New 2FA

"PassWindow" is a new type of 2 factor authentication (2FA) in the market. The concept is different from what we are normally used to.

It is compact compared to "RSA" tokens. On the topic of "RSA", "RSA" was breached recently and sensitive data was stolen from their network.

Flash drive data purging issue

A new study discovers that employing traditional secure deletion techniques on solid state drives result in majority of data residing on those said drives being left intact. This is a security problem as most portable devices contain solid state drives due to their compact form.

Cross-platform Trojan

Cross-platform Trojan that infects Windows, Mac and Linux machines via Java. Interestingly enough, the Trojan is not persistent in Linux as it cannot survive reboots.
A breakdown of the infection rate by OS can be found here.

Kernel patching

Upgrading to a new kernel version is necessary from a security perspective but it inevitably introduces a new entry in Grub. You can remove those redundant entries by:

1. Launching "Synaptic Package Manager".
2. Searching for "Linux kernel image".
3. Check "Mark for complete removal" for the kernel versions you no longer need.
4. Click "Apply".

Update: There is a variation to my recommendation previously.

Secure your cookies

In light of the publicity created by Firesheep, HTTPS Everywhere has been updated to force websites to activate a secure flag in cookies used to authenticate their users.
I finally tested Firesheep. It is painfully easy to use for hijacking sessions. Here I start Firesheep on a Windows machine (via RDP) and I log into Facebook on a Ubuntu system. As seen in the screenshot, Firesheep quickly captures the cookie of that session and permits easy access to the active account.

Blacksheep

Security vendor, Zscaler, unleashes a tool named Blacksheep to warn users of the presence of a machine running Firesheep. It doesn't mitigate session hijacking but sounds an alarm to alert of a malicious party in close proximity.

Firesheep

Session hijacking is nothing new with early tools such as Ferret supporting this attack. This Firefox extension, Firesheep, has simplied the attack.
I can't wait for the Linux version to be released so that I can play with it. Ways of avoiding becoming a victim of session hijacking are:

1. Using encrypted wireless networks.
2. Using a VPN tunnel over insecure wireless networks.
3. Use full HTTPS sessions. HTTPS Everywhere is one tool that automates the use of HTTPS for popular websites like Facebook.
   
4. Be wary of links sent via email or instant messaging.
   

Bruteforcing analysed

The concept behind the article "Learning from bruteforcers" in issue 27 of (IN)SECURE Magazine is simple but I appreciate the author’s thorough analysis and trending.
Easily one of the most interesting articles that I have read in a long time.

"Prey: A new hope"

A combination of inspiration from reading about the tool, Prey, and an email from Hakin9 mag's editor prompted me to write a new article.
An excerpt from my new article.
"Misplaced your laptop or had it stolen? You are not alone. Dell and the
Ponemon Institute collaborated on a study with 106 United States airports
as well as over 800 business travelers to ascertain the frequency with which
laptops are lost in airports."

Prey

Ever worried about your laptop getting lost? There's a software called "Prey" that can ease your fears. It is a utility that lets you know where your laptop is and can be installed on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.
It is easy to setup. Register with the Prey website then enter the API and device key information into the configuration window to start the agent.

XSS and SQL injection

These attacks are not new but yet are still very effective against web applications. Here is an article that discusses how to test for such vulnerabilities and how to mitigate them.