Iframes Injection Trojan Downloader Virus Hacking Sites and Desktops Protection
sitenews / Strategic News Aug 28, 2008 - 12:11 AM GMTBy: Nadeem_Walayat
The Market Oracle web site was the victim of being hacked on Saturday the 23rd of August 2008 at 10.42am (CST)
The site was brought down for 5 hours on Saturday, following which we managed to bring the site back online, following which we attempted to determine exactly what had happened to bring the site down.
Server Glitch or Hack ?
Our initial reaction was that some of the sites system files on the server had become corrupted due to a server error as the server has one of the best anti-virus packages installed (Kaspersky) , and additional mod security and protection against brute force hacking attempts that have thus far prevented any successful hacking of the web site for several years.
On investigation of what had happened we found that the site was definitely brought down as a consequence of malicious action rather than a server glitch as we found code had been injected into some of the sites pages the aim of which was to redirect visitors to the hackers own site via iframes.
On the realization of this we immediately suspended the site whilst we worked on how to cleanse the site of injected code and ascertain who hacked us and how.
The Market Oracle site system files were replaced from a clean back up which enabled us to bring the site back online during the 27th of August 08.
Desktops Compromised Not Server
After extensive analysis, we managed to ascertain that the most probable route for the successful hack was via a compromised desktop that enabled ftp access onto the server, therefore this implies that the server itself was not directly hacked. The most probable route of the virus was via one of the three desktop systems that we use to maintain the web site, and that despite anti-virus software installed the route was probably via visiting a compromised web site that was unaware of the fact that they had been compromised.
We took the action to wipe all three computers which has disrupted our ability to maintain the Market Oracle web site with new content for 4 full days.
Additionally content update during 27th of August was limited as we suspended ftp access to the server.
Who hacked us and Why ?
Initially we thought that the hacking was a consequence of our recent articles on the New Cold War brewing over the Russia / Georgia conflict. However we tracked the source of the virus down to South Korea and further to the Chung-Ang University.
The aim of the attack appears to be to spread a trojan dowloader virus that attempts to infect more desktops with the aim to eventually infect more web sites via ftp access and therefore propagating itself. Furthermore the Chung-Ang University source of the virus attempts to download numerous additional viruses via the trojan downloader onto desktops.
Research has revealed that thousands of web sites are being compromised on a daily basis including government web sites, with many of the web sites unaware that they have been compromised. A search for iframe injection reveals the extent of the problem.
Defence Against Iframes compromised Websites
Immediate action can be taken to prevent iframes code compromised websites from executing the code within iframes by the following procedure -
In internet explorer navigate to - Tools - Internet Options - Security Tab - Custom Level
Under Miscellaneous
Launching programs and files in an IFRAME - DISABLE
Navigate sub-frames across different domains - DISABLE
Defence against Hacking / Virus attacks in General
The defence for servers is to ensure ftp access is highly restricted, as well as maintaining up to date anti-virus, mod security and secure permissions as well as server script monitoring that flags any changes to site system files.
The defence for desktops is to ensure that good anti-virus and anti-malware software is installed such Kaspersky. Additionally AVG offer a free version of their anti-virus that does not expire. Purchasing an good anti-virus package for $30 to $60 is probably the best investment you will make.
Regular Backups
This experience also illustrates the importance of making regular backups of system files and data. In this age of cheap removable storage this is no longer a time consuming exercise when a monthly backup can be completed within a matter of minutes.
What if you are already infected ?
Then its probably too late to install an anti-virus package after your system has become infected.
The best course of action is usually to wipe the desktop and restore from a backup. If you do not backup then you should copy your documents / data before performing a fresh install, and ensure you run a full anti-virus scan on your data before you access it.
By Nadeem Walayat
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk
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Nadeem Walayat has over 20 years experience of trading, analysing and forecasting the financial markets, including one of few who both anticipated and Beat the 1987 Crash. Nadeem is the Editor of The Market Oracle, a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. We present in-depth analysis from over 150 experienced analysts on a range of views of the probable direction of the financial markets. Thus enabling our readers to arrive at an informed opinion on future market direction. http://www.marketoracle.co.uk
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