SPYWARE

Hardware virtualization technologies play a significant role in cyber security. On the one hand these technologies enhance security levels, by designing a trusted operating system. On the other hand these technologies can be taken up into modern malware which is rather hard to detect. None of the existing methods is able to efficiently detect a hypervisor in the face of countermeasures such as time cheating, temporary self uninstalling, memory hiding etc. New hypervisor detection methods which will be described in this paper can detect a hypervisor under these countermeasures and even count several nested ones. These novel approaches rely on the new statistical analysis of time discrepancies by examination of a set of instructions, which are unconditionally intercepted by a hypervisor. Reliability was achieved through the comprehensive analysis of the collected data despite its fluctuation. These offered methods were comprehensively assessed in both Intel and AMD CPUs.

— This seminar covers a contemporary issue in Computer Security; Spyware and Trojan Horses. These are separate security threats to networked systems, both of which are realized using differing software development techniques. We introduce the concepts of Spyware and Trojan Horses, followed by detailing how each is constructed and installed. We go into depth on their operation, which is revealed with the aid of demonstration software. Following our examples, we present a range of preventions, solutions and cures to each threat posed. We discuss the issues surrounding the user's interaction with such software and conclude by specifying an optimal solution for the avoidance of the threats posed. This seminar is aimed at everyday computer users, Software Engineers and Computer Security professionals. The differing levels of information conveyed will be of use to each of the aforementioned groups. We are confident that each group will receive sufficient information to minimize the risks posed to them by Spyware, Trojan Horses and other affiliated network-based software. Smart phones are increasingly being equipped with operating systems that compare in complexity with those on desktop computers. This trend makes smart phone operating systems vulnerable to many of the same threats as desktop operating systems. In this paper, we focus on the threat posed by smart phone rootkits. Rootkits are malware that stealthily modify operating system code and data to achieve malicious goals, and have long been a problem for desktops. However, the ubiquity of smart phones and the unique interfaces that they expose, such as voice, GPS of rootkits particularly devastating. We conclude the paper by identifying the challenges that need to be addressed to effectively detect rootkits on smart phones.

T There are plenty of security software in market; each claiming the best, still we daily face problem of viruses and other malicious activities. If we know the basic working principal of such malware then we can very easily prevent most of them even without security software. Hackers and crackers are experts in psychology to manipulate people into giving them access or the information necessary to get access. This paper discusses the inner working of such attacks. Case study of Spyware is provided. In this case study, we got 100% success using social engineering techniques for deception on Linux operating system, which is considered as the most secure operating system. Few basic principal of defend, for the individual as well as for the organization, are discussed here, which will prevent most of such attack if followed.

The spread of broadband Internet has resulted in the increase of spyware and adware. This study highlights their damaging effects and proposes a model that captures defensive measures adopted by Internet users. Specifically, our model indicates that knowledge has a positive impact on self-efficacy that, in turn, is presumed to trigger technical defensive measures. Moreover, concerns for privacy and previous experience with spyware and adware are likely to evoke both tactical and technical defense measures. Data collected by the PEW Internet and American Life research project are utilized to test the proposed model and the findings are discussed.

Masalah keamanan system penyedia informasi menjadi salah satu aspek penting dari sebuah sistem informasi. Sayang sekali masalah keamanan ini sering kali kurang mendapat perhatian dari para pemilik dan pengelola sistem informasi. Seringkali masalah keamanan berada di urutan kedua, atau bahkan di urutan terakhir dalam daftar hal-hal yang dianggap penting. Apabila menggangu performansi dari sistem, seringkali keamanan dikurangi atau ditiadakan. Oleh karena itu penulis berharap, makalah in dapat memberikan gambaran dan informasi tentang keamanan sistem informasi sehingga pengamanan dan kemanan system informasi lebih terjamin dan dapat meminimalisir penyalahgunaan informasi.

"Lorsque l’on évoque l’affaire « Pegasus », beaucoup l’associent immédiatement à la surveillance globale par les États de nos faits et gestes, aux actions d’espionnage adverse, mais également au non-respect de la législation en vigueur sur nos données personnelles. Ce logiciel offensif aurait été développé à l’origine, avec pour objectif prioritaire de faciliter la traque des criminels et des terroristes. Et à ce titre, il ne serait vendu qu’aux gouvernements comme l’affirme la société israélienne NSO Group."

