JusticeDept.com

December 1, 2009

H1N1 Vaccination Profile Phishing Scam

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , — @ 6:35 pm

There is a phishing scam that claims to be from the Center For Disease Control. If you receive an email like the following, DO NOT click on the link:

You have received this e-mail because of the launching of State Vaccination H1N1 Program.

You need to create your personal H1N1 (swine flu) Vaccination Profile on the cdc.gov website. The Vaccination is not obligatory, but every person that has reached the age of 18 has to have his personal Vaccination Profile on the cdc.gov site. This profile has to be created both for the vaccinated people and the not-vaccinated ones. This profile is used for the registering system of vaccinated and not-vaccinated people.
Create your Personal H1N1 Vaccination Profile using the link: Create Personal Profile

October 28, 2009

FDIC Phishing Scam

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , — @ 4:30 pm

A fraudulent email is circulating that claims to be from the FDIC. In fact, it is actually a phishing scam. You should not respond to any email that looks like the following:

From: “FDIC”
To:
Subject: you need to check your Bank Deposit Insurance Coverage
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:21:45 -0300

You have received this message because you are a holder of a FDIC-insured bank account.
Recently FDIC has officially named the bank you have opened your account with as a failed bank, thus, taking control of its assets.

You need to visit the official FDIC website and perform the following steps to check your Deposit Insurance Coverage:

* Visit FDIC website: http://www.fdic.gov/bankinsured/failed/personalfile/holder.php?email=id@membranecom&id=45541232240316943840456114017112159

* Download and open your personal FDIC Insurance File to check your Deposit Insurance Coverage

———-

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

October 21, 2009

IBM Says Web Is Insecure

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , — @ 2:20 pm

The IBM X-Force 2009 Mid-Year Trend and Risk Report revealed many security problems with the world wide web. The report’s findings show an unprecedented state of Web insecurity as Web client, server, and content threats converge posing a huge risk for web surfers. The report finds more than a 500 percent increase in malicious Web links and increased sophistication in vulnerability exploitation.

There has been a 508% increase in the number of new malicious Web links discovered in the first half of 2009. This problem is no longer limited to malicious domains or untrusted Web sites. The report notes an increase in the presence of malicious content on trusted sites, including popular search engines, blogs, bulletin boards, personal web sites, online magazines and mainstream news sites. The ability to gain access and manipulate data remains the primary consequence of vulnerability exploitations.

The report also finds that the level of veiled Web exploits, especially PDF files, are at an all time high, pointing to increased sophistication of attackers. PDF vulnerabilities disclosed in the first half of 2009 surpassed disclosures from all of 2008. From Q1 to Q2 alone, the amount of suspicious, obfuscated or concealed content monitored by the IBM ISS Managed Security Services team nearly doubled.

October 18, 2009

Microsoft Malware Spam

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , — @ 2:19 pm

Malware Spam Messages Related to Microsoft Outlook, SSL Certificates

US-CERT is aware of public reports of an increased number of spam messages related to Microsoft Outlook or SSL certificates. These messages contain a malicious file or link that claims to provide an update, but in reality, attempts to launch malware on a user’s system. Typically, the messages instruct the user to click on a link to save a file or to open an attachment, either of which could infect the user’s system.

To help protect against this type of attack, US-CERT recommends that users avoid opening attachments or links contained in unsolicited email messages. Additional tips regarding email attachments can be found in the US-CERT Cyber Security Tip Using Caution with Email Attachments.

October 12, 2009

FBI Fraudulent Spam Email

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , — @ 5:51 pm

Federal Bureau of Investigation Warns Public of Fraudulent Spam Email

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released information warning the public about fraudulent email messages purporting to come from the FBI or the Department of Homeland Security. These email messages contain a malicious attachment that claims to provide an intelligence report or bulletin, but in reality attempts to launch malware on the user’s system.

More information regarding these messages can be found in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New E-Scams and Warnings web site.

