ComputerWorld – Page 160 – Computer Security Articles

Credit to Author: Lucian Constantin| Date: Mon, 15 May 2017 10:39:00 -0700

Thousands of organizations from around the world were caught off guard by the WannaCry ransomware attack launched Friday. As this rapidly spreading threat evolves, more cybercriminals are likely to attempt to profit from this and similar vulnerabilities.

As a ransomware program, WannaCry itself is not that special or sophisticated. In fact, an earlier version of the program was distributed in March and April and, judging by its implementation, its creators are not very skilled.

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ComputerWorld Independent

May 15, 2017 admin

China pays for Windows XP addiction as 'WannaCry' hits

Credit to Author: Gregg Keizer| Date: Mon, 15 May 2017 12:34:00 -0700

The WannaCry ransomware has wormed its way into tens of thousands of Windows PCs in China, where Windows XP runs one in five systems, local reports said Monday.

More than 23,000 IP addresses in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) show signs of infection, the country’s National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Center (CNCERT) told Xinhua, the state-run news agency, on Monday.

“Intranets in many industries and enterprises involving banking, education, electricity, energy, healthcare and transportation have been affected in different extents,” CNCERT said.

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ComputerWorld Independent

May 15, 2017 admin

New WannaCry variant being monitored, DHS official says

Credit to Author: Matt Hamblen| Date: Mon, 15 May 2017 11:40:00 -0700

A variant of the WannaCry ransomware that emerged Monday has been able to infect some of the computers patched after the original malware struck last week, according to a top cyber official at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“We’re working on how to address that [variant] and sharing as we can,” said the official who asked not to be named. The official did not say how many computers have been affected by the variant, other than to say “some.” The original WannaCry attack hit more than 200,000 computers starting Friday in more than 150 countries, UK officials said over the weekend.

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ComputerWorld Independent

May 15, 2017 admin

WikiLeaks posts user guides for CIA malware implants Assassin and AfterMidnight

Credit to Author: Darlene Storm| Date: Mon, 15 May 2017 11:25:00 -0700

The latest WikiLeaks release of CIA malware documentation was overshadowed by the WannaCry ransomware attack sweeping across the world on Friday.

WikiLeaks maintains that “Assassin” and “AfterMidnight” are two CIA “remote control and subversion malware systems” which target Windows. Both were created to spy on targets, send collected data back to the CIA and perform tasks specified by the CIA. Both are persistent and can be scheduled to autonomously uninstall on a specific date and time.

The leaked documents pertaining to the CIA malware frameworks included 2014 user’s guides for AfterMidnight, AlphaGremlin – an addon to AfterMidnight – and Assassin. When reading those, you learn about Gremlins, Octopus, The Gibson and other CIA-created systems and payloads.

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ComputerWorld Independent

May 15, 2017 admin

'Perfect storm' of ransomware and network worm hits unprotected computers globally

Credit to Author: Matt Hamblen| Date: Mon, 15 May 2017 07:59:00 -0700

The cruel reality of a global ransomware attack that crippled computer systems in 150 countries on Friday is this: Attackers took advantage of under-prepared computer users and their organizations.

Enterprises — including manufacturers, car makers, hospitals and government agencies — were running older versions of Windows or hadn’t patched even the newest Windows versions with a patch that Microsoft released in March.

And, truth be told, some unsuspecting users evidently clicked on email links or, more likely, a suspected compressed Zip file attachment that launched the ransomware known as WannaCry, also known as WannaCrypt or WannaCrypto.

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ComputerWorld Independent

May 14, 2017 admin

Patching Windows XP against WannaCry ransomware

Credit to Author: Michael Horowitz| Date: Sun, 14 May 2017 12:56:00 -0700

Microsoft just released a patch for Windows XP that fixes a file sharing flaw being exploited by the WannaCry ransomware. Here’s how to install it.

You can download some versions of the patch using links at the bottom of this May 12th Microsoft article: Customer Guidance for WannaCrypt attacks. The full list of patch variants, including languages other than English, is in the Windows Catalog, just search for KB4012598. Windows Update does not work on XP.

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ComputerWorld Independent

May 14, 2017 admin

Microsoft issues first Windows XP patch in 3 years to stymie 'WannaCrypt'

Credit to Author: Gregg Keizer| Date: Sun, 14 May 2017 11:00:00 -0700

Microsoft on Friday took the unprecedented step of issuing patches for long-demoted versions of Windows, including Windows XP, to immunize PCs from fast-spreading ransomware that has crippled machines worldwide.

To stymie “WannaCrypt” attacks — which encrypted files on thousands of PCs used by the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS), causing chaos in many hospitals — Microsoft published patches for Windows XP, Windows 8 and Windows Server 2003. All had been retired from support: Windows XP in April 2014, Windows 8 in June 2016, Windows Server in July 2015.

“We are taking the highly unusual step of providing a security update for all customers to protect Windows platforms that are in custom support only, including Windows XP, Windows 8, and Windows Server 2003,” said Phillip Misner, a principal security group manager at the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRM), in a post to a company blog late Friday.

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ComputerWorld Independent

May 13, 2017 admin

'Kill switch' helps slow the spread of WannaCry ransomware

Credit to Author: Michael Kan| Date: Fri, 12 May 2017 18:24:00 -0700

Friday’s unprecedented ransomware attack may have stopped spreading to new machines — at least briefly — thanks to a “kill switch” that a security researcher has activated.

The ransomware, called Wana Decryptor or WannaCry, has been found infecting machines across the globe. It works by exploiting a Windows vulnerability that the U.S. National Security Agency may have used for spying.

The malware encrypts data on a PC and shows users a note demanding $300 in bitcoin to have their data decrypted. Images of the ransom note have been circulating on Twitter. Security experts have detected tens of thousands of attacks, apparently spreading over LANs and the internet like a computer worm.

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