A product of the global rise of right-wing populism has been a seeming normalisation of gendered public disinformation, which portrays female public figures as unintelligent, untrustworthy, irrational, and libidinous. Social media has also allowed gendered disinformation to be used in targeted harassment campaigns that seek to intimidate and shame women, reducing their public visibility through psychological violence. Despite this, very few studies on social media involving the Arabic language have explored in detail this phenomenon in the Persian Gulf, despite numerous examples of harassment against women public figures. Since 2017, women journalists critical of regional governments have been subjected to increased attacks online, but none as intense as the attack on Al Jazeera anchor Ghada Oueiss in June 2020. Through keyword analysis, network analysis, and open-source intelligence techniques (OSINT), this paper highlights the intensity and scale of one such attack, identifying the increasing role of malinformation and disinformation in attempting to silence journalists. Such documentation can be useful in demonstrating the volume, velocity, and discursive nature of the attacks threatening women's visibility online. This research also accounts for a potential mechanism of such attacks, which follow a playbook of: 1) leaking information through anonymous accounts, 2) co-opted or loyalist influencers amplifying the attacks, and 3) uncritical local media jumping on the attacks (breakout). From a transformative perspective, it is increasingly important that such attacks are documented, exposed, and analysed to provide evidentiary claims of such abuse. It also highlights the issues of such abuse in authoritarian regimes, who clamp down on online debate, except appear not to do so when the messaging reflects state propaganda.

User activity monitoring (UAM) do the task of monitoring and recording of user actions, in the field of information security or cyber security. Including the use of applications, windows opened, system commands executed, checkboxes clicked, text entered/edited, URLs visited and nearly every everything on-screen event to protect data by ensuring that employees and contractors are performing their assigned tasks and not posing any risk to the organization are all captured and recorded in the system by the UAMS. Video-like playback of user activity and process the videos into user activity logs that keep step-by-step records of user actions that can be searched and analysed is delivered by the User Activity Monitoring System to investigate any out-of-scope activities. Creating a visual record of potentially hazardous user activity are all involved in Visual Forensics. Each user action is logged, and recorded. Once a user session is completed, UAM creates a written record as well as visual record. It can be screen-captures/screenshots or video of exactly what kind of activity a user has done. This written record of our UAMS differs from that of a SIEM or logging tool, because it captures data at a user-level not at a system level-providing plain English logs rather than System Logs (which is originally created for debugging purposes). These textual logs can be used to pair with the corresponding screen-captures/screenshots or video summaries. Using these corresponding logs and images, the visual forensics component of UAM allows for organizations to search for exact user activity in case of a security incident. In the case of a security threat, i.e. a data breach or data leak, visual Forensics are used to show exactly what kind of activity a user has done, and everything leading to the incident. Visual Forensics can also be used to provide evidence to any law enforcement that investigate the intrusion or leak.

Internet surveillance has become a crucial issue for journalism. The “Snowden moment” has shed light on the risks that journalists and their sources face while communicating online and has shown how journalists themselves can be targets of surveillance operations or other forms of malicious digital attacks from different actors. More recent revelations, such as those coming from the “Pegasus Project”, have underlined even more dangerous threats posed to the safety of journalists, increasingly targeted with spyware technology. Due to the sensitivity of their work and sources and given their strong “watchdog” role in democracies, investigative reporters are in a particularly dangerous position when it comes to the potential chilling effects of surveillance on their work of journalists. This paper analyzes investigative journalists’ views and self-reflections on the impacts of Internet surveillance on their work by means of in-depth qualitative interviews with reporters affiliated with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and working in Italy, Germany, Hungary, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK. The paper touches on different angles of the Internet surveillance issue by analyzing journalists’ concerns about national and international surveillance players and the overall impact of surveillance on news work.

International journal on applications of graph theory in wireless ad hoc networks and sensor networks (ABSTRACT T There are plenty of security software in market; each claiming the best, still we daily face problem of viruses and other malicious activities. If we know the basic working principal of such malware then we can very easily prevent most of them even without security software. Hackers and crackers are experts in psychology to manipulate people into giving them access or the information necessary to get access. This paper discusses the inner working of such attacks. Case study of Spyware is provided. In this case study, we got 100% success using social engineering techniques for deception on Linux operating system, which is considered as the most secure operating system. Few basic principal of defend, for the individual as well as for the organization, are discussed here, which will prevent most of such attack if followed.

Technologies play crucial roles in security politics. In a recent push to understand the dynamic interplay between technologies and politics, IR scholars increasingly draw on reflexive research traditions. The aim is to understand the social and political practices that influence the shape, design and use of security technologies instead of assuming that technologies have linear, independent effects on politics. This SPSR debate draws on this new perspective and applies it to topics salient in Swiss public debate. Its contributions analyze how cybersecurity, predictive policing, drones, artificial intelligence, targeted sanctions, urban design and spyware are deliberated, negotiated, programmed and critiqued in Switzerland. They chart different analytical avenues with which to address the recursive and non-linear relationship between security politics and technologies, and, by familiarizing readers with the tenets and diversity of reflexive political science research, seek to give that longstanding scholarly research tradition better visibility in the Swiss political science community.

