Tag: cyber attack | Hamilton.jerry

March 14, 2014

Hacktivists Halt Russian Banks & Government Offices, Reply to Blog Freezes

In response to Russian regulation of Internet access by news bloggers, a massive cyber attack struck the Central Bank of Russia, the Office of the Foreign Minister, and the chief Kremlin website. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/14/us-russia-kremlin-cybercrime-idUSBREA2D16T20140314

While several government and banking sites ceased functioning for several hours, government investigators brought down the attack known as ‘Hacktivism’ and all operations have resumed. http://www.securityweek.com/political-activism-gives-way-hacktivism-russia

HFS analysts forecast many more hacktivists attacks during the ongoing Russia-Ukrainian dispute, regardless of how many claim no connection between Internet attacks and Crimean politics.

What do you think?

March 7, 2014

Russia Not Necessarily Behind Turla Spyware Attack Against Europe and US

Russia Backed Spyware Attacks Europe and USA? Not Necessarily Russian

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/07/us-russia-cyberespionage-insight-idUSBREA260YI20140307

Unnamed security researchers and intelligence officers claim that Turla software has attacked European and US government computer systems to take control of them. http://article.wn.com/view/2014/03/07/Suspected_Russian_spyware_Turla_targets_Europe_US_1/

News of the spyware infection is now sweeping Europe. http://news168.co.uk/index/suspected-russian-spyware-turla-targets-europe-us And the US news agencies have started reporting the story, too. http://www.newshour24.com/business/1ze3akmm16/Suspected-Russian-Spyware-Turla-Targets-Europe-Us-Reuters.htm

Analysts at http://HamiltonFinanceServices.com expect much more news to hit on Turla and similar spyware in the next few days, but the news for now says that hackers backed by the Russian government use a specific style of software design and execution precisely like that employed by the spyware called Turla. European and US government agencies have circulated internal IT memos for how to identify and quarantine the spyware, but because the spyware shuts down via remote commands when detected, some or perhaps many government agencies cannot detect it without thousands of hours of code scrubbing. Costs associated with this type of cyber attack mount quickly into millions of Euros.

The http://HamiltonFinanceServices.com (HFS) analysts further opine that because the style of software design and execution has been closely identified with known or suspected Russian free-lance software developers, the possibility exists that some forces unrelated to Russia might be funding the same free-lancers. If so, cyber intelligence claims tainting Russia could be politically motivated as Ukraine tensions mount at the UN. The HFS analysts caution that no one really knows at this time who has retained the free-lance software designers behind Turla because no one has taken credit for the attack.

March 5, 2014

Distributed Denial of Service: Growing and Biting Harder

Distributed Denial of Service Attacks Out of Control

DDOS attacks have surpassed automated defenses, says Prolexic, a firm specializing in online security. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/05/us-cyber-ddos-idUSBREA240XZ20140305

Last month Cloudfare, another firm specializing in online security, faced its biggest DDOS threat ever. http://blog.cloudflare.com/technical-details-behind-a-400gbps-ntp-amplification-ddos-attack That attack rose 30 percent higher in power than the largest attack in recorded history.

Stories of destroying Mt. Gox and crippling Bitcoin rapidly have risen to the status of mythology. http://techland.time.com/2014/03/03/what-happened-to-mt-gox/ In Europe, Spamhaus news of their DDOS attack hit across the continent. http://gigaom.com/2014/02/11/record-breaking-ddos-attack-struck-on-monday-according-to-reports/ New names of victims like Namecheap reach headlines daily. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57619235-83/namecheap-targeted-in-monumental-ddos-attack/

What causes most DDOS attacks? It’s not bad weather. http://www.ponemon.org/blog/live-threat-intelligence-impact-report-2013 Analysts at http://HamiltonFinanceServices.com argue that warring nations, crime, and similar dark forces cannot account for all of the cyber carnage.

One especially nasty source of the worst recent attacks is wireless printers. You heard right. Wifi connected printers paired with bots intent on emitting millions of data requests offer the latest in DDOS tech. The software can be purchased cheaply by college kids for school projects. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9238833/Printers_routers_used_as_bots_in_DDoS_attacks

No matter what causes the attacks, some firms like Black Lotus make big money protecting against them. http://www.blacklotus.net/ddos-protection-firm-selects-telx-cloud-connection-center

So what should you and I do? One expert who focuses on cyber threats, Alexander Klimburg from the Austrian Institute for International Affairs, is on loan to Harvard University to research an answer to this question. His answer so far: “It’s very hard to know what to do.” http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/experts/2690/alexander_klimburg.html

Any opinions out there? Aside from staying offline and shutting down your online business, will cyber bullies reign for the foreseeable future?