CSE331 : Computer Security Fundamentals Malware
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Botnets, Cybercrime, and Cyberterrorism: Vulnerabilities and Policy Issues for Congress
Order Code RL32114 Botnets, Cybercrime, and Cyberterrorism: Vulnerabilities and Policy Issues for Congress Updated January 29, 2008 Clay Wilson Specialist in Technology and National Security Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Botnets, Cybercrime, and Cyberterrorism: Vulnerabilities and Policy Issues for Congress Summary Cybercrime is becoming more organized and established as a transnational business. High technology online skills are now available for rent to a variety of customers, possibly including nation states, or individuals and groups that could secretly represent terrorist groups. The increased use of automated attack tools by cybercriminals has overwhelmed some current methodologies used for tracking Internet cyberattacks, and vulnerabilities of the U.S. critical infrastructure, which are acknowledged openly in publications, could possibly attract cyberattacks to extort money, or damage the U.S. economy to affect national security. In April and May 2007, NATO and the United States sent computer security experts to Estonia to help that nation recover from cyberattacks directed against government computer systems, and to analyze the methods used and determine the source of the attacks.1 Some security experts suspect that political protestors may have rented the services of cybercriminals, possibly a large network of infected PCs, called a “botnet,” to help disrupt the computer systems of the Estonian government. DOD officials have also indicated that similar cyberattacks from individuals and countries targeting economic, -
Post-Mortem of a Zombie: Conficker Cleanup After Six Years Hadi Asghari, Michael Ciere, and Michel J.G
Post-Mortem of a Zombie: Conficker Cleanup After Six Years Hadi Asghari, Michael Ciere, and Michel J.G. van Eeten, Delft University of Technology https://www.usenix.org/conference/usenixsecurity15/technical-sessions/presentation/asghari This paper is included in the Proceedings of the 24th USENIX Security Symposium August 12–14, 2015 • Washington, D.C. ISBN 978-1-939133-11-3 Open access to the Proceedings of the 24th USENIX Security Symposium is sponsored by USENIX Post-Mortem of a Zombie: Conficker Cleanup After Six Years Hadi Asghari, Michael Ciere and Michel J.G. van Eeten Delft University of Technology Abstract more sophisticated C&C mechanisms that are increas- ingly resilient against takeover attempts [30]. Research on botnet mitigation has focused predomi- In pale contrast to this wealth of work stands the lim- nantly on methods to technically disrupt the command- ited research into the other side of botnet mitigation: and-control infrastructure. Much less is known about the cleanup of the infected machines of end users. Af- effectiveness of large-scale efforts to clean up infected ter a botnet is successfully sinkholed, the bots or zom- machines. We analyze longitudinal data from the sink- bies basically remain waiting for the attackers to find hole of Conficker, one the largest botnets ever seen, to as- a way to reconnect to them, update their binaries and sess the impact of what has been emerging as a best prac- move the machines out of the sinkhole. This happens tice: national anti-botnet initiatives that support large- with some regularity. The recent sinkholing attempt of scale cleanup of end user machines. -
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 -
Jeffrey Heim, Marcel Hernandez, Maria Nunez,& Matthias Katerna Morris Worm on November 2, 1988, Robert Tappan Morris Releas
Jeffrey Heim, Marcel Hernandez, Maria Nunez,& Matthias Katerna Morris Worm On November 2, 1988, Robert Tappan Morris released a worm into the internet. The experimental worm was the first of its kind. It replicated itself and programmed itself, so it ended up spreading much faster than Morris expected. It self-programmed and self-replicated at an exponential rate in a manner that had never been seen before. Morris knew this worm was not necessarily ethical, for he released it out of MIT instead of his own Cornell University. In due course, many computers across the United States had crashed because of Morris. Once he discovered how much damage the worm had been causing, he reached out to a friend at Harvard looking for a solution to stop it. They attempted in sending an anonymous message to the network with directions that could kill the worm, but the message came through too late since they system was clogged. Many significant computers at colleges, businesses and the military became infected. The cost to fix each computer ranged from $200 to over $53,000. The worm exploited vulnerabilities in computer systems and in the UNIX email software. Within 24 hours of releasing the worm, thousands of people were aware something was unusual. Eventually, it would infect ten percent of all computers using the internet. The Morris Worm was the largest malware case ever to reach this percentage. However, the percentage was so high due to the fact that the number of computers was much less than today. The computers it impacted included significant systems, such as Stanford’s, Berkley’s and NASA’s. -
