Blog Elements

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

MIRcon 2013 – New Keynote Speakers Announced

2013-10-10/0 Comments/in Conference/by SecurityOrb_Staff

Less Than One Month Until MIRcon 2013!
We’ve been busy making sure that this year’s conference is the best one yet and look forward to welcoming you to MIRcon 2013 in just a few weeks. Here’s some information on the latest additions to the agenda and a few tips to make sure that you get the most out of the conference.

Blackhole Suspect Arrested in Russia

2013-10-10/0 Comments/in General Security/by SecurityOrb_Staff

Russian authorities have arrested a man believed to be responsible for distributing a notorious software kit known as “Blackhole” that is widely used by cybercriminals to infect PCs, according to a person familiar with the situation.

MIRcon 2013 – New Keynote Speakers Announced

2013-10-10/0 Comments/in Conference/by SecurityOrb_Staff

Blackhole Suspect Arrested in Russia

2013-10-10/0 Comments/in General Security/by SecurityOrb_Staff

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

MIRcon 2013 – New Keynote Speakers Announced

2013-10-10/0 Comments/in Conference/by SecurityOrb_Staff

Location: JW Marriott Hotel, 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20004
Date: November 5 & 6, 2013

Less Than One Month Until MIRcon 2013!
We’ve been busy making sure that this year’s conference is the best one yet and look forward to welcoming you to MIRcon 2013 in just a few weeks. Here’s some information on the latest additions to the agenda and a few tips to make sure that you get the most out of the conference.

Former FBI Director, Robert Mueller to Deliver Keynote: Robert Mueller began his tenure as Director of the FBI in the week preceding the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and served in the role for more than a decade until he stepped down in September. His address to MIRcon attendees will cover “The Growing Cyber Security Threat”.
General Michael V. Hayden to Deliver Keynote: Michael Hayden, formerly served as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA). His keynote will include a range of issues in cybersecurity, from the current threat landscape to promising developments in technology and policy.
New Training Classes Added: Looking to expand your skills? Register for our Hunting With MIR or Enterprise Incident Response training classes, which take place on November 7th & 8th.

Session Highlights
In addition to presentations by Mandiant, we’ve got two tracks featuring experts and practitioners from Lockheed Martin, GE, ITT Exelis and many other organizations. For an overview of the Technical Track and the Management Track watch interviews with the track chairs.

Technical Track Overview

Management Track Overview

Download the MIRcon 2013 Mobile App
We’ve added a new smartphone app to help you plan your agenda and keep up with everything at the conference once you are on site. You can find it in the iTunes App Store and the Android Market.

Do you have friends or colleagues who haven’t registered yet? Advanced Registration ends in 1 week. Make sure register by October 15th to secure their spot at MIRcon at the Advanced Registration Rate of only $665.

Still Need a Hotel Room?
If you haven’t booked a hotel room at the JW Marriott you can still book online and receive the conference rate until October 14th.

Do you have colleagues coming? Register three attendees and receive one free registration.

Blackhole Suspect Arrested in Russia

2013-10-10/0 Comments/in General Security/by SecurityOrb_Staff

Jim Finkle and Joseph Menn Reuters

A former Russian police detective in contact with Russia’s federal government told Reuters that the suspect, who is known in hacking circles as “Paunch,” had been arrested. He provided no details.

Blackhole is a piece of malicious software that hackers install on Web servers that then automatically infect personal computers when users visit a tainted site.

It contains an arsenal of tools for attacking PCs, each of which leverage vulnerabilities in computers. It probes potential victims looking for a way in, then attacks when it finds a weakness.

Once they are in, cyber criminals typically install other, more specialized programs on the computers of their victims. They include tools for engaging in identity theft and selling fake anti-virus software.

Security experts say that Blackhole’s developers regularly update the product so that customers can exploit the newest vulnerabilities uncovered in PCs. The ones most widely exploited include Microsoft’s Windows and Internet Explorer, Adobe Systems’ Reader and Flash, and Oracle’s Java software.

Officials in Russia could not immediately be reached for comment on the arrest.

A spokesman for Europol in the Hague said that the European crime-fighting agency “had been informed that a high-level suspected cybercriminal” was arrested in Russia. He declined to elaborate.

Russian cybercriminals who confine themselves to attacking targets in other countries are rarely arrested, so the capture of Paunch was cause for some celebration among security researchers.

Not all of those arrested are ultimately convicted, however, and even some convicted of stealing millions of dollars have been released on probation.

Russia has one of the largest pools of talented hackers and an advanced underground economy that unites customers and programmers with those who control networks of compromised computers and can install new malicious programs at will.

( Additional reporting by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)