Security researcher Mario Heiderich (also creator of the HTML5 Security Cheatsheet and lead developer for PHPIDS) has been posting some interesting cross-site scripting challenges lately that highlight aspects of security on the client side. The most recent, called XSSMe², involved a page with a reflected XSS vulnerability that allowed one to insert arbitrary HTML – no filters applied by the server. The goal? Retrieve a particular bit of data, originally stored in document.cookie, without any user interaction. I say “originally,” because the page included JavaScript which attempted to lock down access to the data by removing it from document.cookie and hiding it unless retrieved by a user click. The code used evolved as bypasses were found, with several tricks employed along[…]
A lot of what we security professionals do includes protecting information from being compromised (especially personal information). The shift towards more profit-driven computer crime has happened swiftly over the last decade, so it should come as no surprise that there is a booming underground market centered almost entirely around compromised financial and personal data. And, on the other end of the spectrum, we have laws and regulations to help minimize the leakage of this data in the first place. Plenty of research and documentation exists for the many ways we try to protect information, but there isn’t much (public) info on the underground market populated by the attackers and their associates who trade in illegally-gotten information. So, how do someone’s[…]
We’ve discussed the importance of properly implemented two-factor authentication before, but TFA is usually associated with computing fields or high-security facilities. Earlier this year an InfoSec blogger wrote about his experience driving a new Ducati Diavel, in which he dealt with a dealer who did not provide a key for the bike he was test driving. While the bike appeared to have been started before he left the dealership, apparently the dealer started it without a key, since new Ducatis can be started with an optional backup PIN in case you lose or forget your key fob. To his surprise, the bike’s PIN was the last four digits of the bike’s VIN, although that was most likely an oversight from[…]
I often talk about cross-site scripting (XSS), and that’s partly because I think it’s a pretty interesting type of vulnerability that many developers tend to overlook. It can be quite dangerous, but can also be quite misunderstood. For one thing, the name can be misleading: exploiting XSS does not always involve scripting, and the proliferation of web technologies has taken XSS issues beyond the browser. One example of script-less cross-site scripting affected some high-profile MySpace users in 2007. Attackers were able to inject HTML into celebrity MySpace pages, but the service filtered out typical <script> payloads. Seemingly innocent <a> links were allowed, though, and adding a bit of CSS allowed one to create an invisible link that covered the entire[…]
Let me first start off with the disclaimer that I am a CISSP and (nominally) a member of (ISC)2. I’ve been part of very few professional organizations throughout my career and college days. I even shied away from the women in engineering groups on campus, although I knew a lot of women in them. I tended towards the ad hoc, social groups instead. Blame it on the Cotillion club I was (forced to be) a part of when I was in high school, I just don’t like paying to be part of a “club”. I pay (ISC)2 only because I have to to keep my CISSP (and to other organizations for the same reason), I’m not a member because I[…]
In light of all the discussions about maintaining a secure posture on trusted certificates we often times forget about the little guys. In this case I’m talking about our mobile devices. We tend to forget that these devices are just as vulnerable as our desktop/laptops. Unfortunately it’s not always easy to manage the certificates on these devices. But if you own an Android device and would like to take a little more control over what your device is trusting read on to find out how you can do it.