#stuxnet

[fandomstuckportal]

WE ARE BECOME DEATH, THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS!

[woted2]

Stuxnet: El Gusano que Revolucionó la Ciberseguridad y cómo Protegerse

En el vasto panorama de la ciberseguridad, pocos nombres han resonado tanto como Stuxnet. Este sofisticado malware, descubierto en 2010, marcó un antes y un después en la historia de los ciberataques, revelando al mundo una nueva dimensión de las amenazas digitales. Pero, ¿qué es exactamente Stuxnet, qué daños puede causar y cómo podemos protegernos de amenazas similares? Este artículo explora en…

[immaculatasknight]

Racing toward disaster

[nicolae]

Studii de caz privind atacurile cibernetice – Amenințările persistente avansate

Sfetcu, Nicolae (2024), Studii de caz privind atacurile cibernetice – Amenințările persistente avansate, IT & C, 3:1, ppp,   Cyber Attack Case Studies – Advanced Persistent Threats Abstract In the rapidly evolving technology landscape, the proliferation of cyberattacks has become a pervasive threat, permeating every sector of society. From government institutions to private businesses and…

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

the sun looks like a wheel of cheese in this picture of an explosion of the sun that is happening right now

[unichrome]

Masterpost of informational posts

All posts are written for everyone, including those with no prior computer science education. If you know how to write an email and have used a computer at least sparingly, you are qualified for understanding these posts. :)

What is a DDoS

What are the types of malware

Vulnerabilities and Exploits (old and somewhat outdated)

Example of how malware can enter your computer

What are botnets and sinkholes

How does passwords work

Guide for getting a safer password

Here are various malware-related posts you may find interesting:

Stuxnet

The North Korean bank heist

5 vintage famous malware

Trickbot the Trickster malware (old and not up to date)

jRAT the spy and controller (old and not up to date)

Evil malware

New to Linux? Here's a quick guide for using the terminal:

Part 1: Introduction

Part 2: Commands

Part 3: Flags

Part 4: Shortcuts

If you have any questions, request for a topic I should write about, or if there is something in these posts that you don't understand, please send me a message/ask and I'll try my best to help you. :)

- unichrome

Bonus: RGB terminal

[max1461]

I could easily firebomb a Walmart if I wanted to. I don't but I could. You know how normie girls will ask each other at sleepovers and shit omg katie do you ever fantasize about how to plan the perfect murder and hide the body???? etc. etc. (one of the things about normie girls is they love to think about murder). Anyway I'm like that but for industrial sabotage. You remember a while back when a sniper took out a power distribution center? god. that's my true crime podcast. I was a stuxnet superfan as a preteen. I could firebomb a walmart I've been waiting all my life to firebomb a walmart. but I won't I don't really think it's probably very helpful. and I would be nervous after that scary guys would come after me which freaks me out a lot.

[sexhaver]

remember when the US and Israel jointly developed a computer worm named Stuxnet that physically destroyed a fifth of Iran's nuclear centrifuges? and they propagated it by leaving infected USBs lying in government facility parking lots? every time i remember Stuxnet i assume it's something i read in a Michael Crichton novel for a second before remembering that no, it actually fucking happened irl

[toskarin]

interested in mobile suit gundam: the witch from mercury and wondering what to watch next? well I've got something you might be interested in!

in 2013, it was reported that james edward "hoss" cartwright had been under investigation by the FBI in relation to a leak of information about the cyberwarfare operation, operation olympic games. the information pertained to the worm known as stuxnet and its alleged joint development by the united states of america and israel with intent to sabotage the iranian nuclear program. the investigation stalled in 2015 as the FBI realised that any attempt to bring cartwright to trial would require the disclosure of classified information related to operation. after meeting with the FBI without a lawyer present, cartwright was indicted for lying to them. to this day, the united states and israel deny any involvement in the worm's development.

[fandomstuckportal]

((really shitty doodles of my latest lm oc, stuxnet!))

[churchofthecomet]

I haven't watched Leverage in a while, see my last complaint post about their Stuxnet episode. But in the meantime I've been consuming other media, and it just struck me how equal the dynamic is between all of the Leverage characters.

Every character in this show is competent. They each have Their Thing that They Do, and if one of them is absent for an episode, the rest of the team suffers until they get back. I complain about them short-changing Hardison by making the tech stuff unrealistic and incomprehensible (so you can't get a feel for how good he is at it, like you can with Eliot punching people -- although if I knew more about fighting I'm sure I'd be complaining about Eliot's scenes too). But at least within the narrative he is really good at his job, and the other team members know it. Likewise for Eliot, Parker, Nate, and Sophie -- they're each at the top of their respective classes. They have separate specialties and they're amazing at those specialties.

