Hacker Spies Hit Security Firm RSA

Hacker Spies Hit Security Firm RSA

www.wired.com

Top security firm RSA Security revealed on Thursday that it’s been the victim of an “extremely sophisticated” hack.

The company said in a note posted on its website that the intruders succeeded in stealing information related to the company’s SecurID two-factor authentication products. SecurID adds an extra layer of protection to a login process by requiring users to enter a secret code number displayed on a keyfob, or in software, in addition to their password.

(visit the link for the full news article)

RSA is big business and this event could potentially become a major hack. I can't help but think of the Google hack and its increasingly obvious that major US tech industries are becoming successful targets. From the article:

“While at this time we are confident that the information extracted does not enable a successful direct attack on any of our RSA SecurID customers,” RSA wrote on its blog, “this information could potentially be used to reduce the effectiveness of a current two-factor authentication implementation as part of a broader attack. We are very actively communicating this situation to RSA customers and providing immediate steps for them to take to strengthen their SecurID implementations.”

As of 2009, RSA counted 40 million customers carrying SecurID hardware tokens, and another 250 million using software

The immediate question is who did this. Most, including myself, would probably say China given their track record.
brill

www.wired.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by brill


Don't worry they are just trying to hack Blizzard WoW accounts authenticators. Just kidding. Probably.

Originally posted by brill
The immediate question is who did this. Most, including myself, would probably say China given their track record.
brill

The article certainly does nothing to dispel that possibility:

RSA categorized the attack as an advanced persistent threat, or APT. ...

Last year’s hack into Google was considered an APT attack, and, like many intrusions in this category, was linked to China.

I wonder if they know it was from China, but they're just not saying. They are obviously withholding some information about this.

If it came from Chiina it doesn't mean it was them. Nearly 80 percent of personal computers in China are zombies. There computers are infected due to the large amount of pirate software they use and the viruses that come with them.

Originally posted by JBA2848
If it came from Chiina it doesn't mean it was them. Nearly 80 percent of personal computers in China are zombies. There computers are infected due to the large amount of pirate software they use and the viruses that come with them.

Even if that's true, I don't think an zombie computers are typically used for attacks this sophisticated.

More typical activities of Zombie computers would be sending spam, committing click fraud, denial of service attacks, etc.

Hacking into RSA should be no small feat.

Originally posted by Arbitrageur

Originally posted by JBA2848
If it came from Chiina it doesn't mean it was them. Nearly 80 percent of personal computers in China are zombies. There computers are infected due to the large amount of pirate software they use and the viruses that come with them.

Even if that's true, I don't think an zombie computers are typically used for attacks this sophisticated.

More typical activities of Zombie computers would be sending spam, committing click fraud, denial of service attacks, etc.

Hacking into RSA should be no small feat.

edit on 17-3-2011 by Arbitrageur because: fix typo

So who profits from this?

Who comes away with thier agenda validated?

US hijacked government and internet security/restriction/spying agenda.

Originally posted by John_Rodger_Cornman

Originally posted by Arbitrageur

Originally posted by JBA2848
If it came from Chiina it doesn't mean it was them. Nearly 80 percent of personal computers in China are zombies. There computers are infected due to the large amount of pirate software they use and the viruses that come with them.

Even if that's true, I don't think an zombie computers are typically used for attacks this sophisticated.

More typical activities of Zombie computers would be sending spam, committing click fraud, denial of service attacks, etc.

Hacking into RSA should be no small feat.

edit on 17-3-2011 by Arbitrageur because: fix typo

So who profits from this?

Who comes away with thier agenda validated?

US hijacked government and internet security/restriction/spying agenda.

Nobody knows at this point or if they do they are keeping things quiet. Impact could be widespread depending on what exactly was taken and more importantly how it is used. The fact that having such a prolific security organization compromised is a huge threat to those that use and trust that technology. Customer reassurance and product integrity could fly out the window. I agree with the other poster that this attack is more sophisticated (as stated in the article) and probably not the result of zombies hosts which have other purposes. This could even have an internal angle, rogue employee, espionage, tough to say. It will be interesting to see if RSA does anything to counter the claims being made and discussed.

brill

Here is a bit more information

As a result of the attack, sensitive information about one of RSA’s products use to protect companies’ and government agencies’ sensitive data has fallen into the hands of hackers.

The product’s customers range from small companies and government agencies to large organizations such as Lockheed-Martin (NYSE: LMT), which according to a case study on the RSA website uses SecurID to protect a “private cloud” service it uses to exchange sensitive data with customers in government and the private sector.

src

brill

Originally posted by brill
Here is a bit more information

As a result of the attack, sensitive information about one of RSA’s products use to protect companies’ and government agencies’ sensitive data has fallen into the hands of hackers.

The product’s customers range from small companies and government agencies to large organizations such as Lockheed-Martin (NYSE: LMT), which according to a case study on the RSA website uses SecurID to protect a “private cloud” service it uses to exchange sensitive data with customers in government and the private sector.

src

brill

Listen. Anon is a CIA proxy. They are nwo. If they were such a real threat to TPTB they would be dead already.

Same with assange and wikiganda...er..leaks.

All pons.

Originally posted by John_Rodger_Cornman
Listen. Anon is a CIA proxy. They are nwo. If they were such a real threat to TPTB they would be dead already.
Same with assange and wikiganda...er..leaks.
All pons.

Not sure what that has to do with this thread, but I disagree for what its worth.
brill