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Drive-By Pharming Now A Reality
David Utter
Staff Writer
2008-01-22
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What had been suggested as a potential threat a year ago, an attack that would alter a victim's DNS settings simply by visiting a malicious web page, surfaced as a recent threat.
 | | Drive-By Pharming Now A Reality |  |
Home broadband routers could have their DNS changed if someone has a default router password in place and surfs to an attacker's website. That's old news.
The new version as noted by security vendor Symantec poses a greater threat. On an unnamed brand router, an attacker does not need a password at all to exploit the flaw.
Once exploited, and the DNS changes made, the attacker controls where someone goes on the Internet through that router. Naturally the criminals want to redirect traffic to banking and other financial sites, where they have fake destinations in place to grab login credentials.
The usual suggestions for self-protection apply. Don't open email from unknown senders, do run a comprehensive security software suite that can pick up on phishing sites.
We see the genesis of this attack, from proof of concept to full-fledged threat in nearly a year, as further proof single-factor authentication has not only reached but passed its end-of-life. While two-factor authentication is not a panacea, it would be sufficient to defeat a lot of attacks where capturing a username and password means identity and monetary theft for the victim.
About the Author:
David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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