NSA 'suspected of spying on European Commission'

"Regin", a sophisticated spying program detected in the attacks, is identical to a secret cyber weapon developed by the NSA whose existence emerged in documents leaked by Edward Snowden, according to a report in Spiegel's online edition.

The program has also been identified in a "serious cyber attack" on the European Commission in 2011, and found on a USB stick belonging to a member of Angela Merkel's staff, according to German press reports.

It was found on the computers of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, according to Austria's Der Standard newspaper.

Costin Raiu, head of research at Kaspersky, told Spiegel a detailed comparison of Regin with the "Qwerty" code leaked in the Snowden documents showed they were the same.

"We're confident that what we here in front us is the key logger module of Regin," Mr Raiu said. "According to our technical analysis, 'Qwerty' is identical with plug in 50251 of Regin."

Regin has been described as the most dangerous cyber weapon since Stuxnet, the computer worm used to attack the Iranian nuclear programme in 2010.

It is believed to include a sophisticated key logger program that can record all data entered into a computer and send it undetected over the internet.

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NSA 'suspected of spying on European Commission'

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Chomsky 2014 "Me Sorprendio el Alcance de la NSA" en Espaol – Alejandro Concha – Video


Chomsky 2014 "Me Sorprendio el Alcance de la NSA" en Espaol - Alejandro Concha
Copyrights belong to its authors edited video with the sole purpose of adding subtitles in order to its better diffusion.- Subtitled video for Educational Purposes only.- https://www.youtube.com/c...

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Source code reveals link between NSA and Regin cyberespionage malware

Keylogging malware that may have been used by the NSA shares signficant portions of code with a component of Regin, a sophisticated platform that has been used to spy on businesses, government institutions and private individuals for years.

The keylogger program, likely part of an attack framework used by the U.S. National Security Agency and its intelligence partners, is dubbed QWERTY and was among the files that former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked to journalists. It was released by German news magazine Der Spiegel on Jan. 17 along with a larger collection of secret documents about the malware capabilities of the NSA and the other Five Eyes partnersthe intelligence agencies of the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Weve obtained a copy of the malicious files published by Der Spiegel and when we analyzed them, they immediately reminded us of Regin, malware researchers from antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab said Tuesday in a blog post. Looking at the code closely, we conclude that the QWERTY malware is identical in functionality to the Regin 50251 plugin.

Moreover, the Kaspersky researchers found that both QWERTY and the 50251 plug-in depend on a different module of the Regin platform identified as 50225 which handles kernel-mode hooking. This component allows the malware to run in the highest privileged area of the operating systemthe kernel.

This is strong proof that QWERTY can only operate as part of the Regin platform, the Kaspersky researchers said. Considering the extreme complexity of the Regin platform and little chance that it can be duplicated by somebody without having access to its source code, we conclude the QWERTY malware developers and the Regin developers are the same or working together.

Der Spiegel reported that QWERTY is likely a plug-in of a unified malware framework codenamed WARRIORPRIDE that is used by all Five Eye partners. This is based on references in the code to a dependency called WzowskiLib or CNELib.

In a separate leaked document authored by the Communications Security Establishment Canada, the Canadian counterpart of the NSA, WARRIORPRIDE is described as a flexible computer network exploitation (CNE) platform thats an implementation of the WZOWSKI Five Eyes API (application programming interface).

The document also notes that WARRIORPRIDE is known under the code name DAREDEVIL at the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and that the Five Eyes intelligence partners can create and share plug-ins for it.

The newly discovered link between QWERTY and Regin suggests that the cyberespionage malware platform security researchers call Regin is most likely WARRIORPRIDE.

Some experts already suspected this based on other clues. According to Kaspersky Lab, Regin was the malware program that infected the personal computer of Belgian cryptographer Jean-Jacques Quisquater in 2013. That attack was linked to another malware attack against Belgian telecommunications group Belgacom whose customers include the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council.

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Source code reveals link between NSA and Regin cyberespionage malware

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Link between NSA and Regin cyberespionage malware becomes clearer

Security researchers found a strong connection between Regin and a keylogger used by the Five Eyes intelligence alliance

Keylogging malware that may have been used by the NSA shares signficant portions of code with a component of Regin, a sophisticated platform that has been used to spy on businesses, government institutions and private individuals for years.

The keylogger program, likely part of an attack framework used by the U.S. National Security Agency and its intelligence partners, is dubbed QWERTY and was among the files that former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked to journalists. It was released by German news magazine Der Spiegel on Jan. 17 along with a larger collection of secret documents about the malware capabilities of the NSA and the other Five Eyes partners -- the intelligence agencies of the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

"We've obtained a copy of the malicious files published by Der Spiegel and when we analyzed them, they immediately reminded us of Regin," malware researchers from antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab said Tuesday in a blog post. "Looking at the code closely, we conclude that the 'QWERTY' malware is identical in functionality to the Regin 50251 plugin."

Moreover, the Kaspersky researchers found that both QWERTY and the 50251 plug-in depend on a different module of the Regin platform identified as 50225 which handles kernel-mode hooking. This component allows the malware to run in the highest privileged area of the operating system -- the kernel.