Technologien spielen in der Sicherheitspolitik eine entscheidende Rolle. Um das Zusammenspiel von Technologie und Politik besser zu verstehen, greift die IB-Forschung zunehmend auf reflexive Forschungsansätze zurück. Ziel ist es dabei, die sozialen und politischen Faktoren und Praktiken zu verstehen, die Einfluss auf die Form, das Design und den Einsatz von Sicherheitstechnologien haben, anstatt davon auszugehen, dass Technologien lineare, unabhängige Auswirkungen auf die Politik haben. Diese SPSR-Debatte wendet diese neue Perspektive auf Themen an, die heute im öffentlichen Diskurs der Schweiz eine wichtige Rolle spielen. Ihre sieben Beiträge analysieren, wie Cybersicherheit, Predictive Policing, Drohnen, künstliche Intelligenz, Sanktionen, Städtebau und Spyware in der Schweiz diskutiert, verhandelt, programmiert und kritisiert werden. Sie zeigen verschiedene analytische Wege auf, um die rekursive und nichtlineare Beziehung zwischen Sicherheitspolitik und -technologien greifbar zu machen, und macht der Schweizer Politikwissenschaft die Grundsätze und die Vielfalt der reflexiven politikwissenschaftlichen Forschung besser vertraut.

Les technologies jouent un rôle primordial dans la politique de sécurité. Pour mieux comprendre l’interaction dynamique entre technologie et politique, la recherche en Relations Internationales s’appuie de plus en plus sur les traditions réflexives de recherche politique. Son objectif est de mieux comprendre les pratiques sociales et politiques qui influencent la forme, la conception et l’utilisation des technologies de sécurité, au lieu de supposer que les technologies ont des effets linéaires et indépendants sur la politique. Ce débat applique cette nouvelle perspective à des sujets fortement discutés en Suisse. Sept contributions analysent comment la cybersécurité, la police prédictive, les drones, l’intelligence artificielle, les sanctions, l’urbanisme et la spyware sont délibérés, négociés, programmés et critiqués en Suisse. Elles tracent des voies analytiques permettant d’aborder les relations entre politique et technologie et donnent une meilleure visibilité aux traditions de recherche réflexive au sein de la communauté suisse des sciences politiques.

The paper summarizes the research the author conducted under the individually targetable mass surveillance systems of the P. R. China dictatorial regime with cyber sovereignty claims. In the complexities of cyber security and mass surveillance, the author adopted natural epistemology in counteracting dictatorial power influences for the resilience for democratic formation and for scientific research security from being utilized by autocratic power ambitions. The research generated some qualitative aspects of evidence and analysis on the dictatorial and autocratic power imposition via market incrementalism that impacts on international relations. The document also serves as a supplement to the author's astronomical researches. Even though the astronomical researches primarily served for the author's mental and psychological health, the a posteriori confirmation and analysis with empirical researches in white hole and black hole gradually becomes of the author's scientific priority. Both the astronomical and social science researches suggest, even with the growing emphasis on data in the STEM and social sciences, without proper values and scientific rigor, the growing popularity in big data may risk of a bubble economy in modern science.

L’evoluzione delle tecnologie, con la relativa diffusione delle piattaforme digitali, ha certamente apportato molteplici benefici alla nostra società e potremmo definirla come la terza rivoluzione industriale, quella digitale appunto. Non possiamo trascurare, però, i relativi rischi, che minacciano la nostra sicurezza, tanto quella privata quanto quella collettiva. La nostra privacy, inoltre, è quasi scomparsa, un processo favorito dalla messa in rete (spesso volontaria) delle proprie informazioni sensibili sui social media.

“Warning, your computer is infected with spyware. Windows needs to download and install the anti-spyware updates to remedy this issue. Click OK to begin.” This is just one example of many popup warnings that spyware and malware creators use to try to mislead unsuspecting Internet users into downloading potentially harmful software. Falling prey to an illegitimate message could produce negative consequences that vary from bothersome computer performance to complete system failure. The purpose of this study was to determine which visual design cues, if any, would alert people to the illegitimacy of fake popup warning windows while browsing the Internet. Results indicated that most people did not behave in a cautious manner upon presentation of three different fake popup warning windows. Implications of the research are discussed.

