New Multi-Platform Web Exploit !!
The attack was detected on a compromised website in Colombia, When users visit the site, they are prompted to run a Java applet that hasn't been signed by a trusted certificate authority. If allowed to run, the applet checks which operating system is running on the user's computer -- Windows, Mac OS X or Linux -- and drops a malicious binary file for the corresponding platform. The files are detected by F-Secure as 'Backdoor:OSX/GetShell.A,' 'Backdoor:Linux/GetShell.A' and 'Backdoor:W32/GetShell.A
Critical vulnerability derails Ruby on Rails
The H reports on a newly-discovered SQL injection vulnerability in Ruby on Rails, affecting the 3.0.x, 3.1.x, and 3.2.x versions.
The developers of the Ruby on Rails web framework have closed a critical vulnerability which allowed attackers to execute SQL commands on the database server. An "SQL Injection" attack such as this could allow the attacker, for example, to read confidential information without authorisation.
The vulnerability exists in versions 3.0 and later of Active Record, Rail's database layer, and is exposed when using nested query parameters. Code that directly passes parameters to a where method, is affected. For example, using the common idiom params[:id] can be tricked into returning a crafted hash which causes the generated SQL statement to query an arbitrary table.
Another weakness with query generation was also found to affect all versions of Ruby On Rails. Rails 3.2.4 was released with fixes for these, and many other bugs, but due to a number of problems in the release process for 3.2.4, the developers then released Rails 3.2.5. There are also updated versions of Rails 3.1.5 and Rails 3.0.13 to fix the same security problems in older versions of the framework.
Protection & Privacy towards a Safer Internet in the Arab Region
The increase in numbers and diversity of Internet users in the Arab world and in developing countries, has led to new risks and crimes. The workshop in an opportunity to continue the ongoing dialogue on the regional and international levels regarding the close relationship between access, protection and privacy , with a focus on two important pillars: protection and privacy of the family on the Internet.
On the occasion of the “Universal Children’s Day”, MCIT in coordination with Arab Information and Communication Technologies Organization (AICTO) is organizing an International Workshop under the slogan of: “Protection & Privacy... towards a Safer Internet in the Arab Region.
On the occasion of the “Universal Children’s Day”, MCIT in coordination with Arab Information and Communication Technologies Organization (AICTO) is organizing an International Workshop under the slogan of: “Protection & Privacy... towards a Safer Internet in the Arab Region.
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Google Runs Over a Million Servers
Google never says how many servers are running in its data centers. The new estimate is based on information the company shared with Stanford professor Jonathan Koomey, who has just released an updated report on data center energy usage. Download Link
Google’s David Jacobowitz, a program manager on the Green Energy team, told Koomey that the electricity used by the company’s data centers was less than 1% of 198.8 billion kWh – the estimated total global data center energy usage for 2010. That means that Google may be running its entire global data center network in an energy footprint of roughly 220 megawatts of power.
“Google’s data center electricity use is about 0.01% of total worldwide electricity use and less than 1 percent of global data center electricity use in 2010,” Koomey writes, while cautioning that his numbers represent educated guesses extrapolated from the company’s information. “This result is in part a function of the higher infrastructure efficiency of Google’s facilities compared to in-house data centers, which is consistent with efficiencies of other cloud computing installations, but it also reflects lower electricity use per server for Google’s highly optimized servers.”
Google’s David Jacobowitz, a program manager on the Green Energy team, told Koomey that the electricity used by the company’s data centers was less than 1% of 198.8 billion kWh – the estimated total global data center energy usage for 2010. That means that Google may be running its entire global data center network in an energy footprint of roughly 220 megawatts of power.
“Google’s data center electricity use is about 0.01% of total worldwide electricity use and less than 1 percent of global data center electricity use in 2010,” Koomey writes, while cautioning that his numbers represent educated guesses extrapolated from the company’s information. “This result is in part a function of the higher infrastructure efficiency of Google’s facilities compared to in-house data centers, which is consistent with efficiencies of other cloud computing installations, but it also reflects lower electricity use per server for Google’s highly optimized servers.”
South Korea blocked port 25 for Security Issues
Summary: South Korea is considering a nation wide block of port 25, as a anti-spam countermeasure aiming to reduce the volumes of spam affecting the country.
The ban, set to go in effect as of December, will replace port 25 with port 587 and 465 for SMTPS.
Spamming through web-based email is yet another way for cybercriminals to bypass the newly introduced regulations. Once the CAPTCHA-solving process for popular free web-based email providers has been outsourced to Indian providers of CAPTCHA-solving services, thousands of newly registered emails will be automatically used for outgoing spamming purposes, once again successfully bypassing the newly introduced regulation.
Mostly because of the way modern malware and spam networks operate. For instance, modern malware has built-in SMTP engines that are port-independent. Moreover, geolocated and malware-infected hosts within South Korea could be automatically updated using the new specs in a matter of seconds, once again continuing the abuse of legitimate networks, while playing by the newly introduced rules.
Code Vulnerability Scanner, Android Mobile App
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Ruby's RSA Crypto Bug
The Ruby developers had a near miss with a crypto disaster when an "awful bug" crept into the language's source code development tree. A simple programming error made the library generate RSA keys that caused the encryption mechanism to produce clear text. Luckily, the error was caught before it made it to any release version of Ruby, but it provides a good example of how a simple error can have potentially far-reaching effects.
The problem only affects programs that have generated RSA keys with development versions of Ruby. The recent release of Ruby 1.9.3 is not affected by the problem. Where the problem does exist, the encryption and decryption functions appear to be working correctly; the bug has no effect on externally generated keys that are imported. Users of the development version of Ruby should check their Ruby programs if they generate keys and, if necessary, generate new keys as soon as possible.
The RSA asymmetric encryption technique differentiates between secret and public keys. The public key consist of a modulus n and an exponent e. The plain text, m, is encrypted according to the mathematical formula c = m^e mod n
The point is that the cipher, c, can usually only be decrypted with the secret key. However, the Ruby bug generated RSA keys with an exponent e=1. This only leaves c = m mod n
As m is always less than n, the RSA formula collapses into a variation of the legendary ROT26 cipher : c = m
Among other things, RSA is used for digital signatures. A signature generated with a key from a Ruby system with the defect is equivalent of a blank cheque, as it will cause any signature to be considered valid. Incidentally, the problem was caused by a trivial programming error that has nothing to do with cryptography: in a for loop for setting individual bits, the criterion for abandoning the loop was set incorrectly, causing every loop to be abandoned after the first iteration.
The problem only affects programs that have generated RSA keys with development versions of Ruby. The recent release of Ruby 1.9.3 is not affected by the problem. Where the problem does exist, the encryption and decryption functions appear to be working correctly; the bug has no effect on externally generated keys that are imported. Users of the development version of Ruby should check their Ruby programs if they generate keys and, if necessary, generate new keys as soon as possible.
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