And what's more, the interpersonal dynamics reflect this. Nate is an asshole to the rest of them, but there are FOUR OF THEM so it balances him out -- they can commiserate with each other, sit him down and have a talk with him, threaten to strike, whatever, and their side of the relationship is treated with importance because the team couldn't function without them.

Hardison and Eliot's sniping is just friendly banter, and they know it. Everyone is so supportive of Parker's social problems. Sophie is the one with the most traditionally-feminine skillset, something which might be demeaned in another show (and I have some complaints with Leverage's treatment of her), but she's taken seriously both in-universe and by the show itself. They all work wonderfully together. They balance each other out, and they become more than the sum of their parts.

Contrast this with the dynamics in a bunch of other modern media. Let's grab my favorite punching bag of late, BBC Sherlock. Sherlock is far and away the more useful member of the Sherlock-and-John team. The narrative places incredible weight on his intelligence, and John is stuck in a support role. Sherlock is also mean to John, and since John is one person (without much of a spine for standing up to Sherlock!) it feels utterly abusive. The "friendly banter" isn't banter. The "aww look they really DO care about each other" moments were enough for me when I was 13 or 14, but now it just feels like a cycle of abuse. The dynamic is fundamentally not equal. If I'm watching a TV show and I start to think "man character A really needs like 6 months of therapy to stop hating themself and they NEED to leave character B," when the show's message is "character A and character B are a match made in heaven you guys," the show has failed.

See also Our Flag Means Death season 2 with the relationship between... honestly Ed and the rest of the crew, but mostly Ed and Stede. Ed is the best pirate anyone's ever seen -- the rest of them are pretty good but no match for him. The one guy who had a chance of standing up to Ed and equalizing things got killed off at the end of the season, and Stede (as we've seen) lacks a spine to stand up to Ed. Controversial take but Good Omens might be heading in this direction? They defanged Aziraphale and made him into way more of a softie than the book or Season 1 imply. Meanwhile Crowley is Competent and Right About Everything by comparison. The general pattern here is that couples (or whatever the fuck was going on with BBC Sherlock and John) are worse off. I don't know if it's lasting heteronormativity or "two-person dynamics are hard," but the urge to make sunshine-and-stormcloud pairings where the stormcloud acts like shit towards the sunshine is just... too strong.

Leverage is this rare show that refuses to shit on any of its protagonists. Everyone's in the loop, everyone sees some character development, and it fucking RULES. I wish they could make more TV shows like this in 2024.

[laurelins-light]

007 Fest Headcanons Part 2: Home and Living Spaces

I got inspired again seeing so many headcanons that I came up with some more, these are all specific to where everyone lives!

Moneypenny lives in a small studio flat with amazing views. She doesn’t spend much time in it, so she doesn’t mind that it’s small. She spends most of her time at MI6, so she made sure to have the best office chair, and there’s a small anti-room next to her and M’s office that has a fantastic couch with a mini fridge and coffee maker. Both she and M use this room whenever they need a pick me up or a nap. No one else in 6 (except Q - who uses it when he wants to hide from the world when Bond’s not home) knows about the room. 

Q lives in his two bedroom cottage that he bought on a whim in his early MI6 days after he got a hefty bonus for the development of a special cyber weapon (Stuxnet anyone?). Bond stays with him in his own flat because it’s nicer and much easier to get to 6 from Q’s flat than his own. Alec has taken over the flat next door after bullying the previous owners into selling to him. 

There’s talk of combining flats - all three hate that they have to go outside to reach each other’s flats. 

Bond and Alec’s current flat is sterile and cold, he hates it, hence why he spends most of his time with Q. Alec hates it even more, hence why he bought the place next door. The one thing both do love about their place is the view of London. Whenever Q is mad at them they both go to the London flat because it’s better than going to MI6 and sleeping in the office. 

M’s home is a lot more middle-class than anyone expects, but that was by design. He lives in a block of homes and actually owns two of them himself. One is for his family and one is for the agents. There are access points in between that are hidden paneling and the second flat with the agents has a SCIF for M (or his husband) to answer any immediate calls when he’s not in the office. 

His daughters are all grown so his husband doesn’t mind the long hours he keeps. His husband is a minor official in government, so both working long hours isn’t a problem for their relationship. 

Alec has literally only ever lived alone once, and that was deemed a bad idea for everyone when he burned down the entire building because he was bored. Since then, he’s basically just shacked up with Bond and Q, going to his own flat next door when they kick him out. They all know they need to go ahead and combine homes, the trouble is getting MI6 vetted contractors to actually do the demo. 

