Hotspot Shield VPN is NO more Secure, Leaking Users Location

2/28/2018 The Hackers Chronicle 0

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1MQ1IHxLKVBVkwVdLs7a8UFYWzfculesftL6aqsnEVjTJtTZxijQIUMUGr86UALuIPPpYO__4yh8g2KxlWnf79XsLMsPnxFivQwgoKPXxsksF3HBBEVqkveb7mUg3OktFr7QTVYgiVYuN/s1600/Hotspot-Shield-Information-Disclosure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Hotspot Shield can expose VPN users locations" border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="1200" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1MQ1IHxLKVBVkwVdLs7a8UFYWzfculesftL6aqsnEVjTJtTZxijQIUMUGr86UALuIPPpYO__4yh8g2KxlWnf79XsLMsPnxFivQwgoKPXxsksF3HBBEVqkveb7mUg3OktFr7QTVYgiVYuN/s640/Hotspot-Shield-Information-Disclosure.jpg" title="Hotspot Shield can expose VPN users locations" width="640" /></a></div>
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A security researcher has found that one of the world’s largest <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/VPN" target="_blank">Virtual Private Network (VPN)</a> providers is leaking users private information. Hotspot Shield, which has been downloaded over half a billion times and has been in operation for over a decade, has a bug which can reveal what country a user is located in, as well as leak the name of the WiFi network they are using. The <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Vulnerability" target="_blank">vulnerability </a>in Hotspot Shield’s VPN service was discovered by Paulos Yibelo. Yibelo reported his findings to Beyond Security’s SecuriTeam Secure Disclosure program.<br />
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“By <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Information%20Disclosure" target="_blank">disclosing information</a> such as WiFi name, an attacker can easily narrow down or pinpoint where the victim is located,” Paulos Yibelo told. When an attacker knows what country a Hotspot Shield VPN user is from, they “can narrow down a list of places” their victim is from, Yibelo said. The vulnerability in Hotspot Shield’s VPN service was tested using a proof-of-concept code that Yibelo wrote. Using Yibelo’s code they were able to identify users WiFi networks, and the vulnerability kept working when tried from different computers and different network.<br />
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Yibelo was able to write his proof-of-concept code very quickly, and it is only a few lines long. The code exploits a vulnerability in the local web server installed by Hotspot Shield. Private information and configuration data are returned when the exploit calls a JavaScript file being hosted on the web server. The private information of Hotspot Shield VPN users could be captured and stored from an infected website. According to Yibelo, he was able to successfully obtain Hotspot Shield VPN users IP addresses, though he was only having mixed results and was not always able to successfully capture real IP addresses. <br />
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The developer of <b>Hotspot Shield VPN</b>, AnchorFree, Inc., is strongly denying that any user’s real IP addresses are being leaked through the vulnerability discovered by Paulos Yibelo. “We have reviewed and tested the researcher’s report. We have found that this vulnerability does not leak the user’s real IP address or any personal information, but may expose some generic information such as the user’s country. We are committed to the safety and security of our users, and will provide an update this week that will completely remove the component capable of leaking even generic information,” AnchorFree’s Tim Tsoriev said in a statement.<br />
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After Yibelo discovered the vulnerability in Hotspot Shield VPN, he reported it to AnchorFree in December of last year but never received a response from the company. Yibelo then submitted the vulnerability to Beyond Security through their bug bounty program. Beyond Security also did not receive a response from AnchorFree. However, in February, AnchorFree finally addressed the issue with a new version of Hotspot Shield VPN which was recently released. The new version of Hotspot Shield VPN patches the vulnerability discovered by Yibelo.<br />
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Last year Hotspot Shield VPN was accused by the Center for Democracy & Technology of selling their customers private information. A formal complaint was filed with the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in which they allege that Hotspot Shield was guilty of employing unfair and deceptive trade practices. AnchorFree claimed that they did not collect any personal information about Hotspot Shield VPN users. Hotspot Shield VPN comes in both a free version, as well as a paid “Elite Version” subscription. The Center for Democracy & Technology discovered that Hotspot Shield VPN was sharing information after analyzing the VPN using Carnegie Mellon University’s Mobile App Privacy Compliance automated system on the free version of the Hotspot Shield VPN service.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIgJlWniS5CWuu5l9nx6AY0a6DcztXt31kP9dyM4R3vRFDyQBxwaypgNo5iSnJk6fKCcFbcR-mgk2WQqCbk5INRXlbfQUhDUHaijpiU0hsGWgcokJG_lto__jOucT4bLw1PnSYO0iMF5WL/s1600/HotSpot-Vulnerability-POC.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Hotspot Shield Information Disclosure POC" border="0" data-original-height="253" data-original-width="645" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIgJlWniS5CWuu5l9nx6AY0a6DcztXt31kP9dyM4R3vRFDyQBxwaypgNo5iSnJk6fKCcFbcR-mgk2WQqCbk5INRXlbfQUhDUHaijpiU0hsGWgcokJG_lto__jOucT4bLw1PnSYO0iMF5WL/s640/HotSpot-Vulnerability-POC.PNG" title="Hotspot Shield Information Disclosure POC" width="640" /></a></div>
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A security researcher has found that one of the world’s largest Virtual Private Network (VPN) providers is leaking users private inform...

