Prolexic Predicts High Volume Packet-Per-Second DDoS Attacks on the Rise

By Nicole Henderson,July 28, 2011

A diagram from Prolexic illustrates how a DDoS attack works

(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- DDoS mitigation provider Prolexic Technologies (http://www.prolexic.com/) warned organizations in Asia, Europe and North America to be cautious as the magnitude of DDoS threats is likely to escalate over the next six to eight months.

On Wednesday the company announced that it had mitigated a major DDoS attack of "unprecedented size in terms of packet-per-second volume," viewing this as an early warning of DDoS escalation.

According to the press release, the attack was directed against an unnamed Asian ecommerce company. Prolexic says the attack generated larger than normal TCP SYN Floods and ICMP Floods.

Paul Sop, chief technology officer at Prolexic, said the volume reached levels of approximately 25 million packets per second. In comparison, he said, most high-end border routes can forward 70,000 packets per second in usual deployments.

Typically only 5,000 to 10,000 bots have been employed in the five previous attacks mitigated by Prolexic, but the company claims this attacker's botnet had 176,000 remotely controlled bots.

“The customer attempted to mitigate these repeated DDoS attacks for many months with solutions from its ISP and its carrier before approaching Prolexic,” Sop said in a statement. “Defeating this attack is a testament to our unrivaled capacity and our unique position as the only global DDoS mitigation provider with the experience and bandwidth to successfully fight these gigantic attacks.”

Prolexic said that in order to eliminate the burden on a single carrier, it distributed traffic among several of its global Tier 1 carrier partners and network centers.
According to the press release, the client was able to maintain service availability throughout the attack.

“Prolexic sees this massive attack in Asia with millions of packets per second as an early warning beacon of the increasing magnitude of DDoS attacks that may be on the horizon for Europe and North America in the next six to eight months,” Sop stated. “High risk clients, such as those extremely large companies in the gaming and gambling industries in Asia, are usually the first targets of these huge botnets just to see how successful they can be.”

Sop said that the increasing magnitude of DDoS attacks are "especially insidious" because they cause damage to carriers before the bad traffic reaches its intended target.

Prolexic said it has only seen this botnet "once in the Western Hemisphere to date."

  
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Trusteer Report Shows US, UK, Canadian Banks Most Targeted by SpyEye Trojan

By Justin Lee,July 27, 2011

An excerpt of a Trusteer graph that shows the percentage of countries targeted by SpyEye Trojan

(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- IT security provider Trusteer (http://www.trusteer.com/) announced on Tuesday via its blog new research findings that show an increasing number of financial institutions are being targeted by the SpyEye Trojan.

The company said its risk analysis teams have also found an increase in the number of countries where financial institutions are being targeted by fraudsters using SpyEye, based on findings from the Trusteer Situation Room and its anomaly detection service Pinpoint.

By looking at the monthly findings from the SpyEye command and control centers, Trusteer's risk analysis team discovered that 60 percent of the SpyEye bots target financial institutions in the US.

This is followed by the UK with 53 percent, Canada with 31 percent, Germany 29 percent, and Australia 20 percent.

The percentage of SpyEye bots targeting Canadian banks more than doubled from 14 percent in May to 31 percent in June.

Other destinations that are included in more than 10 percent of SpyEye bots include Italy, Ireland, UAE, Spain, Costa Rica, France, Turkey, India, Jordan, Russia, and Portugal, and continues to expand in more countries.

In May, SpyEye added targets in the Middle East including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman, and in June, attacked financial institutions in Venezuela, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Japan, Hong Kong and Peru. Russia is also a relatively new addition to the target list, said the company.

Trusteer also points out that the fraud patterns used by SpyEye differ from that of popular financial malware, Zeus, by using code that goes undetected by transaction monitoring systems.
SpyEye seems to follow Agile software development practices using flexible coding, enabling developers to quickly roll out new versions by modifying the program code itself.

Over the past 18 months, developers of the malware have been effectively merging it with that of the older Zeus code.

Trusteer has covered SpyEye a few times before in its blog, including in a report last October.

In this latest report, the company recommends that financial institutions monitor development in the SpyEye toolkit, and in particular, pay close attention to SpyEye attack vectors that target their brand and  other financial institutions.

