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The most popular track session of RSA San Francisco for the past five years was again packed to the rafters.
Hundreds of delegates poured in to see the vivacious Ed Skoudis and Joannes Ullrich discuss the six most dangerous IT security threats of 2011 and to hear what to expect in the year ahead.
Skoudis, founder of Counter Hack Challenges and an incident responder for large organisations, kicked off the session at the 2012 RSA conference last week with three of the top security threats and how to defend against them.
DNS as command-and-control
Malware that used DNS as a command-and-control channel was responsible for two large breaches last year in which hundreds of millions of accounts were stolen.
"We've been talking about this for years," Skoudis said. "But now there are tools that make this easy, and I've seen them used in truly high-scale breaches."
The method was more difficult to detect and was not often considered a vector by which malware could bypass security structures to steal data. "As long as the internal machine can resolve names through a name server with recursive look-ups on the internet, then it can reach the attacker," he said.
Logging every DNS query to detect the attack is too resource intensive to be considered a means of defence, Skoudis said.
He recommended security professionals try DNSCAT and employ periodic sniffing; and search for anomalous DNS requests characterised by excessively length, for responses with strange names, and for traffic sent to domains pertaining to countries in which the organisation does not normally do business.
SSL slapped down
The digital certificate model "is a problem", Skoudis told attendees. The troubled system was in the headlines last year with attacks on certificate and registration authorities (CAs, RAs) DigiNotar and Comodo, and was criticised by respected security researchers including Moxie Marlinspike who proposed an alterative model dubbed Convergence.
Authorities were systematically dropped from major web browser certficate lists, raising further questions about how the decision to trust and un-trust authorities is made.
"Take your favourite browser and look at the certificate revocation list," Skoudis said. "There were a few [revoked certificates] a year ago, but then there were a few more, and more, and more, and more."
He illustrated several viable attacks that could bypass web browser SSL warning messages that alert users when certificates are untrusted or unsigned.
These included hacking authorities and using them to issue fraudulent certificates, or simply tricking them into doing so.
Attackers could also create fake certificates that have a MD5 hash collision with a trusted certificate, target SSL or Transport Layer Security (TLS) flaws demonstrated by the 2011 BEAST attack, or use web browser validation vulnerabilities.
"Why compromise a CA when there are much easier ways? I think we'll see a proliferation of this in 2012," Skoudis said, adding that end users can be convinced to disregard web browser SSL warnings and accept cheap unsigned certificates.
Over the next 12 months, Skoudis predicts that more malware will carry certificates and install them on end-user machines in an attempt to evade detection.
"It is the most widely-deployed security protocol in the world, and it secures trillions of dollars in transactions, but sometimes it feels like we are trying to apply bandages to a very leaky dam," Skoudis said, speaking of the SSL model.
To reduce risk, organisations should upgrade to the latest version of TLS and revise web browser certificate lists. The SANS Internet Storm Centre will this year release a tool capable of automating that process, which will give insight into what certificates are added or dumped by web browsers.
Mobile malware as a network infection vector
The anarchistic Android marketplace had Skoudis worried - not just because individuals were at risk from downloading backdoored counterfeit applications, but because compromised devices posed a significant risk to enterprise networks.
"If I can get you to install a backdoor app, and you join the wireless enterprise network, I can ride in," Skoudis said. "Many of the VIPs in your organisations may have demanded this kind of access."
The first step professionals should take to defend against the threat was to develop policy for mobile devices. Lee Neely, a security architect at the US Government's Lawrence Livermore National Labs, last month released an extensive policy document checklist for mobiles and networks which Skoudis recommeded.
"Establish a process for evaluating and approving specific applications for use in mobile environments and analyse the application in a sandbox on the network," Skoudis said. "And build a secure wireless network that is separate from your internal network."
Hacktivism is back
Hacktivism was not new, but for Ullrich, the chief research officer at the SANS Institute, it was a serious threat. "What they do is not that skilled, but they are seeking out security vulnerabilities that we all know how to fix," Ullrich said.
Hacking collectives such as Anonymous and the Anti-Security movement continued to attack organisations using simple exploits that take advantage of "basic mistakes" made by victim organisations.
He said defending against hacktivists required basic security improvements to inventory control, software security, authentication, and monitoring.
"Do you know all the devices you have? Because the one that you forget is the one they will attack. It's not exciting, it's not exciting, but you have to get it done.
"Simple things will significantly improve your security."
