10/27/11

Cyber Security LinkedIn Groups

Groups gAtOmAlO likes

 

10/25/11

Best Tool Against Hacker Attacks a Smart Network Administrator

The   best   tool   against   hacker attacks   is   a   smart   network administrator.

This article will show how to use Hydra to check for weak passwords. Hydra tries all possible password combination against a server on the Internet until one valid one is found to log in to the server. It is a powerful tool for hackers and network administrators alike.

Please notice that no blog entry is published in order to cause any damage or to motivate people harming something/someone. I believe in the fact that information should be free and shared among each other. It is not my responsibility if someone abuses the knowledge which can be found here. Please always respect and know your local laws.

Yeah, again an article on how to choose secure passwords   Unbreakable, long and complicated so they are impossible to remember… Not really! This article is different! In this article I will talk from the attacker  point of view. Why  it is not   trivial   to   brute   force   a password.   I   will   explain   how Hydra can help to test for  weak passwords.   Hydra   is   available from  http://www.thc.org/thc­ hydra/.

It is supposedly the best network   login   cracking   tool available today. This  article  will  only  give  you  a broad overview of the potential of Hydra. You will figure out the rest by yourself.

First   make   your   network   as secure   as   you   can.   Make   no mistakes: One  small  mistake  by you,   one   giant   leap   for   the attacker.

  • • Set up a test network
  • • Set up a test server
  • • Configuring services
  • • Configure ACL
  • • Choosing good passwords
  • • Use SSL
  • • Use cryptography
  • • Use an IDS.

…then let Hydra try to break into your own server!

Setting up networks The Internet is standardized. It will either be IPv4 or IPv6. Hydra can attack IPv4 and IPv6 networks alike. Use the ­6 option to switch to IPv6.

Configuring services and access controls Common protocols for mail are SMTP, POP3 and IMAP4. They are used by small and large businesses alike, heck they are even used by gmail, hotmail and other big players: Most of those biggies support one of those protocols beside the web based login known to most of you. Your password is at risk even if you never ever used SMTP, POP3 or IMAP. Use the ­h option in Hydra to get a full list of supported protocols.

A common mistake of many new server   installations   is   that   they come   with   services   like   POP3, IMAP or SSH enabled by default. Access   control   and   firewall   are disabled by default. New default servers   are   an   easy   target   for Hydra

Shell 1. Choosing IP version from command line

#./hydra ­l john ­p doe imap://192.168.0.10:143

#./hydra ­l john ­p doe imap://[::FFFF:192.168.0.10]:143 ­

Shell 2. Bruteforce password generator option

#./hydra ­l john ­x 5:8:A1 imap://192.168.0.10:14

Shell 3. Set SASL method on command line

#./hydra ­l john ­p doe imap://192.168.0.10/CRAM­MD

Choosing good passwords

Passwords   are   often   chosen carelessly. 90% of all users pick one   of   the   10   most   common passwords   at   some   point   on some system.

123456,   password,   secret,   … look familiar?

Might as well not use a password at all then! Hydra   also   has   a   special command line option: Use “­e ns” to   check   for   empty   passwords and   where  the  password   is   the username! Hydra   can   work   through   list   of common   passwords   or   can mutate the passwords randomly. Use the ­x option for mutating the password. For  example use “­x 5:8:A1 “  to try all password of length 5 to 8 by   using   all   possible combinations   of   all   upper   case characters and all numbers.

Using SSL and cryptographic methods Using   encryption   like   SSL   does not help. SSL is primarily used to encrypted  the  sessions  between attacker   and   server.   This   is   an advantage for the attacker as the attack   is   not   picked   up   by   a network   Intrusion   Detection System (IDS).

SSL   is   almost   never   used   to authenticate a client. Client side authentication   is   done   by traditional   password authentication   in   almost   all servers.

Research  has  shown  that users using   SSL   chose   weaker password for the SSL connection than   for   connections   not   using SSL.   It   appears   there   is   some false  sense  of security  lingering among all the good, bad and ugly things with SSL. This is where Hydra attacks. In   cryptography   if   you   do   not understand it do not use it! Beside   SSL   does   Hydra   also support   SASL   (CRAM­MD5, DIGEST­MD5   and   SCRAM­ SHA1).