To help protect against this type of attack, US-CERT recommends that users avoid opening attachments contained in unsolicited email messages. Additional tips regarding email attachments can be found in the US-CERT Cyber Security Tip – Using Caution with Email Attachments.

October 5, 2009

Alert: Portable Document Format (PDF)

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , — @ 2:21 am

by Art Manion

Adobe Reader and Acrobat JavaScript vulnerabilities

Overview
Adobe Reader and Acrobat contain vulnerabilities in the customDictionaryOpen() and getAnnots() JavaScript methods.
I. Description
Adobe Reader and the Adobe Acrobat family of software is designed to create, view, and edit Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Adobe Reader is widely deployed, and the Acrobat Reader Plug-In displays PDF inside a web browser.
Adobe Reader and Acrobat support JavaScript. The JavaScript methods customDictionaryOpen() (CVE-2009-1493) and getAnnots() (CVE-2009-1492) do not safely handle specially crafted arguments and can be manipulated to execute arbitrary code. Publicly available exploit code claims to work on Adobe Reader 9.1 and 8.1.4 on GNU/Linux. Limited testing shows that Adobe Reader and Acrobat on and Microsoft Windows platforms crash when parsing a PDF file that contains a specially crafted getAnnots() call. As of 2009-04-29 we have not confirmed the reported customDictionaryOpen() vulnerability.

Adobe Security Advisory APSA09-02 states that the getAnnots() vulnerability affects Adobe Reader and Acrobat for Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, and UNIX, while the customDictionaryOpen() vulnerability appears to only affect Adobe Reader for UNIX.

II. Impact
By convincing a user to open a specially crafted PDF file, an attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code.
III. Solution
Update
From Adobe Security Bulletin APSB09-06, update to version 9.1.1, 8.1.5, or 7.1.2 of Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat Standard, Pro and Pro Extended.

Disable JavaScript in Adobe Reader and Acrobat

Disabling JavaScript prevents these vulnerabilities from being exploited and reduces attack surface. If this workaround is applied to updated versions of Adobe Reader and Acrobat, it may protect against future vulnerabilities.

To disable JavaScript in Adobe Reader:

Open Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Open the Edit menu.
Choose the Preferences… option.
Choose the JavaScript section.
Uncheck the Enable Acrobat JavaScript check box.
Disabling JavaScript will not resolve the vulnerabilities, it will only disable the vulnerable JavaScript component. When JavaScript is disabled, Adobe Reader and Acrobat prompt to re-enable JavaScript when opening a PDF that contains JavaScript.

Some vendors ship JavaScript support in a separate package. Removing this package may remove JavaScript support.

Prevent Internet Explorer from automatically opening PDF documents

The installer for Adobe Reader and Acrobat configures Internet Explorer to automatically open PDF files without any user interaction. This behavior can be reverted to the safer option of prompting the user by importing the following as a .REG file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AcroExch.Document.7]
“EditFlags”=hex:00,00,00,00
Disable the displaying of PDF documents in the web browser

Preventing PDF documents from opening inside a web browser reduces attack surface. If this workaround is applied to updated versions of Adobe Reader and Acrobat, it may protect against future vulnerabilities.

To prevent PDF documents from automatically being opened in a web browser with Adobe Reader:

Open Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Open the Edit menu.
Choose the Preferences… option.
Choose the Internet section.
Uncheck the Display PDF in browser check box.
Rename or remove Annots.api

To disable the vulnerable getAnnots() method, rename or remove the Annots.api file. This will disable some Annotation functionality, however annotations can still be viewed. This does not protect against the customDictionaryOpen() vulnerability.

