[ISN] Security UPDATE -- Proactive Honeypots, Part 2 -- August 24, 2005

InfoSec News isn at c4i.org
Thu Aug 25 06:42:38 EDT 2005


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1. In Focus: Proactive Honeypots, Part 2

2. Security News and Features
   - Recent Security Vulnerabilities
   - Symantec to Acquire Sygate 
   - 180solutions Sues Seven Former Distributors 
   - Microsoft Ships Windows 2000 Worm Removal Tool 

3. Security Toolkit
   - Security Matters Blog
   - FAQ

4. New and Improved
   - Fight Phishing Attacks

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==== 1. In Focus: Proactive Honeypots, Part 2 ====
   by Mark Joseph Edwards, News Editor, mark at ntsecurity / net

Last week, I wrote about Microsoft's Strider HoneyMonkey Exploit 
Detection System, which is software that tries to find new exploits by 
surfing the Web and waiting for something to infiltrate the system. I 
don't know of many other such tools, but I have heard of two other 
client-based honeypot projects.

One is being developed by Bing Yuan at the Laboratory for Dependable 
Distributed Systems. Yuan is pursuing the technology as his diploma 
project at the laboratory, and so far, no working code seems to be 
available to the public. His project is Windows-based, will integrate 
with Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE), and will work with other 
software such as the Honeywall CD-ROM. I'm not sure how far along Yuan 
is in the development process or whether the tool will eventually be 
released to the public. You can however read more about it at the lab's 
Web site. 
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=11B7B:4FB69

The second tool I know about is called Honeyclient. The tool is being 
developed by Kathy Wang, who gave a related presentation at the recent 
REcon 2005 conference (see the first URL below) in Montreal. You can 
see the slides from the presentation at the second URL below. 
Honeyclient is written in Perl and is designed to run on Windows 
systems. It surfs the Web by using IE and tries to detect any file or 
registry changes. As it stands now, the tool is made up of two Perl 
scripts: one is a proxy and the other uses IE to drive a Web-surfing 
session. 
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=11B89:4FB69
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=11B77:4FB69

Wang's project isn't extensively documented, but the two Perl scripts 
that make up Honeyclient contain a few comments that help you better 
understand what it actually does. Of course, if you can read Perl code, 
then you'll get an even better understanding. Honeyclient isn't nearly 
as functional as HoneyMonkey, but it's similar and a good start. You 
can learn more about Honeyclient and download the latest version at 
Wang's Honeyclient Development Project Web site.
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=11B84:4FB69

If you want to test Honeyclient, the readme file contains the basic 
installation and usage instructions. One thing I learned when testing 
the software (which isn't stated in the readme file) is that the 
directories in the checklist.txt file (which you need to create) are 
completely parsed, including any subdirectories. Another thing I 
noticed is that Honeyclient has a lengthy startup time because it also 
parses the registry HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT tree into a hash so that it can 
later detect any modifications. A word of caution is in order too: Be 
sure to use an isolated test machine or an OS running in a virtual 
machine when testing the tool.

If you know of any other tools similar to these, send me an email 
message with a link or details. 

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==== 2. Security News and Features ====

Recent Security Vulnerabilities
   If you subscribe to this newsletter, you also receive Security 
Alerts, which inform you about recently discovered security 
vulnerabilities. You can also find information about these 
discoveries at
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=11B76:4FB69

Symantec to Acquire Sygate 
   Symantec announced a deal to acquire Sygate Technologies, maker of 
policy compliance solutions. The deal will close shortly after the 
companies receive regulatory approval. Terms of the pending acquisition 
weren't disclosed.
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=11B7E:4FB69

180solutions Sues Seven Former Distributors 
   180solutions filed suit against seven former distributors of its 
search software for allegedly causing the software to be installed on 
people's computers without proper notice and consent. 180solutions 
claims the distributors used botnets to facilitate the software 
installations.
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=11B7D:4FB69

Microsoft Ships Windows 2000 Worm Removal Tool 
   In response to widespread Windows 2000-based worm attacks last week, 
Microsoft updated its Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) to remove 
the worms and updated its statement about the attacks. 
   http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=11B7F:4FB69

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==== 3. Security Toolkit ==== 

Security Matters Blog: Mac OS X Security Update Fixes Dozens of 
Vulnerabilities 
   by Mark Joseph Edwards, http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=11B83:4FB69

Apple released a major security update for Mac OS X. Security Update 
2005-007 fixes dozens of vulnerabilities, including problems in Apache, 
Kerberos, MySQL, OpenSSL, and many other system components. Apple 
pulled the update to correct problems it caused with 64-bit 
applications on the Tiger OS, then reissued it as Security Update 2005-
007 v1.1. If you loaded the initial release on Tiger, be sure to load 
v1.1. 
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FAQ
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==== 4. New and Improved ====
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