The threat profile of spyware is increasing rapidly when we consider the pervasiveness of computing in everyday life. The surreptitious nature of spyware can lead to information mining, data theft and exploitation of stolen data. This article aims to explore the relationship between trust in the Internet and neglecting risks in downloading and installing free potentially spyware-infected software. This study found that trust can be viewed as an indirect function of ignorance and overconfidence through the mechanism of the calculated probability of risk. An enhanced model of trust, based on Li and Betts’ trust model has been proposed with two additional vectors. The inference drawn from the study is that in most users’ minds, the calculated or perceived risk is substantially less than the anticipated benefit of the software. The analysis shows that users trust the Internet when it comes to downloading and installing potentially spyware-infected software, although such nonchalant trust appears to be based on ignorance and over-confidence.

—Internet security threats have grown from just simple viruses to various forms of computer hacking, scams, impersonation, cyber bullying, and spyware. The Internet has great influence on most people. It has profound influence and one can spend endless hours on internet activities. In particular, youth engage in more online activities than any other age group. Excessive internet usage is an emerging threat that has negative impacts on these youth; hence it is vital to investigate youths' online behavior. This work studies tertiary students' risk awareness, and provides some findings that allow us to understand their knowledge on risks and their behavior towards online activities. It reveals several important online issues amongst tertiary students; Firstly, the lack of online security awareness; second, a lack of awareness and information about the dangers of rootkits, internet cookies and spyware; thirdly, female students are more unflinching than male students when commenting on social networking sites; fourthly, students are cautious only when obvious security warnings are present; and finally, their usage of internet hotspots is common without fully understanding its associated danger. These findings enable us to recommend types of internet security habits and safety practices that students should adopt in future when they are exposed to online activities. A more holistic approach was considered which aims to minimize any future risks and dangers with online activities involving students.

Has someone been sending spam or viruses over eMail with your identity?  With identity theft scams of any type, once the forger has your information it's very difficult to do much until they're either caught [by authorities], or their resources are cut off, or they choose to move on to forging someone else's identity.

El domingo 18 de julio, Amnistía Internacional y la plataforma Forbidden Stories, con la colaboración de varios medios informativos, dieron a conocer que algunos de los clientes del programa Pegasus emplearon ese spyware para interceptar comunicaciones de periodistas, activistas y opositores políticos.

La firma NSO, de origen israelí, sostiene que Pegasus, el spyware que desarrolla, responde al propósito de que “los gobiernos autorizados cuenten con una tecnología que efectivamente les ayude a combatir el terrorismo y el crimen”.

Human actions like selecting incorrect password, entering the password in an insecure way it will leads to weakest link in authentication. Due to the weakest link, an attacker can damage the hardware, software or theft the information. So our aim is to provide the smart way to authenticate the user's bank account. Authentication based password is used in computer security or IT security. Instead of using the alphanumeric as a password, rather than the user can selects the password as a image. With mobile application the user can expose the shoulder surfing attack. Attackers can observe the passwords via shoulder, spyware. To overcome the problem, an authentication system Pass Matrix is proposed based on graphical passwords to resist shoulder surfing attack. With a one-time valid login indicator and navigation buttons covering the entire scope of pass-image, pass matrix does not offer any hint or figure even they conduct camera-based attacks. As a result, the proposed system achieves the better resistance to shoulder surfing attacks.

GRAPH-HOC is a quarterly open access peer-reviewed journal focuses on the applications of graph theory in different areas of wireless ad hoc networks such as Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs), Vehicular Ad hoc Networks (VANETs) and sensor networks. Graph theoretic concepts are applied in several fundamental issues such as connectivity, data gathering, routing, mobility, energy efficiency and topology control. Papers submitted for the Journal should focus on a problem that is of both theoretical as well as practical interest in the area of ad hoc networks and sensor networks. This journal will thus provide a platform for researchers from both theoretical and practical domains of ad hoc networks to meet and exchange their ideas.

Zwischen Tier und Mensch haben sich im Laufe der Zeit viele
ungewtihnliche Symbiosen und Antibiosen ergeben. Vom
Nutztier zur Leibspeise, vom besten Freund zum gefUrchteten Feind. Der amerikanische Geheimdienst CIA begann ein Projekt mit dem
Titei ,,Acoustic Kitty". Hierbei sollte eine Katze Gesprache mit- undabhtiren, indem sie sich z. B. im WeiBen Haus an Staatsgaste ankuschelt
oder einfach nur ihre Nahe sucht. Niemand verdachtigt
solch ein kuscheliges und harmlos wirkendes Wesen ein Spion zu
sein. Es soli sogar Ambitionen gegeben haben, die ,,Acoustic Kitty"
dazu einzusetzen den eigenen Prasidenten im Wei Ben Haus abzuhtiren.
Diese Katze wurde vorher prapariert. Dabei wurde ihr operativ
der Riicken bis an den Nacken getiffnet, und dort ein Antennenkabel
platziert. Ein Mikrofon wurde in den Ohrkanal implantiert. Vorne in
der Brust wurden eine Batterie und ein Sender implantiert, urn die
aufgenommen Daten zu iibermitteln. Die Abbildung zeigt die verschiedenen
lmplantate und ihre Position. Dieses Projekt kostete die
zustandigen Behtirden unglaubliche 15 Millionen Dollar.

