniques, but very little data has been gathered to discover what these botnets are being used for... We found that the active lifetimes of fast-flux botnets vary from less than one day to months, domains that are used in fast-flux operations are often registered but dormant for months prior to activation, that these botnets are associated with a broad range of online fraud and crime including pharmacy sites, phishing and malware distribution, and that we can identify distinct botnets across multiple domain names..."

[AplusWebMaster]

FYI...

FTC shuts down major SPAM operation
- http://www.darkreadi...o...&print=true
October 14, 2008 - "... FTC today shuttered one of the world’s largest spamming operations. The Herbal King gang, aka Affking, is responsible for billions of spam messages selling prescription drugs and phony male-enhancement products. The spam ring sent spam messages offering generic versions of Levitra, Cialis, Propecia, Viagra, Lipitor, Celebrex, Zoloft, and other drugs, as well as an herbal “permanent” male-enhancement pill called VPXL, through hundreds of unsavory Websites, according to the FTC. The spammers pushed their spam runs via the Mega-D/Ozdok botnet and other botnets. A U.S. district court in Illinois ordered the gang to halt its spam operations and has frozen the assets of New Zealand resident Lance Atkinson and Jody Smith of Texas, as well as the four companies they run, Inet Ventures Pty Ltd., Tango Pay Inc., Click Fusion Inc., and TwoBucks Trading Limited. The FTC complaint charges that Atkinson is liable for product claims by the operation, and Smith for claims about the pharmaceutical products. The spammers falsely claimed to sell medications as a U.S. licensed pharmacy that sells FDA-approved generic drugs, but the drugs were shipped from India and are potentially unsafe, according to the FTC, which received 3 million complaints about the phony pharmaceutical operation. Herbal King was ranked as the No. 1 spammer by Spamhaus... The spammers used the Mega-D/Ozdok botnet... Mega-D is one of the largest spamming botnets, and at one time could send 10 billion spam messages a day. But even with the legal actions taken against the spammers both by the FTC and authorities in New Zealand, the botnets that pumped out the spam are still standing..."
* http://www.ftc.gov/o...erbalkings.shtm
October 14, 2008

[AplusWebMaster]

FYI...

- http://www.securewor...hreats/warezov/
10/15/08 - "...as of 2008, it appears Warezov is back in the spamming business - but operating differently this time... Warezov was historically spread via email attachments, however that activity has also largely ceased. These days, executable attachments via email are almost universally blocked. Most botnet operators have switched to installing via browser/plugin exploits or social engineering. Warezov is no different. Only a few days ago, we saw Warezov being spread through a site advertising free MP3s via download of a P2P program. No exploits were used here, just social engineering. The user has to choose to install the software, which is simply the Warezov trojan... Like many botnets, Warezov is really a payload delivery system. It can install any software the botnet operator wishes. Since the end of the stock spamming activity, Warezov has mainly served as a "fast-flux" hosting platform... Warezov accomplishes this activity by installing two components: a reverse HTTP proxy that serves the content from a hidden master server, and a DNS server which is actually a customized installation of the popular ISC BIND software compiled for Windows. Each DNS server acts as a slave which gets zone updates from the hidden master server... Regardless of what methods are in use, spam is not going away any time soon. There is clearly too much money involved in spam and as a result, botnets... Despite indictments that may exist in the U.S., there are too many obstacles, both technical and political, that make it nearly impossible to get Russian botmasters arrested..."
(Screenshots available at the URL above.)

- http://asert.arborne...on-aka-warezov/
October 17, 2008

- http://www.darkreadi...o...&print=true
October 13, 2008 - "...SecureWorks* says Srizbi remains the largest botnet, followed closely by Rustock, Ozdok, and Cutwail, which range from a minimum of 150,000 to upwards of 300,000 bots..."
* http://www.securewor...reat=topbotnets
April 8, 2008

Edited by AplusWebMaster, 25 October 2008 - 06:03 AM.

[AplusWebMaster]

FYI...

