Proactive Detection of Computer Worms Using Model Checking
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A the Hacker
A The Hacker Madame Curie once said “En science, nous devons nous int´eresser aux choses, non aux personnes [In science, we should be interested in things, not in people].” Things, however, have since changed, and today we have to be interested not just in the facts of computer security and crime, but in the people who perpetrate these acts. Hence this discussion of hackers. Over the centuries, the term “hacker” has referred to various activities. We are familiar with usages such as “a carpenter hacking wood with an ax” and “a butcher hacking meat with a cleaver,” but it seems that the modern, computer-related form of this term originated in the many pranks and practi- cal jokes perpetrated by students at MIT in the 1960s. As an example of the many meanings assigned to this term, see [Schneier 04] which, among much other information, explains why Galileo was a hacker but Aristotle wasn’t. A hack is a person lacking talent or ability, as in a “hack writer.” Hack as a verb is used in contexts such as “hack the media,” “hack your brain,” and “hack your reputation.” Recently, it has also come to mean either a kludge, or the opposite of a kludge, as in a clever or elegant solution to a difficult problem. A hack also means a simple but often inelegant solution or technique. The following tentative definitions are quoted from the jargon file ([jargon 04], edited by Eric S. Raymond): 1. A person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who prefer to learn only the minimum necessary. -
Undergraduate Report
UNDERGRADUATE REPORT Attack Evolution: Identifying Attack Evolution Characteristics to Predict Future Attacks by MaryTheresa Monahan-Pendergast Advisor: UG 2006-6 IINSTITUTE FOR SYSTEMSR RESEARCH ISR develops, applies and teaches advanced methodologies of design and analysis to solve complex, hierarchical, heterogeneous and dynamic problems of engineering technology and systems for industry and government. ISR is a permanent institute of the University of Maryland, within the Glenn L. Martin Institute of Technol- ogy/A. James Clark School of Engineering. It is a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center. Web site http://www.isr.umd.edu Attack Evolution 1 Attack Evolution: Identifying Attack Evolution Characteristics To Predict Future Attacks MaryTheresa Monahan-Pendergast Dr. Michel Cukier Dr. Linda C. Schmidt Dr. Paige Smith Institute of Systems Research University of Maryland Attack Evolution 2 ABSTRACT Several approaches can be considered to predict the evolution of computer security attacks, such as statistical approaches and “Red Teams.” This research proposes a third and completely novel approach for predicting the evolution of an attack threat. Our goal is to move from the destructive nature and malicious intent associated with an attack to the root of what an attack creation is: having successfully solved a complex problem. By approaching attacks from the perspective of the creator, we will chart the way in which attacks are developed over time and attempt to extract evolutionary patterns. These patterns will eventually -
The Botnet Chronicles a Journey to Infamy
The Botnet Chronicles A Journey to Infamy Trend Micro, Incorporated Rik Ferguson Senior Security Advisor A Trend Micro White Paper I November 2010 The Botnet Chronicles A Journey to Infamy CONTENTS A Prelude to Evolution ....................................................................................................................4 The Botnet Saga Begins .................................................................................................................5 The Birth of Organized Crime .........................................................................................................7 The Security War Rages On ........................................................................................................... 8 Lost in the White Noise................................................................................................................. 10 Where Do We Go from Here? .......................................................................................................... 11 References ...................................................................................................................................... 12 2 WHITE PAPER I THE BOTNET CHRONICLES: A JOURNEY TO INFAMY The Botnet Chronicles A Journey to Infamy The botnet time line below shows a rundown of the botnets discussed in this white paper. Clicking each botnet’s name in blue will bring you to the page where it is described in more detail. To go back to the time line below from each page, click the ~ at the end of the section. 3 WHITE -
CONTENTS in THIS ISSUE Fighting Malware and Spam
MARCH 2008 Fighting malware and spam CONTENTS IN THIS ISSUE 2 COMMENT EVASIVE ACTION Home (page) renovations Pandex has attracted very little attention from the media and generated little 3 NEWS discussion between malware Botherders herded researchers and among the 29A folds general populace. Chandra Prakash and Adam Thomas provide an overview of the Pandex operation and take an in-depth look at VIRUS PREVALENCE TABLE 3 the underlying code that has allowed this malware to evade detection for so long. 4 MALWARE ANALYSIS page 4 Pandex: the botnet that could PACKING A PUNCH In the fi nal part of the series on exepacker 9 FEATURE blacklisting, Robert Neumann takes a look at how all the processing and analysis techniques are put Exepacker blacklisting part 3 into practice in a real-life situation. page 9 15 CONFERENCE REPORT AVG TURNS 8 Black Hat DC and CCC 24C3 John Hawes gets his hands on a preview version of the latest offering from AVG. 18 PRODUCT REVIEW page 18 AVG Internet Security 8 22 END NOTES & NEWS This month: anti-spam news and events, and Ken Simpson considers the implications of rising spam volume despite increasing accuracy of content fi lters. ISSN 1749-7027 COMMENT ‘It is hoped that within all sizes of business. It is hoped that the comment facility will promote discussion among visitors and that the comment facility in some cases the more knowledgeable of VB’s readers will promote will be able to guide and assist those less well versed in discussion among the complexities of anti-malware technologies. -
Common Threats to Cyber Security Part 1 of 2
