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NASA plans to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun
By Dan Nosowitz | Sep 8, 2010 | 30 Comments
Solar Probe Plus is a project that astronauts, scientists, meteorologists, and astronomers have been dreaming of for a half-century. It’s an extraordinary proposal, venturing eight times farther than any previous spacecraft. It will certainly cost more than one billion dollars, and requires engineering and technology that’s never been seen before.
All this for a one-way trip to the sun.
Solar Probe Plus is the name of a project in which an unmanned (obviously), lightweight probe will travel through the sun’s corona, which is essentially the sun’s outer atmosphere. It seeks to answer some of space’s most puzzling questions–why is the corona almost 200 times hotter than the sun’s actual surface? How does the sun create the solar wind, a stream of charged particles that engulfs the solar system in a vast bubble called the heliosphere?
These are basic questions about our own solar system that have so far been unanswerable due to budgetary and technical limitations–but not anymore.
One of the most obvious problems is the immense heat the probe must be able to withstand. That the probe must tolerate heat at 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit is bad enough, but NASA won’t even be able to use the same methods used for probes returning to Earth. In those probes, the outer heat shields “ablate,” or boil away harmlessly–but when the whole point is to carefully conduct particle detection and other measurement, you can’t have part of a dissolved shield mucking up the findings.
But NASA scientists are confident that they’ll be able to create a suitable probe by 2018, the prospective launch date. Solar Probe Plus will arrive at Venus eight weeks after liftoff, conduct 24 orbits of increasing size, and end up about four million miles from the sun–inside Mercury’s orbit, eight times closer to the sun than any previous mission.
Though much of the motivation for Solar Probe Plus is research, there actually are a few legitimate practical reasons to undertake such a mission. Says Discovery:
Solar storms and magnetic disturbances from the sun can disrupt satellites and radio transmission, as well as take out power grids on Earth.
“Right now, predicting space weather is kind of like trying to predict hurricanes without knowing the acceleration effects of the oceans. Without that, you really can’t understand them at all,” Dantzler said.
NASA is expected to make final decisions on the probe’s instruments and sensors this month.
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Micromush
09/09/10 | Report as spam
RE: NASA plans to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun
I wonder what kind of life they will find.
clh201
09/09/10 | Report as spam
RE: NASA plans to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun
Cool! Thanks for posting, but I have a small correction - "venturing
eight times farther than any previous spacecraft" is not quite
correct - the probe will be 8 times closer to the sun than any craft
has been so far.The Voyager probes are the farthest-traveled man made spacecraft
so far, with Voyager 1 almost 6.5 billion miles from the sun.collinlv
09/09/10 | Report as spam
Sounds like NASA
we have taken absolutely the worst economic time of most of our lifetimes, with global economies tanking, to choose to spend 1 billion bucks (probably closer to 50 billion) to see how hot the sun is. Sounds like NASA to me.
for 1 million, I will give them a guess.
clh201
09/09/10 | Report as spam
RE: NASA plans to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun
$1B is nothing compared to the trillions we're spending on
foreign wars and handouts to the rich.$1B in science goes a REALLY long way. For one thing, the
immediate impact is that it creates HIGHLY SKILLED, high wage
jobs, in addition to even more moderately skilled and unskilled
jobs needed to support the infrastructure of such a project.The real payoff is long-term: scientific discoveries, pushing the
limits of human knowledge, in my opinion are worthy of our time,
resources and effort in and of themselves, but even if you don't
believe that, new discoreries about how the world works nearly
always (if not always) create new economic opportunities and
many times create completely new areas of the economy that
can be exploited by savvy entrepreneurs. The internet was
created by physicists to share data amongst themselves on
subatomic particles and stuff - who would have thought back
then, it would eventually come to dominate our economy and
culture.fred.wagner@...
09/09/10 | Report as spam
RE: NASA plans to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun
As with all NASA projects, in working out the details of a spacecraft that can survive in that hot an environment, researchers will come up with lots of technologies that can be used in non-exotic areas that will directly benefit the rest of us. As with all basic research, you can't predict what you will discover - you just have to be alert to possibilities as you explore new challenges.