The   “Simple   Authentication   and Security   Layer”   (SASL)   is   a framework for  authentication and data security in Internet protocols. It   decouples   authentication mechanisms   from   application protocols.

GNU project has  implemented it through   the   GNU   SASL   Library called   GSASL   (see http://www.gnu.org/software/gsasl/).

When   the   server   is   negotiating secure  channel, secure  method, Hydra just respond “ok let’s do it”, and   generates   valid   credential based on the challenge sent. The  SASL  method  can  be  used as   shown   above.   Use   the   ­U option   to   get   a   full   list   of supported SASL options.

Monitoring   access and resources

More   and   more   companies   are buying   SIEM   (Security Information   and   Event Management)   to   centralized   the event access logs. This could be useful  to  track  abnormal  events on the network, like for  example many authentication failures on a given service. This kind of tool, is used to save your  time, it could also  automatically  alerts   you  by using   some   correlated   rules   to detect malicious events. No   SIEM   prevents   the   attack. They merely inform you after the event.   After   Hydra   got   in.   After your data got stolen.

Sometimes the SIEM or the IAM (Identity   and   Access Management)   can   become   the way   of   entry   as   well!   These services   are   using   LDAP.   And guess what, Hydra also supports LDAP. IPS   (Intrusion   Prevention System)   is   a   must   have   in   a corporate   network,   nowadays such kind of device always come

with   predefined   signatures   to detect password cracking attacks. However, they have a weak point, they are based on a defined rate.

For   example   if   there   are   10 authentication failed in 5 seconds from   the   same   source   IP   just block  or  quarantine  the  attacker for x seconds. For   this   purpose   Hydra   comes with  some  features  to  plan  how the   attack   is   conducted.   The   ­t option   can   be   used   to   set   the number   of   concurrent   tasks (default is 16). Setting it to 1 and you  will  stay  under  the  radar  of any IDS.

Conclusion

Chose your password wisely. Do not let  IDS,  IPS, SIEM, IAM  or SSL lure you into a false sense ofsecurity.

Try   Hydra.   Make   sure   you   are safe and secure.

The   best   tool   against   hacker attacks   is   a   smart   network administrator.

10/21/11

The Cyber Security 101 – Information Security Risk Assessment to Compliance

The Cyber Security 101 – Information Security Risk Assessment to Compliance

Information security risk assessment, performed in concert with operational risk management, can contribute to compliance as an outcome. Information security risk assessment is a key practice for identifying and prioritizing security risks to critical information assets and key business processes.  Determining which security controls mitigate key risks, for both business and compliance purposes, can only be determined through a continuous risk management process.

Conducting security risk assessment in concert with operational risk assessment ensures that security risk identification and mitigation are determined based on impact to the business. We will provides guidelines on how business leaders can use risk assessment as an effective tool for achieving compliance.

quis custodiet ipsos custodes

US Cyber Labs - quis custodiet ipsos custodes

PART 1: ASSESSING SECURITY RISK IN A BUSINESS CONTEXT

Why Is Risk Assessment Relevant and Important for Information Security? Risk assessment allows us to put information security issues in a business context, better understanding the impact to the business in the event of a security breach. Risk Assessment allows leaders to better answer the “So what?” test, not in technology or security incident terms, but in terms of lost productivity, lost revenue, and potential business interruption – in other words, operational risk. Leaders can then analyze and prioritize security risks in the context of all other operational risks, using business language and measures of effectiveness.

How Can Risk Assessment Be Used to Prioritize Compliance Requirements?

Current compliance risk-based regulations and standards that call for security controls include:

  • FISMA (Federal Information Security Management Act) for federal and civilian agencies
  • ISO 27001 (in concert with ISO 17799, now ISO 27002)
  • HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accounting Act)
  • ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library)
  • COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and related Technology)
  • COSO (Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission)

 

All of these have many controls and requirements. How does an organization select which ones are most applicable and most important? And which ones can be justifiably eliminated from consideration? Risk assessment provides an approach for ranking and stacking which security controls to implement, in a business context. It is generally accepted during a compliance review as a defensible basis for control selection and elimination. An organization can state “We’ve covered our priority risks. Our budget limitations prevent us from implementing some controls. But because we’ve gone through a complete risk assessment process and have captured the results in a defensible form, that’s okay.” What then remains is for a business leader to manage and track any residual risks. This approach provides a strong basis for making security investment decisions.

