A Little Bit Pivoting: What Web Shells are Attackers Looking for?, (Tue, Apr 7th)

Webshells remain a popular method for attackers to maintain persistence on a compromised web server. Many “arbitrary file write” and “remote code execution” vulnerabilities are used to drop small files on systems for later execution of additional payloads. The names of these files keep changing and are often chosen to “fit in” with other files. Webshells themselves are also often used by parasitic attacks to compromise a server. Sadly (?), attackers are not always selecting good passwords either. In some cases, webshells come with pre-set backdoor credentials, which may be overlooked by a less sophisticated attacker.

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Cybersecurity in the Age of Instant Software

AI is rapidly changing how software is written, deployed, and used. Trends point to a future where AIs can write custom software quickly and easily: “instant software.” Taken to an extreme, it might become easier for a user to have an AI write an application on demand—a spreadsheet, for example—and delete it when you’re done using it than to buy one commercially. Future systems could include a mix: both traditional long-term software and ephemeral instant software that is constantly being written, deployed, modified, and deleted.

AI is changing cybersecurity as well. In particular, AI systems are getting better at finding and patching vulnerabilities in code. This has implications for both attackers and defenders, depending on the ways this and related technologies improve…

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