The company said this information from the process should be included in the financial institution's security controls such  as anomaly detection and endpoint protection.

It also said that US banks will incorporate real-time threat intelligence and anomaly detection from services like Trusteer Situation Room and Trusteer Pinpoint under the updated FFIEC Guidance for online banking security.

  
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Anonymous Hacks NATO, Steals 1GB of Restricted Material

By Nicole Henderson,July 21, 2011

A Tweet from Anonymous declares war on NATO

(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Hacker group Anonymous announced on Thursday that it has accessed about 1 gigabyte of data from NATO, according to a report by the Associated Press.

This news comes a day after US authorities arrested 14 individuals allegedly involved in the Anonymous attack on PayPal last year.

The recent move seems risky, especially in light of the investigation heating up with several arrests. A follow-up attack was likely as a sign of retaliation. Why Anonymous picked NATO as a target though is unclear.

In a Tweet, Anonymous claims that it cannot publish most of the material because "it would be irresponsible."

In an earlier post, Anonymous told followers to watch over the next few days as it releases "interesting data."

A report by The Next Web says Anonymous released two PDF documents that appear to have "restricted security" status.

One document is from 2007, the report says, and is titled "CIS Support for a New Joint HQ ISAF Joint CIS Control Center." The other relates to "Outsourcing Balkans CIS Support."

NATO has yet to comment on the breach.

Anonymous has aligned itself with hacker group LulzSec in a mission the group's have called "Operation AntiSec" that aims to expose government and corporations for their wrongdoings and insufficient security.

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LulzSec Returns, Breaches News Corp Paper

July 19th, 2011 By: THN News

(The Hosting News) – Perhaps a little motivation was all they really needed, even if it took a large phone hacking scandal involving the media to bring LulzSec out of retirement.

New reports have indicated that the hacking group has returned to action with an attack on News Corp owned British tabloid newspaper The Sun.

Upon the breach, LulzSec apparently succeeded in linking the newspaper’s website to Lulzec’s Twitter account and also posted a fake news report falsely reporting the death of News Corporation’s owner, Rupert Murdoch.

Following the attack, LulzSec posted on their Twitter account, “We have owned Sun/News of the World – that story is simply phase 1 – expect the lulz to flow in coming days.”

As you’re probably aware, News Corporation is currently embroiled in the UK phone hacking scandal and closed their British News of the World tabloid newspaper due to the accusations. The breach took place a short time before News Corporation owner Rupert Murdoch and his son James Murdoch were due to testify before the British Parliament.

News Corporation operates various top media outlets worldwide including the New York Post, Dow Jones & Company, 20th Century Fox, British Sky Broadcasting and a lot more.

LulzSec began gaining attention only a few months ago with breaches on sites belonging to Sony, the U.S. Senate, the CIA, an FBI affiliate, and more. The group had initially announced their disbandment in late June. Their absence had meant a higher profile for fellow hacking group Anonymous who claimed some LulzSec Members had joined them following LulzSec’s disbandment.

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Hacker Group Anonymous Hacks Agricultural Firm Monsanto, Leaks 2,500 Employees Info

By Nicole Henderson,July 13, 2011

Monsanto is the world's largest producer of genetically modified seeds

(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Hacker group Anonymous has leaked the private data of 2,500 employees of agricultural firm Monsanto (http://www.monsanto.com/). The information posted to Pastebin includes names, addresses, emails and phone numbers of Monsanto employees and affiliates, according to a report by Naked Security on Wednesday.

This hack comes on the heels of the release of 90,000 email and password combinations of military personnel after a server breach at federal contractor Booz Allen Hamilton.

During the latest mission, named #OpMonsanto, Anonymous says it "blasted their web infrastructure" for two days, "crippling all three of their mail servers as well as taking down their main websites worldwide."

A report by Information Age calls Monsanto the world's largest producer of genetically modified seeds. The company also sells the controversial pesticide RoundUp.

Anonymous says that the attack on Monsanto began two months ago as it exposed hundreds of articles detailing Monsanto's "corrupt, unethical, and downright evil business practices."

