Buzzwords of the Day 10-18-2023
#This Week's Buzzwords:
declare -a Buzzword = { "Malware", "Wearables", "Zero-Day" }
$Buzzword{0}= "Malware" - Is That Link Really What You Think It Is?
Malware posing as a legitimate copy of popular software is nothing new; though this week BleepingComputer reported a newly discovered malware insertion campaign that takes advantage of Google's push to profit off their Search page. Threat actors have pushed several paid ad campaigns offering downloads of Notepad++, Notepad, and other open-source or freeware word processors. Per reports by BleepingComputer, the malicious link appears near the top of a user's search results (as a paid advertisement). The 'ad' leads to a redirect page which fingerprints the end-user's system and delivers the payload disguised as a legitimate copy of the desired software. The malicious server stores the client device fingerprint, returning a 404 error for any future attempts to visit the site from the now-infected device.
This exploit highlights glaring security concerns around Google's policing of advertisements on its platform, as well as the obvious conflict of interest created by selling preferred placement of search results. Leaked emails from Google's anti-trust case (previously reported on by this outlet and others) imply an internal drive by executives to further ingrain paid ad placements into users' search results, fostering a breeding ground for this type of impersonation attacks. Google's design choice to display website titles more prominently than URLs (that can often make results more legible to end-users) also played a role in making it easier for these malicious links to succeed. Hopefully, Google's security teams can leverage learnings from this experience to protect users against similar attacks in the future.
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$Buzzword{1}= "Wearables" - Smarter Contact Sports Make Everyone Safer
This week we tip our caps to the NFL for stepping up to try and provide better, real-time telemetry from player collisions in an effort to reduce concussions and other traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) resulting from tackles/other unexpected contact on the field. While the NFL has been collecting G-force data and other telemetry via sensors in helmets, the information is often processed post-game and assessed over a 24-hour period (the most crucial time for treatment when dealing with any sort of brain trauma), this week was the first time the league leveraged "AI" (arguably, more accurately described in this case as machine learning) to evaluate player telemetry data in a fraction of the typical processing time. This model allows league physicians, coaches, and players better access to data to keep them safe: how hard each player was hit, how often they were hit, are some players being hit more than others, etc. While early in adoption, if this analysis technology offers more actionable data to keep players safe, it could spell the beginning of a new era of professional sports - one that prioritizes athletes' health appropriately.
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$Buzzword{2}= "Zero-Day" - Cisco's Got A Worm Problem
Earlier this week, ArsTechnica reported a new zero-day exploit impacting over 10,000 Cisco networking devices. It appears that a malicious payload has been injected to these devices which allows threat actors to create user accounts with administrator privileges, increasing the alarm level for impacted users. While there is no formal software patch available just yet, Cisco is aware of the exploit and encourages all of their users to investigate and verify whether or not they have been impacted. The article (linked below) includes Cisco's recommended steps to identify traces of this malware, as well as suggestions to mitigate/remove it.
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