Skype serving virus-laden ads

In the last 24 hours, a virus ad managed to slip through Microsoft filters and made its way into Skype's ad slot.

Clicking on the advertisement will take you to a site pretending to be Adobe, and try to download viruses to your machine. This is not how Adobe distributes updates. This is how attackers trick unsuspecting users to willingly install malicious software.

The payload? It is a very rapid load iframe that redirects to that page again. Getting the payload to successfully infect sandboxes have not been successful so far.

And this might be an IE only thing. The rapid load iframe does not work on Firefox or Chrome.

Microsoft seems to be aware about this issue, but did not comment further.

Suggested quick fix
Add these entries into your local host file:

# fighting off malware/virus
127.0.0.1 qwindowsdefender.nl
127.0.0.1 q-windowsdefender.nl
127.0.0.1 xwindowsdefender.nl
127.0.0.1 x-windowsdefender.nl
127.0.0.1 zwindowsdefender.nl
127.0.0.1 z-windowsdefender.nl
127.0.0.1 wed322d2.qwindowsdefender.nl
127.0.0.1 wed322d2.q-windowsdefender.nl
127.0.0.1 wed322d2.xwindowsdefender.nl
127.0.0.1 wed322d2.x-windowsdefender.nl
127.0.0.1 wed322d2.zwindowsdefender.nl
127.0.0.1 wed322d2.z-windowsdefender.nl
127.0.0.1 m.adnxs.com
127.0.0.1 cdn.adnxs.com

Note: This is not the comprehensive list of URLs used in the attack. There may be more than the ones indicated here.

If Your iCloud Password Is On This List, Change It Before You Get Hacked

Somebody just uploaded a password-hacking tool called iDict to GitHub that promises to use good old fashioned brute force techniques to crack iCloud passwords. The tool also claims to be able to evade Apple's rate-limiting and two-factor authentication security that's supposed to prevent brute force attacks. But it's not quite as bad as it sounds.

iDict's capabilities are limited by the size of the dictionary it uses to guess your password. So you're really only in danger if your password is on the 500-word-long list included with the hacker tool. All of the passwords fulfill the requirements for an iCloud password, but if you're using one of these rather obvious passwords, you should change your password anyways. Here are some examples:

•     Password1
•     P@ssw0rd
•     Passw0rd
•     Pa55word
•     Password123
•     ABCabc123
•     Devil666
•     Fuckyou2
•     ILoveYou2
•     Blink182

These are the same kinds of passwords that appear almost every year on the most popular password list, making it stupid simple for hackers to wreak havoc. They also follow a lot of the bad password practices we've pointed out before. So for God's sake, change your password if you use a bad password! And if you haven't already, you should also enable two-factor authentication on all your accounts, just for good measure.

All that said, iDict isn't really a plug-and-play hacking device. The developer behind the tool isn't a friend to script-kiddies, he's trying to prove a point: Despite security updates since the brute force attack that gave hackers access to countless celebrities' nude photos, iCloud still isn't completely secure. Apple needs to fix the "painfully obvious" bug before it's "privately used for malicious or nefarious activities," he explains on GitHub. We've reached out to Apple to find out what they're doing about the vulnerability.

It seems like it wouldn't be that hard to swap out the 500-word-long list with an even longer, better list. Then, a tool like iDict could do real damage. Not to mention that ne'er-do-wells are probably gonna be using this tool as-is until the flaw gets fixed. So double-check your iCloud password against this list now, and pick something better even if your bad password isn't listed. Protect yourself while Apple's still working on shoring up that security.

Hackers leak 13,000 Passwords Of Amazon, Walmart and Brazzers Users

Hackers claiming affiliation with the hacktivist group "Anonymous" have allegedly leaked more than 13,000 username and password combinations for some of the worlds most popular websites, including Amazon, Xbox Live and Playstation Network.

The stolen personal information was released in a massive text document posted to the Internet file-sharing website Ghostbin (now deleted), on Friday. The document contains a huge number of usernames and passwords, along with credit card numbers and expiration dates.

The news came just a day after the hacker group Lizard Squad compromised Sony’s Playstation and Microsoft’s Xbox Live gaming networks on Christmas day, which is estimated to have affected Xbox's 48 million subscribers and PlayStation's 110 million users, making it a total of more than 150 million users worldwide.

However, data breach of 13,000 users is not the biggest data breach we've ever seen. When millions of passwords are used for sites around the globe, chances are very minor that our’s among those compromised. But still it’s important to note as these accounts come from a variety of online sources and among those, some are really very popular.

