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Companies who have not appropriately applied Research In Motions security protections for its BlackBerry communications system are vulnerable to outside attacks based on malware code released mid-August by researchers, and the threat illustrates a wider issue with always-on wireless applications, analysts say.
Jesse DAguanno, director of professional services and research at consultant Praetorian Global, Placerville, Calif., published his BlackBerry Attack Toolkit on Aug. 16 after first showing off the software at the DefCon reverse engineering convention held in Las Vegas earlier in August.
While companies that have aggressively exercised RIMs security features for its back-end BlackBerry servers should be immune to attacks based on the code, DAguanno said, many users of the ubiquitous wireless communication devices remain vulnerable.
“Many of the BlackBerry deployments we see are insecurely deployed and vulnerable to this sort of attack,” said DAguanno.
“By releasing the code were trying to make people understand the potential risks; theres a need to realign peoples thinking as far as portable device security, along with making administrators realize they cant just put something like this on a network without understanding the security implications first.”
In his presentation at DefCon, the researcher highlighted the ability of the hacking program, dubbed BBProxy, to be installed on a BlackBerry device or sent as an e-mail attachment to an unsuspecting user.
If levied against ill-prepared BlackBerry servers, the attack opens a covert communications channel with the RIM infrastructure by bypassing gateway security controls installed between the hacker and the inside of the victims network, DAguanno said.
Because the communications channel between the BlackBerry server and any connected handheld devices is encrypted and cannot be scoured by most network intrusion detection tools, unsuspecting administrators could overlook the exploit, which could be used to steal private information or deliver other forms of malware.
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Next Page: Other wireless systems.
Other Wireless Systems
DAguanno concedes that other wireless systems, specifically applications that maintain constant connectivity between handhelds and back-end servers, are likely open to similar attacks.
However, he chose to highlight the RIM situation since so many administrators appear to be adopting the companys products while ignoring BlackBerrys security features.
“The actual concept for the attack isnt specific to BlackBerry; BBproxy demonstrates how any solution that provides push technologies where a server component creates persistent tunnel between a handheld and the network creates the potential for this type of attack,” said DAguanno.
Yet, the researcher leveled criticism at RIM at the same time, pointing out that the company does not make its strictest security settings a default, allowing users to download the types of unverified third-party applications that could be used to deliver a real exploit.
The connected nature of BlackBerry devices makes it such that the vendor should be more forceful in pushing tighter security settings, he said.
Despite the fact that Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM appears to have been singled out based primarily on its rapidly growing customer base, versus any glaring hole in its products, executives at the company said they do not feel it was unfair of DAguanno to publish the threat code or highlight the perceived security shortcomings.
All parties agree that BBproxy can be rendered relatively harmless by isolating BlackBerry servers on their own DMZ while limiting the types of network connections allowed to be made to the devices.
At the same time, RIM contends that such malware exploits are possible on nearly any mobile device, including smart phones and laptop computers.
The company also flatly denied that the threat could be passed through an e-mail attachment to an unsuspecting user, as BlackBerry Enterprise Server does not allow people to download attachments to the device.
Ian Robertson, head of RIMs Security, Research & Response business unit, said the company is committed to informing its customers of what steps they should take to best protect their wireless systems.
He said he also believes that most companies using RIMs technologies have put the proper security protections in place, which would typically escalate permissions to download unfamiliar third-party applications to administrators, rather than end users.
On the topic of whether or not RIM could beef up its default security settings for BlackBerry servers, he said the company prefers to leave the matter in customers hands.
“We give users the tools to tailor devices to suit their security tolerances, administrators have rich controls over applications in terms of what can be loaded and how they talk to the network, even in default,” Robertson said.
“We are continually focused on security and on working with the research community to ensure that we deliver secure solutions by offering rich controls and configuration guides.”
In response to DAguannos code, the company is reminding customers to review two documents on its Web site that outline secure BlackBerry server settings.
Robertson said the problem raised by the researchers work runs parallel to similar issues of network security posed by third-party applications used on other types of devices.
The use of VPNs (virtual private networks) and other tools have largely quieted the issue in regards to laptops, he said.
Other security analysts agreed with that observation, and said that the use of encryption in the BlackBerry infrastructure complicates the issue by making it harder for administrators to identify attempted attacks.
While encryption is necessary to protect communications data, it often provides end users with a false sense of security regarding how the protections could also help malware writers carry out their attacks.
“The BlackBerry hack issue is part of a much larger problem as people have a tendency to believe that because a device uses encryption for data in transit across the Internet that it is secure,” said Paul Henry, vice president of strategic accounts at appliance maker Secure Computing, which is based in San Jose, Calif.
“In reality, the data is only secure while the data is in transit and is typically vulnerable when the data is at the end point; in the case of BlackBerry, the current exploit could potentially allow a cyber-criminal to simply make use the encrypted communications channel to surf to the end point and potentially wreak havoc,” Henry said.
“The comfort level afforded by the encryption of the communications can cause the installation of the BlackBerry server to overlook common sense policy and architecture considerations.”
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