PART 2: ZEROING IN ON A RISK ASSESSMENT METHOD

Examples of Common and Widely Accepted Methods for Assessing Information Security Risk

 

  • NIST SP 800-30 Risk Management Guide for Information Technology Systems
  • BSI 7799-3 (soon to become ISO 27003)
  • CRAMM (CCTA (Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency) Risk Analysis and Method Management) – a qualitative risk analysis and management tool originally developed by the UK government
  • MEHARI (Méthode Harmonisée d’Analyse de Risques Informatiques)
  • FRAP (Facilitated Risk Analysis Process)
  • OCTAVE (Operationally Critical Threat, Asset, and Vulnerability Evaluation)

Selecting a Useful Method

Consider available case studies, experience reports, and comparisons. Find one that is most compatible with your organization’s operational risk management process, risk criteria, language for assessing risk, and how risk data is typically analyzed and presented. Make sure to integrate security risk tradeoffs with other organizational risks.

Key Elements of an Effective Security Risk Assessment Approach

Choose a method that recognizes its placement in the risk management and security management life cycles. As a diagnostic, to generate information for decision making and control selection. Follow through – make sure control implementation is managed and tracked over time. Ensure that risk assessments are part of a continuous risk management process/cycle, and conducted periodically or as events warrant. Treat security risk assessment as part of operational risk assessment and management. Recognize that most methods in use today are qualitative but progress is being made in determining quantitative losses and impacts. Focus more on impact and loss, and less on threat and vulnerability which are constantly shifting and changing. At the core of any risk-based approach is “What’s important, and why do I care?”

PART 3: BUILDING A RISK-BASED COMPLIANCE PROGRAM

The Steps

Select an approach, using the guidelines we’ve covered. Determine the scope of the assessment (typically a business unit or a selected set of business processes). It is important to bound the information assets and systems of interest, keeping this manageable.

  • Focus on the most critical assets first.
  • Select a multi-disciplinary team, including members outside of IT to represent the business/mission perspective and characterize the business impacts.
  • Perform preliminary analysis and present this to senior decision makers for action.
  • Make sure there is a well-defined connection to existing operational risk management activities, be it a risk committee or perhaps through internal audit.
  • Fund and implement risk mitigation controls.
  • Provide oversight and monitoring to ensure that controls are implemented correctly and are truly reducing risk.

Understand the relationship between risk assessment and compliance: It’s not “I’m doing risk assessment to comply with regulation X” but “I’m doing risk assessment because its effective practice.” Properly performed risk assessment will often result in compliance as an outcome or byproduct.

Challenges to Anticipate and Address

  • Lack of patience – risk assessment takes time to collect information, interact with stakeholders, and conduct analysis.
  • Rushing to solution mode – this will often happen as problems that need immediate attention are discovered along the way. This can cause the team and the organization to lose sight of the larger goal.
  • Insufficient time spent on characterizing true impact – work with your business continuity and disaster recovery staff.
  • The absence of well-defined risk evaluation criteria
  • Failure to involve business line personnel, including the owners of critical information assets and key business processes.

 

09/27/11

Sorry we got hacked TiGER-M@TE hack

We are working very hard to correct the effects of the TiGER-M@TE hack on our blog. I receive notification of the hack via email about 8:11 AM – (At around 4am EST-hack was found) 4 hour response time to inform the customer. GOOD JOB INMOTION . As a gAtO gEeK I want to know the weakness and the de-contruction of the Tiger-M@te attack, but we can wait till after disaster recovery. The forensic team would love this hack. It’s unconfirmed but if you use windows, and clicked on the image– it would of launched a trojan-unconfirmed. We are working on the forensic’s of uscyberlabs.com-hack and will report back soon.

If you came to USCyberLabs.com from 4am EST to 8:30am EST- 9/27/2011- and “you saw the hacked site below“… you may want to run antivirus on your machine.

