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Wednesday, August 20, 2014

PMLN vs PTI

Dear Readers,
          I want to just know your views about the current clash between the two political parties of Pakistan.

All friends tell me who is on right?

Should PM Nawaz Sharif Resigns?

Inqlaab March?

Azadi March?

Thursday, January 17, 2013

`Race 2` Release in over 50 countries

Abbas-Mustan`s Race 2 is set to release in more than 50 countries, including Morocco and Vietnam. 


"We have planned a massive international release for `Race 2`. After many years, a Hindi movie will see a simultaneous release in Morocco in four to five screens, including theatres in Casablanca and Marrakech," said Amrita Pandey, executive director, Syndication, International Distribution and Disney Media Distribution, Studios, Disney UTV.

"Newer territories like Myanmar, East Timor, Maldives and Vietnam (with as many as seven screens) are also in our release plan. There is very high anticipation and for this sequel from the `Race` franchise, and we are excited!" Pandey added in a statement.

Co-produced by UTV Motion Pictures and TIPS Industries, ‘Race 2’ is the sequel to 2008 film ‘Race’. The film features Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Jacqueline Fernandez and Ameesha Patel in prominent roles.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

'Red October' malware spies on governments worldwide



It might have taken five years to discover, but a government-snooping spying campaign dubbed Red October has been exposed by Kaspersky Lab.



Kaspersky Lab has discovered yet another worldwide spying campaign that targets governmental bodies, political groups and research institutions.
On par with the memorable Flame malware, Kaspersky and a number of Cyber Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) discovered the malware -- known as Rocra or Red October -- which mostly targets institutions based in Eastern Europe, former USSR members and countries in Central Asia.
Kaspersky says that Red October has been gathering data and intelligence from "mobile devices, computer systems and network equipment" and is currently still active. Data is gathered and sent to multiple command-and-control servers which the security firm says rivals the complex nature of Flame.
The malware is sent via a spear-phishing email which, according to the firm, targets carefully-selected victims with an organization. Containing at least three different exploits in Microsoft Excel and Word, the infected files, once downloaded, drops a trojan on to the machine which then scans the local network to detect if any other devices are vulnerable to the same security flaw.
By dropping modules that can complete a number of "tasks," usually as .dll libraries, an infected machine obeys commands sent by the command center and then immediately discards the evidence. Separated in to "persistent" and "one-time" tasks, the malware is able to spy and steal in a number of ways, including:
  • Waiting for a Microsoft Office or PDF document and executing a malicious payload embedded in that document;
  • Creating one-way covert channels of communication,
  • Recording keystrokes, making screenshots,
  • Retrieve e-mail messages and attachments;
  • Collect general software and hardware environment information,
  • Extracting browsing history from Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, and saving passwords,
  • Extracting Windows account hashes;
  • Extract Outlook account information,
  • Performing network scans, dump configuration data from Cisco devices if available.
Some .exe tasks remain on the system while waiting for the correct environment, for example, waiting for a phone to connect. Microsoft's Windows Phone, the iPhone and Nokia models are all said to be vulnerable.
Designed to steal encrypted files and even those that have been deleted from a victim's computer, the malware -- named as a hat-tip to the novel "The Hunt for Red October" -- has several key features which suggests it may be state-sponsored, although there is no official word on this yet.
Among the features, there is a "resurrection module" within the malware which keeps the infection hidden, disguised as a plugin for a program such as Microsoft Office, which can then reincarnate the infection after removal.
In addition, Red October does not simply focus on standard machines, but is also able to infect and steal data from mobile devices, hijacking information from external storage drives, accessing FTP servers and thieving information from email databases.
In order to control the network of infection, Kaspersky says that over 60 domain names and several different servers, hosted in various countries, are employed. In order to keep the main command center secret, the C&C infrastructure works as a huge network of proxies.
Kaspersky believes that the cyberattackers have been active for a minimum of five years, based on domain name registration dates and PE timestamps, and the firm "strongly believes" that the origins of the malware are Russian.
This high-profile network may suggest that state sponsorship could be involved. As Kaspersky Labs notes:
The information stolen by the attackers is obviously of the highest level and includes geopolitical data which can be used by nation states. Such information could be traded in the underground and sold to the highest bidder, which can be of course, anywhere.
Any information harvested, including stolen credentials or confidential data, is stored for later use. For example, if an attacker needs to guess a password in another location, it is possible that harvested data could provide clues -- creating an espionage network full of intelligence that hackers can refer to in need. After at least five years of activity, the Russian security firm believes that at least 5 terabytes of confidential information could have been stolen.
"During the past five years, the attackers collected information from hundreds of high profile victims although it's unknown how the information was used. It is possible that the information was sold on the black market, or used directly," Kaspersky said.
The majority of infections are based in Russia, although Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, the U.S. and Italy have all reported cases. The exploits appear to have Chinese origins, whereas the malware modules may have a Russian background.
Red October was first brought to Kaspersky's attention in October 2012 after a tip of of an anonymous source. A full report on the spying campaign is due to be published this week.