This is strong proof that QWERTY can only operate as part of the Regin platform, the Kaspersky researchers said. "Considering the extreme complexity of the Regin platform and little chance that it can be duplicated by somebody without having access to its source code, we conclude the QWERTY malware developers and the Regin developers are the same or working together."

Der Spiegel reported that QWERTY is likely a plug-in of a unified malware framework codenamed WARRIORPRIDE that is used by all Five Eye partners. This is based on references in the code to a dependency called WzowskiLib or CNELib.

In a separate leaked document authored by the Communications Security Establishment Canada, the Canadian counterpart of the NSA, WARRIORPRIDE is described as a flexible computer network exploitation (CNE) platform that's an implementation of the "WZOWSKI" Five Eyes API (application programming interface).

The document also notes that WARRIORPRIDE is known under the code name DAREDEVIL at the UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and that the Five Eyes intelligence partners can create and share plug-ins for it.

The newly discovered link between QWERTY and Regin suggests that the cyberespionage malware platform security researchers call Regin is most likely WARRIORPRIDE.

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Link between NSA and Regin cyberespionage malware becomes clearer

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The NSA's infosec tips won't stop you from being hacked

Earlier this month, the NSAs cyber security wing released its best practice guide to defending against destructive malware - presumably with one eye on the beleaguered Sony bosses who continue to deal with the fallout from the companys high profile hack.

The report (PDF) focuses on cost-effective countermeasures that can be easily established in your organisation to make life more difficult for the average attacker.

Starting with controls such as segregation of networks, protection and restriction of the use of administrative privileges, and whitelisting authorised application execution on your systems, the tips aim to circumvent the damage cyber bad guys can do.

But is the NSA's new fact sheet just wishful thinking from the US spy agency? Would any of this information have stopped something like the Sony attack from happening?

I have scoured the content of the document in search of anything new. I didn't find it.

None of this is groundbreaking advice (and none of it should be new to the security team at Sony).

The NSA best practice controls will already be familiar to anyone following our own Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) guidelines on attack mitigation strategies, including its highly regarded Top 4 Strategies to Mitigate Targeted Cyber Intrusions-a mandatory requirement for government departments adhering to the Protective Security Policy Framework (PSPF).

Whitelisting, reduction of administrative privileges and a comprehensive approach to patching feature heavily in the ASDs top four. Its top 35 adds even more defensive measures that can be implemented to protect your organisation.

Nearly all of the mitigations listed in the NSA document - such as the use of Microsofts Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) and subscribing to cloud-based reputation services - are also covered in the ASD documentation.

As a result I was rather disappointed with this latest effort from the NSA. Realistically, the only valuable advice in this document is a warning for organisations to prepare for the worst.

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The NSA's infosec tips won't stop you from being hacked

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NSA violating the constitution, public trust by spying on citizens veteran intel. officer – Video


NSA violating the constitution, public trust by spying on citizens veteran intel. officer
Why elected officials violate the US constitution and their oaths of office by permitting mass surveillance of their constituents is difficult to comprehend,...

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NSA violating the constitution, public trust by spying on citizens veteran intel. officer - Video

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TALKSONLAW: Domestic Spying and the NSA – Legal Opinion from Judge Andrew Napolitano – Video


TALKSONLAW: Domestic Spying and the NSA - Legal Opinion from Judge Andrew Napolitano
Watch more at http://www.talksonlaw.com Judge Andrew Napolitano: Intelligence agencies of the federal government of the United States of America have been listening to every telephone call, cell...

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Volokh Conspiracy: Public support for the NSA greater among those under 30

An interesting poll result from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:

About half (51%) view the NSA favorably, compared with 37% who have an unfavorable view. Young people are more likely than older Americans to view the intelligence agency positively. About six-in-ten (61%) of those under 30 view the NSA favorably, compared with 40% of those 65 and older.

Republicans have significantly more negative views about the NSA than Democrats. Democrats viewed the NSA favorably by a wide margin of 58 to 31, while Republicans viewed the NSA favorably by a closer margin of 47 to 42. This finding is consistent with the partisan trend I noted in my 2013 post, Liberals and Conservatives Switch Positions on NSA Surveillance.

Thanks to Kashmir Hill for the link.

Orin Kerr is the Fred C. Stevenson Research Professor at The George Washington University Law School, where he has taught since 2001. He teaches and writes in the area of criminal procedure and computer crime law.

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Volokh Conspiracy: Public support for the NSA greater among those under 30

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Germany: ‘Easy to recognise illegal NSA activity’ – whistleblower prize winner Binney – Video


Germany: #39;Easy to recognise illegal NSA activity #39; - whistleblower prize winner Binney
William Bill Binney, the 2015 Sam Adams Award winner, said it was "easy to recognise their illegal, unconstitutional activity" when the NSA started to acqu...

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Utah Bill Would Turn Off Water to NSA Data Center in Bluffdale – Video


Utah Bill Would Turn Off Water to NSA Data Center in Bluffdale
http://offnow.org/utah A bill filed in the Utah state house yesterday would deny critical resources - like water - to the massive NSA data center there should it pass. House Bill 150 (HB150),...

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