Update –> 11:02 am EST -This is were the gAtO says cloud-computing -OuCh. InMotion is a hosting service. They build a good security model and then apply it to everyone “the cloud solution”, but is this how we handle security on the cloud? Then if a hacker hacks the weakest link once anywhere in the construct, they can then replicated the hack to everyone on that cloud.  Next Cloud jumping hackers. It’s all the same on the cloud, let’s think “outside the box“…….

Tiger-M@te uscyberlabs hack - graphic no link

I have my disagreement with InMotion but I think they are doing a fantastic job dealing with the crisis.

 The article below has more information concerning that hack that affected InMotion Hosting on September 25, 2011. If you’re looking for information on how to fix your website, please see: Directory Listing / Defacement Fix due to TiGER-M@TE hack

 

 

Update –> 12:52 am EST — Re: What was the weakness? -

Postby TimS on Tue Sep 27, 2011 11:36 am

Hi Involution Media,Thanks for your comment. At this time, we have not yet released the full details of the hack. As more information becomes available, we will release more information that will not jeopardize the integrity of the servers. You can always check for updates at:http://inmotionhosting.com/status

If you need further assistance please feel free to contact us.

Thank you!

Tim S. —  Sep 12, 2011 11:27 am

 

Dear Customer,

At around 4am EST, our system administration team identified a website defacement attack affecting a large number of customers. We are still investigating, but it appears that files named index.php have been defaced.

We are evaluating how this has occurred and our security team will have more information shortly.

While we review this issue, cPanel and SSH access has been disabled on various platforms. For additional security, we are rotating passwords on a number of accounts. We will honor requests for password resets as they are needed but are attempting to limit the inconvenience to our customers as we’re able. FTP is still operational should you wish to access your files at this time and correct any issues you see yourself. We will be working diligently to make cPanel access available again as soon as possible.

If there is a defacement on your account, please know that our Systems team is working to get your site back online. If your index.php was modified, they will be restoring it from the most recent backup and no further action is necessary on your part. At this time, we do not have a definitive timeframe for resolution, but we will update this page as we gather more information.

We do apologize for this issue, let us know as you have further questions, we’ll be glad to answer them as we’re able. Please understand it will take our security team some time to review this issue before we can have a full explanation available.

Updates ..> http://www.inmotionhosting.com/20110925-systems-announcement.html

08/4/11

Black Hat Google Hacking Goes After China – www.esecurityplanet.com

Search engines aren’t just for finding Web content, they can also be valuable tools for security research.

At Black Hat 2010, researchers from Stach and Liu released Google and Bing tools called GoogleDiggity and BingDiggity. Those tools enable researchers to leverage those search engines to find security vulnerabilities in websites and applications. For Black Hat 2011, the researchers are back and this time they’re expanding their tools providing new capabilities to find and indentify security risk with the help of search engines.

“This year we’re adding a whole host of tools including a Windows desktop application as well as an iPhone app,” Stach and Liu security researcher Francis Brown said.

via Black Hat Google Hacking Goes After China – www.esecurityplanet.com.

07/21/11

Security – Hacking Tools & Utilities – good tools to have in your collection

Whatever colour hat you are – White – Gray – Black – these are some of the tools you will need for scuz-security work.

Cyber Ricardo

Cyber Ricardo - el GatoMalo - Cyber Hippy

 

1. Nmap –  Get Nmap Here - nmap -v -sS -A xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

2. Nessus Remote Security Scanner - Get Nessus Here

3. John the Ripper - Yes, JTR 1.7 was recently releasedYou can get JTR Here

4. Nikto - Get Nikto Here

5. SuperScan - Get SuperScan Here

6. p0f - Get p0f Here

7. Wireshark (Formely Ethereal) - Get Wireshark Here

8. Yersinia - Get Yersinia Here

9. Eraser - Get Eraser Here.

10. PuTTY - Get PuTTY Here.

11. LCP - Get LCP Here

12. Cain and Abel - Get Cain and Abel Here

13. Kismet - Get Kismet Here

14. NetStumbler - Get NetStumbler Here

15. hping - Get hping Here

0.1 Metasploit – Backtrack – Paros – Proxy – Toufeeq – Pedro – BO2k – Optix – Beast – NetCat – LCP – Immunity Debbuger - 

 

 

07/21/11

Should we be afraid of Chinese hackers? …Or lost cyber war

“Our nation’s intellectual capital, industrial secrets, and economic security are under daily and withering attack.” –Stephen Spoonamore (expert in the field of electronic data security and digital network architecture.)

