http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/17/AR2010021705816.html?wpisrc=nl_pmtech
More than 75,000 computer systems hacked in one of largest cyber attacks,
security firm says
By Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 18, 2010
More than 75,000 computer systems at nearly 2,500 companies in the United
States and around the world have been hacked in what appears to be one of the
largest and most sophisticated attacks by cyber criminals discovered to date,
according to a northern Virginia security firm.
The attack, which began in late 2008 and was discovered last month, targeted
proprietary corporate data, e-mails, credit-card transaction data and login
credentials at companies in the health and technology industries in 196
countries, according to Herndon-based NetWitness.
News of the attack follows reports last month that the computer networks at
Google and more than 30 other large financial, energy, defense, technology and
media firms had been compromised. Google said the attack on its system
originated in China.
This latest attack does not appear to be linked to the Google intrusion, said
Amit Yoran, NetWitness's chief executive. But it is significant, he said, in
its scale and in its apparent demonstration that the criminal groups'
sophistication in cyberattacks is approaching that of nation states such as
China and Russia.
The attack also highlights the inability of the private sector -- including
industries that would be expected to employ the most sophisticated cyber
defenses -- to protect itself.
"The traditional security approaches of intrusion-detection systems and
anti-virus software are by definition inadequate for these types of
sophisticated threats," Yoran said. "The things that we -- industry -- have
been doing for the past 20 years are ineffective with attacks like this. That's
the story."
The intrusion, first reported on the Wall Street Journal's Web site, was
detected Jan. 26 by NetWitness engineer Alex Cox. He discovered the intrusion,
dubbed the Kneber bot, being run by a ring based in Eastern Europe operating
through at least 20 command and control servers worldwide.
The hackers lured unsuspecting employees at targeted firms to download infected
software from sites controlled by the hackers, or baited them into opening
e-mails containing the infected attachments, Yoran said. The malicious
software, or "bots," enabled the attackers to commandeer users' computers,
scrape them for log-in credentials and passwords -- including to online banking
and social networking sites -- and then exploit that data to hack into the
systems of other users, Yoran said. The number of penetrated systems grew
exponentially, he said.
"Because they're using multiple bots and very sophisticated command and control
methods, once they're in the system, even if you whack the command and control
servers, it's difficult to rid them of the ability to control the users'
computers," Yoran said.
The malware had the ability to target any information the attackers wanted,
including file-sharing sites for sensitive corporate documents, according to
NetWitness.
Login credentials have monetary value in the criminal underground, experts
said. A damage assessment for the firms is underway, Yoran said. NetWitness has
been working with firms to help them mitigate the damage.
Among the companies hit were Cardinal Health, located in Dublin, Ohio, and
Merck, according to the Wall Street Journal. A spokesman for Cardinal said the
firm removed the infected computers as soon as the breach was found.
Also affected were educational institutions, energy firms, financial companies
and Internet service providers. Ten government agencies were penetrated, none
in the national security area, NetWitness said.
The systems penetrated were mostly in the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt,
Turkey and Mexico, the firm said.
Staff researcher Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.
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