Cracking OS X Lion Passwords

Apple undermines decades of UNIX security by allowing unprivileged users access to hashes from the shadow file.

Mac OS X can’t properly revoke dodgy digital certificates

After DigiNotar hack, many Mac OS X users are having a hard time properly revoking the company’s digital certificates

A programming glitch in Apple’s OS X operating system is making it hard for Mac users to tell their computers not to trust digital certificates, exacerbating an ongoing security problem with a Dutch certificate authority that was recently hacked.

AES proved vulnerable by Microsoft researchers

<a href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9219297/AES_proved_vulnerable_by_Microsoft_researchers"Show that algorithm underlying most all of today's online transactions can be compromised.

Their attack can recover an AES secret key from three to five times faster than previously thought possible, reported the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, a research university based in Belgium.

Pakistan trying to outlaw SSL

Reports Claim That Pakistan Is Trying To Ban Encryption Under Telco Law.

And this at a time when they want to increase offshored labour for foreign companies. Bullet, meet foot.

Phil Zimmermann said it best in 1991: If privacy is outlawed, only outlaws will have privacy.

Sniffer hijacks secure traffic from unpatched iPhones

Nine-year-old bug patched for newer iPhones, iPads, but older models ‘perpetually vulnerable,’ says expert.

Looks like all the iPhone 3G owners are screwed.

2011 CWE/SANS Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Errors

The 2011 CWE/SANS Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Errors is a list of the most widespread and critical errors that can lead to serious vulnerabilities in software.

They are often easy to find, and easy to exploit. They are dangerous because they will frequently allow attackers to completely take over the software, steal data, or prevent the software from working at all.

Top of the list: SQL Injection!

OpenSSL timing attack allows interception of server private key

The researchers, Billy Bob Brumley and Nicola Tuveri of Aalto University School of Science, focused their efforts on OpenSSL’s implementation of the elliptic curve digital signature algorithm (ECDSA), and they were able to develop an attack that allowed them to steal the private key of an OpenSSL server.

“This paper describes a timing attack vulnerability in OpenSSL’s ladder implementation for curves over binary fields. We use this vulnerability to steal the private key of a TLS server where the server authenticates with ECDSA signatures. Using the timing of the exchanged messages, the messages themselves, and the signatures, we mount a lattice attack that recovers the private key.”

March RSA Hack Hits Lockheed, Remote Systems Breached

A March attack on RSA’s SecurID authentication service has possibly claimed its first big victim: Lockheed Martin.

So how did the hackers do it? It’s been speculated that hackers obtained master key files during the March RSA attacks—as implied, a hacker then would be able to penetrate a SecurID-protected network by replicating an individual’s exact keys generated by the particular device.

Apple’s iOS 4 hardware encryption has been cracked

Russian company ElcomSoft is claiming to have cracked the 256-bit hardware encryption Apple uses to protect the data on iOS 4 devices, and is offering software that allows anyone to do it.

The moral of the story is that you shouldn’t leave your expensive Apple toys unattended over lunch.

Apple malware evolved – No password required

For the last month or so we have been carefully tracking the developments in the Mac OS X malware community. Our conclusion? It’s advancing fast and taking many cues from the Windows malware scene.

Looks like Apple’s chosen security model of “security by obscurity” is predictably breaking down…