Knowles2
09/09/10 | Report as spam
RE: NASA plans to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun
collinlv
09/09/10 | Report as spamDo not do it then, but do not blame NASA then when a unexpected
Solar storm comes around knocking out satelites an power grid, all
because we did not have the knowledge to predict a solar storm of
that magnitude to the degree require to order the shut down of such
systems.
An if a storm do hit an it is not spotted in time the damage it could
cause to the economy, well you can forget guestimates in the 10s of
billions or even hundreds of billions, it would be in the trillions dollars
of damage well wide, probably last years if not decades for some
countries. All because some small minded people wanted to cancel a
1 billion dollar probe.SmartAndWorldly
09/09/10 | Report as spam
Good for us all
@collinlv: No payoff for you, loser. We already have lots of
guesses, and most of them are free. That is not the point.Good data comes at a price. That should not be surprising, since
knowledge has value. The technology you used to read this
article and then respond to it was all made possible by research
and development. None of it was free, and it has brought
immense value to our world.At the very least, where do you think that $1 billion will be spent?
It will flow into our economy, creating jobs, providing paychecks
for families.So, save your grumbling over things you cannot grasp and make
an effort to provide some positive contribution to the world.Nagesh Tummala
09/09/10 | Report as spam
RE: NASA plans to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun
So, it is to find out about about solar storms - sounds like what happened in 2012 movie. So NASA is taking the Aztecs seriously and doing something about it. BTW, do you know where is can buy a ticket to that Chinese ship being built?
PercySludge
09/09/10 | Report as spam
Directly into the Sun?? OMG!!
I just hope they schedule this to land there at night!
'Cause if they do it during the day, it's gonna get burned up! That Sun is REAL HOT!http://www.sludge.tk has heard of this happening before!
Tom Clabaugh
09/09/10 | Report as spam
RE: NASA plans to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun
My guess is that it will find global warming.
zackers
09/09/10 | Report as spam
Most of the money will go to spacecraft construction and launch
At $1 billion, most of the money will go towards building the spacecraft, it's launch, and controlling it from earth. Relatively little will be spent on new technology R&D.
Why can't this be done in conjunction with ESA or other multi-national space agencies? This research will be valuable for everybody, why should the US go it alone?
kellycarter
09/09/10 | Report as spam
"directly into the sun"?
I agree it's going to get really close. But if you said an asteroid was
going to fly "directly into the Earth," I would assume it would smash
into the surface, not skim through the outer atmosphere. Still, that
would be way too close.rjangelino@...
09/09/10 | Report as spam
RE: NASA plans to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun
Possibly we could think a little harder on the cooling of this craft
by utilizing the sun itself to create the energy to run the cooling system. Remember we will be much closer to the heat and solar effects than here on earth. This in itself should accumulate much
data on the efficiency of solar panels which would pay for the trip many times over year after year of use here on earth.bryancox24@...
09/09/10 | Report as spam
RE: NASA plans to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun
I could see technology from a mission like this finding its way to
energy saving products for the home, etc.kevinrs1
09/09/10 | Report as spam
RE: NASA plans to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun
2012... the prospective launch date is 2018, so obviously not.
using solar energy to cool? solar panels...most stuff melts before 2600 degrees. Any cooling system has to dump the heat somewhere. For the most part, the design will probably be built of materials that will withstand the heat, there would probably be some cooling needed somewhere, but the options are an external heat sink which will be at least 2600 degrees, or using a liquid or solid that would be boiled off to cool, but that would contaminate the tests.p_rikka@...
09/09/10 | Report as spam
RE: NASA plans to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun
@clh: Good point. I, for one, was completely against the bailout of the a-holes in Wall Street that created this mess in the first place. NASA sure isn't spending nearly as much as the government is to keep our troops in Iraq for the "war on terror" aka "effort to exert U.S. influence over where the oil in Iraq will go."
I'd rather spend my tax dollars on a space probe going toward the sun than to wipe the bungholes of the people who decided that a war in a foreign land was better than renewable energy reform. Perhaps we could also spend $1 billion on community centers that feature a weekly jello wrestling show? At least it would be entertaining!
RobertMoore12@...
