Security: PDFs, McAfee, Windows and IPFire on AWS
-
Even PDF s can contain JavaScript macros! Why? Adobe Why? – how to disable JavaScript in PDF files
90% of companies DO NOT NEED JavaScript or macros to run in PDF
-
Rendering McAfee web protection ineffective
Now that I’m done with Kaspersky, it’s time to look at some other antivirus software. Our guest today is McAfee Total Protection 16.0. Let’s say this up front: it’s nowhere near the mess we’ve seen with Kaspersky. It doesn’t break up your encrypted connections, and the web protection component is limited to the McAfee WebAdvisor browser extension. So the attack surface is quite manageable here. The extension also uses native messaging to communicate with the application, so we won’t see websites taking over this communication channel.
Of course, browser extensions claiming to protect you from online threats have some rather big shoes to fill. They have to be better than the browser’s built-in malware and phishing protection, not an easy task. In fact, McAfee WebAdvisor “blocks” malicious websites after they already started loading, this being not quite optimal but rather typical for this kind of extension. I also found three issues in the way McAfee WebAdvisor 6.0 was implemented which made its protection far less reliable than it should be.
[...]
A bug in the way McAfee WebAdvisor deals with malicious frames made it trivial for websites to avoid blocking. Also, I found ways for websites to unblock content programmatically, both for top-level and frame-level blocking.
In fact, the way unblocking top-level content was implemented, it allowed arbitrary websites to open special pages. Browsers normally prevent websites from opening these pages to avoid phishing attacks or exploitation of potential security vulnerabilities in browser extensions. McAfee WebAdvisor allowed websites to circumvent this security mechanism.
-
A Window into Malicious Advertising - 61% of malvertising targets Windows devices
Bad ad campaigns are targeting Windows more often than any other operating system. But should we be surprised? Let's first define a bad ad campaign.
A bad ad campaign is merely a series of online ads linked to a common threat set, designed to have a malicious effect on the end-user. These campaigns are designed to redirect the user to malicious sites or to trick the user into downloading a piece of malware. Now we are ready to look at the data. Let's dive in!
The below chart shows all of the new, uniquely defined bad ad campaigns DEVCON observed from July 11 - November 22, 2019.
-
61% of malicious ads target Windows users
Most malvertising campaigns (malicious ads) target Windows users, according to statistics shared last week by cyber-security firm Devcon.
-
IPFire on AWS: Update to IPFire 2.23 - Core Update 138
We are very happy that from week to week, we are gaining more customers for IPFire in the cloud - where you now can manage your network just as you do it in your own data centre.
In contrast to Amazon’s own features, IPFire is easier to manage, performs just as well, but brings you even more features like standard IPsec VPNs, OpenVPN for on-the-road connectivity to the cloud, Intrusion Prevention for your cloud servers, detailed logging and reporting and many more features.
- Login or register to post comments
- Printer-friendly version
- 1980 reads
- PDF version
More in Tux Machines
- Highlights
- Front Page
- Latest Headlines
- Archive
- Recent comments
- All-Time Popular Stories
- Hot Topics
- New Members
digiKam 7.7.0 is releasedAfter three months of active maintenance and another bug triage, the digiKam team is proud to present version 7.7.0 of its open source digital photo manager. See below the list of most important features coming with this release. |
Dilution and Misuse of the "Linux" Brand
|
Samsung, Red Hat to Work on Linux Drivers for Future TechThe metaverse is expected to uproot system design as we know it, and Samsung is one of many hardware vendors re-imagining data center infrastructure in preparation for a parallel 3D world. Samsung is working on new memory technologies that provide faster bandwidth inside hardware for data to travel between CPUs, storage and other computing resources. The company also announced it was partnering with Red Hat to ensure these technologies have Linux compatibility. |
today's howtos
|
Recent comments
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago
1 year 11 weeks ago