0308, 2017

Decline of the Scientific Method: New (Austrian) “Trojan” Law without Technical Expertise

Sanna/ August 3, 2017/ Discussion, High Entropy, Security

The Crypto Wars are still raging despite everyone relying on secure communication. Everyone means everyone. The good thing is that mathematics still works, even though some people wouldn’t want it to. The latest cryptographic review comes from Amber Rudd, the current UK Home Secretary. She said recently: “Real people often prefer ease of use and a multitude of features to perfect, unbreakable security.” The corollary in turn states that DeepSec conferences aren’t attended by real people. Since we are not yet a purely robot-based event, there is something wrong with this approach to secure communication. The common denominator is simply the lack of technical expertise. There is no surprise there. Ever since the Internet was discovered by the rest of the world (which was in the 1990s, don’t get fooled by web sites who

1907, 2017

Malicious Software explores new Business Models – Politics

René Pfeiffer/ July 19, 2017/ Discussion, Internet, Security

Malicious software has become a major component of criminal business and geopolitics. In addition it is a convenient explanation for anything one does not want to investigate. Since code always come from somewhere you have to ask yourself many more questions when it comes to infected networks and compromised hosts. What is the agenda of the day? Journalist Erich Moechel has written an article about the arms race regarding malicious software. We have translated the original text from German to English. Expect the state of cyber in your network to rise in the course of the next years. Arms race with Malicious Software enters a dangerous Phase The enormous damage done by “Petya” and “WannaCry” can be traced back to a single, reworked tool from the leaked NSA pool of the “Shadow Brokers”. Experts

1405, 2017

Wannacry, Code Red, and „Cyber“ Warfare

René Pfeiffer/ May 14, 2017/ High Entropy, Security

Society and businesses increasingly rely on networked infrastructure. This is not news. Worms that used networks to spread to new hosts in order to infect them is also not news. Code Red did this back in 2001. There is a new worm going around. Its name is Wannacry, and it is allegedly based on published attack code developed by the NSA. The malicious software is delivered by email. After successful installation it infects the host and propagates to other systems by using probes to port 139/TCP, 445/TCP and 3389/TCP. It belongs to the class of ransomware, encrypting files and demanding ransom. Thousands of infected systems are still active. The attack is still ongoing. If you are in doubt if you have compromised systems within your network, we recommend taking a look at how to

3011, 2016

Scanning for TR-069 is neither Cyber nor War

René Pfeiffer/ November 30, 2016/ Discussion, High Entropy, Internet

The Deutsche Telekom was in the news. The reason was a major malfunction of routers at the end of the last mile. Or something like that. As always theories and wild assumptions are the first wave. Apparently a modified Mirai botnet tried to gain access to routers in order to install malicious software. The attacks lasted from Sunday to Monday and affected over 900,000 customers. These routers often are the first point of contact when it comes to a leased line. Firewalls and other security equipment usually comes after the first contact with the router. There are even management ports available, provided the ISP has no filters in place. The TR-069 (Technical Report 069) specification is one management interface, and it has its security risks. Now that the dust has settled the Deutsche Telekom

0311, 2016

DeepSec 2016 Talk: Why Companies Must Control Their Data in the Era of IoT – and How To – Kurt Kammerer

Sanna/ November 3, 2016/ Conference, Internet, Interview, Security

In his talk Kurt Kammerer addresses any company’s dilemma: The need for data sharing in the era of IoT while at the same time controlling access and ownership. In order to succeed in business, it is imperative to make data available to customers, suppliers and business partners. However, the explosion and the proclaimed free flow of data can turn against an organisation and threaten its very existence, if not professionally controlled. We asked Mr. Kammerer a few questions beforehand. Please tell us the top 5 facts about your talk. The relevance of “data” increases by the day and “data” is imperative to compete. Therefore, it is an asset companies must control. Data ownership is increasingly being challenged in the era of cloud/IoT (who created the data and who actually owns it?) Not exercising enough control

1910, 2016

DeepSec 2016 Talk: TLS 1.3 – Lessons Learned from Implementing and Deploying the Latest Protocol – Nick Sullivan