Common Threats to Cyber Security Part 1 of 2 Table of Contents Malware .......................................................................................................................................... 2 Viruses ............................................................................................................................................. 3 Worms ............................................................................................................................................. 4 Downloaders ................................................................................................................................... 6 Attack Scripts .................................................................................................................................. 8 Botnet ........................................................................................................................................... 10 IRCBotnet Example ....................................................................................................................... 12 Trojans (Backdoor) ........................................................................................................................ 14 Denial of Service ........................................................................................................................... 18 Rootkits ......................................................................................................................................... 20 Notices ......................................................................................................................................... -
Computer Viruses, in Order to Detect Them
Behaviour-based Virus Analysis and Detection PhD Thesis Sulaiman Amro Al amro This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Software Technology Research Laboratory Faculty of Technology De Montfort University May 2013 DEDICATION To my beloved parents This thesis is dedicated to my Father who has been my supportive, motivated, inspired guide throughout my life, and who has spent every minute of his life teaching and guiding me and my brothers and sisters how to live and be successful. To my Mother for her support and endless love, daily prayers, and for her encouragement and everything she has sacrificed for us. To my Sisters and Brothers for their support, prayers and encouragements throughout my entire life. To my beloved Family, My Wife for her support and patience throughout my PhD, and my little boy Amro who has changed my life and relieves my tiredness and stress every single day. I | P a g e ABSTRACT Every day, the growing number of viruses causes major damage to computer systems, which many antivirus products have been developed to protect. Regrettably, existing antivirus products do not provide a full solution to the problems associated with viruses. One of the main reasons for this is that these products typically use signature-based detection, so that the rapid growth in the number of viruses means that many signatures have to be added to their signature databases each day. These signatures then have to be stored in the computer system, where they consume increasing memory space. Moreover, the large database will also affect the speed of searching for signatures, and, hence, affect the performance of the system. -
Symantec Internet Security Threat Report
Symantec Internet EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Symantec Internet Security Threat Report September 2003 EXECUTIVE EDITOR Executive Summary Linda McCarthy Symantec Office of the CTO The Symantec Internet Security Threat Report provides a six-month update about Internet threat MANAGER, DEVELOPMENT activity1. It includes analysis of network-based attacks, a review of known vulnerabilities, and David Ahmad Symantec Security Response highlights of malicious code. This summary of that report can alert executives to impending threats and current trends. SENIOR THREAT ANALYST Cori Lynn Arnold Symantec Managed Security With over 20,000 sensors monitoring network activity in over 180 countries, Symantec has Services established one of the most comprehensive sources of Internet threat data in the world, giving SENIOR MANAGER, ANALYSIS Symantec's analysts a superior source of attack data from which to spot important trends. OPERATIONS These trends educate executives about potential threats and exposures, and using the data Brian Dunphy Symantec Managed Security can help them identify weaknesses in their own security architecture or policies. Services In August 2003, the Win32.Blaster blended threat rapidly spread worldwide, and several other SENIOR MANAGER, DEVELOPMENT Oliver Friedrichs highly severe worms followed. In only eight days the pace and frequency of these threats created Symantec Security Response havoc for systems administrators as well as for PC home users, with an estimated cost of damages 2 RESEARCH FELLOW running up to $2 billion . This report -
Ethical Hacking
Official Certified Ethical Hacker Review Guide Steven DeFino Intense School, Senior Security Instructor and Consultant Contributing Authors Barry Kaufman, Director of Intense School Nick Valenteen, Intense School, Senior Security Instructor Larry Greenblatt, Intense School, Senior Security Instructor Australia • Brazil • Japan • Korea • Mexico • Singapore • Spain • United Kingdom • United States Official Certified Ethical Hacker © 2010 Course Technology, Cengage Learning Review Guide ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein Steven DeFino may be reproduced, transmitted, stored or used in any form or by any means Barry Kaufman graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited to photocopying, Nick Valenteen recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, Web distribution, information networks, Larry Greenblatt or information storage and retrieval systems, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior Vice President, Career and written permission of the publisher. Professional Editorial: Dave Garza Executive Editor: Stephen Helba For product information and technology assistance, contact us at Managing Editor: Marah Bellegarde Cengage Learning Customer & Sales Support, 1-800-354-9706 For permission to use material from this text or product, Senior Product Manager: submit all requests online at www.cengage.com/permissions Michelle Ruelos Cannistraci Further permissions questions can be e-mailed to Editorial Assistant: Meghan Orvis [email protected] -
THE CONFICKER MYSTERY Mikko Hypponen Chief Research Officer F-Secure Corporation Network Worms Were Supposed to Be Dead. Turns O