Credit Card numbers worth $3.6 million out on Sale

2/27/2018 The Hackers Chronicle 0

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Russian computer hackers operating in Colorado and 15 other states used data-mining <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Malwares" target="_blank">viruses </a>to steal thousands of <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Credit%20Card" target="_blank">credit card</a> numbers from U.S. residents in 20 states and sold them on the <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Darknet" target="_blank">darknet </a>for more than $3.6 million, according to federal court documents.<br />
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As part of the wide-scale criminal operation, so-called “<a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Carding" target="_blank">carders</a>” from Russia advertised and sold the numbers to Ukrainian operatives using the <b>Rescator network of websites</b> — named for a Ukranian hacker who specializes in the sale of stolen credit cards.<br />
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<a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Russian%20Hackers" target="_blank">Russian thieves</a> instructed clandestine organizations to pay for batches of stolen credit card numbers using <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/2018/02/western-union-money-transfer-hacked.html" target="_blank">Western Union</a> and <b>MoneyGram</b> International, according to documents filed by federal prosecutors in Denver U.S. District Court.<br />
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The documents did not indicate whether anyone has been arrested in connection to the scheme. Agents from the Department of Homeland Security based in Colorado uncovered the operation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Colorado filed forfeiture claims Friday against two Colorado bank accounts, the documents reveal.<br />
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Criminals use software to access hidden websites and blogs on the <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Darknet" target="_blank"><b>darknet </b></a>so they can operate <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Anonymous" target="_blank">anonymously</a>. As part of their investigation, Homeland Security agents made undercover purchases of batches of stolen credit cards. <br />
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A web of conspirators in Colorado and 15 other states funneled money back to accounts set up in the Russian Federation.<br />
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<b>MoneyGram </b>officials contacted Homeland Security agents in November of 2014 and notified them of <b>137 wire transfers totaling $170,000</b>. The agents determined in March of 2016 that conspirators wired money to payees in the Ukraine, the documents indicate. In 2015 and 2016, conspirators allegedly sent <b>3,997 wires totaling $3,598,160</b>, records indicate.</div>

Carding Credit Card Hacking News Russian Hackers Credit Card numbers worth $3.6 million out on Sale

Russian computer hackers operating in Colorado and 15 other states used data-mining viruses to steal thousands of credit card numbers f...

Winter olympics was not Hacked by North Korea but Russian Military

2/26/2018 The Hackers Chronicle 0

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We already knew that the opening ceremony of the <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/2018/02/winter-olympics-website-hacked.html" target="_blank">Winter Olympics</a> in Pyeongchang, South Korea was hit by a cyberattack. Now it appears we know the culprit: Russian military spies.<br />
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<a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Russian%20Military" target="_blank">Russian military spies</a> hacked hundreds of computers used by Winter Olympics organizers and tried to make it look like the work of North Korea, the Washington Post reported Sunday, quoting US intelligence sources.<br />
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South Korea had previously announced that it was investigating the failure of several Olympic-linked internet sites and broadcast systems just as the opening ceremonies were taking place on February 9.<br />
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The Post reported that Russia's GRU military intelligence agency managed to take control in early February of 300 computers linked to the Olympic organization. As a result, many attendees were unable to print their tickets for the ceremony, leaving empty seats.<br />
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It said the Russians had hacked South Korean computer routers and inserted a form of "malware" that allowed them to gather data and paralyze the network. <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Russian%20Hackers" target="_blank">The Russians</a> used a North Korean internet provider to make it appear the attack originated in North Korea, in what is known as a "false flag" operation, the Post said.<br />
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While American officials quoted in the article were unable to say whether the hackers had activated the <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Malwares" target="_blank">malware</a>, they said the cyber attack against the Games -- from which Russia's team was excluded for doping -- was worrisome. <br />
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Some analysts believe the <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Cyber%20Crime" target="_blank">cyber attack</a> was retribution for that ban. Some Russian athletes were allowed to compete, but only under the designation of "Olympic Athletes from Russia." <br />
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The Winter Games saw dramatic gestures aimed at easing the raw tensions dividing the two Koreas, as both countries' athletes marched together during the opening ceremonies, and they fielded a single women's ice hockey team. <br />
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The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un made several high-profile appearances in the early days of the Games, and a large squad of North Korean cheerleaders drew intense interest.  <br />
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Finally, at the Games' closing ceremony Sunday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean General Kim Yong Chol -- a man considered a "<b>war criminal</b>" by many in the South for his role in two deadly attacks on Southern targets -- exchanged a very public handshake.</div>

