Ninebot by Segway miniPRO Vulnerabilities
Ninebot Limited, which purchased Segway Inc. in 2015, sells a line of self-balancing motorized electric scooters used for transportation under 30km/h. Recently, issues regarding the safety of scooters have surfaced, primarily caused by poor manufacturing quality or a general lack of safety-centered design.
Go Nuclear: Breaking Radiation Monitoring Devices
Radioactivity is a part of our environment; we are continuously exposed to natural radiation arising from the Earth and even from outer space. We are also exposed to artificial sources of radiation, derived from human activities. Ionizing isotopes are used across multiple sectors: agriculture, medicine, research, biochemistry, and manufacturing. The need for sophisticated devices to measure and detect the presence of radiation seems clear. Critical infrastructure, such as nuclear power plants, seaports, borders, and even hospitals, are equipped with radiation-monitoring devices. This equipment detects and prevents threats ranging from smuggling…
24 Deadly Sins of Software Security: Programming Flaws and How to Fix Them
Fully updated to cover the latest security issues, 24 Deadly Sins of Software Security reveals the most common design and coding errors and explains how to fix each one-or better yet, avoid them from the start. Michael Howard and David LeBlanc, who teach Microsoft employees and the world how to secure code, have partnered again with John Viega, who uncovered the original 19 deadly programming sins. They have completely revised the book to address the most recent vulnerabilities and have added five brand new sins. This practical guide covers all…
WannaCry vs. Petya: Keys to Ransomware Effectiveness
With WannaCry and now Petya we’re beginning to see how and why the new strain of ransomware worms are evolving and growing far more effective than previous versions. I think there are 3 main factors: Propagation, Payload, and Payment.* Propagation: You ideally want to be able to spread using as many different types of techniques as you can. Payload: Once you’ve infected the system you want to have a payload that encrypts properly, doesn’t have any easy bypass to decryption, and clearly indicates to the victim what they…
APIs are 2FA Backdoors
Two-factor Authentication (2FA) today is something like having a firewall in the year 2000: if you say you have it, it basically stops any further questioning. Unfortunately, when you have a powerful and mismanaged API, 2FA is about as effective as having a stateful firewall protecting a broken web application. It’s time we accept as an industry that API keys and secrets are essentially usernames and passwords, except they’re designed to be used in an automated way to perform your company’s most sensitive functions, often instrumented by…
Post #WannaCry Reaction #127: Do I Need a Pen Test?
In the wake of WannaCry and other recent events, everyone from the Department of Homeland Security to my grandmother is recommending penetration tests as a silver bullet to prevent falling victim to the next cyberattack. But a penetration test is not a silver bullet, nor is it universally what is needed for improving the security posture of an organization. There are several key factors to consider. So I thought it might be good to review the difference between a penetration test and a vulnerability assessment since this is a…
#WannaCry: Examining Weaponized Malware
Attribution: You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means… In internal discussions in virtual halls of IOActive this morning, there were many talks about the collective industry’s rush to blame or attribution over the recent WanaCry/WannaCrypt ransomware breakouts. Twitter was lit up on #Wannacry and #WannaCrypt and even Microsoft got into the action, stating, “We need governments to consider the damage to civilians that comes from hoarding these vulnerabilities and the use of these exploits.” Opinions for blame and…
We’re gonna need a bigger boat….
A few weeks ago back in mid-March (2017), Microsoft issued a security bulletin (MS17-010) and patch for a vulnerability that was yet to be publicly disclosed or referenced. According to the bulletin, “the most severe of the vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if an attacker sends specially crafted messages to a Microsoft Server Message Block 1.0 (SMBv1) server. This security update is rated Critical for all supported releases of Microsoft Windows.” Normally, when Microsoft issues a patch or security there is an acknowledgment on their website regarding…
Linksys Smart Wi-Fi Vulnerabilities
By Tao Sauvage Last year I acquired a Linksys Smart Wi-Fi router, more specifically the EA3500 Series. I chose Linksys (previously owned by Cisco and currently owned by Belkin) due to its popularity and I thought that it would be interesting to have a look at a router heavily marketed outside of Asia, hoping to have different results than with my previous research on the BHU Wi-Fi uRouter, which is only distributed in China. Smart Wi-Fi is the latest family of Linksys routers and includes more than 20 different models…
Secure Messaging Application Vulnerabilities Identified
IOActive security researchers tested versions 1.4.2 for Windows and OS X and 4.0.4 for Android, of the Confide messaging application by reverse engineering the published application, observing its behavior, and interacting with the public API. During the evaluation, multiple security vulnerabilities of varying severities were identified, with corresponding attacker exploitation risks ranging from account impersonation and message tampering, to exposing user contact details and hijacking accounts. The issues were reported to the vendor through responsible disclosure and many, including those identified as being critical, were subsequently addressed and resolved quickly…