THE CONFICKER MYSTERY Mikko Hypponen Chief Research Officer F-Secure Corporation Network worms were supposed to be dead. Turns out they aren't. In 2009 we saw the largest outbreak in years: The Conficker aka Downadup worm, infecting Windows workstations and servers around the world. This worm infected several million computers worldwide - most of them in corporate networks. Overnight, it became as large an infection as the historical outbreaks of worms such as the Loveletter, Melissa, Blaster or Sasser. Conficker is clever. In fact, it uses several new techniques that have never been seen before. One of these techniques is using Windows ACLs to make disinfection hard or impossible. Another is infecting USB drives with a technique that works *even* if you have USB Autorun disabled. Yet another is using Windows domain rights to create a remote jobs to infect machines over corporate networks. Possibly to most clever part is the communication structure Conficker uses. It has an algorithm to create a unique list of 250 random domain names every day. By precalcuting one of these domain names and registering it, the gang behind Conficker could take over any or all of the millions of computers they had infected. Case Conficker The sustained growth of malicious software (malware) during the last few years has been driven by crime. Theft – whether it is of personal information or of computing resources – is obviously more successful when it is silent and therefore the majority of today's computer threats are designed to be stealthy. Network worms are relatively "noisy" in comparison to other threats, and they consume considerable amounts of bandwidth and other networking resources. -
Cyber Risk – Common Threats Part 1 of 2
Cyber Risk – Common Threats Part 1 of 2 Table of Contents Threats to Information Systems ..................................................................................................... 2 Malware .......................................................................................................................................... 4 Viruses ............................................................................................................................................. 5 Virus Examples ................................................................................................................................ 6 Worms ............................................................................................................................................. 8 Brief Virus and Worm History ......................................................................................................... 9 Downloaders ................................................................................................................................. 11 Attack Scripts ................................................................................................................................ 13 Botnet -1 ....................................................................................................................................... 15 Botnet -2 ....................................................................................................................................... 17 IRCBotnet Example ...................................................................................................................... -
Virus Bulletin, January 2003
ISSN 0956-9979 13666614 JANUARY 2003 THE INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATION ON COMPUTER VIRUS PREVENTION, RECOGNITION AND REMOVAL Editor: Helen Martin CONTENTS Technical Consultant: Matt Ham Technical Editor: Jakub Kaminski COMMENT If Not Now, Then When? 2 Consulting Editors: VIRUS PREVALENCE TABLE 3 Nick FitzGerald, Independent consultant, NZ Ian Whalley, IBM Research, USA NEWS Richard Ford, Independent consultant, USA 1. Lessons to be Learned 3 Edward Wilding, Data Genetics, UK 2. A Happy New Year 3 LETTERS 4 IN THIS ISSUE: VIRUS ANALYSIS IM a Hot Rod(ok) 5 • Conventional wisdom: Nick FitzGerald reports on recent efforts to extend and formalise the CARO Virus Naming FEATURES Convention. See p.7. 1. A Virus by Any Other Name • It’s the quiet ones you have to watch. Although consid- – Virus Naming Updated 7 ered a ‘minor’ curiosity when it made its initial appearance, 2. Are You Being [Opa]Serv[ed]? 10 W32/Opaserv is fast becoming a major headache. Martin 3. Infected or Affected, Overton looks at the spread of what some consider to be the Mobile Users Are Being Plagued 14 ‘quiet twin’ of Klez. See p.10. INSIGHT • Upwardly mobile? Analyst IDC forecasts the number of Hooked on a Feeling 16 wireless SMS messages soaring from 1.4 billion messages in 2002 to a whopping 42 billion in 2006. However, users PRODUCT REVIEW of SMS devices are increasingly being victimized by both Ahnlab V3Net for Windows Server SE 18 spam and email worms. Mary Landesman investigates the dark side of SMS text messaging that could derail the gravy END NOTES AND NEWS 24 train. -
Media Diffusion of Computer Security Threats
Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1-1-2006 It came from the Internet : media diffusion of computer security threats Adam Paul Patridge Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Recommended Citation Patridge, Adam Paul, "It came from the Internet : media diffusion of computer security threats" (2006). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 19035. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/19035 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. It came from the Internet: Media diffusion of computer security threats by Adam Paul Patridge A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Major: Human Computer Interaction Program of Study Committee: Chad Harms, Major Professor Kim Smith Anthony Townsend Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2006 Copyright ©Adam Paul Patridge, 2006. All rights reserved. 11 Graduate College Iowa State University This is to certify that the master's thesis of Adam Paul Patridge has met the thesis requirements of Iowa State University Signatures have been redacted for privacy 111 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 4 COMPUTER SECURITY 4 Computer Security Threats 4 Lifespan of a Threat 6 DIFFUSION OF INNOVATION 7 History of Diffusion Research 8 Innovation Adoption Process 10 Diffusion of Innovation Components 12 Diffusion Criticisms 18 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 19 CHAPTER 3.