Lexisnexis® Congressional Copyright 2003 Fdchemedia, Inc. All Rights
LexisNexis® Congressional Copyright 2003 FDCHeMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Federal Document Clearing House Congressional Testimony September 10, 2003 Wednesday SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY LENGTH: 4090 words COMMITTEE: HOUSE GOVERNMENT REFORM SUBCOMMITTEE: TECHNOLOGY, INFORMATION POLICY, INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS, AND CENSUS HEADLINE: COMPUTER VIRUS PROTECTION TESTIMONY-BY: RICHARD PETHIA, DIRECTOR AFFILIATION: CERT COORDINATION CENTER BODY: Statement of Richard Pethia Director, CERT Coordination Center Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations, and the Census Committee on House Government Reform September 10, 2003 Introduction Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: My name is Rich Pethia. I am the director of the CERTO Coordination Center (CERT/CC). Thank you for the opportunity to testify on the important issue of cyber security. Today I will discuss viruses and worms and the steps we must take to protect our systems from them. The CERT/CC was formed in 1988 as a direct result of the first Internet worm. It was the first computer security incident to make headline news, serving as a wake-up call for network security. In response, the CERT/CC was established by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency at Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute, in Pittsburgh. Our mission is to serve as a focal point to help resolve computer security incidents and vulnerabilities, to help others establish incident response capabilities, and to raise awareness of computer security issues and help people understand the steps they need to take to better protect their systems. We activated the center in just two weeks, and we have worked hard to maintain our ability to react quickly. -
Flow-Level Traffic Analysis of the Blaster and Sobig Worm Outbreaks in an Internet Backbone
Flow-Level Traffic Analysis of the Blaster and Sobig Worm Outbreaks in an Internet Backbone Thomas Dübendorfer, Arno Wagner, Theus Hossmann, Bernhard Plattner ETH Zurich, Switzerland [email protected] DIMVA 2005, Wien, Austria Agenda 1) Introduction 2) Flow-Level Backbone Traffic 3) Network Worm Blaster.A 4) E-Mail Worm Sobig.F 5) Conclusions and Outlook © T. Dübendorfer (2005), TIK/CSG, ETH Zurich -2- 1) Introduction Authors Prof. Dr. Bernhard Plattner Professor, ETH Zurich (since 1988) Head of the Communication Systems Group at the Computer Engineering and Networks Laboratory TIK Prorector of education at ETH Zurich (since 2005) Thomas Dübendorfer Dipl. Informatik-Ing., ETH Zurich, Switzerland (2001) ISC2 CISSP (Certified Information System Security Professional) (2003) PhD student at TIK, ETH Zurich (since 2001) Network security research in the context of the DDoSVax project at ETH Further authors: Arno Wagner, Theus Hossmann © T. Dübendorfer (2005), TIK/CSG, ETH Zurich -3- 1) Introduction Worm Analysis Why analyse Internet worms? • basis for research and development of: • worm detection methods • effective countermeasures • understand network impact of worms Wasn‘t this already done by anti-virus software vendors? • Anti-virus software works with host-centric signatures Research method used 1. Execute worm code in an Internet-like testbed and observe infections 2. Measure packet-level traffic and determine network-centric worm signatures on flow-level 3. Extensive analysis of flow-level traffic of the actual worm outbreaks captured in a Swiss backbone © T. Dübendorfer (2005), TIK/CSG, ETH Zurich -4- 1) Introduction Related Work Internet backbone worm analyses: • Many theoretical worm spreading models and simulations exist (e.g. -
The Flame: Questions and Answers 1.8