Anonymous claims its next steps will involve the "open 6666 port on [Monsanto's] nexus server." Naked Security says this implies Anonymous may set up an IRC channel on the compromised host.

According to the report, Anonymous also declared its intent to attack oil giants Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhilliops, Candian Oil Sands Ltd, Imperial Oil, the Royal Bank of Scotland, among others, in separate operation called Project Tarmeggedon.

The operation will support a protest to the transformation of wilderness in Montana to an industrial shipping route to ship refinery equipment to the Alberta Tar Sands, according to the statement.

"Anonymous now joins the struggle against 'Big Oil' in the heartland of the US. We stand in solidarity with any citizen willing to protest corporate abuse. Anonymous will not stand by idly and let these environmental atrocities continue. This is not the clean energy of the future that we are being promised," Anonymous stated.

Anonymous has targeted a slew of big corporations and government-related firms as part of its AntiSec mission that seeks to expose both lax security and embarrass companies it feels are doing wrong.

 
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Hacker Group Anonymous Releases 90,000 Email and Passwords of Military Personnel

By Nicole Henderson, July 12, 2011

A tweet by Booz Allen explains its lack of response to the incident

(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Hacker group Anonymous has taken responsibility for releasing 90,000 military email and passwords after a breach at consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton (http://www.boozallen.com/) on Monday.

This hack comes less than a week after Anonymous hacked several websites belonging to the Turkish government.

The attack was part of what the group deemed Military Meltdown Monday and is part of the larger AntiSec movement targeting government organizations and corporations.

"Today we want to turn our attention to Booz Allen Hamilton, whose core business is contractual work completed on behalf of the US federal government, foremost on defense and homeland security matters, and limited engagements of foreign governments specific to US military assistance programs," Anonymous said in a statement.

According to the Financial Times, a Pentagon official said on Tuesday that it is looking into the incident despite having no "concrete information" about the hack.

Anonymous claims it was able to infiltrate a server on Booz Allen's network "that basically had no security measures in place."

Booz Allen has yet to make a comment, though it has tweeted that its security policy is to not comment on specific threats or actions taken against its systems.

When LulzSec was in its prime this spring, Anonymous attacks seemed to take the back burner. Now, since LulzSec retired at the end of last month, it appears Anonymous is back in full force. While LulzSec claimed to hack for fun, Anonymous is upfront about its political motivations which it has dubbed hacktivism.

The AntiSec movement, started by LulzSec, embarrasses large corporations and government organizations.As a consultant to the US government, one would think that Booz Allen would have a secure IT system in place to prevent these type of breaches. A report by Wired's Threat Level blog says it is the 16th largest recipient of federal contractor spending.

 
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Anonymous Hacks Turkish Government Websites to Protest Internet Censorship

By Nicole Henderson, July 07, 2011

A screenshot of the AntiSec notice and a list of the Turkish domains affected

(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Following a hack this week by Redhack that affected more than 1000 Turkish websites, Anonymous has hacked an additional 74 Turkish government websites in what the group is calling "Turkish Takedown Thursday."

The hack is part of the greater AntiSec movement that targets corporations, governments and law enforcement. The Turkish government was target in this case because of its new Internet filtering rules set to be enforced in August.

74 websites were defaced with a message of protest, according to a statement. Data from an additional 100 websites in Turkey was also leaked.

A report by PCWorld says the websites include medical-related sites but do not appear to include websites of key government ministries.

According to the report, the filtering system is four-tiered and includes options for family, children, domestic or standard. While the government claims the filters are in response to requests for more Internet safety, many Turkish people consider the system one of censorship. The filters are to be in place by August 22, PCWorld says, and will require Internet users to select a filter before browsing.

Redhack says its hack from earlier this week was in part to support Operation AntiSec, but also to comemmorate the 18th anniversary of the Sivas Massacre where more than 30 intellectuals were killed by radical Islamists.

The group hacked hundreds of websites owned by Adnan Oktar, who Redhack says "is responsible of forced shutdown of lots of sites in Turkey."

"It has been our honor to show our reaction in the name of our people, to stop this vile bigoted man who uses his estate and his money for his paranoid and fascist ideas, while we are engaged in the activities of AntiSec," Redhack said in a statement.