Hacking News Russian Hackers Russian Military Winter Olympics Winter olympics was not Hacked by North Korea but Russian Military

We already knew that the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea was hit by a cyberattack. Now it appears w...

2,000 Computers of Department of Telecom, Infected with Ransomware

2/25/2018 The Hackers Chronicle 0

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<a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/SamSam" target="_blank">SamSam</a> ransomware made the headlines again, this time it infected over 2,000 computers at the Colorado Department of Transportation (DOT). The DOT has shut down the infected workstations and is currently working with security firm McAfee to restore the ordinary operations. Officials confirmed the <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Ransomeware" target="_blank">ransomware </a>requested a bitcoin payment.<br />
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“The Colorado Department of Transportation has ordered an estimated 2,000 employees to shut down their computers following a ransomware attack Wednesday morning.” wrote the CBS Denver.<br />
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The CDOT spokesperson Amy Ford said employees were instructed to turn off their computers at the start of business Wednesday after ransomware infiltrated the CDOT network. “We’re working on it right now,” added Ford.<br />
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The good news is that crucial systems at the Colorado DOT such as surveillance cameras, traffic alerts were not affected by the ransomware. David McCurdy, OIT’s Chief Technology Officer, issued the following statement:<br />
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“Early this morning state security tools detected that a ransomware virus had infected systems at the Colorado Department of Transportation. The state moved quickly to quarantine the systems to prevent further spread of the virus. OIT, FBI and other security agencies are working together to determine a root cause analysis. This ransomware virus was a variant and the state worked with its antivirus software provider to implement a fix today. The state has robust backup and security tools and has no intention of paying ransomware. Teams will continue to monitor the situation closely and will be working into the night.”<br />
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The Colorado DOT officials confirmed that the agency will not pay the ransom and it will restore data from backups.<br />
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The SamSam ransomware is an old threat, attacks were observed in 2015 and the list of victims is long, many of them belong to the healthcare industry. The attackers spread the malware by gaining access to a company’s internal networks by brute-forcing RDP connections.<br />
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Among the victims of the Samsam Ransomware there is the MedStar non-profit group that manages 10 hospitals in the Baltimore and Washington area. Crooks behind the attack on MedStar requested 45 <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Bitcoin" target="_blank">Bitcoins </a>(about US$18,500) for restoring the encrypted files, but the organization refused to pay the Ransom because it had a backup of the encrypted information.<br />
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In April 2016, the FBI issued a confidential urgent “Flash” message to the businesses and organizations about the Samsam Ransomware.<br />
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Back to the present, the Samsam Ransomware made the headlines in the first days of 2018, the malicious code infected systems of some high-profile targets, including hospitals, an ICS firm, and a city council.<br />
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Hacking News News Ransomware SamSam 2,000 Computers of Department of Telecom, Infected with Ransomware

SamSam ransomware made the headlines again, this time it infected over 2,000 computers at the Colorado Department of Transportation (DO...

