"Crimeserver" Full of Personal/Business Data Found 114
Presto Vivace sends news of a server found by security firm Finjan that contained a 1.4-GB cache of stolen data, accumulated over a period of less than a month from compromised PCs around the world. The "crimeserver," as Finjan dubs it, "provided command and control functions for malware attacks in addition to being a drop site for data harvested from compromised computers. ... The stolen data consisted of 5,388 unique log files including 1,037 from Turkey, 621 from Germany, 571 from the United States, 322 from France, 308 from India and 232 from Britain." Oddly enough, the data was stored in the open, with not even basic auth to protect it. Finjan notes in their press release that this huge trove of data gathered over a short period of time indicates that the crimeware problem is far larger than most observers have been assuming. Update: 05/08 12:29 GMT by T : Note, the security firm involved is spelled "Finjan," not "Finjin" as originally shown.
WTF (Score:4, Interesting)
I know it's just a rehash of a press release, likely taken out of context from what was originally said, but - WTF?
I don't think that malware is so advanced that all you have to do is "use a toolkit" and poof - magically financial and personal data will just show up on the hard drive. Maybe the guy's server was pawned - he is at least acting like he doesn't know what he is doing, but come on.
If it's that easy, I'm gonna try it....
Re:Why would they need basic auth? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:HoneyPot (Score:5, Interesting)
to make a tripwire you add in a second box like that, have your outgoing line go into and out of the box, install a isolation relay or switch that when the box is opened it dumps 120VAC into the phone lines This typically smokes a modem hard making it impossible for them to recover any info inside it. (mostly designed to piss off the feds/cops) but it disables the modem and the line tipping you off that that relay has been compromised.
worked well, One "friend" had 5 of his relays compromised in one night, tipping him off that something big was happening and he laid low for a while.
Re:Why would they need basic auth? (Score:3, Interesting)
I think they recognize that getting the information was as easy as walking through a door, and so they don't trust any security measures other than physical security.
Screen Saver... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:WTF (Score:2, Interesting)
Actually, it IS that easy. Tools like that have existed for years. Anybody with malicious intent and even a basic understanding of computers can easily run their own bot-net. Really. Literally a few button clicks, and the data is yours.
Re:Why would they need basic auth? (Score:5, Interesting)
This isn't the first completely unprotected (or default password protected) scammer server. Actually, a certain security company which I won't name (but you can guess it...) will have a hard time working with certain other security companies from now on since there are things you don't yap about. Those hardly-if-ever protected ID-theft servers is one of those things.
The reason is twofold. First of all, those criminals with a minimal technical knowledge (most of the times, those drop servers are part of the package you buy from someone who does actually know how to use a computer and write the necessary client/server package to steal information) might start wisening up and protect their servers better, making our work harder. It's the whole "the less your enemy knows about you and the more you know about your enemy, the better" thing.
The second reason, though, is even more important. When it becomes "mostly common" knowledge that there are servers stuffed with stolen information, a second part of the criminal chain opens. Well, opens isn't the right word, it already opened, but it will have a wider, let's say, audience. People who want that information for their own goals won't infect your machine but rather try to steal from the thieves, multiplying the problem in proportions that cannot even be measured anymore. So far, we have a pretty good picture of the threat and problem, knowing (or at least being able to estimate) how many people are infected by a certain trojan, what information is siphoned and by the actions taken thereafter, we can draw a picture of the threat, the goals of the group that siphoned the information and so on.
If now many criminals start working with the same data base, it becomes a damn lot harder to even try working out a threat scenario.
That's why this is being kept on a low profile, and why nobody so far went out into the broad public about it. It's one of those "don't give them ideas" doctrines. I was certainly not in favor of the idea when it was presented, because withholding information does rarely lead to more security. I just couldn't offer a better solution. Or at least a better broom to keep the ocean at bay.
Re:Why would they need basic auth? (Score:3, Interesting)
I mean, it's not like we have regular drivebys, but Russian spammers keep getting found dead... You do the math.
Yes and that is just insane (Score:3, Interesting)
Just to short cut the 'Screensavers need network access! I want my Flickr photos to display...or my Weather data to display', etc., IT IS A SCREEN SAVER. It's purpose is to secure and protect your computer and screen when you aren't using it. WTF are you doing sitting there staring at your screensaver? Good pot?