On Windows, Annots.api is typically located here:

“%ProgramFiles%\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Reader\plug_ins”
Example location on GNU/Linux:

/opt/Adobe/Reader8/Reader/intellinux/plug_ins/Annots.api
Do not access PDF documents from untrusted sources

Do not open unfamiliar or unexpected PDF documents, particularly those hosted on web sites or delivered as email attachments. Please see Cyber Security Tip ST04-010.
Systems Affected
Vendor Status Date Notified Date Updated
Adobe Vulnerable 2009-04-28 2009-05-13

References

http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb09-06.html
http://www.adobe.com/support/security/advisories/apsa09-02.html
http://blogs.adobe.com/psirt/2009/04/potential_adobe_reader_issue.html
http://blogs.adobe.com/psirt/2009/04/update_on_adobe_reader_issue.html
http://blogs.adobe.com/psirt/2009/05/adobe_reader_issue_update.html
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/pdfs/js_api_reference.pdf
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/34736/
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/34740/

Credit
These vulnerabilities were publicly reported by Arr1val.

September 21, 2009

Facebook Agrees to Fund Online Privacy and Security Foundation

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , — @ 8:57 pm

In an out-of-court settlement, Facebook has agreed to shutdown Beacon, as well as, fund a foundation to promote online privacy.

Beacon is a Facebook marketing program. The program was based on “trusted referrals”. A Facebook members’ friends would be notified of purchases made through Beacon. The problem was… Facebook members did not know they were part of the Beacon program. They were automatically opted-in.

There was trouble with the program right from the start. Members complained about holiday gifts they were giving and receiving. In 2008, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of 19 members against Facebook, as well as, Blockbuster, Fandango, Overstock.com, and other companies that were in the Beacon network. To settle the suit, Facebook has agreed to stop Beacon and start a foundation to promote online privacy, safety and security by funding $9.5 million.

September 16, 2009

Malware / Virus: Unable To Deliver Package

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , — @ 2:46 pm

Alert — There has been a resurgence of an email virus that installs malware on the victim’s computer. The email claims to be from a delivery company, such as, the UPS, FedEx or DHL. Do not open the email. Definitely, do not unzip the email attachment.

The email usually looks something like this:

Hello!

Unfortunately we were not able to deliver the postal package you have sent on the 5th of June in time
because the addressee’s address is erroneous.
Please print out the invoice copy attached and collect the package at our department.

DHL Express Services.

Attachment Converted: “c:\FILE_Xfecf.zip”

Notice of Underreported Income Phishing Scam

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , — @ 2:38 pm

Be aware there is a phishing scam propagating. Do not click on the link, nor provide any information. The email usually reads like this:

Subject: Notice of Underreported Income

Taxpayer ID: id-00000174073547US
Tax Type: INCOME TAX
Issue: Unreported/Underreported Income (Fraud Application)

Please review your tax statement on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website (click on the link below):

review tax statement for taxpayer id: id-00000174073547US

Internal Revenue Service

September 9, 2009

ANTIVIRUS PRO 2009 Is Malware

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , — @ 6:53 pm

I was just attacked by a virus (ANTIVIRUS PRO 2009), it masked itself as a antiviral program. I did not download it. It downloaded itself. I may have exposed myself with a few websites I viewed. I’m thinking that’s how i got it. I’ts some sort… of rouge. I didn’t wanna try and delete it manually, for fear of damage. So, I ran my Norton and Spyware Doctor, and it identified it and claims its removed now. Do you think its really gone? i just hope it didn’t burrow in there. Anyway, let me know if you can help.

ANSWER
It sounds like you are good to go. Watch for strange activity as described here:

Antivirus Pro 2009 configures itself to start automatically when you start your computer. It will also create a variety of fake malware files that are harmless. The Antivirus Pro installs these so they are “detected”. When AntivirusPro scans your computer, it will list a variety of infections that cannot be removed unless you buy the program. Most of the infections are the fake files, as well as, legitimate Windows files that are being called infections. The idea is to scare you into buying their product.

While bwosing the web, you may find that your Internet Explorer has become hijacked. Antivirus Pro will randomly display a screen stating that there has been insecure internet activity and there is a threat of a virus attack. You then are prompted to either get protection or continue to the site. Regardless of the option you select, you will instead directed to a webpage that tries to sell you their program. Yet, another scare tactic that should be ignored.

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