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alexander knorr (@opexxx)

Twitter Bio:: infosec, security, privacy, linux, opensource, networks, tcp/ip, programming, scripting, apple, windows,
Location:: Nueremberg

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“Flame” malware was signed by rogue Microsoft certificate

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Microsoft released an emergency Windows update on Sunday after revealing that one of its trusted digital signatures was being abused to certify the validity of the Flame malware that has infected computers in Iran and other Middle Eastern Countries.

The compromise exploited weaknesses in Terminal Server, a service many enterprises use to provide remote access to end-user computers. By targeting an undisclosed encryption algorithm Microsoft used to issue licenses for the service, attackers were able to create rogue intermediate certificate authorities that contained the imprimatur of Microsoft's own root authority certificate—an extremely

DOE: Twenty-One Steps to Improve SCADA Security

|2 Influencers

Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) networks contain computers and applications that perform key functions in providing essential services and commodities (e.g., electricity, natural gas, gasoline, water, waste treatment, transportation) to all Americans.

As such, they are part of the nation’s critical infrastructure and require protection from a variety of threats that exist in cyber space today. By allowing the collection and analysis of data and control of equipment such as pumps and valves from remote locations, SCADA networks provide great efficiency and are widely used.

However, they also present a security

Did hackers uncover Petraeus' saucy affair webmails before FBI?

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FBI agents may not have been the first to rumble the affair between CIA director David Petraeus and his biographer that led to the four-star general's resignation on Friday.Anyone with a copy of the leaked Stratfor databases, a half-decent PC, some political nous and a barrel of luck could have uncovered the fling months ago, it has emerged.Paula Broadwell, the former spy chief's mistress and biographer, was a customer of Stratfor, the private intelligence outfit that was attacked by Anonymous hackers last year. Buried in the megabytes of subsequently leaked information was Broadwell's Yahoo! email address and her hashed Stratfor login password.

Georgian police chiefs cuffed in cyber spy plot

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Several senior police officials and the former deputy interior minister of Georgia have been arrested on suspicion of spying on former opposition leaders and attempting to influence the result of October’s parliamentary elections.The arrests come after new prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili’s coalition swept to power at the election, ending the nine-year rule of the government of president Mikheil Saakashvili, who remains in his post until October 2013.The 11 interior ministry officials and former deputy interior minister and current vice mayor of Tbilisi, Shota Khizanishvili, are accused of hacking their opponents’ PCs to illegally obtain personal

Snooping on movement can reveal smartphone PINs

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It’s not the first time boffins have proposed the use of smartphone accelerometers as an attack vector, but it’s scarily efficient: with as few as five guesses, Swarthmore College researchers say they can use phone moments to reveal user PINs.As noted in his paper (PDF - Practicality of Accelerometer Side Channels on Smartphones, lead author Dr Adam Aviv says phones' movements have been investigated as an attack vector before. Prior work has, however, used the phone’s gyroscope – or a combination of gyro and accelerometer – as the input sensor, and with relatively low accuracy (he cites a test that gave a worst case needing 81 guesses to arrive

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