As you may be aware, a worm (originally appearing in 2009) and named Stuxnet has recently resurfaced as a focused attack at Industrial and Energy control systems, namely but not exclusively targeting those systems built by Siemens, AG. This worm has the capability to take control of and/or alter settings within SCADA systems and PLC/RTU sub-components.
Below are some good articles related to recent research into the worm.
So perhaps only a few have heard about the July 4th news story reporting that several iTunes accounts (30 accounts ??) across the globe were compromised by the developer of an application (or several apps).
The story alleges that iTunes was hacked and several user accounts were compromised by an application developer who exploited peoples’ iTunes accounts to purchase his applications, so much so that it elevated him to the top in his applications’ category. Now, i would suggest that more that 30 accounts would have to be involved to elevate an app to the top of its category, but that’s beside the point. It is likely that there are more accounts involved, some go not reported, some completely oblivious to their losses.
I’m not so convinced that iTunes was hacked by some thief brute forcing username/password combinations to crack 30 accounts out of millions. While it is entirely possible that Apple could be hacked and that data could be stolen in bulk, I think there are some alternative ideas that should be considered. Read more
Last month, our trusted partner, NetWitness, discovered the Kneber botnet, a dangerous new ZeuS botnet that infected over 75,000 systems in 2,500 organizations around the world. The full story is in the link below.
And, we just received more follow-on information from an RSA report that shows most major U.S. corporations (up to 88 percent of the Fortune 500 companies) are likely affected by botnet activity from computers compromised by the Zeus data-stealing Trojan, according to the study released last Wednesday, 14-April-2010. For more information on this report, please see the link below.
PathMaker Group offers a complete lineup of services and solutions in response to this serious issue. We can assess your network, determine if your systems are infected by Kneber/Zeus, and help you take the appropriate steps to remove it and prevent it from coming back. Call us immediately if you feel like your business is experiencing malware or worm attacks.
PathMaker Group is a specialized Security and Identity Management Consultancy, blending core technical and product expertise, consultative know-how, and extensive implementation experience.
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