[Infowarrior] - Hacker Spies Hit Security Firm RSA

[Richard Forno]

Hacker Spies Hit Security Firm RSA

	• By Kim Zetter  
	• March 17, 2011  | 
	• 6:40 pm  | 
	• Categories: Breaches, Hacks and Cracks, RSA Conference

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/03/rsa-hacked/


Top security firm RSA Security revealed on Thursday that it’s been the victim of an “extremely sophisticated” hack.

The company said in a note posted on its website that the intruders succeeded in stealing information related to the company’s SecurID two-factor authentication products. SecurID adds an extra layer of protection to a login process by requiring users to enter a secret code number displayed on a keyfob, or in software, in addition to their password. The number is cryptographically generated and changes every 30 seconds.

“While at this time we are confident that the information extracted does not enable a successful direct attack on any of our RSA SecurID customers,” RSA wrote on its blog, “this information could potentially be used to reduce the effectiveness of a current two-factor authentication implementation as part of a broader attack. We are very actively communicating this situation to RSA customers and providing immediate steps for them to take to strengthen their SecurID implementations.”

As of 2009, RSA counted 40 million customers carrying SecurID hardware tokens, and another 250 million using software. It’s customers include government agencies.

RSA CEO Art Coviello wrote in the blog post that the company was “confident that no other … products were impacted by this attack. It is important to note that we do not believe that either customer or employee personally identifiable information was compromised as a result of this incident.”

RSA categorized the attack as an advanced persistent threat, or APT. APT attacks are distinctive in the kinds of data the attackers target. Unlike most intrusions that go after financial and identity data, APT attacks tend to go after source code and other intellectual property and often involve extensive work to map a company’s infrastructure.

APT attacks often use zero-day vulnerabilities to breach a company and are therefore rarely detected by antivirus and intrusion programs. The intrusions are known for grabbing a foothold into a company’s network, sometimes for years, even after a company has discovered them and taken corrective measures.

Last year’s hack into Google was considered an APT attack, and, like many intrusions in this category, was linked to China.

RSA, which is owned by EMC, is a leading firm and is most known for the RSA encryption algorithm used to secure e-commerce and other transactions. The company hosts the top-ranked RSA security conference  every year.