Question 3 – Virus attacks

Computer security

Security in the context of computers mean addressing the important aspects of Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability of the computer system.
A good secure system would have achieved the right balance of these three aspects in relation to data, software and hardware of the particular computer system. Once a system is secured it has a lower possibility of being subject to be exploited the vulnerabilities of the system.

Virus

Computer viruses are software that can cause damage to the computer system that it resides in as well as spread itself (the software) to other computer systems. These viruses have the ability to attach them selves to another object such as a document or file and once the document or file is opened or executed by the user, virus will spread to that computer system. If this file were copied to another the virus would spread the same way to that computer. This processes will enable viruses to spread and infect many computer systems. Today's highly networked systems and the Internet has enabled an ideal medium for the viruses to spread.


Viruses exploit vulnerabilities that exist in software and destroy, alter or compromise data on a computer system.

Worst computer viruses

While there may be many different ways to categorize a computer virus such as, the damage caused, the hardness to detect, the time taken to spread and so on code red, Melissa, I love you & nimda can be listed as well known and worst effecting viruses that have spread in the computing world so far.
Based on an article by (Thorsberg, 2002) worlds worst viruses are

1. LoveLetter - I love you virus (2000)
2. Klez worm (Oct 2001)
3. Melissa virus (Mar 2001)
4. Magistr (Mar 2001)
5. Explorer.zip worm (1999)
6. Anna Kournikova (or VBS.SST@mm) worm (Feb 2001)
7. Nimda virus (Sep 2001)
8. Benjamin worm (May 2002)
9. Code red worm(2001)
10. Sircam (Jul 2001)

The latest viruses

Examining Symantec's security response page (Symantec, 2010a) few of the latest threats are listed below and the vulnerabilities were noted on Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Access, Outlook, Adobe flash player and Adobe reader.

W32.Changeup.C - Worm

This was discovered on 23 july 2010 and infected Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows XP, Windows Me, Windows Vista, Windows NT, Windows server 2003 and Windows 2000 systems. The worm exploits a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows shortcut 'LNK' files automatic file execution and spread through removable and shared drives.

Bloodhound.Exploit.343 - Trojan, Virus, Worm

Symantec lists Windows systems as affected by this worm and it also exploits the Microsoft Windows shortcut 'LNK' files automatic file execution vulnerability.

Bloodhound.Exploit.341 - Trojan, Virus, Worm

Windows systems are affected by this worm and it exploits a Microsoft Outlook TNEF Stream with MAPI attachment Remote code execution vulnerability according to Symantec.

(McAfee, 2010b) had the below list of malware on it's threat center web page on the same day and noted Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer on the current vulnerabilities list.

Exploit-CVE2010-2568

(McAfee, 2010a) described this malware as exploiting a vulnerability found in Microsoft windows shell code which allows code execution via a maliciously crafted .lnk file. Removable USB drives and shared folders were noted means of spreading for this malware.

MSIL/Terdial.d

This particular malware periodically dials premium rate/high cost long distance phone numbers according to (McAfee, 2010b) MSIL/Terdial.D description. It requires compact .NET framework installed to run the malicious code and is packaged with a legitimate game called “PDA Poker Art” according to Mcafee’s description.

The latest attacks

According to the Internet security threat report by (Symantec, 2010b) Hydraq trojan was used to carry out attacks on large companies in January 2010. This trojan has used a previous unknown vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer and a patched vulnerability in Adobe Reader and Adobe Flash. Attackers have been able to gain full remote access to the computers once the Trojan has been installed.

Further according to the same report in 2009 a major attack has been carried out against a single credit card payment processor, hacking in to the network using an SQL-injection attack.

Crimeware kits

An increasing problem with computer attacks would be the crimeware kits, a toolkit that allows people to customize malicious code and includes a variety of different exploits. Some examples of these are Zeus kit which could be bought for $700 or even free from underground forums. Fragus, Eleonore and Neosploit are also well known attack kits that can be used for web attacks according to (Symantec, 2010b)

References

McAfee (2010a). Exploit-CVE2010-2568 Retrieved 31/07/2010, from
http://vil.nai.com/vil/Content/v_268562.htm

McAfee (2010b). MSIL/Terdial.D Retrieved 31/07/2010, from
http://vil.nai.com/vil/Content/v_268519.htm

Symantec (2010a). Security response Retrieved 23/07/2010, from
http://www.symantec.com/business/security_response/landing/threats.jsp

Symantec (2010b). Symantec global internet security threat report. Trends for 2009, XV.
Retrieved from http://eval.symantec.com/mktginfo/enterprise/white_papers/b-whitepaper_internet_security_threat_report_xv_04-2010.en-us.pdf

Thorsberg, F. (2002). The world's worst viruses, from
http://www.pcworld.com/article/103992/the_worlds_worst_viruses.html

Question 2 – Keylogger

A key logger could be in the form of software or hardware and it collects and records all key strokes that are typed. The recorded information could be used by a computer attacker to gain access to information or the computer system.

