Magic hashes, browser injection and "rich text" malware (Word Intruder), a USA Freedom Act that disappoints the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Barclays to abandon dot com domains are this week's Top 5 #InfoSec reads.
Magic hashes
(Or "why PHP developers should be using triple equals “===”)
This WhiteHat Security's Robert Hansen describes how the use of the PHP equals-equals operator exposes web sites where password hashes are used to attack. Hansen explains that password hashes in PHP are base16 encoded and thus begin with "0e" which causes the PHP equals-equals operator to interpret the entire string as a float not a string. Hansen then illustrates cases where “magic” strings are substantially more likely to evaluate to true when hashed given a completely random hash... and substantially more likely to evaluate to true when compared with a database of hashes, even if they don’t actually match and then demonstrates a practical attack based on the behavior of the operator. Hansen recommends using triple-equals "===" to mitigate this threat. WhiteHat offers a free check (with a trial account) but also points out that this vulnerability is easily identified using static code analysis.
Exposing Rombertik - Turning the Tables on Evasive Malware
Rombertik is typically distributed via phishing email attachments. If executed, the malware compromises the local machine and the installed dropper downloads executables that inject hooks into Chrome, Firefox or Internet Explorer. The the browser injection code steals data that users submit through their browser. Rombertick is a great example of the myriad of ways malware writers incorporate obfuscation techniques into their malicious code. This Lastline Labs post and a complementing post at Cisco Blogs explain the obfuscation and evasion techniques including stalling code. These two blog posts are very instructional reads if you want to understand complex malware.
House Passes USA FREEDOM Act to Curb NSA Spying
The US House of Representatives passed H.R. 3361 which limits the scope of the surveillance by US agencies in several ways. The act sets a new process for FBI applications to the FISA Court that limit the scope of requests to tangible things identified by a specific selection term (simply, you can't ask for everything about everyone or everything, including call detail records). It also requires specific selection terms for pen registers and trap and trace and takes steps to reform FISA acquisitions targeting persons (located in or outside the US), similarly amends the National Security Letter to require specific selection term, and imposes transparency and reporting obligations onto the FISA court. Lastly, it aligns the sunset of the Patriot Act with the new provisions. While many are happy with the incremental "freedoms" restored, the EFF withdrew its support for the Act, asking Congress to strengthen its proposed reform of Section 215 asserting in its Op-Ed that "Congress must do more to rein in dragnet surveillance by the NSA" and urges Congress "to roll the draft back to the stronger and meaningful reforms included in the 2013 version of USA Freedom, which would acknowledge the Second Circuit’s opinion on the limits of Section 215 of the Patriot Act.
Barclays confirms move away from .com to new gTLD
Barclays became the first financial institution to announce that it will abandon its domains in dot com and country code top level domains (TLDs) and will instead use its own: barclays and barclaycard. Non-transactional parts of Barclays have begun using the new TLDs. This is akin to saying, "Let the new games begin!", games of course meaning, criminals versus the financials. Barclays has played the opening gambit, and security practitioners will be keen to track how criminals respond: how will the threat landscape change? Will this migration mitigate phishing, redirection, bank domain or URL hijacking or other attacks directed at financials? Turn: criminals. Game clock is ticking.
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