09/09/10 | Report as spam
RE: NASA plans to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun
Theey're going to destroy a billion dollar spacecraft to see how hot the sun is, that is increible. BUT it is typical ffor NASA. So far they have a 50% failure rate.
ddferrari
09/09/10 | Report as spam
@ "SmartAndWorldly"
Your username is hilariously ironic, as those who actually are smart and worldly need not resort to name calling and condescension simply because they disagree. Perhaps you should switch to "AngryandJudgmental".
collinlv's point does have some merit... how many hungry mouths could be fed with NASA's budget, no matter where the funds come from? Do any of you really think that flying to the sun should be a priority right now? Would it kill us to put some of these expensive missions on hold for a few years, until we're back on our feet?
This is akin to a starving family going out and buying a Mercedes... let's handle the basics first, then move on to luxuries.
Patrick Aupperle
09/09/10 | Report as spam
RE: NASA plans to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun
@ dderrari
The US government is spending way more than enough money
on feeding hungry mouths. The taxpayers now support
themselves, their family, and a few people they don't know. These
people they don't know get supported because they have made a
conscious choice not support themselves and take everything
everybody else works for. Hmmm... Paying people not to work or
doing basic science to stay relevant in the world? That is a really
tough question.FiOS-Dave
09/09/10 | Report as spam
Protection
Just make sure that the astronauts aboard are all using SPF100,000...
wizoddg
09/09/10 | Report as spam
...venturing eight times farther than any previous spacecraft.
Just how do you figure that?
Last time I looked, the Sun is under 100 million miles away at all times, and yet "...Voyager 1, at 8.7 billion miles from the Sun, has at last entered the heliosheath." in 2005.
under the OLD math, that's over 87 times further trip.pgit
09/09/10 | Report as spam
omg!
They're not going have a person on there, are they?
velella1@...
09/09/10 | Report as spam
RE: NASA plans to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun
Are they going to go at night?
Josephus Hap
09/09/10 | Report as spam
RE: NASA plans to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun
Give Bolden a chance to take that trip. We know that one human is worth ten thousand robots.
muru_apr@...
09/10/10 | Report as spam
RE: NASA plans to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun
This is really a high tech mission. I am sure it will unravel the mysteries around the outer region of sun. I can't wait for 8 more years
1 billion dollar for 8 year mission is a small amount considering the task is not a trifle task. It will get us to have a better understanding of our source "The Sun" and the solar system in general.
Muruganantham Raju
Chiatzu
09/10/10 | Report as spam
RE: NASA plans to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun
Like global warming experts, I see so many space experts. Not.
@ddferrari
You have to be kidding. Space exploration is not a luxury, it's a necessity.
The environment we live under doesn't stop at the top layers of the
atmosphere, it extends well into space. We are susceptible to space weather,
as in solar storms that are emitted by the Sun. These storms can make your
electricity go out, disrupt your telecommunication satellites and GPS, and
other things that you mistakingly take for granted. Spending money on Sun
research adds to our persistently growing volume of knowledge, and the
possibility of one day predicting when these storms will be headed our way.
The more we know the better we can defend against it. We already have
satellites parked in a gravitationally neutral spot in space that study the Sun in
ways other generations only dreamt of.We should thank NASA and science for this, and especially to those who
thought that spending the money was worth it. There was a solar storm in
1859 that was reported to set telegraph wires and paper on fire, it was that
intense. It can happen again, at any time. It wasn't much of a problem back in
the middle 1800's as people lived a simpler electronic-free life. Nowadays,
with all of our dependence on electronics of all kinds and its close integration
with our daily lives (think your computer hard drives, for example), a massive
solar storm headed in our direction could cost a tremendous amount more
(tens of billions to trillions) in infrastructure damage and societal/economic
setbacks. These Sun/space probes are much needed investments to learn
more about our complex Sun, and to our stability as a functioning society,
and by no means should be considered a luxury that we have an option to put
off for a stormy day.Get with the space program.
darkling282
09/10/10 | Report as spam
RE: NASA plans to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun
@clh201 its probably idiots like you who would say that we dont really need air or water to survive. It is discoverys and research like this that has gotten us this far technologically speaking. If it wherent for the discoverys made by nasa we'd be about 50 years behind the rest of the world from a technical stand point.
darkling282
09/10/10 | Report as spam
RE: NASA plans to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun
aplologies my last post was directed at collinlv apologies to clh201 by the way your corecction was correct.
darkling282
09/10/10 | Report as spam
RE: NASA plans to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun
@ddferrari are you really so stupid as to not realise that the technologies we will get from this will save more lives than not doing it will cost us. The reality is that not only will this mission prove beneficial but there are alot of facts pointing to it being necissary.
ddferrari
09/10/10 | Report as spam
@ darkling282
Before you call someone stupid, you should make sure there aren't any typos or run-on sentences in your post:
It's realize and necessary, not realise and necisarry.I'm sure that all the starving children in America will be instantly sated once the data comes back from this mission. Uh-huh.
