Malta Info Security

Extracts from the original article found here... include some sane advice to those who get thrilled by the term 'hacker' by none other than the infamous Kevin Mitnick.

Reformed hacker-turned-security-consultant Kevin Mitnick served five years in federal prison for breaking into phone and software company networks. He talks about his past hacking exploits, computer security, and how he turned an illegal hobby into a useful career.

Google have added a cool feature for users of GMail - the ability to sign out from previously logged in sessions - therefore if you have the habbit of signing into GMail from multiple PC's and "forget" to logoff, scroll to the bottom of you current GMail screen and you will see the new feature titling "Last account activity: xx minutes ago on this computer. Details.."

Click the <details> link and you're presented with a list of previous sessions which allows you to quickly verify that all the GMail activity was indeed yours. To be extra cautious you can click on "Sign out all other sessions" - this way you prevent any unauthorised usage of previous sessions.

Full report can be read here

An article written for the Sunday Times of Malta - IT Supplement dated 8-6-2008

Often enough, most people tend to have their own way of perceiving how secure they actual are when doing things online. Indeed a lot of people tend to be naive and prefer not to think of what can go wrong right after they post or publish something personal about themselves or even others.

The way we perceive how secure we are, largely depends on past personal experiences. If you ever suffered some sort of data loss due to a virus - you would know exactly what I mean - in that - once bitten twice shy. So worst memory tends to prevail over your decisions and even perceptions of how secure you really are. More over, misconceptions surround us such as "I have antivirus software, so I am secure" or “I have a firewall, so I am safe”. The reality is that to be secure you need to employ a suite of tools (antivirus being one of them) to help you reduce your risk exposure to an acceptable level.

These days there is a lot of talk about Facebook. First off - it is a social networking tool which anybody can freely sign up for and use. So far so good! One of reasons it is so popular with people (in particular with youngsters) is that it allows for virtual social interactivity - therefore somewhat redefining the way people meet, talk and share things with each other. In many ways I feel it has affected our social culture. If you feel shy, then you can look for your soul mate online without having to sweat it out before you pluck up enough courage to go talk to a guy/girl face to face. One facility Facebook offers is the ability to check how compatible you are with different people and linkup to different friends through existing friends to build a spider web of friends. One idea might be - the more friends you accumulate online (say on Facebook) the more popular you are perceived to be. At face value, Facebook sounds cool especially if you are a budding teen. So where's the catch?

I am pretty sure that there are a number of you out there reading this blog over a wireless network. Given that wireless is so widely distributed these days, its not uncommon that users are unaware of how insecure their wireless setup maybe.

Unfortunately one other reality is that a number of ISP's install wireless modems without setting up any sort of security. What's worse is that if the client doesn't speak up - they don't quite advise the customer of what could be at risk. Basically as long as your laptop/device successfully connects to the wireless LAN that is setup up for you, they're out of there. SOO - this is where we come in to offer some advice.

If you connect to your wireless router without a password, its time to get hold of a technician who knows his business and set up some security on it. That's not all...

Recent developments published by Petko D. Petkov reveal some pretty nasty things an attacker can do to Thomson Speedtouch wireless modems - which is what a lot of us Maltese people have at home to connect to the internet.

Thanks to a friend of mine who first pointed out the article above, it is now possible that if an attacker sees your default network name (SSID) then it would be possible for him to crack your default password and use your internet connection. Therefore here are some healthy tips you could pass onto your technician if you're not confident to set them yourself.

Use WPA2 encryption rather than WEP/WPA.

Note that this will affect usage of early PDA's wireless and even computers with Windows XP. In fact you will need to download a patch for Windows XP to use WPA2. Also certain old wireless adapters (802.11b) might not have updated drivers, so do your homework to see if your adapter can use WPA2 before you start changing anything.

Change the default network name (SSID)

Change the default name of your router to something else. Invent an name.

Change the default password (preshared key)

If you don't have a password - PUT ONE. If the router is using a default password, its a good idea to change it unless you don't mind sharing your internet conenction with your neighbours.

1. Virtual host security
2. Protecting the virtual machine monitor (hypervisor)
3. Botnets
4. Targeted attacks
5. Attacks via gaming and virtual reality sites
6. Browser threats
7. Mobile phone browser exploits
8. Lost mobile devices
9. Insecure Web applications
10. Rust-out

When providing payment information online, look for the 'padlock' icon on your browser's status bar - this signals that your information is kept secure during transactions.

Do not reply to unsolicited e-mails or telephone calls that request your personal information such as your SIN, password or bank account number.

When possible, keep an eye on your Visa card when it is swiped at the merchant's terminal to ensure information on the magnetic stripe is not copied through a skimming device.

Q. What can users do to protect themselves?
A. The most effective way for users to protect themselves is to fully shut down their computers several minutes before any situation in which the computers’ physical security could be compromised. On most systems, locking the screen or switching to “suspend” or “hibernate” mode does not provide adequate protection. (Exceptions exist; some systems may not be protected even when powered off. Check with the developer of your disk encryption software for further guidance.)

"...would become one of the only—if not the only—mainstream laptop featuring full-disk encryption that's highly-resistant to the troublesome Princeton attack."

Microsoft suggests that the most secure method to use BitLocker is in hibernate mode and with multi-factor authentication.
According to Robert Hensing, a software engineer in Microsoft's SWI (Secure Windows Initiative) team, this class of attack is not new and was actually raised at the 2006 Hack in the Box conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

In a bid to combat cyber exploitation of children, IT Minister Austin Gatt yesterday announced an intensive awareness campaign as students marked Safer Internet Day.

Dr Gatt also launched an information package, which will be distributed to all students from Year Four in primary schools right up to Year Five in secondary schools, as well as their teachers and parents.

Over 43,000 information packages and interactive CDs will start being distributed to parents and students this week, while posters, DVDs and CDs will be circulated in schools.

Attending an event organised by Aġenzija Appoġġ at the Playmobil Funpark in Ħal Far, Dr Gatt said that while children's education was sacred for the government, so was their security.