Cybercrime/malcode – Lifeboat News: The Blog

Nov 1
2019

The Race For Quantum Supremacy I VICE on HBO

Computer giants are racing to build the first quantum computer, a device with millions of times more processing strength than all the computers currently on Earth combined. This technology will harness the unusual laws of quantum mechanics to bring unimaginable advances in fields like materials science and medicine, but could also pose the greatest threat to cybersecurity yet. VICE’s Taylor Wilson meets the scientists at the cutting edge of this new age of computing.

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Oct 31
2019

This aggressive IoT malware is forcing Wi-Fi routers to join its botnet army

Gafgyt has been updated with new capabilities, and it spreads by killing rival malware.

Oct 31
2019

Thousands of QNAP NAS devices have been infected with the QSnatch malware

Over 7,000 infections reported in Germany alone. The malware is still spreading.

Oct 30
2019

New ‘unremovable’ xHelper malware has infected 45,000 Android devices

Factory resets aren’t helping. Neither are mobile antivirus solutions. Malware keeps reinstalling itself.

Oct 30
2019

Confirmed: North Korean malware found on Indian nuclear plant’s network

Two days after rumors of a malware infection at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant surfaced on Twitter, the plant’s parent company confirms the security breach.

Oct 30
2019

Indian nuclear power plant’s network was hacked, officials confirm

After initial denial, company says report of “malware in system” is correct.

Oct 29
2019

A nearly impossible to remove Android malware has infected 45,000 devices

Security researchers have been following the xHelper malware on Android with great interest, owing to the app’s seemingly incomprehensible ability to reinstall itself on an infected device despite factory resets.

Oct 29
2019

Supercomputer analyzes web traffic across entire internet

Using a supercomputing system, MIT researchers have developed a model that captures what web traffic looks like around the world on a given day, which can be used as a measurement tool for internet research and many other applications.

Understanding web traffic patterns at such a large scale, the researchers say, is useful for informing internet policy, identifying and preventing outages, defending against cyberattacks, and designing more efficient computing infrastructure. A paper describing the approach was presented at the recent IEEE High Performance Extreme Computing Conference.

For their work, the researchers gathered the largest publicly available internet traffic dataset, comprising 50 billion data packets exchanged in different locations across the globe over a period of several years.

Oct 25
2019

Future Consequences of Cryptocurrency Use: Systemic Investigation of Two Scenarios

We face complexity, ambiguity, and uncertainty about the future consequences of cryptocurrency use. There are doubts about the positive and negative impacts of the use of cryptocurrencies in the financial systems. In order to address better and deeper the contradictions and the consequences of the use of cryptocurrencies and also informing the key stakeholders about known and unknown emerging issues in new payment systems, we apply two helpful futures studies tools known as the “Future Wheel”, to identify the key factors, and “System Dynamics Conceptual Mapping”, to understand the relationships among such factors. Two key scenarios will be addressed. In on them, systemic feedback loops might be identified such as a) terrorism, the Achilles’ heel of the cryptocurrencies, b) hackers, the barrier against development, and c) information technology security professionals, a gap in the future job market. Also, in the other scenario, systemic feedback loops might be identified such as a) acceleration of technological entrepreneurship enabled by new payment systems, b) decentralization of financial ecosystem with some friction against it, c) blockchain and shift of banking business model, d) easy international payments triggering structural reforms, and e) the decline of the US and the end of dollar dominance in the global economy. In addition to the feedback loops, we can also identify chained links of consequences that impact productivity and economic growth on the one hand, and shift of energy sources and consumption on the other hand.

Watch the full length presentation at Victor V. Motti YouTube Channel

Oct 16
2019

This Malware Makes ATMs Spit Out All Their Money

Hackers equipped with black market software are targeting cash machines with dated software and substandard security and walking away with millions over the course of a series of attacks, according to a collaborative investigation by Motherboard and German newsroom Bayerischer Rundfunk. Though law enforcement agencies are tightlipped about the trend, it’s a sign that banks may be surprisingly vulnerable to cybercrime.

Other sources, granted anonymity by Motherboard, described the same trend: “There are attacks happening, but a lot of the time it’s not publicized,” said one.

Plug-And-Play

The German attacks and others throughout Europe seem to be carried out with Russian software called Cutlet Maker, which Motherboard reports can be bought for $1,000. In the U.S., a program called Ploutus. D is more popular.

Both programs can be installed into ATMs through a USB or other physical access point — though the hackers usually need to break into the ATM’s hardware to access it.