Tinder Can be Hacked With Just A Phone Number

2/24/2018 The Hackers Chronicle 0

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An easy-to-exploit bug has left Tinder accounts and private chats exposed to hackers, revealed a researcher this week.<br />
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<a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Indian%20Hackers" target="_blank">Indian engineer</a> Anand Prakash, a serial bug hunter, said on Wednesday, 20 February, that a flaw in a <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Facebook" target="_blank">Facebook</a>-linked program called Account Kit let attackers access profiles armed with just a phone number. Account Kit has been implemented on Tinder and it has been used by developers to let users log on to a range of apps using mobile details or email addresses without a password.<br />
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That should not have been enough for an account takeover by itself, but <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Tinder" target="_blank">Tinder</a>’s implementation of Account Kit had its own vulnerability. Tinder’s login system wasn’t verifying access tokens against their associated client ID, which meant anyone with a valid access token could take over an entire account. Chained together, the two <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Vulnerability" target="_blank">vulnerabilities </a>let researchers completely take over a Tinder account — with full access to the user’s profile and chats — starting from only a phone number.<br />
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According to Prakash, an ethical hacker known for finding bugs in popular websites, until recently, there was a crack in this process that could let hackers compromise "access tokens" from users' cookies. The attacker could then exploit a bug in Tinder to use the token, which stores security details, and log in to the dating account with little fuss.<br />
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Earlier this year, on 23 January, a different set of “disturbing” vulnerabilities were found in Tinder's <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Android" target="_blank">Android </a>and iOS apps by Checkmarx Security Research Team.<br />
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Experts said hackers could use them to take control of profile pictures and swap them for “inappropriate content, rogue advertising or other type of malicious content.” The firm claimed that nefarious attackers could “monitor the user's every move” on the application.<br />
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A bug within Tinder is problematic as the app boasts an estimated 50 million users worldwide with roughly 40 percent of them based in North America, and a million dates facilitated a week according to the website, along with 1.6 billion swipes a day.<br />
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Tinder declined to comment on the specifics of the report. “Security is a top priority at Tinder,” a representative said, “However, we do not discuss any specific security measures or strategies, so as not to tip off malicious hackers.”</div>

Hacking News Indian Hackers News Tinder Vulnerability Tinder Can be Hacked With Just A Phone Number

An easy-to-exploit bug has left Tinder accounts and private chats exposed to hackers, revealed a researcher this week. Indian engine...

After Nirav Modi, Hackers are targeting Punjab National Bank

2/23/2018 The Hackers Chronicle 0

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Punjab National Bank has reported a <b><a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Data%20Leak" target="_blank">data breach</a> affecting as many as 10,000 credit and debit card customers</b>, and security experts believe that sensitive information has been available for  purchase through a website for at least three months.<br />
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The disclosure will raise further questions about security levels at the bank, which is already under stress over a reported Rs 11,300 crore fraud involving fake letters of guarantee that were allegedly used by leading jeweller Nirav Modi to raise funds from banks. Two PNB employees allegedly colluded with Modi and his uncle in the scam.<br />
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<u>PNB was not aware of the data breach  until it was tipped off on Wednesday night</u> by CloudSek Information Security, a company registered in Singapore but mainly operating in Bengaluru, India, that monitors data transactions.<br />
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“We have a crawler that is deployed in the <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Darknet" target="_blank">dark/deep web</a>. These are sites on the internet which are not indexed by Google or other major search engines. They are used to buy and sell sensitive data illegally,” said chief technical officer Rahul Sasi. “Our crawler detects any such data and sends it to a Machine Learning software that we have created. If this detects anything that is suspicious, and of interest to our clients, we immediately take action.”<br />
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He said CloudSek was unable to contact <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/PNB" target="_blank">PNB </a>after detecting the breach as it is not a customer at the bank, but eventually passed the details through a government agency. PNB’s Chief Information Security Officer T D Virwani confirmed it was working with the government to contain fallout from the release of the data, which was offered through a blackhat website.<br />
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Government officials who are aware of the breach said other relevant agencies had been alerted and they were trying to establish the extent of the problem. So far, they have discovered sensitive information from as many as 10,000 credit cards issued by the bank.<br />
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<b>This includes names, expiry dates, Personal Identification Numbers and Card Verification Values.</b> Sasi said two sets of data were released: some with CVV numbers and some without. The last date stamp on the data is January 29, 2018, indicating that the details are still current for thousands of card customers.<br />
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“We believe, on preliminary analysis, that the data has been available for at least three months. While this is yet to be firmly established, we are carrying out our forensic investigation,” said a government official familiar with the case. Virwani was asked to comment on the breach, but has not yet responded.<br />
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Investigators in both the private and government sectors are still trying to determine how the breach occurred. It is thought the data could have come from a laptop or mobile phone carried by a bank customer that was infected with a malicious code, or from a third party. Payment gateways also had access to the data.<br />
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But an investigator said it was more likely the bank’s security was compromised, as a large amount of data came from a single source.<br />
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“Usually these sites on the deep/dark web build up reputations on the authenticity of the data they sell illegally. This particular site has a very good reputation. They offer a sample size to buyers to establish their credentials before the sale is made. In this case they were <span class="highlight">offering to sell the data at US$4.90 per card</span>,” he reported.<br />
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Sasi said all options were possible, but there wasn’t enough information yet to be certain how the leak had taken place.<br />
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It is the second big data leak in recent years in India. In October 2016 more than 3.2 million <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Credit%20Card" target="_blank">credit and debit cards</a> issued by numerous banks had to be recalled after customers reported they were used illegally in China and other countries. An investigation revealed that computer systems of a private payment services firm that manages ATM machines for a large Indian bank had been hacked.</div>

