adam roberts

31st July 2018

Malvertising in plain sight | Avast

An elaborate and sophisticated criminal operation like something out of an Oceans 11 sequel has just been uncovered, and the caper here is mass malvertising. While investigating exploit kits, security researchers stumbled upon an operation where criminal activity abused the legitimate online advertising industry to spread trojans, ransomware, and more.

30th July 2018

A week in security (July 23 – July 29)

Last week on Labs, we looked at an adware called MobiDash getting stealthy, a new strain of Mac malware called Proton that was found after two years, and the ‘Hidden Bee’ miner that was delivered via an improved drive-by download toolkit. We also delved into the security improvements expected in the new Android P, and had a fresh look at Trojans to help users define what they really are. We also gave you a quick introduction to the Malwarebytes Browser Extensions for Chrome and Firefox. Other news: Russian hackers reached US utility control rooms, Homeland Security officials say. (Source: The Wall Street Journal) Dozens were sentenced for a call center scam, where victims bought iTunes gift cards under threat of arrest. (Source: Gizmodo) Guardian US finds that 72 percent of video spend is fraudulent without Ads.txt. (Source: Mediapost) No, you shouldn’t use the new version of Stylish. (Source: Robert Heaton) These are 2018’s biggest hacks, leaks, and data breaches so far. (Source: ZD..

27th July 2018

Build-your-own banking trojan, ransomware on the high seas, and SIM card chaos | Avast

Source code to Exobot banking trojan leaked “This has happened in the past, and it poses a risk as we saw in the case of the infamous Mirai botnet,” says Avast Security Evangelist Luis Corrons, speaking to the news that the source code to a potent bank trojan known as Exobot has been released into the wild of the dark web for anyone who cares to use it for their own ill will. The publicly-shared Mirai source code gave malware architects the blueprints to a powerful botnet, upon which they expanded. “Many malware writers used it to create their own customized version of the bot. We can expect the same here,” adds Luis.

26th July 2018

Bluetooth flaw allows man-in-the-middle attacks | Avast

The IoT world is abuzz with the discovery of a new Bluetooth flaw that opens the door to man-in-the-middle attacks, which are exactly what they sound like — attacks where a third party wedges itself between two of your networked devices and helps itself to the sensitive data stored on each. These attacks are possible when the network has weak or no security, and that is precisely the problem inherent in CVE-2018-5383, a cryptographic flaw that affects two Bluetooth features — Secure Simple Pairing and LE Secure Connections.

25th July 2018

Scam alert! Don’t fall for this webcam extortion ploy | Avast

A titillating new scam has hit the scene, but don’t let it work you up. It hits you with a one-two punch of first showing that it knows your password, then telling you a compromising video exists (taken with your own webcam) of you watching porn. The scammer threatens to send the video to everyone in your contacts if you don’t make a bitcoin payment to the provided address. In the examples we’ve seen, the amount requested ranges from $1900 to $7000 (and it could be more). To further the discomfort, the scammer adds that the video has been rendered in a split-screen format that shows the actual XXX clip you were watching alongside your real-time reactions to it.