Software keylogger

A software key logger could be installed via a computer virus or a Trojan.
The collected information will then be emailed to a pre programmed email id. Also these programs does not run as applications on the installed computer and is difficult to detect.

Hardware keylogger

A hardware component that could be inserted between the key board connector cable and the computer keyboard port. The attacker must have physical access to the computer to install and remove the device once the information is captured.
Due to the small size and the fact the key board is connected at the back of the computer these are also very difficult to detect once installed.

Installing a keylogger software

Below steps demonstrate how to install a software key logger on a computer and how the data will be captured once it is in operation.

Step 1 - Download key logger

The particular keylogger used for this task is Keyboard Collector and can be downloaded from
Keystorke Recorder & www.softdd.com

or
Keystorke Recorder & www.cnet.com
Below screen is displayed if you follow link 1.

Step 2 - Install & run key logger

If the computer is installed with anti virus software it may be required to stop it for the duration of the below tasks or modify settings to allow the keylogger software to be downloaded and installed. Download and install the keylogger software. Once download is complete click the .exe file to install.

Step 3 - View recorded log

Once the software is running perform normal computer activities. I opened a notepad file and typed in some text. Then click on keyboard collector icon to execute it and click on view logs. Below screen shows it has captured the text I typed into the notepad file.

Step 3 - Detect keyboard collector

The keylogger software is designed to run undetected on the installed computers. On a windows computer click task manager, then applications and keyboard collector will not appear to be running in the applications as shown below.

Additional step - Detect keyboard collector

Examining the running processes kcol23.exe was found as shown below.

Uninstall keyboard collector

Uninstall using the uninstall provided on the keyboard collector software. However this did not appear to remove all the components and the directory where it was installed and the kcol23.exe still remained. They required to be deleted manually and activate the antivirus software if it was stopped.

Question 4 – Anti virus software

A computer system could be strengthened by installing an antivirus software which will scan a computer for security risks, clean or remove viruses found, keeps the virus definitions updated automatically by synchronising with the antivirus software server and provides a variety of additional functions such as firewall functionality, web site security certificate verification, computer configuration and back up functionality.
This task is designed to test a variety of means that a computer could be effected with a virus file and how the antivirus software installed on the computer will detect and secure the computer. The tasks performed below is to download a fake virus file and observe how the installed antivirus software will detect and prevent each different scenario.

Step 1 - The test virus file

Below screen shows the antivirus test file download page from European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research website. 

Step 2 - Risk via URL

Below screen shows when the link to eicar.com is clicked the antivirus software displays a pop up window stating a security risk was blocked and the computer is secure.

Step 3 - Risk via downloading a compressed file

When the eicar_com.zip file link was clicked the dialog box opened, with default setting of “save file” selected. But no alert from antivirus software was displayed.

Once the download is complete, the file was selected and a virus scan was performed.

Antivirus software detected and reported a virus was found.

Step 4 - Risk via a double compressed file

Next task is to download a double compressed zip file called as eicarcom2.zip. The file could be saved to the computer with no warnings.

Once the download was complete the file was selected and scanned for viruses using the antivirus software.

A security risk was detected and reported by the antivirus software program.

Question 1 – Google Reconnaissance

Computer attackers are able to gather unprotected information using Google search to attack such computers. This is known as “Google reconnaissance”. The steps below illustrate how the information could be collected for carrying out such an attack.

Uncover MS Excel files with login infomation

Below steps illustrate how a Google search can be performed to retrieve MS Excel files containing user id and password information in clear text. These could then be used to log into or gain access into the computer system or the network.

step 1

Use Google advanced search, search words containing “login:*” “password=*”, select file types MS excel “.xls”, then click advanced search.

step 2

Below screen shows 1st page of results found by Google that matches the search criteria.

step 3

The screen below shows contents of a MS Excel file that contains an actual user id and a password value for a web site with the URL of the web site.

Uncover Text files with login infomation

A similar search can be performed to search for text files that contain user id and password values.

step 1

The search criteria is, “index.of passlist” as the search word and any format as the file type.

step 2

Below screen displays 1st result page returned by Google.

step 3

Examining the results many did not contain an actual file with user id and password values.

step 4

A slight modification was done to the search as "index.of password" and click search button. The results returned are shown below

step 5

Following the first link displayed the contents of a directory index of a site with a list of files and possibly links to a password file as shown below.

step 6

Click the link passlist.txt and it provides access to what appears to be a admin user id and password which is unprotected as shown below.

About

ICT Management & Information Security is a topic that will be relevant to anyone using information technology today. From corporate IT management to a personal computer user, even someone using a mobile device would benefit from the knowledge of Information security.

This blog will be used to document my study activities on the topic of ICT management and information security.

Information contained in this blog are for educational purposes only. Tasks or activities demonstrated are not carried out to gain access to and carry out any task that will damage, destroy or reveal unauthorised personal or financial information.

Stay tuned.