@Chiatzu I am with the space program and I love science and astronomy as much as the next person- I'll reconsider my views on the necessity of these missions.
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Friday, September 10, 2010
NASA plans to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun - SmartPlanet
Thursday, September 9, 2010
64-bit rootkit spreading | bit
64-bit rootkit spreading
Published on 31st August 2010 by Gareth Halfacree
A particularly virulent rootkit targeting Windows machines - known as Alureon - is back, and this time it comes in a 64-bit edition.
The latest build of the Alureon rootkit is able to infect 64-bit Windows builds - the first to do so.
With more and more systems coming with 64-bit builds of Windows pre-installed in order to take advantage of 4GB - or more - of RAM, it was only a matter of time before crackers starting coding malware to accommodate the shifting target landscape - and it looks like that day is here.
According to Help Net Security this latest build of Alureon is the first rootkit in the wild with the ability to successfully infect and hide itself in 64-bit Windows builds.
Running the 64-bit version of Windows has traditionally offered some protection from rootkits and other malware packages, as the differing memory locations mean that a 32-bit rootkit attempting a buffer overflow exploit may find that it overwrites the wrong part of memory and fails to execute - or, in the best case scenario, fails to overflow at all. Sadly, it looks like that small measure of protection is rapidly vanishing.
Despite protections built into the latest versions of Windows - including Kernel Mode Code Signing, which prevents unsigned - and therefore unauthorised - code from accessing kernel memory and Kernel Patch Protection - the latest Alureon build continues to infect systems world-wide, by installing a modified Master Boot Record and immediately causing Windows to restart. When the MBR is loaded, the rootkit can load its kernel module without the protections kicking in.
It looks like the authors are still finding their feet in the world of 64-bit infections, however; PrevX researcher Marco Giuliani claims that the current version found in the wild appears to be a "beta build," as its infection attempts "didn't always fully work" in internal testing.
Are you surprised that it has taken the ne'er-do-wells this long to develop rootkits for 64-bit Windows, or just saddened that yet more of Microsoft's well-meaning protection systems have been rendered useless? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
Previous Article
25 Comments
Discuss in the forums ReplyThanks for the warning ...but how do I best protect myself?Quote:Well, I moved to Linux - but I appreciate that's not always an option. ;)Originally Posted by fingerbob69
Thanks for the warning ...but how do I best protect myself?Best things to do:
1) Don't download dodgy copies of software.
B) Keep your system up-to-date
iii) Run a decent anti-virus and anti-spyware scanner
IV) Refrain from clicking links that you know you shouldn'tThey don't offer complete protection, but that should see you a lot safer than most.
Gareth, do all current antiV pick up root kits? Going back a couple of years there was only a downloadable detector from MS's website.Leveller,All decent AV/IS products will contain Anti-Rootkit modules.
Hurrah for opensuse :)The question being is, why do people write stuff like this?No seriously, I'd love to meet the guy who killed my computer a while back..