“China’s big goal in the 21st century is to become world number one, the top power,” -Liu Migfu. (People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Senior Col., “The China Dream” book).

“Political power flows from the barrel of a gun.” – Mao Zedong (former Chairman of the Communists Party of China)

“Educate and inform the whole mass of the people… They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.”– Thomas Jefferson”

via Secure Cyber: Should we be afraid of Chinese hackers? …Or lost cyber war (Part I).

07/20/11

Hackers Linking Geeks and Wonks to Respond to National Security Incidents | Atlantic Council

There are many reasons why cyber conflict is considered an awkward and destabilizing national security problem. One of the more overlooked is the gap between the technical elite and senior politicians and policymakers, a disconnect that could become tragic during fast-moving cyber conflicts.   While this gap is shrinking in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia, it still is very significant elsewhere. China in particular needs to create better ways to connect their national security decision-makers with their technical incident responders – linking geeks and wonks – to help ensure technical incidents do not escalate out of political control.

via Cyber Statecraft: Linking Geeks and Wonks to Respond to National Security Incidents | Atlantic Council.

07/13/11

Hacker Cyber Crew (crewz) Diagram

Hacker Moto:-be hidden, be silent, listen and don’t get DOX (documented-revealed). 

Script Kiddies (also hackers) Moto:- Let’s do it, we won’t get caught, let’s tell the world what we done..yeh..me…me…me..me 

New Hacker’s Dictionary, a hacker is “a person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities” and one who is capable of “creatively overcoming or circumventing limitations”.

These hackers know cyber space. There are some that are young and audacious. Look at Anonymous or AntiSec the authorities have arrested some hackers but they are only foot soldiers. Cyber Space is full of foot soldiers. These young hackers are very gifted and talented. There are “lone wolfs” and there are cyber crew. (Crewz)

Org Chart of Hacker Crew -Groups

uscyberlabs_cyber_crewz

LulzSec Team 

Sabu - Captain of the Ship, organizing the team and planning strategies.
Topiary - Basically PR, updating Twitter and interviews with media.
Kayla - Mostly focused on RFI / LFI / SQLi and coordinating with the rest.
Tflow - Maintenance of LulzSec website and torrents.
Storm  - DDOS and also involved in PBS hack.
Pwnsauce - Coding required tools for the team and involved in Infragard hack.
Neuron - Coding and also involved in Sownage.
M_nerva - Deus Ex Game hack.
TrollPoll - Involved in Fox hack and seems to be the most paranoid of all.
JoePie - Updating the team with news related to LulzSec and other channels of interest.
Avunit - Seems focused on XSS and SQLi
Kl0ps, io, Palladium and Devrandom - Hackers supporting the team
Bitcoin Donations handled by Tflow, Topiary and Joepie
Team Strength - 13 or 15. It could be possible that some handles are used by same person.

Who are these Hacker?

 

Wake up these hackers are our sons and daughter. They are the focused ones the ones that could lock in with laser eyes what they wanted. Remember that nerd you picked on back in school well he just hacked the IMF. Now he has powers and she has friends that think alike and where treated alike, with their own slant on Peace and War and especially on what’s wrong and right. Guess what they are our future – were we good parents? That’s who these hackers are.

 

They have tricked you! Mis/disinformation.

  • To hide in cyber space is simple get a VPN (virtual private network) look it up some are free. It hides you they can’t see your geo-location then get TOR this software hides you even more. With these 2 basic steps that are all free you can hide in cyberspace.
  • Do you think these hackers that hide behind more layers than the 2 above would use “Twitter” http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23AntiSec to communicate their plans -
  • How about on the public IRC relay channels. When your on the PUBLIC IRC channels like #AntiSec they know who you are. You don’t look like them. You don’t talk like them. You don’t act like them. They know who you are.
    http://search.mibbit.com/search/antisec
  • The News has interviews with these cyber hacker groups - Really? - LulzSec. If you do not know who they are how can you know they are real. -dis/information
  • How about their leader of the LulzSec cyber revolution http://twitter.com/#!/anonymouSabu Sabu the ring leader of LulzSec
  • How about the LulzSec Twitter – www.twitter.com/lulzsec

 

These hackers know social media they grew up in this technology. Social Engineering it’s second nature, their bread and butter they are hackers. Here is a family picture of the latest Cyber Crew.