SCADA at home
The popularity of home automation systems is exploding but the technology lacks security. Potential hacks could impact a range of wireless technologies from physical locks on buildings to energy smart meters, and it has Ullrich concerned.
"The technologies focus on cost, not security. [Breaching] home automation means things like opening the front door and turning off the alarms," he said.
Ullrich points out that home networking equipment often connects to cloud services for functions such as temperature checks without proper authentication.
ZigBee wardriving
He said that wardriving using the ZigBee specification popular with the home automation systems would become more popular over the next 12 months.
Researcher Travis Goodspeed developed a portable wardriving ZigBee kit which he used to map sprinker systems in the US, and plans to release the software for the package this year.
Cloud security
Whether it's Amazon, Dropbox, or Google, cloud computing is surging in populairty. But to Ullrich, it represents a security threat. "We saw some real cloud exploits last year," Ullrich said, citing security incidents at Dropbox and Amazon.
He said that shared hosting environments are becoming "harder to isolate from each other", a risk that is exacerbated by the trend to put larger quantities of more sensitive data into the cloud.
Bonus trends:
IPv6: Ullrich points out that he has seen more "accidental" IPv6 deployments where systems were rolled out without being secured. He notes that handheld smartphones and tablets are IPv6 devices.
Oldies: "Just because something is old, doesn't mean it isn't important", Skoudis said. "Most of you in this room who will get popped this year will be victims to phishing.
Social networking: Criminals realise this is a golden age for social engineering and Skoudis expects them to increasingly plunder networks, pre-empting moves to improve security and privacy.
Malware: The industry needs to move away from an anti-malware and blacklisting model towards whitelisting. "Whitelisting is the soluton in the end," Ullrich said.
DNSSEC: The Domain Name System Security Extensions will help repair trust, but will not hinder advanced malicious command and control systems.


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Posted 6/12/13 (Wed)
By Zach Stenberg
Farmer Intern
With small towns' infrastructures being exhausted and not able to keep up with the demand in western North Dakota, one city is taking a different approach to solve one of its most pressing problems. The city of Arnegard is partnering with a private company, Arnegard Holdings, to deal with its sewage waste water problem.
Under a new 99-year agreement with Arnegard Holdings, Arnegard will be the first city in North Dakota to send its sewage to a private company to be treated.
"Arnegard Holdings has promised the city 300 new sewer hookups, and will handle our existing 118 sewer hookups," says Virgina Elliot, Arnegard mayor. "They will charge for the new hookups, set rates, and have the discharge permits."
The proposed new system will have a mechanical system and a pipeline that runs southeast of town.
The best part of the new arrangement, says Elliot, is that the proposed plan will cost the city of Arnegard nothing.
"Arnegard is a small town and we can't afford to spend $4 million on a new system," says Elliot. "A developer is stepping in and saying that they will put in a waste system and operate it. It serves their needs and our needs."
However, the project is now on hold and is awaiting state approval of the plan and the outcome of a pending complaint from the North Dakota Dept. of Health on how the lagoon has been run.
On May 1, both the city and Arnegard Holdings were issued a notice of violation and an order of no new hookups from the Dept. of Health.
Arnegard's current lagoon, according to Elliot, was set up to serve around 125 people.
The 2010 Census had 110 people living in the city. But Elliot estimates that there are now at least 400 people in town.
Arnegard Holdings contacted the city last July to get the lagoon up to specifications.
Arnegard Holdings then hired Tri-State Engineering as a professional adviser and consultant on the rules and regulations with regards to the waste water and operation of the lagoon.
In the meantime, trucks began to dump waste. But because of the volume of waste being pumped into the lagoons, the Dept. of Health stepped in.
"It was not the dumping of the waste that was the problem," says Karl Rockeman, State Health Department engineer. "It was the amount that they were bringing in. At times, they were dumping the equivalent of one day's waste of Arnegard's waste, which their system could not handle."
Because of the violations, the city of Arnegard and Arnegard Holdings now face a fine up to $5,000 a violation per day.
Tri-State Engineering was not named in the notice because the contract was with Arnegard Holdings, and in essence, Tri-State was a subcontractor of Arnegard Holdings.
However, with Mayor Elliot and Arnegard Holdings working on a solution, the steps they're now taking will be factored into potentially lowering any fines, says Rockeman.
"I feel confident with the agreement with Arnegard Holdings that this will work out," says Elliot. "We can't keep up with the infrastructure, so developers need to do this."
For now, no new sewer hookups are being allowed in Arnegard which is consequently stopping new houses and businesses from becoming built.
