Network Management

Android: Malware Infestations for 2013

2013 Ending
Rounding out the 2013 Year with More Android Virus and Malware issues.

• 2013年12月17日 - Android and SMS Text Messages to China
  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/12/17/android_botnet/

• 2013年12月17日 - Android Anti-Virus Unable to Kill Malware
  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/12/17/android_anti_malware/

Somehow, this is no surprise.

2013 Investigation
A previous Network Management article discussing Android Malware from 2013 - not a pleasant place to be. Nearly a new Android exploit was uncovered every 2 weeks.

2013 Conclusions
A recent article in The Register mentions the dangers of Java and Android (which is based upon a Java port) on network clients:

Meanwhile, fully 99 per cent of all mobile malware discovered during the year targeted Android, as did 71 per cent of all web-based attacks on mobile devices.

Android mobile devices are less expensive than the alternative - but there is clearly a price to be paid.

Posted by David at 2:51 PM No comments:

Labels: Android, Linux, Malware, SMS, Trojan, Virus, WORM

A short note about default behavior within EMC Smarts Watch4Net APG

How to delete a device in Watch4Net.

With default settings, APG will delete a device (or one of its component) and its history if it’s not updated for 1 full year. However, for some reason, you may want to manually override this behavior without changing the automated configuration. APG provides a tool that allows you to delete data from the database. It’s only available to administrative users, in the “Administration” pane and it’s called “Management of APG Metrics”. To use this tool, you have to:
• Set a filter to select the data to delete
• Type in the maximum number of results
• Check whether or not the last timestamp is displayed
• Select the properties to show
• Then, click the “Query” button
• Results will appear in the box below
• Last, just click the “Delete” button to delete all these data from APG

Posted by David at 2:37 PM 1 comment:

Labels: APG, EMC, SMARTS, Watch4Net

Why do people want to hack your server? Maybe it is to mine BITCOINS!
http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/12/anatomy-of-a-hack-what-a-successful-exploit-of-a-linux-server-looks-like/

Like most mainstream operating systems these days, fully patched installations of Linux provide a level of security that requires a fair amount of malicious hacking to overcome. Those assurances can be completely undone by a single unpatched application, as Andre' DiMino has demonstrated when he documented an Ubuntu machine in his lab being converted into a Bitcoin-mining, denial-of-service-spewing, vulnerability-exploiting hostage under the control of attackers.

Posted by David at 2:00 PM No comments:

Labels: bitcoins, Linux, Malware, Security, Virus

  Google maybe thinking about making their own ARM central processing units
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/12/report-google-contemplates-homemade-arm-chips-to-power-its-servers/

We've already seen consumer technology companies like Apple and Samsung become more vertically integrated in the last few years—Apple designs its own phones and tablets, the chips that go in them, and the architecture that goes into the chips, for example. Just as Apple's software benefits from tight integration with Apple's hardware, Google is reportedly eyeing chip design as a way to "better manage the interactions between hardware and software."

Of course, Sun (and now Oracle), have seen a similar benefit with SPARC, over the years. Sun Microsystems was able to drive volume in their market, but as manufacturing costs rose, the market needed to grow accordingly. The UNIX market had found ways to differentiate themselves from the consumer market, but that market shrank as the consumer market canibalized it. There needs to be a large enough market to make the investment profitable in this high-cost and high-risk arena.


Google is large enough, to make such an investment profitable, and they have a large enough investment in ARM hardware software with the Mobile consumer market. This does not guarantee survival, however, as Oracle demonstrated their desire to exit the desktop appliance market with the discontinuing of their Sun Ray product, when they could have invested in SPARC or ARM for the Sun Ray to make an additional consumer for their SPARC processor investment, hedge the investment in SPARC processor in skilled programmers, and created a new market driver for Oracle's Cloud offering using Sun Ray appliances.

Posted by David at 2:43 PM No comments:

Labels: ARM, Google, Oracle, RISC, SPARC, Sun, Sun Microsystems, Sun Ray, SunRay

Some people have been discussing Android compatibility recently.

Most of the incompatibilities surround screen size and camera size.
http://developer.android.com/.../pract.../compatibility.html

Sometimes, people can just code their apps differently, in order to make their apps compatible across more devices.
http://stackoverflow.com/.../android-app-is-incompatible...

There have been hacks created, so people can download incompatible apps... but there is generally a reason why these apps are generally tagged as incompatible.
http://www.androidauthority.com/how-to-install.../

Hope this short note is helpful!

Posted by David at 5:41 PM No comments:

Labels: Android, compatibility

The developer of 64 bit ARM processors closed down, the week before Christmas. Calxeda is going through restructuring. The world may still see a 64 bit ARM from this company, yet. Previously, their 32 bit ARM processors were well received by the market. In 2011, Calxeda announced the development of a 480 core low power server, to be consumed by Hewlett Packard. The "Moonshot" servers from HP may be negatively impacted - HP's attempt at resuming RISC processor platform production may be in chaos.

Posted by David at 11:32 AM No comments:

Labels: ARM, Calxeda, HP, Moonshot

 This is not the first case of such worms, targeting Internet devices, in this case Intel based only.
http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/11/new-linux-worm-targets-routers-cameras-internet-of-things-devices/

Researchers have discovered a Linux worm capable of infecting a wide range of home routers, set-top boxes, security cameras, and other consumer devices that are increasingly equipped with an Internet connection. Linux.Darlloz, as the worm has been dubbed, is now classified as a low-level threat, partly because its current version targets only devices that run on CPUs made by Intel

A short article from Security company Symantec discussing the latest WORM targeting The Internet.
http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/linux-worm-targeting-hidden-devices

Symantec has discovered a new Linux worm that appears to be engineered to target the “Internet of things”. The worm is capable of attacking a range of small, Internet-enabled devices in addition to traditional computers. Variants exist for chip architectures usually found in devices such as home routers, set-top boxes and security cameras. Although no attacks against these devices have been found in the wild, many users may not realize they are at risk, since they are unaware they own devices that run Linux.

Posted by David at 2:26 PM No comments:

Labels: Intel, Internet, Linux, Malware, Symantec, WORM