Flashpoint – Page 3 – Computer Security Articles

Expert: IoT Botnets the Work of a ‘Vast Minority’

January 24, 2018 admin A Little Sunshine, Allison Nixon, Bricker bot, ddos, FBI, Flashpoint, Internet of Things, IoT security, Josiah White, LiteSpeed, Mirai, the Janit0r, U.S. Justice Department

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2018 15:38:52 +0000

In December 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice announced indictments and guilty pleas by three men in the United States responsible for creating and using Mirai, a malware strain that enslaves poorly-secured “Internet of Things” or IoT devices like security cameras and digital video recorders for use in large-scale cyberattacks. The FBI and the DOJ had help in their investigation from many security experts, but this post focuses on one expert whose research into the Dark Web and its various malefactors was especially useful in that case. Allison Nixon is director of security research at Flashpoint, a cyber intelligence firm based in New York City. Nixon spoke with KrebsOnSecurity at length about her perspectives on IoT security and the vital role of law enforcement in this fight.

Independent Krebs

Tech Firms Team Up to Take Down ‘WireX’ Android DDoS Botnet

August 28, 2017 admin Akamai, Allison Nixon, Android malware, Chad Seaman, ddos, distributed denial-of-service attack, Flashpoint, google, Mirai, Other, Play store, WireX botnet

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2017 14:06:08 +0000

A half dozen technology and security companies — some of them competitors — issued the exact same press release today. This unusual level of cross-industry collaboration caps a successful effort to dismantle ‘WireX,’ an extraordinary new crime machine comprising tens of thousands of hacked Android mobile devices that was used this month to launch a series of massive cyber attacks. Experts involved in the takedown warn that WireX marks the emergence of a new class of attack tools that are more challenging to defend against and thus require broader industry cooperation to defeat.

Independent Krebs

Dual-Use Software Criminal Case Not So Novel

April 4, 2017 admin Aeonhack, Allison Nixon, Blackshades RAT, Blackshades trojan, Electronic Frontier Foundation, FBI, Flashpoint, Hackforums, justice department, Kevin Poulsen, Limitless Keylogger, Mark Rumold, Mephobia, NanoCore, Net Seal, Other, Rat, remote access trojan, remote administration tool, Taylor Huddleston, TeamViewer and VNC, The Daily Beast, wired, Zachary Shames

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Tue, 04 Apr 2017 18:41:33 +0000

“He built a piece of software. That tool was pirated and abused by hackers. Now the feds want him to pay for the computer crooks’ crimes.” The above snippet is the subhead of a story published last month by the Daily Beast titled “FBI Arrests Hacker Who Hacked No One.” The subject of that piece — a 26-year-old American named Taylor Huddleston — faces felony hacking charges connected to two computer programs he authored and sold: An anti-piracy product called Net Seal, and a Remote Administration Tool (RAT) called NanoCore that he says was a benign program designed to help users remotely administer their computers. The author of the Daily Beast story, former black hat hacker and Wired.com editor Kevin Poulsen, argues that Huddelston’s case “raises a novel question: When is a programmer criminally responsible for the actions of his users? Some experts say [the case] could have far reaching implications for developers, particularly those working on new technologies that criminals might adopt in unforeseeable ways.” But a closer look at the government’s side of the story — as well as public postings left behind by the accused and his alleged accomplices — paints a more complex and nuanced picture that suggests this may not be the case to raise that legal question in a meaningful way.