Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity

    Assume Malware Espionage Is Common

    Written by

    Larry Seltzer
    Published May 31, 2005
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

      An Israeli industrial espionage scandal that erupted over the weekend really shouldnt be surprising, tempting as surprise might be. In fact, while its impossible to know how much of this sort of thing is going on, its safe and responsible to assume its common.

      Executives at several large companies were arrested, as well as private detectives at large agencies, on suspicion of using Trojan horse programs to spy on competitors computers. Not just technology companies were involved, but auto importers.

      Israelis and Israeli companies are probably more savvy about computer security, either at the attacker or victim end, than people in other Western countries, although perhaps this indicates a surprising level of sophistication and interest on the part of the police.

      I have to wonder why we dont get cases like this in the U.S., because I have to assume the same stuff is going on.

      The scandal coalesces a number of trends that had already been widely identified:

      The change of motivation for malware authoring from vandalism to crime-for-profit; the wide distribution of malware writing skills and free availability of worm and Trojan code; and inadequacy of many security solutions to unidentified threats.

      The early mail worms were just experiments, partly to see how successful they could be and partly as practice for some more serious goal.

      It wasnt long before the function of these worms, the bread and butter of malware for a long time, was to install a back door so that the computer could be controlled as part of a network to perform tasks for criminals, including spammers.

      Creating these “bot armies” is the main function of most of the malware we read about, both the mail worms and the Trojan horses that are set up for download.

      Most of it is not targeted, but thrown up on the wall to see what sticks. In other words, its blasted out to the Internet generally, and if it spreads, it spreads.

      Most readers dont know it, but there are a lot more of these worms and Trojans than they know.

      I follow threat monitoring services that report on them and there are several new versions of such threats every day.

      Theyre all extremely dangerous, but like random mutations in DNA, most of them die quickly.

      Ive wondered for a while why there are so many new versions, and I think it may have to do with the motivation of experimentation.

      Its rare these days for new families of attacks to come out. Most variants come from sites and IRC channels where source code is freely exchanged, and some malware comes with its own source code embedded.

      Step 1 is to make some small variation and distribute it. But just because you make a useful variation doesnt mean you have to distribute it.

      Next page: Theyd never do that!

      Theyd never do that

      !”>

      With all this, its easy to see how a competent and unscrupulous programmer could make a decent living writing custom malware. The raw materials, based on widely available public malware, are not hard to find.

      And in case you find yourself saying, “Theyd never do that,” dont assume that its actually the other company performing the espionage.

      All it takes is one person with a big commission or incentive plan at stake, and the last thing they may want is for their company to know that theyre hacking the competition. (Of course, if the other company does find out, they may decide the best thing is to cover it up, but thats another matter.)

      The other ingredient, besides malware, is social engineering. This, too, is disturbingly well understood, and there are even legit companies who do it for testing purposes.

      The bottom line is finding a way to trick someone with access to the information into installing a program you supply. This is too easy.

      In fact, if someone from the competition is involved the social engineering aspects become all the easier, because they will know how to represent themselves (or, more likely, train a third party to represent themselves) as being a person who might be trustworthy.

      They might, for example, get you to load a CD they send you. They might get in the building for a meeting and hack your wireless network. They might call up and pretend to be a contractor or client. Competitors know enough about you to be useful for such an attack.

      The ultimate answer, as a matter of defense, is not as simple as updating your security products more frequently (although that might be helpful).

      It is in, more generally, locking down PCs and networks, and in education.

      I shudder when I advocate education, because stories like this always underscore how far we have to go.

      Note that the Israeli attack was discovered by what sounds like a sophisticated user who determined that an attack had taken place.

      But you dont want to assume that someone will be smart enough to notice a compromise that your software missed, so lock down your network and throw away the key.

      It is possible to get added protection from better use of software, for instance through products that claim to detect threats heuristically—some dont like that term, but the basic idea is threat detection without needing a signature for the specific threat.

      Everyone seems to be getting better at this, and I hear especially good things about Panda TruPrevent, but Ive never seen a solution close enough to 100 percent to make me trust it completely, and I dont think the vendors of these programs would tell you to trust them completely.

      Its much safer to mandate that executable programs, including scripts, should be off-limits to users unless they are on a whitelist.

      But whatever you do, proceed under the assumption that someone is trying to break in and steal your information for reasons you dont approve.

      Its possible, and there are people out there who want to do it, so you have to assume its being done.

      Security Center Editor Larry Seltzer has worked in and written about the computer industry since 1983.

      Check out eWEEK.coms for the latest security news, reviews and analysis. And for insights on security coverage around the Web, take a look at eWEEK.com Security Center Editor Larry Seltzers Weblog.

      Larry Seltzer
      Larry Seltzer
      Larry Seltzer has been writing software for and English about computers ever since—,much to his own amazement— He was one of the authors of NPL and NPL-R, fourth-generation languages for microcomputers by the now-defunct DeskTop Software Corporation. (Larry is sad to find absolutely no hits on any of these +products on Google.) His work at Desktop Software included programming the UCSD p-System, a virtual machine-based operating system with portable binaries that pre-dated Java by more than 10 years.For several years, he wrote corporate software for Mathematica Policy Research (they're still in business!) and Chase Econometrics (not so lucky) before being forcibly thrown into the consulting market. He bummed around the Philadelphia consulting and contract-programming scenes for a year or two before taking a job at NSTL (National Software Testing Labs) developing product tests and managing contract testing for the computer industry, governments and publication.In 1991 Larry moved to Massachusetts to become Technical Director of PC Week Labs (now eWeek Labs). He moved within Ziff Davis to New York in 1994 to run testing at Windows Sources. In 1995, he became Technical Director for Internet product testing at PC Magazine and stayed there till 1998.Since then, he has been writing for numerous other publications, including Fortune Small Business, Windows 2000 Magazine (now Windows and .NET Magazine), ZDNet and Sam Whitmore's Media Survey.

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Artificial Intelligence

      9 Best AI 3D Generators You Need...

      Sam Rinko - June 25, 2024 0
      AI 3D Generators are powerful tools for many different industries. Discover the best AI 3D Generators, and learn which is best for your specific use case.
      Read more
      Cloud

      RingCentral Expands Its Collaboration Platform

      Zeus Kerravala - November 22, 2023 0
      RingCentral adds AI-enabled contact center and hybrid event products to its suite of collaboration services.
      Read more
      Artificial Intelligence

      8 Best AI Data Analytics Software &...

      Aminu Abdullahi - January 18, 2024 0
      Learn the top AI data analytics software to use. Compare AI data analytics solutions & features to make the best choice for your business.
      Read more
      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Video

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2024 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×