- http://www.pcworld.c.../printable.html
October 28, 2008 - "...Much like the bot software they install, SQL injection and similar Web attacks force victim sites to do their bidding. And they have a growing number of holes to target: In 2007 one security company, SecureWorks, found 59 flaws in applications that allowed for SQL injection attacks. So far in 2008, it has found 366... According to Joe Stewart, director of malware research at SecureWorks, for a would-be botnet criminal these Web exploit attacks are by far the preferred choice for distributing evil code... When IT workers and antivirus companies catch on to bot infections and clean them up, the crooks respond by infecting a new batch of PCs. "They're having to keep up these seeding campaigns to keep up their botnet size," Stewart says. Those seeding campaigns typically employ Web attacks that target outdated browser plug-ins and other vulnerable software. "Flash and RealPlayer [plug-ins] - those are the big ones," Stewart says. The attacks are often successful because it can be hard for users to know when a plug-in is old and susceptible, especially if it's so old as to predate automatic updates. The free Personal Software Inspector* (or PSI) from Secunia can make that task easier. It will scan for outdated software and also provide links to patches or updated versions..."
* http://secunia.com/v...canning/online/

[AplusWebMaster]

FYI...

Secure Computing Q3 Internet Threats Report...
- http://www.securecom...tRprt-Oct08.pdf
October 28, 2008 - Some highlights:
• Acquisition of innocent machines via email and Web-based infections continued in Q3 at about the same pace measured in Q2, with over 5,000 new zombies created every hour.
• Top Five Malware Detections in Q3 – by Prevalence
1. The infection of legitimate Web sites continues to be the main venue for the most prevalent malware outbreaks. These infections are usually induced through SQL injection attacks...
2. Following closely is a new entry among top detections: "Trojan.Hijacker.Gen," is a new generic detection name for any malware that creates backdoor access to victim computers...
3. Although detected by virtually every anti-malware product, the NetSky worm... remains high in prevalence due to zombie machines that remain infected and continue to create email traffic years later.
4. Fourth place goes to another proactive detection for any malware that uses the "FSG" runtime-packer, which continues to be in widespread use. Runtime-packers are used to quickly create new variants of a malware family and hide their malicious intent under an obfuscation layer. It should be noted that these top four malware variants account for 70% of the detected malware today.
5. Another new entry, dubbed "HIDDENEXT.Worm.Gen", also covers the "Autoruns" worm that appeared on a digg.com entry this quarter. The "Autoruns" worm spreads through removable devices, such as USB sticks and mapped network drives. See http://www.trustedso...gging-for-Worms for more information...
• Over the course of Q3 the TrustedSource reputation system was able to identify over 600 new Web sites that have been deployed and tagged with a malicious reputation prior to serving any malicious content. Identifying these Web sites proactively through the use of traffic analysis and examination of historical connections to criminal individuals or networks is now essential as they are increasingly used to deploy zero-day/zero-hour malware code that is not detected by the traditional signature-based, anti-malware products...

[AplusWebMaster]

FYI...

- http://www.sophos.co...?_log_from=atom
16 November 2008 - "While the take-down of McColo received a lot of attention in the last few days, it seems not everyone was listening: the company came back online yesterday for a while thanks to TeliaSonera AB, a Swedish ISP that has a router in San Jose... Apparently those responsible for hooking up new customers at TeliaSonera don’t read security blogs. That said, the company does deserve props for its rapid response to complaints: I emailed their abuse@ address yesterday evening, received a reply a few hours later from Jimmy Arvidsson — the head of their security department — saying they were taking action to revoke the peering, and when I started work in Vancouver this morning McColo was down again. It’s great to see such a rapid result from a complaint to an ISP!... we were both too late to prevent the Rustock guys hurriedly pushing an update to at least some of their bots, switching them from McColo to a new host in Russia during the brief period of connectivity. Thus we should expect spam volumes to increase again soon (Rustock is estimated* to be capable of sending 30 billion spams per day), though how big an increase we’ll see depends largely on the number of zombie PCs the botnet’s controller was able to reach during McColo’s temporary resurrection. For now, though, volume on our spamtraps is still hovering around a quarter of what it was before the take-down..."
* http://en.wikipedia....List_of_Botnets

[AplusWebMaster]

FYI...

- http://www.securewor...ivo-now-mccolo/
November 18, 2008 - "... The companies that were connected to Atrivo and McColo have severed those connections, removing the companies from the Internet... A number of other botnets, including Rustock, Srizbi, Pushdo and Ozdok had infrastructure hosted at McColo. It’s clear that this infrastructure remains in place... Other botnets will also be relocating their C&C servers. While most, if not all, will just pop up in another datacenter, the growing trend of upstream providers disconnecting nefarious hosting companies is encouraging. So far these companies have been US based. We’re now seeing early evidence that bot-herders are moving their C&C servers overseas. The next question is: will the Internet community be able to put pressure on those companies and their upstream providers to prevent the bot-herders from finding a new safe haven?"