Main » 2012»June»17 » Flame - heralding a new age of CyberWar!
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Flame - heralding a new age of CyberWar!
The Flame computer virus that smoldered undetected for more than 2 years in Middle Eastern energy facilities confirmed fears that the world has entered a new age of cyber espionage and sabotage. Internet defenders are tearing into freshly exposed Flame malware (malicious software) that could be adapted to spread to critical infrastructures in countries around the world. While the components and tactics of Flame were considered old school, the gigantic virus's interchangeable software modules and targeted nature were evidence that malware is a potent weapon in the Internet era. "We are seeing much more specific types of malware and attacks," said McAfee Labs director of security research David Marcus. "When you talk about a situation where the attacker knows the victim and tailors the malware for the environment it jumps out," he said. "That speaks to good reconnaissance and an attacker who knows what they are doing." Gathering intelligence on targets and then crafting viruses to exploit specific networks as well as the habits of people using them is certainly in vogue, Marcus said. The Flame malware looks to be another phase in the cyber war whose effects were noticed after Stuxnet and Duqu malwares were discovered. "It's important to understand that such cyber weapons can easily be used against any country," said Eugene Kaspersky, founder of Kaspersky Lab, which uncovered Flame. High concentrations of compromised computers were found in the Palestinian West Bank, Hungary, Iran, and Lebanon. Additional infections have been reported in Austria, Russia, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates. Compromised computers included many being used from home connections, according to security researchers who were looking into whether reports of infections in some places resulted from workers using laptops while traveling. Flame was designed to suck information from computer networks and relay what it learned back to those controlling the virus. Flame can record keystrokes, capture screen images, and eavesdrop using microphones built into computers and was protected by multiple layers of encryption. In an intriguing twist, the malware can also use Bluetooth capabilities in machines to connect with smartphones or tablets, mining contact lists or other information, according to security researchers. "There is lot of intelligence gathering and espionage-like behavior from the malware," Marcus said. "You can turn that to target any industry you want. "It looks like the infection spread is specific to Middle East, but malware is indiscriminate in a lot of things so it can jump," he continued. Marcus advised companies to not only keep network software up to date but to ratchet up security settings because threats such as Flame are carefully crafted to fly under the radar. For example, Flame reportedly sneaked back out to the Internet by activating a seemingly innocuous Internet Explorer online browsing session. Geographically targeted cyber espionage and even modular components in viruses have been around for years, Rik Ferguson of security firm Trend Micro said. Flame stands out for being a malware behemoth of nearly 20 megabytes and for its use of Bluetooth capabilities, according to Ferguson, who branded the malware a tool, not a weapon. "Flame's mission is not about stealing identities -- it's about gathering intelligence," senior researcher at Kaspersky Lab, Schouwenberg said. "Overall, regular consumers are not Flame's target." Meanwhile, there is one way to ward off the malware: "Windows 7 64 bit, which we previously recommended as a good solution against infections with other malware, seems to be effective against Flame," the company said. Kaspersky gives us something to think about..."Cyber weapons can replicate, and there could be random victims anywhere around the globe, it doesn't matter how far you are from the conflict," he said. "It's not cyberwar, it's cyberterrorism and I'm afraid it's just the beginning of the game. I'm afraid that it will be the end of the world as we know it.I'm afraid that very soon the world will be very different." Terrifying food for thought...!