Quote:What's with all the hyphens (-) all over this news article?!of 4GB - or more - of RAMHyphens are to join two words, commas are to break up sentences. :)
More bad news. I've had to wear out some ears and rear parts about viruses and the like to friends who just won't, or perhaps can't understand. Or, more often don't care that they spread this crap around like a friggin plague! A lot of my Mac friends don't get it either. "Hello, sure your machine is fine but your a CARRIER! What's that... Windows won't work anymore and you don't know what to do? I can't imagine WHY!" I wonder if this will take down a Mac running Boot Camp or the like? So, any idea where they found this wild thing roaming about and why the great protectors (Antivirus devs) haven't raised the red flags yet? SShh! Not so loud :(Quote:Originally Posted by mrbensQuote:What's with all the hyphens (-) all over this news article?!of 4GB - or more - of RAMHyphens are to join two words, commas are to break up sentences. :)
They're dashes. Dashes are used like commas but often to form a differential clause opposite in context or character to the first. In this case though, commas would be more appropriate :)Quote:I know, I know, I should be using an Em-dash for asides - but the last time I tried that, it broke non-UTF-8 browsers. :pOriginally Posted by mrbens
What's with all the hyphens (-) all over this news article?! Hyphens are to join two words, commas are to break up sentences. :)So whats the best Alureon Rootkit finder to see if you have been infected?Microsoft totally missing a great cash cow here. New OS overy six months so once malware developed for it - just buy the new OS. They wont even have to worry about making pointless incapable secuirity anymorewill you buy a new os every 6 months i dont think soQuote:Originally Posted by greigaitken
Microsoft totally missing a great cash cow here. New OS overy six months so once malware developed for it - just buy the new OS. They wont even have to worry about making pointless incapable secuirity anymore
That's a great idea! I mean, what with the having to rewrite the entirety of Windows every six months, I think you're on to something here!Seriously though, security is a journey, not a destination, and if Microsoft's 64bit security principles have been useful in preventing rootkits since Vista (beta builds of Vista were available 4 years ago) that's a massive success in my book. Think of all the computers that haven't been rootkitted due to running 64bit Windows.
Got it yesterday. Along with the other crap it brought down too! The other stuff went easily but this nasty bugger hung around. Even when every piece of AV I had couldnt find it anymore I was still getting stuff like URL redirtections. Had to perform a full format last night!Quote:Originally Posted by LooseNeutral
More bad news. I've had to wear out some ears and rear parts about viruses and the like to friends who just won't, or perhaps can't understand. Or, more often don't care that they spread this crap around like a friggin plague! A lot of my Mac friends don't get it either. "Hello, sure your machine is fine but your a CARRIER! What's that... Windows won't work anymore and you don't know what to do? I can't imagine WHY!" I wonder if this will take down a Mac running Boot Camp or the like? So, any idea where they found this wild thing roaming about and why the great protectors (Antivirus devs) haven't raised the red flags yet? SShh! Not so loud :(
Aaaarghhh stop bringing back the memories! :'(Quote:Originally Posted by Unknownsock
The question being is, why do people write stuff like this?No seriously, I'd love to meet the guy who killed my computer a while back..
he'd just root you again after you beat him up :DQuote:Originally Posted by thehippozQuote:Originally Posted by Unknownsock
The question being is, why do people write stuff like this?No seriously, I'd love to meet the guy who killed my computer a while back..
he'd just root you again after you beat him up :D
Plus you'd get in trouble for beating up a 10 year old script kiddie most prob :) or someone with advanced autismIf you need to check for this beasty being present....
Quote:If you did not have proactive detection in place, you can (currently) manually check to see if the bootkit is installed. As a side effect of the bootkit, the Disk Management pane of the Computer Management console will fail to show the system drive altogether:
It will also fail to show up in the command line using diskpart:
Lifted from MS Malware Protection Centre.
Keyword there being CURRENTLY. As soon as this is known to the developers of this crap, then that will probably be "fixed".
Quote:Originally Posted by Pookeyhead
If you need to check for this beasty being present....
Lifted from MS Malware Protection Centre.Keyword there being CURRENTLY. As soon as this is known to the developers of this crap, then that will probably be "fixed".
Much Appreciated! Thanks;)Well, one way around this would be using GPT instead of MBR. The good thing: Windows 7 x64 supports (booting from) it. The bad thing: AFAIR you'd need a motherboard with (U)EFI support as well. The really bad thing: Once (U)EFI takes over from BIOS (if it'll ever happen) it's going to be soooo much easier to write even more nasty malware/root kits.Quote:Originally Posted by azrael-
Once (U)EFI takes over from BIOS (if it'll ever happen)
I think we will start to see it more and more soon, since we are reaching the hard drive size limitation imposed by the BIOS - you can't boot from a drive bigger than 2 TB (approx) without UEFI.I think we will start to see it more and more soon, since we are reaching the hard drive size limitation imposed by the BIOS - you can't boot from a drive bigger than 2 TB (approx) without UEFI.Surely the answer to that (assuming you want to perpetuate BIOS) is that all computers come with atleast to drives: a small boot drive with enough spare space to allow for service packs, security updates etc and a larger storage drive for everything else.