They all want to do the actual repairs and work themselves after the demo/engineering is completed to make the newly combined home stable. We all know Q is overseeing everything himself to make sure the contractors don’t make any mistakes

[morp]

hello this is very random guy very random person never seen or been to this blog before. i would like to request a *checks notes* 🍌🍊🍇🍑🍎🍍🍌🍉🍈🍒 (there are two bananas in this ask game LMAOOO)

Hello very very random stranger i do not know. Your asks, as requested, behind a readmore because theres a lot. Enjoy, very random stranger

🍌Three headcanons about how magic works in your lore

Well i. Dont have too many magic headcanons im afraid. Uhhh

You can use too much of any given magic, and it can have disastrous effects on you or a whole Location

Magic residue! Is a thing! A particularly brutal elemental something can linger with a dragon for years or even their whole life. A super effective element will cause more pain and suffering and complications, obviously, and theoretically multiple elements together can leave their residues behind at once, which can make everything worse or better or both at the same time!

thats all i have, im sorry 😔

🍊A dragon you like based on looks

All of them. Obviously. But bear witness to the first project I ever had that I used a gem gene for, Morpho (she/her) <3

🍇A dragon you like based on personality

Observe my favorite doctor in my lore. Stuxnet (it/he/they), dragon turned not dragon after Forbidden Portal incident, it’s sketchy and generally unnerving and would probably murder you if you made too much eye contact but would also probably murder you if you made too LITTLE eye contact, kind of a “keep in your periphary vision” type beast. But hes also extremely trustworthy, you can trust him with your medical needs and they will deliver the best care they can give. A mostly well meaning little freak with only a touch of medical malpractice

🍑Show off an expensive regening project

Observe. Wildclaw gene and butterfly. Thank you notn 🙏 (they/them btw)

🍎Show off a Special-eyed dragon

Tyrion, my Necromancer (they/them). The skin clipping is unfortunate but works for them, the sword has eyes now

🍍Favorite (& second favorite, etc) Elemental Festival and your reasons why

Number one is PLAGUE!!! PLAGUE NUMERO UNO🦠🦠🦠🦠🦠🦠🦠🦠 I’m absolutely biased as a Germ myself but I Adore Riot of Rot, the apparel is almost always a banger and I always need 484847384 of em. I mean. Proto-wings anyone? Rotted mane???? Beloved

Second one uhhhh. Fire. Good orange stuff👍

🍌A dragon + their theme song

You get my Horizon Aspect lad, Lan (he/him), and this song :)

🍉Favorite dragon breed to draw

Snapper. Absolutely snapper. All the way snapper. Lmao

🍈A dragon you hate (/pos) based on personality/lore

DionaeaMuscipula (she/her). She did unhatched egg experiments in the Seedscar. How dare you do that. How dare you leave a perfectly good baby with trauma and some very bad Arcane and Nature residue and then fuck off to avoid the criminal repurcussions of this actual crime

🍒Show off a fodder rescue

Iota (they/them). Another Necromancer, I sniped em during a push and originally intended to exalt them. Then I got attached. I love them very much

[cyber-sec]

Remote Stuxnet-Style Attack Possible With Web-Based PLC Malware: Researchers

Source: https://www.securityweek.com/remote-stuxnet-style-attack-possible-with-web-based-plc-malware-researchers/

Paper: https://www.ndss-symposium.org/wp-content/uploads/2024-49-paper.pdf

[birchwoodu]

Best Movies on Cybersecurity Watch in 2024

Hollywood has been fascinated by cyber security, cyberattacks, and the criminals that carry them out for almost fifty years. Since the turn of the twenty-first century, there has been a global explosion in the demand for and popularity of these kinds of films due to growing reliance on and acceptance of technology. This collection of films is ideal for anyone seeking a thrilling escape or to explore the world of information security in movies. Each film on this list either directly addresses cyber security, has multiple scenes that focus on the topic or captures the essence of why safeguarding sensitive data is so crucial.

You might be surprised to learn how similar the situations and characters in these stories are, as they are frequently based on actual occurrences. You might be surprised to hear that, for a number of these films, there are lessons that cyber security experts like us can all use in our day-to-day work.

New Releases in 2024 (Predicted):

Ghost Protocol (working title): A cyberwarfare thriller starring Chris Hemsworth as a black hat hacker turned asset for a government agency, navigating a complex international plot to hack into a powerful AI system. (Release date TBD)

Zero Day: A documentary exploring the rise and fall of Stuxnet, a weaponized computer worm targeting Iranian nuclear facilities, and the ethical and geopolitical implications of cyber warfare. (Release date: Early 2024)

Firewall Down: A high-stakes heist film where a team of skilled hackers attempt to pull off a daring cyberattack on a global financial institution, facing off against a seasoned security expert and unforeseen moral dilemmas. (Release date: Late 2024)

Must-Watch Classics:

The Matrix (1999): This sci-fi masterpiece explores the blurring lines between reality and the digital world, raising questions about data security and individual control in a technologically advanced society.