It's now indisputable fact that governments in the Middle East are using spyware to spot political activists rather than terrorists or criminals. I wrote many articles about this phenomenon since the revelation of WikiLeaks SpyFiles. But the latest discovery should make us think twice about cybersecurity in the region.

Identity theft is an attractive activity for cyber-criminals. Every day, many people are victim of one of the many cyber-traps resulting in millions of dollars lost. People victim of these crimes suffer terrible consequences trying to clear their names. Hundreds or even thousands of dollars as well as time and energy could be spent in dealing with credit reporting bureaus, financial institutions, law enforcement and other sources to recover from this crime. In this paper, some of the most recent strategies and tools developed to defend against these type of attacks are also discussed. Among the most important tools are Spoofguard, PwdHash, and SafeCache developed at Stanford University. In addition, WebWallet and Security Toolbars implemented at MIT are also described.

The primary goal of computer security is to defend computers against attacks launched by malicious users. There are a number of ways in which researchers and developers can work to protect the network they use; one class of these tools are honeypots. A honeypot is a computer which has been configured to some extent to seem normal to an attacker, but actually logs and observes what the attacker does. Here in this paper I am presenting the integrated honeypot that can generate attack signatures against the Zero Day Attack, SSH Attack, Keylogger-Spyware Attack. During this assessment it was shown that honeypot is a very effective tool in gathering vital information about the above mentioned attacks. The prevention of these attacks are necessary. In this paper I propose an architecture for detecting and preventing the different behaviors of network attacks.

Spyware evidence is playing a decisive role in court cases. Recently, Delhi high court has admitted evidence collected through spyware illegally installed by the husband in his wife mobile. Gone are the days when you have to steal the data by physically accessing the device, Now, spyware has enabled stealing data remotely and covertly with minimal chances of detection and the prosecution. Further the privacy has become paramount due to capturing of personal sensitive data by multiple devices / applications used by an individual. In such scenarios, the exposure to spyware can be fatal in terms of espionage or data loss whether it may be personal and professional confidential data and financial data or monetary loss. Investigation agencies, hackers, and parties in the litigation are using spyware to collect the digital evidence which may be game changer particularly in the cases of husband-wife disputes where spywares are being used to collect evidence of adultery, cruelty or financial data which can be used in the cases of divorce, 498A and dowry cases.

Let us ask a counter-intuitive question: what if instead of (only) hacking the internet sites of Mastercard, Paypal and Visa, our ‘Anonymous’ hackers had (instead) attempted to connect with the rank and file employees of the company to go on strike or at least voice their concerns, perhaps issue a collective statement deploring the action of their company?

It is possible to transfer gigabits of data with near perfect secrecy using the BitTorrent Protocols and BitTorrent Objects
providing one concatenates them together in a way to provide essentially concatenated encryption (as single step
encryption does not fully hide predictable plaintexts).

However, each BitTorrent object must be partially washed of its original value at the nibble (or byte) level, so as to
create meaningful intermediate cyphertext.

It is best that all of this be done by reprogramming (by command) LibTorrent, but with a separate function library
called say RotorSecure_LibTorrent.

At least initially this circumvented library should have 2 operating modes : Outbound Server or Inbound Server. The
roles should be changeable by a CAPCHA interface for secure reverse messaging. Some efforts must be made to hide
this encryption function library, but nothing too difficult to debug.

To hide a secret in the open, a public domain open source version of this technology should be available on the open
internet.

Branch code versions (for say individual Intelligence Agency use) should be maintained separately.

The outbound transmission (including any keying state negotiations, inbound or outbound) should appear as perfectly
bland and ordinary BitTorrent encrypted file transfers of no special importance.

Abstract—Text-based password schemes have inherent security
and usability problems, leading to the development of graphical
password schemes. However, most of these alternate schemes are
vulnerable to spyware attacks. We propose a new scheme, using
CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing tests to tell
Computers and Humans Apart) that retaining the advantages of
graphical password schemes, while simultaneously raising the
cost of adversaries by orders of magnitude. Furthermore, some
primary experiments are conducted and the results indicate that
the usability should be improved in the future work.