"These attacks have taken place to send a clear message to the authorities and the canines of the system that we are still strong and will do everything in our power to raise our voice against the censorship laws which are an attack to our human rights. We will act together with AntiSec and Anons to continue our fight against the hands that are reaching to silence our internet."

Earlier this week, hacker group The Script Kiddies hijacked Fox News politics Twitter account. The group tweeted false reports of Obama's death. This hack was alleged to be part of AntiSec as well.

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‘Anonymous’ Suspects Arrested in Italy, Switzerland

July 8th, 2011 By: THN News

(The Hosting News) – It appears that authorities worldwide have been busy cracking down on hacking groups. Fifteen people in Italy suspected of involvement in hacking group Anonymous were recently arrested according to a report by AFP who cited an Italian newspaper.

Despite being taken into custody, the suspects have since been released. Five of them were minors.
Reuters also reported that authorities in Switzerland arrested an Italian, also suspected of being involved with the group.

Meanwhile, Anonymous has already responded to the arrests and remains defiant.

In a blog post, the group stated, “The Italian Anonymous have not fallen because of this cowardly attempt to dismantle them and announce consequences for there actions taken by the police, to demonstrate that Anonymous is present and fights on, like it did in the past and will in the future, for the freedom of the Internet.

Italy Anonymous calls all citizens of the Internet and the international Anonymous: We need you! Let them have it, stronger than ever.”

The group has been busy stepping up its hacking operation in a movement called “AntiSec.” Hackers involved in the movement breach systems based on political motivations.

In the past Anonymous has been suspected in breaches of several government sites including ones belonging to Turkey. The group was also initially suspected in April’s downtime of the PlayStation Network. However, they denied any involvement.

Anonymous recently announced that members of the now defunct hacking group LulzSec had joined them. LulzSec shut down after a 50 day operation that included breaches on sites belonging to the CIA, U.S. Senate, an FBI affiliate, PBS, Sony, and more.

So far this year has seen a large amount of hackers increasing their operations. Panda Security, which specializes in online protection recently referred to 2011′s second quarter as “disastrous” as far as worldwide breaches were concerned.

 
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Hackers Crack Fox News Twitter, Post False Report of Obama's Death

By Nicole Henderson, July 05, 2011

Tweets posted on Monday claim Obama had been killed

(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- The Twitter account of Fox News politics was hacked on Monday, broadcasting false reports of Barack Obama's assassination. A hacker group with a loose connection to Anonymous, The Script Kiddies, has taken responsibility for the attack, claiming it is part of a larger antisec movement against government and corporations, according to a report by the Guardian.

Fox says the US Secret Service is now investigating the attack, and the news network has also requested Twitter's involvement in a security investigation.

Fox News Politics account is verified with a green checkmark. According to Twitter's website, "Twitter uses this to establish authenticity of well known accounts so users can trust that a legitimate source is authoring their Tweets." The false tweets were apparently online for nine hours, according to a report by CNET.

"We will be requesting a detailed investigation from Twitter about how this occurred, and measures to prevent future unauthorized access into FoxNews.com accounts," Jeff Misenti, vice president and general manager of FoxNews.com said in a statement.
According to a report by Think Magazine, who secured an interview with a representative of the Script Kiddies, the group targeted Fox News because the group "figured their security would be just as much of a joke as their reporting."

"I would consider us to be close in relation [to Anonymous], two of the members of our group were members of Anonymous ... I was a member of Anonymous. We hope to be working with them soon," the representative said.

Twitter released a statement on Monday that said Twitter can't be responsible for compromises that occur offsite.

"While Twitter does monitor accounts for brute-force login attempts and similar methods of attack, we're unable to anticipate compromises that take place due to offsite behavior," Twitter said in a statement.

This attack shows that although preventing hacks on a website is an integral part of an organization's IT security, it is important to secure all aspects of an organization's online presence public-facing outlets like Twitter and Facebook.

Fox was also a target for hackers in May when LulzSec leaked names, phone numbers, email and private data of contestants of its X-Factor game show.

 
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A LulzSec Timeline – 50-Day Reign of Security Terror

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