The Flame: Questions and Answers 1.8 Aleks Kaspersky Lab Expert Posted May 28, 13:00 GMT Tags: Targeted Attacks, Wiper, Cyber weapon, Cyber espionage, Flame Duqu and Stuxnet raised the stakes in the cyber battles being fought in the Middle East – but now we’ve found what might be the most sophisticated cyber weapon yet unleashed. The ‘Flame’ cyber espionage worm came to the attention of our experts at Kaspersky Lab after the UN’s International Telecommunication Union came to us for help in finding an unknown piece of malware which was deleting sensitive information across the Middle East. While searching for that code – nicknamed Wiper – we discovered a new malware codenamed Worm.Win32.Flame. Flame shares many characteristics with notorious cyber weapons Duqu and Stuxnet: while its features are different, the geography and careful targeting of attacks coupled with the usage of specific software vulnerabilities seems to put it alongside those familiar ‘superweapons’ currently deployed in the Middle East by unknown perpetrators. Flame can easily be described as one of the most complex threats ever discovered. It’s big and incredibly sophisticated. It pretty much redefines the notion of cyberwar and cyberespionage. For the full lowdown on this advanced threat, read on… General Questions What exactly is Flame? A worm? A backdoor? What does it do? Flame is a sophisticated attack toolkit, which is a lot more complex than Duqu. It is a backdoor, a Trojan, and it has wormlike features, allowing it to replicate in a local network and on removable media if it is commanded so by its master. -
Potential Human Cost of Cyber Operations
ICRC EXPERT MEETING 14–16 NOVEMBER 2018 – GENEVA THE POTENTIAL HUMAN COST OF CYBER OPERATIONS REPORT ICRC EXPERT MEETING 14–16 NOVEMBER 2018 – GENEVA THE POTENTIAL HUMAN COST OF CYBER OPERATIONS Report prepared and edited by Laurent Gisel, senior legal adviser, and Lukasz Olejnik, scientific adviser on cyber, ICRC THE POTENTIAL HUMAN COST OF CYBER OPERATIONS Table of Contents Foreword............................................................................................................................................. 3 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................. 4 Executive summary ............................................................................................................................. 5 Introduction....................................................................................................................................... 10 Session 1: Cyber operations in practice .………………………………………………………………………….….11 A. Understanding cyber operations with the cyber kill chain model ...................................................... 11 B. Operational purpose ................................................................................................................. 11 C. Trusted systems and software supply chain attacks ...................................................................... 13 D. Cyber capabilities and exploits .................................................................................................. -
Storm: When Researchers Collide 7 Based on the Kademlia DHT Algorithm [5]
When It comes to Internet threats, B R a n d o n E n R i g h t, g E o ff V o E l k er , few topics get researchers and the media as Stefan SaVagE, ChRiS kaniCh, and kiRill LevchEnko excited as the propagation speed and vital- ity of modern malware. One such example is the SQL Slammer worm, which was the first so-called Warhol Worm, a term used to Storm: when describe worms that get their “15 minutes of fame” by spreading at an exponential researchers collide rate—infecting every vulnerable machine Brandon Enright is a network security analyst at in under 15 minutes [1]. It is ironic, then, that the University of California, San Diego. He is pri- the latest malware to capture the attention marily interested in malware and exploit research. of researchers is not one of the shortest- [email protected] lived but one of the longest, largest, and most successful bots ever: Storm. Geoff Voelker is an associate professor of computer science at the University of California, San Diego. He works in computer systems and networking. Storm got its name from a particular self-propa- [email protected] gation spam email subject line used in early 2007: “230 dead as storm batters Europe.” Storm, also known as the Storm worm, is not actually a worm. It is hybrid malware: part worm, part bot (a pro- Stefan Savage is an associate professor of computer gram designed to perform automated tasks), part science at the University of California, San Diego. -
A PRACTICAL METHOD of IDENTIFYING CYBERATTACKS February 2018 INDEX