In fact why not sell windows pre loaded onto an ssd that you can then just swop out with each new os upgrade or of course if the os becomes fataly infected?
the latest version of TDSKiller should take care of this if you get infected.Discuss in the forumsQuote:Originally Posted by HourBeforeDawn
the latest version of TDSKiller should take care of this if you get infected.
Again, Thanks fellas! I don't suppose a system under warranty would cover this crap :? :(Sounds like a plus for the mfg's >:( Hmmm NAH, 'nother crazy conspiracy theory!?
Hackers exploit new PDF zero-day bug, warns Adobe - Computerworld
Computerworld - Adobe today warned users that attacks have begun exploiting an unpatched bug in its popular Reader and Acrobat PDF viewing and creation software.
The company issued an advisory on short notice today, saying that it had learned of in-the-wild attacks only on Tuesday.
"A critical vulnerability exists in Adobe Reader 9.3.4 and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh and UNIX, and Adobe Acrobat 9.3.4 and earlier versions for Windows and Macintosh," Adobe's warning read. This vulnerability could cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.
"Adobe is in the process of evaluating the schedule for an update to resolve this vulnerability," the advisory added.
Other than to say that "at this point, [attacks] appear to be limited," Adobe offered little information on the bug today.
But Mila Parkour, the independent security researcher who reported the bug to Adobe on Tuesday, had plenty in a post to her Contagio Malware Dump blog.
Parkour uncovered a malicious e-mail message with a rogue PDF attachment that urged recipients to open the document. "Want to improve your score? In these golf tips, David Leadbetter shows you some important principles," the message read.
Leadbetter, a well-known golf coach and author on the game, operates more than two dozen golf academies in 13 countries, and claims the title of "master of the art of teaching the golf swing."
Symantec pegged the threat with a score of 8.5 out of possible 10, while Danish vulnerability tracker Secunia rated the vulnerability as "Extremely critical," its highest-possible threat level.
According to a Symantec, the bug is in Reader's and Acrobat's parsing of PDF files that contain malformed TIFF image files. Specifically, said the company in an alert to customers, "the issue occurs due to a heap-memory corruption issue in 'cooltype.dll.'"
CoolType is an Adobe font-rendering technology, similar to Microsoft's ClearType.
Adobe did not spell out a timetable for patching the Reader/Acrobat zero-day vulnerability, nor did it offer users any ad hoc defensive measures they could employ until a fix is ready.
The next regularly-scheduled patch date for Reader and Acrobat is Oct. 13, but Adobe has been known to issue so-called "out-of-band" emergency updates when active attacks spike.
An Adobe spokeswoman hinted that the latter could easily occur. "With exploit code publicly available, [the current limited-only attack] could change," she said, talking about the exploit that Parkour has posted online.
Parkour has not released the exploit publicly, however, but has password-protected the malicious PDF she discovered, and will release it only to people who e-mail her.
Symantec urged Reader and Acrobat users not to open PDFs from untrusted or unknown senders.
Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at
@gkeizer or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed
. His e-mail address is gkeizer@ix.netcom.com.
Read more about Security in Computerworld's Security Topic Center.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
Social Engineering — Hacking by Asking
“Hi, this is Robert Downs from Dell support — I got redirected to this number by accident by the guy I called, is this Guy?”
“Hi Robert — I’m the receptionist, Donna, I could redirect you to Guy — do you know his extension?”
“Well he said he was pretty busy but I just need a few generic questions to close out this help ticket so I can go home — do you think you can help?”
“Uh, I don’t know…”“Please? Its after 7 here and I really got to go home. Its just a second”
“Um. Ok, sure.”
What operating system do you use?
>>>XP
What web browsers do you have on your PC?
>>Firefox 2.0 and IE6
Do you use outlook?
>>No, we use a webmail
When was the last time you updated?
>>The IT team does updates every Tuesday night.
What version of Acrobat Reader do you have?
>>7
What’s your antivirus/endpoint security brand?
>>Mcafee endpoint security.
