Recent Threat Trends and a Look Ahead

Contains VeriSign Confidential and Proprietary Information

Recent Threat Trends and a Look Ahead

Buck Watia

iDefense Security Intelligence Operations

2 Contains VeriSign Confidential and Proprietary Information

Presentation Agenda

I. Today’s Threat Environment

II. Progression of Threat Motives & Impact I. A Look BackII. Current & Future Trends, Motivations

III. Recent Malicious ActivityI. StatisticsII. Notable Malcode

IV. Where Do We Go From Here?I. Threats in Context


Today’s Threat Environment

+ Enterprise Environment is Increasingly Complex▪ Critical System Explosion▪ Asset Criticality isn’t Enough to Prioritize▪ Increase in Vulnerabilities▪ Constant Updates and Patches

+ Sophistication of Threats▪ Increasingly Advanced Malicious Code▪ Increase in Communication/Teamwork Among Hackers▪ Time to Exploitation Drastically Reduced▪ Stealth Attacks


Progression of Motives & Impact

+ 2003 Year of the Worm▪ Notoriety▪ Dawn of code for cash▪ MSFT Bounty program established

+ 2004 Worm War & Criminal Code▪ Bounty program curbs notoriety actors▪ Bounty program hardens criminal gain actors▪ Hundreds of variants, source code releases

+ 2005 Year of the Bot & Ad/Spyware▪ Criminalization and commoditization well developed▪ Target Attacks: Espionage and hacker for hire quickly escalating

+ 2006 Threat of the Unknown: Stealth for Survival▪ Increase in innovation, organization and sophistication▪ Targeted attacks to defeat specific authentication protection

NASA.GOV


Creating Code for Cash

Millions of Stolen Credit Cards

Money Mules

Stolen CD Keys

Extortion

Phishing& Pharming

Industrial Espionage Hackers for Hire

Millions of Stolen Account Credentials

- Fedex Account #!

Ad/Spyware


2005: Vulnerability Activity

+ 2,954 unique vulnerability reports

+ 13,550 re-versioned reports

+ 598 new exploits

Source: VeriSign iDefense Vulnerability Team


Exploitation Frameworks

+ Metasploit Framework▪ Open-source project created in mid-2003 by H.D. Moore▪ Created for pen-testing and research; a free alternative to others▪ Widely used by hacking community since it is free

+ CANVAS▪ Offered by Immunity Inc., started by Dave Aitel in 2002▪ Aimed at promoting exploit development and providing a penetration

testing platform

+ Core Impact▪ Core Impact was developed by CORE Security Technologies in 1996▪ Dubbed as the first fully automated penetration testing product▪ Expensive product used mainly by corporations


2005: Top Exploited Vulnerabilities

# of Codes Vulnerability Exploited

1,357 LSASS

526 WebDAV

469 Cumulative Update for Microsoft RPC/DCOM

404 Microsoft ASN.1 BERDecBitString() Buffer Overflow

368 Workstation vulnerability

357 Microsoft Plug-and-Play Buffer Overflow

220 Microsoft Windows DCERPC DCOM Heap Overflow

216 UPnP

172 SQL Server

113 IIS5 SSL DoS vulnerability**Multiple other Microsoft vulnerabilities exploited to a lesser degree


2005: Malcode Activity

16,193

365

49

1

0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000

Low

Medium

High

Extreme

Lev

el o

f S

ever

ity

Total Reports

Source: VeriSign iDefense Malcode Team


Notable Attacks and Vectors

+ MS05-039/Zotob

+ Google Adword Attack

+ DNS Poisoning

+ WMF File Format Vulnerability

+ Metafisher


MS05-039 - Zotob

+ Zero Day Exploit▪ MSFT Discloses Vulnerability – August 9th

▪ Public exploits Released –August 11th▪ More exploits released including one by HOD –

August 12th

+ Why is PNP/ZoTob Important▪ Speed of attack▪ Intel gathering and analysis is key▪ Actors are important and threat is critical


Innovation: Google Adwords Attack


Operations: Organized Criminal Groups

Earn thousands of dollars with a part time job at work

– apply today!

Private Financial Receiver

Money Transfer Agent

Country Representative

Shipping Manager

Financial Manager

Sales Manager

Sales Representative

Secondary Highly Paid Job

Client Manager


Sophistication: DNS Cache Poisoning

+ 2,000 or more DNS servers poisoned after hacked through AWStats/Other vectors

+ Over 17 families of code, upwards of 20 MB of files, and 45+ malicious files silently installed

+ Mostly adware, spyware, Trojans, and fraud identified as the primary focus of attacks

+ Long term success, not being easily identified or mitigated


.WMF File Format Vulnerability

+ Graphic File Format

+ No User Interaction Necessary

+ Originally Developed to Promote a “Pump and Dump” Stock

+ Originally Downplayed by MSFT▪ Came out with out of cycle patch 4 days before Patch Tuesday