In Collaboration With A PRACTICAL METHOD OF IDENTIFYING CYBERATTACKS February 2018 INDEX TOPICS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 OVERVIEW 5 THE RESPONSES TO A GROWING THREAT 7 DIFFERENT TYPES OF PERPETRATORS 10 THE SCOURGE OF CYBERCRIME 11 THE EVOLUTION OF CYBERWARFARE 12 CYBERACTIVISM: ACTIVE AS EVER 13 THE ATTRIBUTION PROBLEM 14 TRACKING THE ORIGINS OF CYBERATTACKS 17 CONCLUSION 20 APPENDIX: TIMELINE OF CYBERSECURITY 21 INCIDENTS 2 A Practical Method of Identifying Cyberattacks EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW SUMMARY The frequency and scope of cyberattacks Cyberattacks carried out by a range of entities are continue to grow, and yet despite the seriousness a growing threat to the security of governments of the problem, it remains extremely difficult to and their citizens. There are three main sources differentiate between the various sources of an of attacks; activists, criminals and governments, attack. This paper aims to shed light on the main and - based on the evidence - it is sometimes types of cyberattacks and provides examples hard to differentiate them. Indeed, they may of each. In particular, a high level framework sometimes work together when their interests for investigation is presented, aimed at helping are aligned. The increasing frequency and severity analysts in gaining a better understanding of the of the attacks makes it more important than ever origins of threats, the motive of the attacker, the to understand the source. Knowing who planned technical origin of the attack, the information an attack might make it easier to capture the contained in the coding of the malware and culprits or frame an appropriate response. the attacker’s modus operandi. -
Detecting Botnets Using File System Indicators
Detecting botnets using file system indicators Master's thesis University of Twente Author: Committee members: Peter Wagenaar Prof. Dr. Pieter H. Hartel Dr. Damiano Bolzoni Frank Bernaards LLM (NHTCU) December 12, 2012 Abstract Botnets, large groups of networked zombie computers under centralised control, are recognised as one of the major threats on the internet. There is a lot of research towards ways of detecting botnets, in particular towards detecting Command and Control servers. Most of the research is focused on trying to detect the commands that these servers send to the bots over the network. For this research, we have looked at botnets from a botmaster's perspective. First, we characterise several botnet enhancing techniques using three aspects: resilience, stealth and churn. We see that these enhancements are usually employed in the network communications between the C&C and the bots. This leads us to our second contribution: we propose a new botnet detection method based on the way C&C's are present on the file system. We define a set of file system based indicators and use them to search for C&C's in images of hard disks. We investigate how the aspects resilience, stealth and churn apply to each of the indicators and discuss countermeasures botmasters could take to evade detection. We validate our method by applying it to a test dataset of 94 disk images, 16 of which contain C&C installations, and show that low false positive and false negative ratio's can be achieved. Approaching the botnet detection problem from this angle is novel, which provides a basis for further research. -
Detection, Propagation Modeling and Designing of Advanced Internet Worms
DETECTION, PROPAGATION MODELING AND DESIGNING OF ADVANCED INTERNET WORMS By PARBATI KUMAR MANNA A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2008 1 °c 2008 Parbati Kumar Manna 2 To my family, friends, and teachers 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I want to take this opportunity to thank all the people who helped me during my doctoral sojourn. I understand that it is rather late to acknowledge their contributions, but as the saying goes, better late than never! First, I want to thank my committee, starting with my advisor and Chair, Dr. Sanjay Ranka. He expressed his intention to work with me during my very first week of class at University of Florida, and has been a true guide to me in every aspect since then. He offered me complete freedom in pursuing my research in any area that I felt passionate about, and provided ample research direction from time to time. I am truly thankful and honored to work as his student for the past six years. It has also been a pleasure to work with Dr. Shigang Chen, who served as my co-chair. A stalwart in the network research community, he has been instrumental in providing his domain expertise to my research area in a very big way. Without his help, I can barely imagine myself to be where I am now. I would also like to thank Dr. Alin Dobra, Dr. Christopher Germaine, Dr. Sartaj Sahni and Dr. Malay Ghosh who helped me in various academic as well as non-academic matters throughout my stay at Gainesville.