روسی محقیقین نے سائبر حملے کے ایک ا یسے بڑے پروگرام کا پتہ چلایا ہے، جس کے بارے میں باور کیا جا رہا ہے کہ وہ سنہ دو ہزار سے خفیہ فائلیں چرا رہا تھا۔
کیسپرسکی ریسرچ لیبارٹری نے بی بی سی کو بتایا ہے کہ سائبر حملے کا یہ پروگرام خصوصی طور پر سفارت خانوں، جوہری تحقیقاتی اداروں، گیس اور تیل کے اداروں کی خفیہ معلومات حاصل کرنے کے لیے ڈیزائن کیا گیا تھا۔
ماہرین کے مطابق یہ بہت ہی حساس قسم کا سائبر حملہ تھا جس کا مقصد خفیہ معلومات کی فائیلیں چرانا تھا، یہاں تک کہ وہ ایسی فائلیں بھی نکا ل لیتا تھا جنھیں ڈیلیٹ کیا جاچکا ہو۔
اس بارے میں سرے یونیورسٹی کے ایک پروفیسر ایلن ووڈ ورڈ کا کہنا ہے کہ حملہ آور پروگرام کی ڈایزائینگ اس طرح سے کی گئی تھی کہ یہ کمپیوٹر میں موجود تمام پروگراموں کی فائیلوں میں داخل ہو سکتا تھا، چاہے وہ فائل ورلڈ پر وگرام میں ہو، پی ڈی ایف فائل ہو، یا کمپیوٹر کے کسی اور خانے میں رکھی ہو۔
کیسپرسکی ریسرچ لیبارٹری کے ایک بیان کہا گیا ہے کہ سائبر حملے کا اصل ہدف مشرقی یورپ کے ملک اور سابق سوویت یونین کی وسطی ایشا کی ریاستیں تھیں، تاہم کسی اور ملک کی خفیہ فائلوں کے بارے میں بھی کچھ نہیں کہا جا سکتا کیونکہ اس کی رسائی مغربی یورپی ممالک اور شمالی امریکہ تک تھی۔
کمپنی کے چیف کا لوک نے بتایا کہ اس حملے کا ا نکشاف گزشتہ برس اکتوبر میں ہوا تھا اُسی مناسبت سے اس سائبر پروگرام کو’ریڈ اکتوبر‘ کا نام دیا گیا ہےآ اُن کا کہنا تھا کہ جیسے ہی ہمیں پتہ چلا ہمیں فوراً ہی اندازہ ہوگیا کہ یہ حملہ بہت بڑے پیمانے پر کیا جا رہا ہے جس میں کچھ بڑی بڑی تنظیموں کی اہم خفیہ معلومات حاصل کی جا رہی ہے۔
اس کا مقصد ملک گیر سیاسی نوعیت کی انٹیلیجنس، کلاسیفائید کمپیوٹر نظام اور نجی ٹیلی فونز میں موجود ڈیٹا حاصل کرنا تھا۔
جاسوس سائبر پروگرام کی جزیات کے بارے میں کالوک کا کہنا تھا کہ یہ اس قدر حساس نوعیت کا پروگرام ہے کہ یہ یو ایس بی میں سے وہ فائلیں بھی پڑھ لیتا ہے جو ڈیلیٹ کی جا چکی ہوتی ہیں، مگر جیسے کسی کمپوٹر میں یو ایس بی لگائی جاتی ہے یہ پروگرام ان فائیلوں کو واپس لانے کی کوشش کرتا ہے۔
اس پروگرام کی سب سے بڑی خصوصیت یہ ہے کہ یہ خود کو چھپا لینے کی صلاحیت بھی رکھتا ہے۔ پروفیسر ایلن ووڈ ورڈ کہتے ہیں’ کمپیوٹر کو اگر اس پروگرام کے بارے میں پتہ چل جائے تو یہ فوراً چھپایا یا غائب کیا جا سکتا ہے اور جب کمپیوٹر یہ سمجھے کہ اب خطرہ ٹل گیا ہے تو فوراً ایک عدد ای میل بھیج کر پروگرام کو واپس بلا لیں اور کام پھر سے شروع کر لیں۔