WarGames (1983): A teenage hacker accidentally accesses a military supercomputer capable of launching nuclear missiles, highlighting the dangers of cyber recklessness and the importance of responsible technology use.

Blackhat (2015): Chris Hemsworth portrays a convicted hacker forced to collaborate with the FBI to track down a cyberterrorist targeting nuclear power plants, showcasing the potential consequences of large-scale cyberattacks.

The Conversation (1974): Francis Ford Coppola's suspenseful film centers on a private investigator obsessed with surveillance technology, raising concerns about privacy in the age of digital eavesdropping.

Sneakers (1992): A lighthearted heist film featuring a team of ethical hackers recruited by the NSA to steal a government decoder, offering a glimpse into the world of cryptography and Cold War-era cyber espionage.

Ex Machina (2014): A thought-provoking sci-fi drama exploring the nature of consciousness and artificial intelligence, with themes of digital manipulation and the potential dangers of advanced technology.

The Great Hack (2019): This Netflix documentary investigates the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal, highlighting the vulnerabilities of personal information online and the ethical implications of social media influence.

The Net (1995): Sandra Bullock plays a systems analyst who works from home in California. After obtaining an enigmatic floppy disk that contains a backdoor into a well-known computer security system, she gets entangled in a fatal conspiracy. Numerous cyber security themes are covered in the plot, such as early instances of cyber terrorism, spoofing, and identity theft.

Ghost in the Shell (1995): One of the most significant cyberpunk entertainments in popular culture, this neo-noir animated thriller is based on Masamune Shirow's manga of the same name. Highlights include a plot centered around the hunt for a hacker known as the Puppet Master and philosophical questions regarding an individual’s place in a hyper-tech-reliant world.

Tech Thrillers:

Who Am I - No System is Safe (2014): German thriller about a young hacker drawn into a dangerous online game with real-world consequences.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009): A skilled hacker and investigative journalist team up to uncover a dark conspiracy involving cybercrime and corporate corruption.

Eagle Eye (2008): Two strangers are thrust into a high-tech chase orchestrated by a mysterious AI, exposing vulnerabilities in our interconnected world.

Cyber Heists:

Gold (2016): A group of friends plan a daring cyber heist targeting a global bank, using their unique skills to outsmart security measures.

Now You See Me 2 (2016): Masters of illusion return for an even grander heist, incorporating cutting-edge technology and cyber magic to pull off mind-bending stunts.

Ocean's Eleven (2001): The classic film gets a modern twist with the inclusion of tech experts for a daring casino robbery relying on intricate digital manipulations.

These are just a few examples, but many other movies explore the world of cybersecurity. Enjoy your movie marathon in 2024!

[unichrome]

Evil Malware

Welcome back to another episode of An Actual Post. As usual, no prior computer science education needed. Today I'm going to talk about the worst of the worst malware. A lot of things has happened since what the general population consider to be viruses; annoying and maybe steals some money or logins. Unfortunately it's nowadays way way way worse than that so prepare for some uncomfortable reading!

Since the dawn of Stuxnet (which I wrote about here), malware has gotten increasingly more real-life, with real-life complications. It could be the Pegasus spyware, that targets political activists in authoritarian regimes, or disruptive infections that put a stop to Copenhagens metro trains for a few hours. But we're merely in the beginning, because in the last few years, some nasty shit has been going down. I'm going to write about two (technically three but I'll group the first two together for obvious reasons) of the worst incidents we've seen today.

BlackEnergy and CrashOverride

This piece of malware has been around since early 2000's, for the intention of creating DDoS attacks (which I wrote about here) from infected computers. It has since then branched out in its usage, particularly into targeting infrastructure environments. Most notable is the 2015 Ukrainian powergrid incident, which occured when the Russian hacking group known as "Sandworm", infected three Ukrainian energy companies, wiping out systems and causing a power outage for over 250 000 households during winter. The attack began with just one infected document being opened in the affected companies. When BlackEnergy infected their systems, it opened up a remote connection to the attackers, making them able to control the entire powergrid opreation from inside Russia, and thereby switching it off.