Sanna/ October 19, 2016/ Conference, Development, Internet, Security

Version 1.3 is the latest Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol, which allows client/server applications to communicate over the Internet in a way that is designed to prevent eavesdropping, tampering, and message forgery. TLS is the S in HTTPS. TLS was last changed in 2008, and a lot of progress has been made since then. CloudFlare will be the first company to deploy this on a wide scale. In his talk Nick Sullivan will be able to discuss the insights his team gained while implementing and deploying this protocol. Nick will explore differences between TLS 1.3 and previous versions in detail, focusing on the security improvements of the new protocol as well as some of the challenges his team faces around securely implementing new features such as 0-RTT resumption. He’ll also demonstrate an attack on the way some

1710, 2016

DeepSec 2016 Talk: Unveiling Patchwork – Gadi Evron

Sanna/ October 17, 2016/ Conference, Internet, Security Intelligence

Nation state attacks are very popular – in the news and in reality. High gain, low profile, maximum damage. From the point of information security it is always very insightful to study the anatomy of these attacks once they are known. Looking at ways components fail, methods adversaries use for their own advantage, and thinking of possible remedies strengthens your defence. At DeepSec 2016 Gadi Evron will share knowledge about an operation that went after government systems all around the world. Patchwork is a highly successful nation state targeted attack operation, which infected approximately 2,500 high-value targets such as governments, worldwide. It is the first targeted threat captured using a commercial cyber deception platform. In his talk Gadi Evron will share how deception was used to catch the threat actor, and later on secure their second stage malware

1510, 2016

DeepSec2016 Talk: Security and Privacy in the Current E-Mobility Charging Infrastructure – Achim Friedland

Sanna/ October 15, 2016/ Conference, Development, Security

The whole information technology strongly depends on electric power. Your servers will turn into expensive door stoppers once the power goes out. The same is true for your mobile devices and the hardware you use to get around. Hence there are efforts to extend the power grid to accommodate the demand of new and emerging technologies. The charging infrastructure requires some security considerations. You cannot simply put a cable into any power socket, throw it our of the windows, and use it for charging unknown devices and vehicles. It’s a bit more complicated. At DeepSec 2016 Achim Friedland will give you an overview on what charging really means. In his talk Achim Friedland focuses on the emerging market of smart and electric mobility as an interesting area of research and development for both academia and startups.

1410, 2016

Smart Homes are the battlefield of the future – DeepSec Conference examines the Internet of Things

Sanna/ October 14, 2016/ Conference, Internet, Press, Security, Veranstaltung

The Internet of Things is knocking at your door. Many businesses and private individuals have already admitted IoT to their offices and homes, unfortunately often without knowing what they’ve let themselves in for. A naive belief in progress opens all gates, doors and windows to attackers. This is a serious matter. Therefore, DeepSec Conference will focus on this topic on the occasion of its 10th anniversary. The program includes lectures and workshops about the components of smart devices, smart houses and smart networks. Not all products come with a solid security concept. How to test if your devices function properly? What consequences has the total conversion to “smart”? How to proceed correctly to select appropriate systems? Hacked by your fridge Spectacular burglaries have always been the best material for screenplays. We know the scene

1210, 2016

DeepSec 2016 Workshop: Fundamentals of Routing and Switching from a Blue and Red Team Perspective – Paul Coggin

Sanna/ October 12, 2016/ Security, Training

Penetrating networks has never been easier. Given the network topology of most companies and organisations, security has been reduced to flat networks. There is an outside and an inside. If you are lucky there is an extra network for exposed services. Few departments have retained the skills to properly harden network equipment – and we haven’t even talked about the Internet of Things (IoT) catastrophe where anything is connected by all means necessary. Time to update your knowledge. Luckily we have just the right training for you! In Paul Coggins’ intense 2 day class, students will learn the fundamentals of routing and switching from a blue and red team perspective. Using hands-on labs they will receive practical experience with routing and switching technologies with a detailed discussion on how to attack and defend the network