US Cyber Labs dot com

  • See how many cyber crewz turned on LulzSec. Why did they dox them? Were they too good? Were they too arrogant? Why did their friends turn on them? Maybe they were forced to in order to not got to jail?
  • These guys are pissed about the flips and betrayal that’s why they are pissed at the world – it’s that simple.
    • We were young and invincible once too.
    • They use these PUBLIC tools to taunt us. To give us clues to put out but to divulge any real information – sometimes.
    • I do admit that they are young and brazen so they kind of show their metal and that’s when the clues really become clear. We can sometimes gleam information from there documentation -chatter.
  • Notes to Myself – mEoW - GatoMalo@uscyberlabs.com

 

07/6/11

Deep Packet Inspection (DPI): U.S. Government Market Forecast 2010-2015 | dPacket.org: Deep Packet Inspection ( DPI ) Community

The U.S. government-related IP traffic will quintuple from 2010 to 2015. US-China cyber confrontation is nothing new but Chinese hacking attacks and Obama’s new hardball policy shift with China (US arms sale to Taiwan and invitation of the Dalai Lama to the White House) will likely add fuel to the fire of cyber war. Deep Packet Inspection is the only currently available technology capable to provide security of IP traffic at ever growing rates that has inherent traffic management capabilities. Recently massive growth in data processing power and new cyber threats have spurred the deployment of DPI technologies in the U.S. Government agencies. These are conclusions of a new Market Research Media report “Deep Packet Inspection (DPI): U.S. Government Market Forecast 2010-2015?.

 

Government Market

 

In 2009, we’ve seen a palpable shift from reactive approach to cyber security to proactive and attitude change of federal CIO’s with regard to Deep Packet Inspection (DPI). While technological advantages of the DPI technology leave no doubt about its significant role in cyber security, lawful interception and data leakage protection, the perception of DPI as “postal employees opening envelopes and reading letters inside” and privacy concerns hurdle its deployment.

Market Research Media conducted a survey to understand the Deep Package Inspection technology deployment in the U.S. Government agencies, present and future growth trends. We interviewed 230 IT executives, 100 in the federal agencies and 130 in the leading federal IT subcontracting companies. Most of the respondents interviewed have a key influence on DPI deployment or recommend cyber security solutions in their organizations/agencies. The third of the respondents are staff providing technical support for the cyber security solutions in use. The survey results and research data are summed up in this new report.

Given the severity of recent Chinese hacking attacks and the potential catastrophic consequences of critical networks disruption, DPI technology is in a favorable position to emerge as a major line of cyber defense for years to come. The U.S. Government Deep Packet Inspection market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 36% from 2010 to around US$ 1.8 Billion by 2015. The market will see a few good years of explosive growth in all segments before going flat.

The report answers the following questions:

  • Why pay any attention at all to the U.S. Government DPI market?
  • What segments of the U.S. Government DPI market are poised for fast growth?
  • What are key trends in DPI deployment?
  • Will legal hurdles and privacy concerns impede DPI deployment in government networks and DPI use for surveillance & monitoring purposes?
  • What are drivers and inhibitors of the U.S. Government DPI market?
  • What are market opportunities in providing DPI solutions for Government sector?

The report provides detailed year-by-year (2010 – 2015) forecasts for the following U.S. Government market segments:

  • Deep Packet Inspection software, hardware, and services, including installation, support and personnel training;
  • Deep Packet Inspection applications for security, Sigint (Signals Intelligence) and network management;
  • Deep Packet Inspection market by Defense/Civilian agencies;
  • Deep Packet Inspection market by Landline/Mobile networks.

via Deep Packet Inspection (DPI): U.S. Government Market Forecast 2010-2015 | dPacket.org: Deep Packet Inspection ( DPI ) Community.