Flame

A Flame on the Cyberwarfare Horizon

Post author:Paolo Passeri
Post last modified:May 24, 2015
Post category:Cyberwar Security
Post comments:6 Comments
Reading time:5 mins read
Post published:May 28, 2012

Irony of fate: not even a day after the publication of a provocative article on the role of Cyber Warfare…

The 2010 Olympic Games

Post author:Paolo Passeri
Post last modified:May 24, 2015
Post category:Cyberwar Security
Post comments:0 Comments
Reading time:3 mins read
Post published:June 4, 2012

Two months again and the World will assist to the 2012 London Olympic Games. Unfortunately the same is not true…

Israel Blamed for Fueling the Flame Cyber Weapon in Middle East

Post author:Paolo Passeri
Post last modified:May 24, 2015
Post category:Cyberwar Security
Post comments:0 Comments
Reading time:4 mins read
Post published:May 29, 2012

The day after its discovery, there are few doubts that the infamous malware dubbed Flame (or sKyWIper) has been developed…

May 2012 Cyber Attacks Timeline (Part II)

Post author:Paolo Passeri
Post last modified:May 24, 2015
Post category:Cyber Attacks Timelines Security
Post comments:0 Comments
Reading time:8 mins read
Post published:June 4, 2012

As usual, here it is the second part of the Cyber Attacks Timeline for the month of May 2012: a month particularly rich of Cyber Events. As you will probably know, the Flame malware has monopolized the attention, deserving the most attention from the Information Security Professional.

Nevertheless the scene has offered many interesting events, among which it worths to mention the breach of 123,000 federal employees records, the breach affecting University of Nebraska, and, last but not least, the breach against WHCMS (which, as we will soon see, has proved to be fatal for its author).

The hacktivist front is still hot and preannounces another hot summer. On the other hand the authors of several remarkable cyber-criminal actions are probably going to leave the scene: the long trail of arrests made by Law Enforcement Agencies against hackers has continued in this month and has hence led to the arrest of Cosmo, the leader of the infamous group UGNazi, which claimed to be the author of the Cyber Attack against WHCMS.

In your opinion are the arrests against hackers really going to stop the growing number of Cyber Attacks (acting as a deterrent)?

If you want to have an idea of how fragile our data are inside the cyberspace, have a look at the timelines of the main Cyber Attacks in 2011 and 2012 (regularly updated), and follow @paulsparrows on Twitter for the latest updates.

After the jump you find all the references, and at this link the first part covering 1-15 May.

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The Flame Burning Inside Stuxnet

Post author:Paolo Passeri
Post last modified:May 24, 2015
Post category:Security
Post comments:1 Comment
Reading time:5 mins read
Post published:June 12, 2012

While the U.S. and Israel keep on mutually claiming the Stuxnet's paternity, Kaspersky Lab has unveiled further details about Flame…

Middle East Cyber War Reloaded

Post author:Paolo Passeri
Post last modified:May 24, 2015
Post category:Security
Post comments:0 Comments
Reading time:2 mins read
Post published:June 27, 2012

I have just received an email from the israeli hacker dubbed you-ri-k@n providing me with some details about a peculiar…

June 2012 Cyber Attacks Timeline (Part II)

Post author:Paolo Passeri
Post last modified:May 24, 2015
Post category:Cyber Attacks Timelines Security
Post comments:1 Comment
Reading time:7 mins read
Post published:July 5, 2012

Part I (1-15 June) at this link

From an information security perspective, the second half of June has been characterized by the hacking collective UGNAZI (and its members) and also by an individual hacker: .c0mrade AKA @OfficialComrade.

Both entities have left behind them a long trail of Cyber Attacks against different targets (in several cases the real extent of the attack is uncertain) and with different techniques, although it is likely that the UGNAZI collective will be forced to change the plans after the arrest of the group’s leader, JoshTheGod, nearly at the end of the month (27^thof June), effectively they have considerably reduced the rate of their cyber attacks in the second part of the analyzed period.

On the other hand, hospitals, banks, several major airlines are only few examples of the preys fallen under the attacks carried on by .c0mrade. Plese notce that from Cyber Crime perspective, is also interesting to notice the High Roller Operation, a giant fraud against the banking industry, unmasked by McAfee.

Needless to say, the Cyber War front is always hot, most of all in Middle East, were several DDoS attacks targeted some Israeli institutions and, most of all, an alleged unspecified massive Cyber Attack targeted tje Islamic Republic of Iran.

The hacktitic landscape is completely different: maybe hacktivists have chosen to go on vacation since June 2012 has apparently shown a decreasing trend, in sharp contrast with an year ago, when the information security community lived one of its most troubled periods.

If you want to have an idea of how fragile our data are inside the cyberspace, have a look at the timelines of the main Cyber Attacks in 2011 and 2012 (regularly updated), and follow @paulsparrows on Twitter for the latest updates.

Also, feel free to submit remarkable incidents that in your opinion deserve to be included in the timeline.