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Multiple Zero-Day Vulnerabilities found in GitLab

2/22/2018 The Hackers Chronicle 0

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtGtTc2n2dMoS1A8Ytl8OAzmN-_VfghE3I8KAcA2WI7I4kHBGfjS-21GBkR2a4xxZ_92HdxKzQpaOLp83aSpwsnVYx9Z47I7XTh8Sxp379v_F-XXmtaeLcl-BAwLJ2OsSLCaYnFN4511BC/s1600/Zero-Day-in-GitLab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Domain Hijacking Vulnerability found in GitLab" border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="770" height="449" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtGtTc2n2dMoS1A8Ytl8OAzmN-_VfghE3I8KAcA2WI7I4kHBGfjS-21GBkR2a4xxZ_92HdxKzQpaOLp83aSpwsnVYx9Z47I7XTh8Sxp379v_F-XXmtaeLcl-BAwLJ2OsSLCaYnFN4511BC/s640/Zero-Day-in-GitLab.jpg" title="Domain Hijacking Vulnerability found in GitLab" width="640" /></a></div>
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A security researcher hijacked hundreds of GitLab domains in just a few seconds by exploiting a weakness in how the company handles domain verification -- a security issue that the company has now fixed.<br />
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<a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/GitLab" target="_blank">GitLab</a>, a web-based git repository manager that lets developers track and collaborate on source code and project development, also allows users to host their own content and projects with a custom domain name.<br />
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But the company said in a security notification on February 5 that no validation was being performed when a user added a custom domain to their GitLab accounts. In the little time that a custom domain points to a recently deleted or unclaimed GitLab repo that will be added later, the domain can be hijacked.<br />
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Edwin Foudil, known as EdOverflow, and founder of security consulting firm Penultimate, drew inspiration from a bug report submitted on February 1, which contained proof-of-concept code that listed vulnerable custom domains that were pointing to GitLab. GitLab marked the initial report as informative, which according to documentation means it contains "useful information but did not warrant an immediate action or a fix".<br />
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Because GitLab allows pointing an unlimited number of domains for a single repository, Foudil was able to write a short script weaponizing that initial code, allowing him to mass hijack a limitless number of domains. "This resulted in <b>700 hijacked domains and subdomains in under one minute</b>," he told ina interview. Not only that, any hijacked domain is prevented from creating a GitLab repository with that domain.<br />
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That was enough to catch GitLab's attention, with the company confirming that Foudil's "valuable report" was what "triggered our response" in releasing the security notification less than a day later. "I managed to escalate the issue to the point where the issue was in fact caused by GitLab," said Foudil. "GitLab allowed mass monitoring of domains prior to them even pointing to GitLab's IP address."<br />
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<span class="highlight">Foudil's report was publicly released late Wednesday after the company fixed the bug. </span><br />
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Foudil also said the attack isn't just limited to domains that his script could detect. Hijacking domains was as easy as scraping the domain names of thousands of high-ranking sites. Once a domain is taken over, the attacker can serve any content they want on that domain.<br />
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"The <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Exploit" target="_blank">exploits </a>are endless," Foudil said. He gave several examples where an attacker can hijack a subdomain to read and set cookies on other basenames. "I can even mine <a href="http://www.hackerschronicle.com/search/label/Cryptocurrency" target="_blank">cryptocurrency</a>," he said.<br />
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Kathy Wang, director of security at GitLab, said in a phone call this week that the company took responsibility for the security issue. She added that the lack of domain verification is "a widespread problem across the industry". "Implementing domain verification is an exception not a rule -- so a lot of vendors have not yet done it," she said.<br />
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GitLab switched off the feature to add custom domains until a fix was made available. The company said it estimates the fix rollout will complete by the end of the month.</div>

DevOps GitLab Hacking News News Vulnerability Zero-Day Multiple Zero-Day Vulnerabilities found in GitLab

A security researcher hijacked hundreds of GitLab domains in just a few seconds by exploiting a weakness in how the company handles doma...