"There are 25 houses waiting for hookups and we've been getting calls from hotels and other businesses wanting to come in," says Elliot. "But for now the most important thing is to get State approval for our plan."
Arnegard, according to Elliot, is also applying for grants for a new water system since all the city water currently comes from wells.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Publisher Larry Tobin's Ups-N-Downs column in the Aug. 22 Tomahawk Leader
There is no doubt in my mind that the single most significant instrument of rude behavior employed by mankind since the digital gesture is the cell phone! Now, in itself, the cell phone has many valued uses, just as does the middle finger on the human hand. It's the lack of consideration employed by people who use them that cause the problems.
Yes, everyone in my family has a cell phone. Mine is shut off most of the time. I got one originally for use in emergencies and while at my cabin. The only people who have the number, generally, are my family and the people at our office. They know it's to be used only in emergencies.
I also used to use my first cell phone – a bag phone – when I went out West. Now, however, since the switch to digital systems that has been mandated, when my bag phone died I had to buy a small hand-held version. It does not have near the power that the bag phone did and it's virtually useless in the areas where I spend most of my time out West.
Everyone hears about the abuses of cell phones while people are driving and those abuses are many. I've seen people with a cell phone stuck into their ear with one hand while trying to manipulate a soda or Big Mac with the other – and trying to drive at the same time. I've also seen people weaving all over the road (and off of it) and at speeds varying 10 miles either side of the legal limit while chit-chatting with someone via cell phone.
But the rudeness goes well beyond the automobile. It's incredibly rude, I think, to be in a public place where at least a reasonable quiet is normally expected and have someone's cell phone ring. I've been to weddings and funerals where the cell phone has rung during the ceremony.
I also think it's obnoxious when you go to a restaurant for an evening out and someone's phone is constantly ringing. My wife, Kathy, and I were at one of the Northwoods' better restaurants awhile back where a man and two women were seated at a table nearby. For more than an hour as we sat there, the man talked on his cell phone, totally ignoring the women he was with. If he had been with me, it would have lasted about 10 minutes and I would have asked to be seated at another table – without him!
There have been times when I've heard someone speaking and thought the person was addressing me. When I turned around, it was just someone talking on a cell phone. Once I was shopping in a local grocery store (I do that a lot for my wife and me) when a guy walked in ahead of me who was talking on his cell phone. I encountered him all over the store as I shopped and again after I checked out. He never hung up. You could hear him, it seemed, over most of the store.
That's another bone of contention. It seems like people who use cell phones in public places automatically go deaf. Apparently they can't hear half of what's said on the other end of the conversation so they naturally think that person can't hear them either. They naturally turn up their own volume.
Cell phones are great for keeping track of where your children are, that I will grant you. However, I don't think every kid needs a cell phone. When kids are calling their friends between classes in school all the time, it's just plain ridiculous.
When six-year-olds have cell phones and get three calls (in a public place while with their mothers) in 15 minutes, that's ridiculous.
Like I said, cell phones have their place (and it's not often in public) and value. Many people have dropped their land line phones, which I also may do someday. But when you're in a public place or driving, shut the things off. You'll make the world a kinder, gentler place in the long run.
Useful but have their place
We encourage you to respond to our opinions. We will try to make an editorial or column available for discussion each week.
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Re: Useful but have their place
I totally agree with this post. It's hard to believe that if you went back even 5 years ago, the majority of kids did not have cell phones (remember when they all had pagers?)Yes, I agree it's gotten way out of control, especially with children all having one. Even the poorest of the poor have cell phones! I recently went to a work conference in Los Angeles and I did not see one person without a cell phone. It's just another modern electronic device that causes people to avoid interpersonal contact.
By the way, my 17 year old son does NOT have one. And I have a simple Tracfone for emergencies only.
By the way, my 17 year old son does NOT have one. And I have a simple Tracfone for emergencies only.
- logic1
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Re: Useful but have their place
I believe cell phones are a useful tool, when used as that - a tool for emergency contact when needed. Nothing more annoying (and rude) then eating out, shopping in a store, or sitting in a music concert for your children, and someone has the cell phone ringing. Be courteous to others & the performers (as the case may be) and TURN IT OFF or use the silent mode- this way you can see if the call is important, without bothering others, and leave the room to return it or answer it. be thoughtful to others, not just thinking about yourself. It's pretty sad when you see people that can't even afford the necessities in life, walking around town or hanging out on corners, talking on cell phones. Where are the priorites!
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