1009, 2016

Firmware Threats – House of Keys

René Pfeiffer/ September 10, 2016/ Discussion, Security

SEC Consult, our long-term supporter, has updated a report on the use of encryption keys in firmware. These hardcoded cryptographic secrets pose a serious threat to information security. The report features 50 different vendors and has some interesting statistics. The results were coordinated with CERT/CC in order to inform the vendors about the problem. The highlights of the research includes: 40% increase in devices on the web using known private keys for HTTPS server certificates 331 certificates and 553 individual private keys (accessible via Github) some crypto material is used by 500,000 and 280,000 devices on the web as of now The recommendations are crystal clear: Make sure that each device uses random and unique cryptographic material. If operating systems can change account passphrases after initialisation, so can your device. Take care of management

2107, 2016

A Perspective on Code and Components – assert(), don’t assume()

René Pfeiffer/ July 21, 2016/ Development, Discussion, High Entropy

Have you ever looked closely at the tools you use on a daily basis? Taking things apart and putting them back together is an integral part of understanding the universe. Scientists do it all of the time (well, at least some do, there are things that can’t be put together easily once taken apart). So lets focus on components and how they interact. ASN.1 and libraries that deal with it are popular components. Few people get a kick out of ASN.1, so they use code that does it. It’s just an example for parts that handle data being sent to and received from other systems. We live in a networked world, so communication is a crucial part of modern software. So to use business lingo: Most software works by delegating tasks to third-party code.

1404, 2016

Thoughts on Lawful Malicious Software and its Impact on IT Infrastructure

Sanna/ April 14, 2016/ Interview, Press, Security

During the premiere of „A Good American“ we had a chat with journalists. Markus Sulzbacher of Der Standard wanted to know what the implication of the so-called Bundestrojaner (litterally federal trojan, the colloquial German term for the concept of inserting government malware in order to extract information from a suspect’s computer and telephone devices). The idea is to infect a computer system with malicious software that sits in the background and to siphon off the hard-to-get data connected to communication (i.e. messengers, Skype, emails, etc.). We have translated the interview from German to English for you. You can find the original on Der Standard web site. Der Standard 12.04.2016 “The federal Trojan is governmental malware” Police praise the software as a “wonder weapon against terror”. But for IT expert René Pfeiffer the planned introduction

0303, 2016

DeepSec Video: Visualizing Wi-Fi Packets the Hacker’s Way

René Pfeiffer/ March 3, 2016/ Communication, Conference, Security, Stories

Like the Force wireless data/infrastructure packets are all around us. Both have a light and a dark side. It all depends on your intentions. Lacking the midi-chlorians we have to rely on other sources to get a picture of the wireless forces in and around the (network) perimeter. At DeepSec 2015 Milan Gabor held a presentation about visualisation of wi-fi packets: Today visualizing Wi-Fi traffic is more or less limited to console windows and analyze different logs from an aircrack-ng toolset. There are some commercial tools, but if we want to stay in the Open/Free Source Code (FOSS) area we need to find better solutions. So we used ELK stack to gather, hold, index and visualize data and a modified version of an airodump tool for input. With this you can create amazing dashboards,

0203, 2016

DeepSec Video: Remote Browser-Based Fingerprinting of Local Network Devices

René Pfeiffer/ March 2, 2016/ Conference, Internet, Security

Reconnaissance is first, then comes the attack. This is why fingerprinting devices is the first step. Manfred Kaiser (Josef Ressel Zentrum) explained at DeepSec 2015 how this can be done by the local web browser(s) in the locally connected network segment. Manfred discusses remote device fingerprinting techniques for SOHO routers and other network-connected devices offering a browser-based configuration interface. While consumer network devices provided to customers by their ISPs are typically based on very few different hardware platforms, they are equipped with highly customized firmwares and thus contain different vulnerabilities. The knowledge of a specific device’s vulnerabilities is vital to the success of a remote attack. In a live demo Manfred shows how a remote attacker can exploit the feature-richness of modern web technologies (HTML5, WebRTC, JavaScript, CSS) to perform device discovery and fine-grained

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