The Daily Dot's Aaron Sankin has compiled a comprehensive list of sites associated with the username and password leaks, and discovered that the leaks came from the sites run the gamut from pornography to gaming to online shopping. The list of the compromised websites is as follows:

• Amazon
• Walmart
• PlayStation Network
• Xbox Live
• Twitch.tv
• Dell
• Brazzers
• DigitalPlayground
• and see complete list.

Just to be on a safer side, users are recommended to change their passwords if they have accounts on these compromised websites, and also pay attention to your credit card transactions and if any suspicious activity found, immediately communicate with related banks and financial institutions.

Also, don't use the same passwords for banking and online shopping sites, and always keep an eye out for unusual activities or unauthorized purchases with your accounts.

North Korea Internet partially restored following a 9.5 hours outage

North Korea has regained partial Internet access, following a widespread outage that occurred days after the U.S. vowed to respond to a cyberattack on Sony that was blamed on Pyongyang.

The Korean Central News Agency and the Rodong Sinmun newspaper were back online Tuesday after earlier being inaccessible. It was unclear whether wider Internet service in the North has been restored to its previous levels.

The reason for the massive outage is not yet clear, but it comes just days after President Barack Obama warned the U.S. would retaliate against the North. A State Department spokeswoman, when asked about the situation, declined comment.

However, she did say the U.S. government is discussing a range of options in response to the Sony hacking, some of which, she said, will be "seen" and some that "may not be seen."

Doug Madory, a spokesman for the U.S.-based Internet analysis firm Dyn Research, said the Internet problems in North Korea could be the result of an attack.

Earlier, North Korea had called on the United States to apologize for implicating Pyongyang in the hacking of Sony Pictures and threatened to fight back in a variety of ways, including cyberwarfare.

The National Defense Commission for Pyongyang said in state media late Sunday that the U.S. government was wrong to blame North Korea for the hacking. It also said the claims are groundless.

Meanwhile, China's Foreign Ministry said it does not have enough information to determine whether reports that North Korea used Chinese facilities to stage a cyberattack on Sony Pictures are true.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Monday China is "opposed to all forms of cyberattacks" and would not reach any conclusions without having "enough facts."

However, Hua said China is opposed to attacks on a third party "through making use of the facilities of another country" and is ready to have a "dialogue with other countries."

The United States is in talks with China to possibly help block cyberattacks from Pyongyang

How to disable the WhatsApp blue double check on Android

Android users can now disable the blue double check in WhatsApp. The corresponding update for the app is now available from Google Play.

Do you want to know how to disable it? Follow these steps:

• From the latest version of the app, go to ‘Settings‘
• Then go to ‘Account‘
• Next ‘Privacy‘
• And finally, unselect ‘Read receipts’.

Don’t forget though, that if you disable read receipts, you won’t be able to see when your messages are read either.

What do you prefer?

FBI Officially Blames North Korea in Sony Pictures Hack

Following the high-profile cyber attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment, and continuous threats against  employees and celebrities, the FBI has released an official statement declaring the investigation has lead to “enough information to conclude that the North Korean government is responsible for these actions.”

In a press release issued Friday morning, the FBI listed several factors that lead to its conclusion, including:

• Technical analysis of the data deletion malware used in this attack revealed links to other malware that the FBI knows North Korean actors previously developed. For example, there were similarities in specific lines of code, encryption algorithms, data deletion methods, and compromised networks
• The FBI also observed significant overlap between the infrastructure used in this attack and other malicious cyber activity the U.S. government has previously linked directly to North Korea. For example, the FBI discovered that several Internet protocol (IP) addresses associated with known North Korean infrastructure communicated with IP addresses that were hardcoded into the data deletion malware used in this attack.
• Separately, the tools used in the SPE attack have similarities to a cyber attack in March of last year against South Korean banks and media outlets, which was carried out by North Korea.

President Obama held a news conference shortly after the announcement, where he was asked to comment on the United States’ proportional response to the attack.

“Our first order of business is to try to prevent those attacks from taking place,” said President Obama. “Everything that we can do at the government level to prevent these types of attacks [we’re doing]. We’re coordinating with the private sector but we’re not even close to where we need to be.We need strong cybersecurity laws that provide for data sharing.”

Without further details, President Obama added a response would come “at a time and place we choose.”

Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson also stressed in a statement the high-profile event underscored the importance of good cybersecurity practices to rapidly detect cyber intrusions and promote resilience throughout all networks.

“Every CEO should take this opportunity to assess their company’s cybersecurity,” said Johnson. “Every business in this country should seek to employ best practices in cybersecurity.”

The FBI’s statement comes days after Sony Pictures Entertainment called off its plans to release “The Interview” — a comedy depicting the assassination of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, and after several theaters received threats for intending to show the film