That was not enough though, as the attackers also implanted another piece of malicious software known as KillDisk, which wiped out many of the ciritical operation systems, as well as cutting off the connection to the UPS units, which are backup generators in case of system outage. To add a cherry on top, BlackEnergy did what it was originally intended to do - DDoS attacks - towards the energy companies call-centers, so that customers were not able to call and ask what was happening.

The Ukrainian powergrid is quite outdated, which made the attack easier, but it was also the saving grace, as they still had manual power-switches (as opposed to purely digital, which were under the attackers control), so power was eventually restored before they had to rebuild all of their digital systems. This is more concerning for countries with modern powergrids, as manual switches have all been replaced by only digital, meaning power restoration could take weeks or months in case of a similar attack.

Besides the energy companies, three other critical Ukrainian infrastructure organisations were hit by BlackEnergy, but did not result in any operational outages.

But it didn't stop there. Just one year later, in December 2016, a similar attack struck Kiev, successfully taking down one-fifth of the countrys electrical power. Like with the BlackEnergy incident, it was quite quickly restored, but there was a far more horrifying infection this time. Named CrashOverride, the malware was much more sophisticated than BlackEnergy, did more things automatically without the need of input from a remote attacker. It was also modular, meaning that functionalities could just be added to it like lego-pieces, adapting it to whatever kind of electrical grid it was entering. This meant that it wouldn't just be able to infect only Ukranian electrical grids, but just about any country's. Furthermore, evidence points to the 2016 CrashOverride infection only being a test-run.

Triton

Last but definitely not least - Triton, the first (known) malware designed to kill.

But before we talk about it, we need to look at what happened in Bhopal, India in 1984 when what has since been considered the worst industrial disaster of all time occured. At the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in December 2nd, one of the gas tanks had a fatal malfunction, creating a massive gas leak of methyl isocyanate, which is extremely toxic. The leak spread to the surrounding city of Bhopal, resulting in almost 600 000 injured people, 40 000 temporary injuries, 4 000 permanent or severe injuries and over 8 000 people died within the first two weeks, with an estimated additional 8 000 deaths following due to injuries in the time after.

This was of course not caused by Triton, but it became the inspiration for the creation of the malware In 2017, a new piece of malware was discovered in Schneider Electrics industrial control system (called Triconex) at a Saudi Arabian petrochemical facility, which unravelled a horrible and complex secret. The infection chain for Triton contains many steps, so let's start with a brief overview of what the Triconex ICS and SIS is. ICS (Industrial Control System) are computers that handles all the industrial processes, computers that are programmed to do one thing and one specific thing only, unlike our regular PCs which you can play games or surf the internet and whatever. ICS will be computers who control valves, releases chemicals into vats, spins stuff around, or whatever automated processes may happen at an industrial facility.

SIS (Safety Instrumented System) are a kind of ICS that are responsible to check that everything is going alright and, if needed, will take over the process in case some ICS is failing and may result in damage, fire, injury or other disasters. So a SIS are monitoring failsafes, meant to prevent what happened in Bhopal.

Unless, of course, you program a malware intended to make the SIS malfunction.

What happened in the Saudi Arabian petrochemical facility started as follows:

The attackers successfully implanted a remote access trojan, which just like in the BlackEnergy case, makes the attackers able to control infected machines remotely. However, you can't infect a ICS or SIS this way, you need to enter a regular computer with internet access first, which is what they did. The initial machine was an engineering station, on which ICS and SIS computers are controlled. From there, the attackers wanted to plant their own software on the ICS and SIS machines, but there was a problem; the software can't be installed without someone turning a physical key on the Triconex devices, as a security measure. A second problem is that every time new software changes are made to a Triconex device, the old software will be deleted and replaced entirely by the new, which meant that the malware was at risk of being deleted if any engineer made any software changes.

So a second piece of Triton malware was made to overcome those hurdles. Instead of being save where the software should be saved in the Triconex devices, it saved itself where the firmware was installed (the piece of software that's made to have the Triconex work as opposed to where the software that tells the Triconex what to do), this not only gave Triton persistence even if new software was loaded, but also overrides the physical key as firmware always has administrator privileges. With all this in place, the attacker could execute any commands at the comfort of their home to both the ICS and SIS systems in the facility.

As luck would have it, before the attackers were able to cause any harm, the facility experienced a safety incident, prompting shutdown of the whole operation, and an investigation later uncovered the malware in the systems. Had Triton not been discovered in time, it would have been able to cause catastrophic failures similar to what happened in Bhopal. But just because it was thwarted this time, doesn't mean it's gone for good. There will always be some actor who is willing to try again.

Thank you for reading and sorry if I scared you, but honestly I think people need to be aware of the situation, as for some bisarre reason, events like these are not reported in the news. If you have any questions, feel free to send an ask!