Highly Dangerous Zero-day Windows Trojan Targets Espionage

networkworld.com
There is a new vicious rootkit-level malware infection targeting critical infrastructure and aimed at corporate or government espionage. It often enters the enterprise through USB sticks. Finnish security company F-Secure advised that the current malware is very dangerous and poses, "a risk of virus epidemic at the current moment." F-Secure further warns that this is an espionage attack using LNK (*.LNK) shortcut files. All Windows operating systems are vulnerable, even Windows 7, though F-Secure says it has added detection modules for these rootkits to its own anti-malware products. Problem is, once it added the detection module, it started discovering infections all over the world, and the hole that the virus exploits remains unfixed. Because this is a rootkit infection, the virus bypasses security mechanisms. From regular Joes to enterprises, this spy rootkit is in the wild and spreading infection.

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USB Flash Drive Spy Cufflinks

cg

All Spies must have their data with them at all times! We want absolutely everything to be mobile and with us at all times. Which makes these flash drive cufflinks only the obvious next step. This pair of USB drives will let you keep all of your documents directly on your wrist. Plus you can keep two different sets, since you’ll have a drive on each wrist.

It will give you a total of 4GB worth of space to fill up, there’s 2GB on each of the drives. You can even have the shiny drive engraved. Should you not like the shiny look you can also pick up gunmetal and gold finishes. They are small enough that it’s unlikely that another spy will notice them.

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IBM: We distributed malware-ridden USB drives

news.cnet.com

IBM is apologizing for handing out USB drives at a security conference in Australia this week that had malware on them.

The thumb drives were distributed for free to people who walked up to the IBM booth at the AusCERT conference.

"Unfortunately we have discovered that some of these USB keys contained malware and we suspect that all USB keys may be affected," Glenn Wightwick, chief technologist at IBM Australia, wrote in a letter to AusCERT delegates that was reprinted on the Beast or Buddha blog.

"The malware is detected by the majority of current Anti Virus products [as at 20/05/2010] and been known since 2008," the letter said. "The malware is known by a number of names and is contained in the setup.exe and autorun.ini files. It is spread when the infected USB device is inserted into a Microsoft Windows workstation or server whereby the setup.exe and autorun.ini files run automatically."

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''Do not put anything on the internet that you don't want on the front page of the New York Times.''

winknews.com

LEE COUNTY, Fla. - Ever wonder what your kids are doing on-line? Now, you can find out, but the same device that is helping you spy could be used on you without you knowing.

They're little flash drives that do the snooping. You just plug them into the computer you want to spy on. After 60 seconds, you take it out and can access all the information from that computer... anytime, anywhere.

"As soon as they plug it in, I can launch the software and - game over. Now I have control of that computer."

It's something some parents like the idea of - especially when it comes to kids chatting with strangers online.

"I think kids get into a lot more trouble sometimes without them even realizing it and parents have no control over what they are seeing and looking and going through."

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Hackers, Troops Rejoice: Pentagon Lifts Thumb-Drive Ban

wired.com

Soldiers, you are now cleared to use your thumb drives again. U.S. Strategic Command has lifted its ban on the tiny drives, memory sticks, CDs and other “removable flash media” on military networks.

The repeal, first reported by InsideDefense.com, may be good news for troops, who depend on the drives to move data in bandwidth-starved locations. But it may be good news for hackers, too. The original network security concerns which prompted the ban haven’t really been addressed, one Strategic Command cyber defense specialist tells Danger Room: “Not much changed. StratCom simply does not have the support to enforce such a ban indefinitely.”

StratCom prohibited the drives’ use back in November 2008 after the Agent.btz virus began working its way through military networks. A variation of the “SillyFDC” worm, Agent.btz spreads by copying itself from thumb drive to computer and back again. Once on a PC, “it automatically downloads code from another location. And that code could be pretty much anything,” iDefense computer security expert Ryan Olson said at the time.

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Lockheed Martin and its new new IronClad USB drive

coolest-gadgets.com
Lockheed Martin is more often for its role in the nation’s defense capabilities, but this time round they are offering something that will offer a semblance of protection for your much needed data – and it comes in the form of the new IronClad USB drive.

Basically, the IronClad crams in your notebook’s hard drive alongside its entire operating system, software applications and files onto a single device – which is a secure USB flash drive in essence. In layman’s terms, what you get here is deemed to be a 100% secure “PC on a stick” setup. Folks who are constantly on-the-go are able to plug in the USB flash drive into virtually any computer or notebook regardless of your geographical location, and you will be able to gain instant, secure access to your own personal desktop and files.

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