Close
  • Latest News
  • 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
  • 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

    The New Threats Are on the Server

    By
    Larry Seltzer
    -
    January 18, 2007
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      When I think of the prototypical botnet, I think of cable modem users with teenagers downloading programs that they assume to be other things. There are many other typical scenarios, and while theyre perfectly accurate, its probably true that most bots are hijacked broadband PCs.

      But there is another type of dangerous botnet out there where you might not expect it: in Web servers and hosting farms, typically Linux boxes. The Web server software on these servers typically runs PHP, the wildly popular Web scripting language.

      If you follow vulnerability tracking, youve seen the name PHP a lot over the last couple of years. The number of vulnerabilities in it has been large, and the problem is long-standing, as this story from five years ago shows. And its not entirely a matter of problems in PHP itself. There are quite a few important Web applications, especially those for inexpensive hosted Web sites, written in PHP, and these applications have their own vulnerabilities.

      /zimages/1/28571.gifeWEEK Labs advises on the five critical elements of security that remain relevant today. Click here to read more.

      Attackers know about these problems and use them to take control of the servers and use them for their own purposes—i.e. they turn them into bots. Because hosted Web servers are often managed in large farms of servers with organized naming conventions and pooled IP addresses, its not a huge step for attackers to extend their control to other systems in the farm, completely compromising it.

      Ive stumbled across such sites on my own a few times over the last few years. In one typical example, I was investigating an e-Gold phishing attack I received and determined that it came from a Web server hosting a storefront site for a jewelry designer in Arizona (nice stuff, but not my wifes style). Her son ran the site and was astonished to see all these other files on the site and had no idea how they got there. It might have been some administrative oversight of his or the hosting service, but it could also have been some vulnerability in software on the el cheapo hosting service.

      These servers, of course, dont typically have security software on them of any meaning, for two reasons. First its Linux, and there isnt an expectation that Linux needs such software, and second, these hosted servers are designed to run as inexpensively as possible. This is one reason theyre running PHP in the first place. This is another reason the problems go undetected or perhaps even tolerated.

      Its not like the hosting service can just shut things down and screw all their customers while they straighten things out. They must either implement some workaround, potentially breaking customer applications, or upgrade software to fixed versions, also potentially breaking applications. All for a bunch of $4.95 per month hosting accounts. Sounds like a losing proposition.

      So anyway, now the newly formed Web Honeynet Task Force from SecuriTeam and the ISOTF (impressive Web page) will conduct research on attacks against Web servers that install “tools, connect-back shells, bots, downloaders, malware, etc., which are all cross-platform (for Web servers) and currently exploited in the wild.”

      In announcing the project, big-game botnet hunter Gadi Evron said that they would not focus so much on classic code-based attacks like cross-site scripting and SQL injection, which he figures have more than enough attention, but instead on “malware and code execution attacks on Web servers and hosting farms.”

      Such attacks have been happening for years, but Evron says that the scale of the attacks has increased dramatically of late. In order to help admins mitigate the attacks, the project will release IP addresses and URLs for blacklisting. This is a necessary first step, but obviously not a solution.

      Look for the February edition of Virus Bulletin for an article with more on the project.

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

      /zimages/1/28571.gifCheck 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.

      More from Larry Seltzer

      Larry Seltzer
      Larry Seltzer has been writing software for and English about computers ever since—,much to his own amazement—,he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1983.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.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      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.
      © 2021 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.

      ×