http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22093899-5013044,00.html By Jim Finkle Boston July 18, 2007 HACKERS have stolen information from the US Department of Transportation and several corporations by seducing employees with fake job-listings on ads and email, a computer security firm says. The list of victims included several companies known for providing security services to government agencies. They include consulting firm Booz Allen and computer services company Unisys, chief executive of British Internet security provider Prevx Mel Morris said. Hewlett-Packard declined comment, while officials with other companies couldn't be reached for comment. A Department of Transportation spokeswoman said the agency couldn't find any indication of a security breach. Malicious programs were able to pass sophisticated security systems undetected because that software hadn't been instructed that they were dangerous. Hackers only targeted a limited group of personal computers, which kept traffic down and allowed them to stay under the radar of security police who tend to identify threats when activity reaches a certain level. "What is most worrying is that this particular sample of malware wasn't recognised by existing antivirus software. It was able to slip through enterprise defences," said Yankee Group security analyst Andrew Jaquith, who learned of the breach from Mr Morris. It was not clear whether the hackers used information stolen from the personal computers, Mr Morris said. Internet security firms began to release patches to fight the malicious software on Monday night. Trend Micro, for example, sent its customers software that prevented the malware from being installed on computers. The software also blocks browsers from going to websites that the company has identified as being infected with the dangerous programs, company spokesman Mike Haro said. "This is a serious threat. It shows how sophisticated hackers have become," Mr Haro said. A piece of software, NTOS.exe, probes the PC for confidential data, then sends it to a website hosted on Yahoo. The site's owner was likely to be unaware that it was being used by hackers, Mr Morris said. That website hosts data that had been stolen from more than 1,000 PCs and encrypted before it was posted on the site, Mr Morris said. He said he believed the hackers had set up several "sister" websites that were collecting similar data from other malware. Officials with Yahoo were not available for comment. Mr Morris said that he had downloaded the data from the website and decrypted it at the request of investigators from the FBI's Law Enforcement Online, or LEO, program, who were looking into the matter. An FBI spokesman declined comment, saying it was agency policy to neither confirm nor deny whether an investigation was ongoing. _____________________________________________________ Attend Black Hat USA, July 28-August 2 in Las Vegas, the world's premier technical event for ICT security experts. Featuring 30 hands-on training courses and 90 Briefings presentations with lots of new content and new tools. Network with 4,000 delegates from 70 nations. Visit product displays by 30 top sponsors in a relaxed setting. Rates increase on June 1 so register today. http://www.blackhat.com
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