+ Still being Exploited Today by Several Codes Including Metafisher


Metafisher – Sophisticated Phishing Attacks

+ A Highly Sophisticated Bot for Financial Fraud▪ The IceBerg threat

– Under the radar for months– Encryption cracked

▪ Web-based command-and-control server – Large numbers of Bots

▪ professionally built – suite of tools– user-friendly administration interface

▪ Professional software lifecycle management comparable to many professional software products


Metafisher – Known Attack Structures to Date


Metafisher – PHP Configured Bots


Metafisher – Searchable Stolen Log Files


Metafisher – Form.txt – Keylogger and Phished Data


BrizTrojan Targets US Banks+ Briz Trojan Family

▪ Not new, family has been around for several months▪ Targets Argentina, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, and US▪ Banks in the US: Bank of America, wellsFargo

+ Sophisticated Attack▪ BHOs combine to make complex credential stealing unit▪ Downloads configuration files to inject HTML and JavaScript into pages to steal

credentials that otherwise would not be requested▪ Screenshots taken on every initial page load and at each mouse click▪ Logged data is stored with time stamps to determine user usage profiles to trick anti

fraud devices▪ Trojan injected verification questions after a successful login▪ Challenges banks customized authentication systems

+ US Banks were not previously a threat to sophisticated financial attacks▪ Increasing Trend▪ Intelligence, Sophistication, Custom code injection▪ Similar path as MetaPhisher▪ Used in combination with money mule operations to move money to off shore

accounts


Browser Helper Object

Home User

Spammed links via fake windows update sites/porn

Installs BHO in IE

Initial Compromise

+Trojan can take on multiple layer authentication systems

+i.e. Site Key- BOA

+ Steals all forms

+Injects custom code for targeted attacks against specific banks

+Trojan can take on multiple layer authentication systems

+i.e. Site Key- BOA

+ Steals all forms

+Injects custom code for targeted attacks against specific banks


Biz Trojan

Home User

US Banking Servers

Installs BHO

Downloads Javascript to inject SSL verified pages

Screen Shots Taken, Data Logged and saved

Initial Compromise

Command and Control Servers


SNATCH: Russian Advanced Banking Malcode

+ Sophisticated malicious code targeting financial services

+ Created by Russian SE-Code’s #Rock group

+ Sophisticated threat similar to Metaphisher and Briz Trojans


SNATCH: Russian Advanced Banking Malcode

+ Targets European and American transactions

+ Grabs:▪ SSL Forms and Logs▪ E-gold, ebay, paypal, Casino accounts, bank accounts▪ TANs▪ ITANS

+ Search Engine▪ Spoofs queries to redirect users to sites of its choice

+ Currently being sold for profit as a sophisticated tool for financial gain, here is the pricing▪ Enhanced Builder Version for $600.

– AV Updates for $50 to get around all new anti-virus engine builds to extend the life of the product


Threat Context is King: MS05-039 & MS05-051

MS05-039 (UPnP)

+ Unprecedented Underground Activity and Chatter

+ Public exploit code in 2 days

+ Rooters and bots within 5 days

+ Leading bot author, Diabl0, releases first bot on day 5, ZoTob.A.

+ Workarounds and Emergency Patch Procedures Implemented

MS05-051 (MSDTC and COM+)

+ No Underground Activity or Chatter

+ Privately Traded Exploit Code▪ Not in the hands of known

actors. Not in the wild.

+ No Functional Malicious Code in the Wild

+ Deploy MS05-051 at normal speed (ID# 425064).

+ Do Not Go into Emergency Patch Procedures


Threats in Context

+ Vulnerabilities▪ Is this a real threat to my critical systems?▪ Example: What exactly is vulnerable to MS06-001 WMF exploitation?

+ Malicious Code & Exploit Code▪ Is there malicious code or exploit code in the wild?▪ Is it public or private?▪ Is it limited to a specific operating system or application?▪ Is it highly functional or only work part of the time?

+ Threat Environment▪ Where did the malicious code come from?▪ What actors or groups are responsible?▪ Is there underground chatter?▪ Is the exploit code being traded or sold?


iDefense Background

+ The Leading Security Intelligence Research Team ▪iDefense provides pro-active notification of impending threats,

including vulnerabilities and malicious code

+ Industry-Leading Services Offerings▪Intelligence is all the iDefense team does▪Completely vendor-agnostic

+ Marquee Customer and Partner Base▪Government, financial services, insurance, healthcare, retail▪Security software and services

+ 5 Experienced Intelligence Teams▪VAT, Labs, Malcode, RRT, Threat

+ Actively Gathering Cyber Intelligence Since 1998

Contains VeriSign Confidential and Proprietary Information

Thank you

If you have any questions regarding this presentation please contact Buck Watia at [email protected]

Recent Threat Trends and a Look Ahead

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