Category Archives: zeroday

Zero-Day Vulnerabilities against Windows in the NSA Tools Released by the Shadow Brokers

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In April, the Shadow Brokers — presumably Russia — released a batch of Windows exploits from what is presumably the NSA. Included in that release were eight different Windows vulnerabilities. Given a presumed theft date of the data as sometime between 2012 and 2013 — based on timestamps of the documents and the limited Windows 8 support of the tools:… Continue reading Zero-Day Vulnerabilities against Windows in the NSA Tools Released by the Shadow Brokers→

Good Article About Google’s Project Zero

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Fortune magazine just published a good article about Google’s Project Zero, which finds and publishes exploits in other companies’ software products. I have mixed feeling about it. The project does great work, and the Internet has benefited enormously from these efforts. But as long as it is embedded inside Google, it has to deal with accusations that it targets Google… Continue reading Good Article About Google’s Project Zero→

Is Continuing to Patch Windows XP a Mistake?

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Last week, Microsoft issued a security patch for Windows XP, a 16-year-old operating system that Microsoft officially no longer supports. Last month, Microsoft issued a Windows XP patch for the vulnerability used in WannaCry. Is this a good idea? This 2014 essay argues that it’s not: The zero-day flaw and its exploitation is unfortunate, and Microsoft is likely smarting from… Continue reading Is Continuing to Patch Windows XP a Mistake?→

WikiLeaks Not Disclosing CIA-Hoarded Vulnerabilities to Companies

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WikiLeaks has started publishing a large collection of classified CIA documents, including information on several — possibly many — unpublished (i.e., zero-day) vulnerabilities in computing equipment used by Americans. Despite assurances that the US government prioritizes defense over offense, it seems that the CIA was hoarding vulnerabilities. (It’s not just the CIA; last year we learned that the NSA is,… Continue reading WikiLeaks Not Disclosing CIA-Hoarded Vulnerabilities to Companies→

WikiLeaks Releases CIA Hacking Tools

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WikiLeaks just released a cache of 8,761 classified CIA documents from 2012 to 2016, including details of its offensive Internet operations. I have not read through any of them yet. If you see something interesting, tell us in the comments. EDITED TO ADD: There’s a lot in here. Many of the hacking tools are redacted, with the tar files and… Continue reading WikiLeaks Releases CIA Hacking Tools→

Duqu Malware Techniques Used by Cybercriminals

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Duqu 2.0 is a really impressive piece of malware, related to Stuxnet and probably written by the NSA. One of its security features is that it stays resident in its host’s memory without ever writing persistent files to the system’s drives. Now, this same technique is being used by criminals: Now, fileless malware is going mainstream, as financially motivated criminal… Continue reading Duqu Malware Techniques Used by Cybercriminals→