1,309 research outputs found
Simulating Windows-Based Cyber Attacks Using Live Virtual Machine Introspection
Static memory analysis has been proven a valuable technique for digital forensics. However, the memory capture technique halts the system causing the loss of important dynamic system data. As a result, live analysis techniques have emerged to complement static analysis. In this paper, a compiled memory analysis tool for virtualization (CMAT-V) is presented as a virtual machine introspection (VMI) utility to conduct live analysis during simulated cyber attacks. CMAT-V leverages static memory dump analysis techniques to provide live system state awareness. CMAT-V parses an arbitrary memory dump from a simulated guest operating system (OS) to extract user information, network usage, active process information and registry files. Unlike some VMI applications, CMAT-V bridges the semantic gap using derivation techniques. This provides increased operating system compatibility for current and future operating systems. This research demonstrates the usefulness of CMAT-V as a situational awareness tool during simulated cyber attacks and measures the overall performance of CMAT-V
Master of puppets: analyzing and attacking a botnet for fun and profit
A botnet is a network of compromised machines (bots),
under the control of an attacker. Many of these machines
are infected without their owners’ knowledge, and botnets
are the driving force behind several misuses and criminal
activities on the Internet (for example spam emails). Depending
on its topology, a botnet can have zero or more
command and control (C&C) servers, which are centralized
machines controlled by the cybercriminal that issue
commands and receive reports back from the co-opted
bots.
In this paper, we present a comprehensive analysis of
the command and control infrastructure of one of the
world’s largest proprietary spamming botnets between
2007 and 2012: Cutwail/Pushdo. We identify the key
functionalities needed by a spamming botnet to operate
effectively. We then develop a number of attacks against
the command and control logic of Cutwail that target
those functionalities, and make the spamming operations
of the botnet less effective. This analysis was made possible
by having access to the source code of the C&C software,
as well as setting up our own Cutwail C&C server,
and by implementing a clone of the Cutwail bot. With the
help of this tool, we were able to enumerate the number
of bots currently registered with the C&C server, impersonate
an existing bot to report false information to the
C&C server, and manipulate spamming statistics of an arbitrary
bot stored in the C&C database. Furthermore, we
were able to make the control server inaccessible by conducting
a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. Our
results may be used by law enforcement and practitioners
to develop better techniques to mitigate and cripple other
botnets, since many of findings are generic and are due to
the workflow of C&C communication in general.First author draf
Selecting Countermeasures for ICT systems Before They are Attacked
A countermeasure is any change to a system to reduce the probability it is successfully attacked. We
propose a model based approach that selects countermeasures through multiple simulations of the
behaviors of an ICT system and of intelligent attackers that implement sequences of attacks. The
simulations return information on the attacker sequences and the goals they reach we use to compute
the statistics that drive the selection. Since attackers change their sequences as countermeasures are
deployed, we have defined an iterative strategy where each iteration selects some countermeasures,
updates the system models and runs the simulations to discover any new attacker sequence. The
discovery of new sequences starts a new iteration. The Haruspex suite automates the proposed approach.
Some of its tools acquire information on the target system and on the attackers and build
the corresponding models. Another tool simulates the attacks through the models of the system and
of the attackers. The tool to select countermeasures invokes the other ones to discover how countermeasures
influence the attackers. We apply the whole suite to three systems and discuss how the
connection topology influences the countermeasures to adop
Master of Puppets: Analyzing And Attacking A Botnet For Fun And Profit
A botnet is a network of compromised machines (bots), under the control of an
attacker. Many of these machines are infected without their owners' knowledge,
and botnets are the driving force behind several misuses and criminal
activities on the Internet (for example spam emails). Depending on its
topology, a botnet can have zero or more command and control (C&C) servers,
which are centralized machines controlled by the cybercriminal that issue
commands and receive reports back from the co-opted bots.
In this paper, we present a comprehensive analysis of the command and control
infrastructure of one of the world's largest proprietary spamming botnets
between 2007 and 2012: Cutwail/Pushdo. We identify the key functionalities
needed by a spamming botnet to operate effectively. We then develop a number of
attacks against the command and control logic of Cutwail that target those
functionalities, and make the spamming operations of the botnet less effective.
This analysis was made possible by having access to the source code of the C&C
software, as well as setting up our own Cutwail C&C server, and by implementing
a clone of the Cutwail bot. With the help of this tool, we were able to
enumerate the number of bots currently registered with the C&C server,
impersonate an existing bot to report false information to the C&C server, and
manipulate spamming statistics of an arbitrary bot stored in the C&C database.
Furthermore, we were able to make the control server inaccessible by conducting
a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. Our results may be used by law
enforcement and practitioners to develop better techniques to mitigate and
cripple other botnets, since many of findings are generic and are due to the
workflow of C&C communication in general
- …