…
It might not look like it at first, but Mr. “Downs” from “Dell technical support” is a hacker who just obtained enough reconnosence to compromise users and servers inside the target company — an act that costs US companies an average of $6,751,451 per data breach incident according to a Ponemon Research study.Now, if I walked up to you on the street and asked you those questions out of the blue, you’d likely be either annoyed or (hopefully) suspicious. However, if I called your secretary at her desk and told her I was from Dell solving a problem and I want to get off quickly because I’m a working stiff with a family too — that might be a different story. She might tell me she’s on windows, and that the IT team pushes updates every Tuesday, and that she uses webmail and Internet explorer 6. Maybe she’ll even give out her email for me to send her so that I can close out the ticket with a link that takes her to another website for analysis or exploitation through a hole I found in Dell’s website (Cross Site Scripting attacks in vulnerable websites make this attack method very easy to do). Hackers that can con people into giving information or help them gain unauthorized access are known as social engineers this term is also used for con artists).A good hacker knows that a good hack involves three things:
- Vulnerability
- Exploitation
- Maintenance of access
Talking to that secretary gave us a lot of information — the antivirus vendor and version of Internet Explorer being the most important among other things. This tells us what the system is vulnerable to — in this case IE6 vulnerabilities. Knowing the antivirus lets us know what vulnerabilities will be detected or stopped unless they are re-written or modified. With very little work we can probably find a way to circumvent any signatures based antivirus for a payload and a working exploit on a system with a profile similar to that described by the secretary. Now we have both a vulnerability and a method with which we will exploit it. Finally, the secretary informed us that patches to systems are done on Tuesdays — so we can have up to a week after successful exploitation to develop a system to maintain access either through reverse shells or an autonomous setup, which should be easy to do once we are in and get the lay of the network. It’s very easy to find and package exploits with the wide availability of large databases of viruses and exploits (I regularly check several exploit databases to stay on top of trends).It seems like a lot of information in a seemingly innocuous less-than-5-minute conversation. Now consider the fact that I also got her to expect an email with a link — with that I can collect information like IP addresses, computer names, MAC addresses, perhaps the last few websites the receptionist has gone to, the exact web browser version, and more. It’s easy to see where this information begins to take a sinister turn into a goldmine of potentially exploitable information.People such as the once-infamous Kevin Mitnick have long used these con-artist techniques to gain unauthorized access to computer systems. In fact, most of what Mr. Mitnick did to gain unauthorized access to computer systems was social engineering, not hacking. He knew what to say and how to say it and who to say it to by doing his homework on how his targeted industries and businesses operate. Most of his techniques and how he used them to exploit his targets are explained in detail in his book The Art of Deception, which goes over in-depth on teqniques to prevent and close human security breaches. Hackers use social engineering so much that this year at Defcon 18 hackers competed in a game in which they researched and called companies to get information from them that could be used later to compromise their security. Every single one of the companies that were involved in the game failed to adequately protect themselves from the hackers-turned-conmen (10 companies, 80 hackers, 3 failed calls), and several hackers were even able to score extra points by convincing personnel to visit websites under their control. [link to defcon 18 game]Train your personnel in how to spot people who are going in the extra mile to get information about your company to do real damage to it (not drive by browser exploits and page-jacking). It isn’t enough to have endpoint protection or antivirus systems in place. People need to be coached on what information to give out and what to keep, especially people with access to sensitive information or that handle many calls every day. Go through this process with your employees frequently — perhaps place a flyer on company phones reminding them not to give out information on the computer systems or bring it up at company meetings or as part of the new-hire routine training (new hires are the favorite targets of any social engineer. They’re eager to help and do not yet know the rules).Also, regularly shred important documents with good shredders or shredding services, and securely destroy hard drive data (DOD mandates a 7-pass write-over wipe to prevent re-reading), and make sure that you aren’t encouraging a workplace environment where it is not OK to question management for the correct credentials when employees are being told to perform sensitive operations like changing passwords. Let your employees know that rules apply to everyone and they will know to stick with them every time — even if it means asking the “new boss from the Cleveland office” who’s forgotten his recovery question for more information to confirm his identity. It’s important to be proactive and prevent your company from losing face before an incident happens, even if you’re small.Share and Enjoy:
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Tags: Network Security, Weblogs
This entry was posted on August 28, 2010 at 12:40 pm and is filed under CTO, Cyber Security. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Epic gatekeeper fail.
