Monster.com confirmed this week that it took down a portion of its online job search service after attackers hacked the site and used it to feed exploits to visitors.
The company did not, however, explain how the hackers were able to hijack the site.
At the start of this week, researchers began reporting the attacks after detecting IFrame exploits on several Monster.com pages as well as attacks by a multi-exploit hacker tool kit originating from those pages.
By Monday evening, the Monster Company Boulevard, a section of the site that lets job hunters research firms and search for positions by company, was dark. Among the major US companies represented on the Boulevard are Boeing, Dow, Microsoft, Starbucks and Wal-Mart.
Job seekers who used that portion of Monster.com before the site was yanked were attacked by Neosploit, an exploit tool kit similar to the better-known Mpack, said Roger Thompson, chief technology officer at Exploit Prevention Labs. "A typical infective URL was http://company.monster.com/toyfs/, which is Toyota [Financial's section]," said Thompson in an instant message exchange Monday night. "Or http://company.monster.com/bestbuy, which is Best Buy's."
The injection of the malicious IFrame code into the Monster.com site probably happened Monday, he added. "It was interesting that we got five or so hits in the space of a few hours today, but none before that. I think it happened [Monday]," he said.
Like many other IFrame exploits, this one silently redirected users' browsers to another site hosting Neosploit. At least one of the exploit sites Thompson identified has a connection to the notorious Russian Business Network (RBN), the hacker and malware hosting network that recently shifted operations to China, then mysteriously abandoned the IP blocks it had acquired there.
The IP address of the exploit site is assigned to a server in Australia that is part of the "myrdns.com" domain, which, in turn, is registered to a Hong Kong Internet service provider called HostFresh Internet. Both HostFresh and myrdns.com have been linked to RBN activities, including the long-running IFrame Cash scheme, in which RBN pays website owners a commission for injecting IFrame exploits on other sites.
According to an anonymous blogger who tracks the RBN, other myrdsn.com/HostFresh IP addresses were involved in the Bank of India hack.
On Monday afternoon, Thompson said he had just started digging into the Monster.com hack. "It is not clear how many pages were affected, but it is likely that the attack was the same for all companies on the site, which might turn out to be a pretty good set of the Fortune 500," he said on his blog.
On Tuesday, Monster.com acknowledged the attacks but downplayed their extent. "A malicious attack inserted code into [some] pages, which could cause certain unprotected computer systems to download a virus," said Steve Sylven, Monster's public relations manager, in an email Tuesday afternoon.
"The virus is detectable by most major antivirus software, and this issue should not affect users running Windows with the most recent security updates from Microsoft. In addition, we believe only an extremely small percentage of those using the site this week were potentially exposed prior to those pages being cleaned."
Monster declined to answer questions about when the attack started, how many pages had been compromised or how the hackers gained entry to the site. It did, however, point a finger of sorts at the RBN, although it did not name it. "Because we believe this malware originated with an online crime group that targets leading web properties, we are providing as much information as possible about this situation to the appropriate law enforcement officials," Sylven added.
Monster.com last made security news in August, when it acknowledged that hackers had looted its database for weeks, perhaps for months, then used that information to craft and send targeted emails that pitched money laundering jobs or tried to trick recipients into downloading malware.
As it did then, Monster said on Tuesday that it is beefing up site security. "We remain committed to protecting our customers and site visitors," Sylven said. "We continue to reinforce our security systems every day as we respond to the constantly shifting security issues on the internet."
Are you a dissatisfied Airtel or Vodafone customer? Then, here is news for you. According to the latest report by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Bharti Airtel has the largest number of points of interconnection (POI) having congestion followed by rival Vodafone.Interconnection between networks not very effective, which leads to loss of calls and deterioration in service quality
Bharti Airtel and Vodafone are the most congested networks according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
This means that users of these networks face difficulty while communicating with a user of another network. It also shows that the interconnection between the two networks is not very effective, which leads to loss of calls and deterioration in the quality of service. The areas most affected due to the congestion are Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Mumbai, UP-W, and Himachal Pradesh, according to the report.
When tried to contact to know their response, Vodafone and Airtel refused to comment.
Oa customer from Jaipur says, "I am fed up with the Vodafone network connection and am facing problems since the last two months. I have also registered a complaint with Vodafone for the same, but there is no relief as yet." He adds that the call drops lead to many problems, including financial loss when customers have to call again.
This issue is pointed out by other customers as well. They say that sometimes it feels like the network providers intentionally cause call drops as they get to charge twice for a minute if a call is dropped and a new call is made within that minute. Some even pointed out that call drops are annoying, but what is more irritating is when the call gets picked at the other end but no voice can be heard whatsoever, forcing users to make the call again.
Another customer from Mumbai says, "The government should have rules for this and punish these companies very heavily if standards are not met. Having a bad network is as good as not having a network at all. If they are not following proper standards of network, they should not be allowed to charge even these rates as their service is sub-standard."
Another important point was highlighted by a customer from Mumbai who says that the only solution to these network issues is to implement the rule that one will have the same number even if he changes the operator. He adds that this was supposed to happen in October last year, but nothing has materialized as yet.
The Hottest gadget of year 2008 was a table top computer with 30 inch touch screen. the touch screen is made up of acrylic. It has 5 cameras that can sense nearby objects. User can interact by touching or dragging their hand. the touch is awesome like iPhone. The price tag is between 5000$-10000$. It can even extract photos from digital cameras and spread it over the screen like photos spread over a table. All the animation looks real and a cool water effect screen saver is given which works on sense of touch. The water movement is very cool when a user interacts with the screen.
Check out the cool video of Microsoft’s Table top computer.
Place a comment if you like.
Satyam might be facing the heat right but the Satyam saga has clearly dealt a blow to the Indian IT dream.
The IT industry represents modern India. They are the ones who have created brand ‘India’ on Wall Street.
But Raju's fraud might change the Indian IT dream forever.
After all, the fourth largest Indian IT company, Satyam has fallen off the cliff, in what unfolds as the most dramatic frauds of recent times.
Now, the clients would think twice before engaging with an Indian IT vendor.
The reason is simple—they would ponder over whether the law of the land can be trusted anymore.
However, Narayan Murthy, the founder of Infosys, said "One apple is bad doesn’t meant everyone is bad."
Well, even as Murthy calls it a one off case, Infosys has already started promising more disclosures to its investors and whatever it takes to keep the clients’ trust.
Also, industry body Nasscom has swung in action, asking companies to switch to the top gear so as to retain their clients.
Som Mittal, President of Nasscom, said,"We are asking companies to make more disclosures on governance issues to their clients."
It’s certainly going to be tough ride for the Indian outsourcing industry with the recessionary pressure of the west on one hand and now, an image crisis.
Meanwhile, the international biggies like IBM and HP will benefit directly, unless the industry leaders go all out to defend their credibility.
Satyam Fraud : Here is the Full text Letter of Raju to Board
Following is the text of the letter Raju wrote to the Satyam board:
"It is with deep regret and tremendous burden that I am carrying on my conscience, that I would like to bring the following facts to your notice:
1. The Balance Sheet carries as of September 30, 2008,
a) Inflated (non-existent) cash and bank balances of Rs 5,040 crore (as against Rs 5,361 crore reflected in the books);
b) An accrued interest of Rs 376 crore, which is non-existent
c) An understated liability of Rs 1,230 crore on account of funds arranged by me;
d) An overstated debtors' position of Rs 490 crore (as against Rs 2,651 reflected in the books);
2. For the September quarter(Q2) we reported a revenue of Rs 2,700 crore and an operating margin of Rs 649 crore(24 per cent of revenue) as against the actual revenues of Rs 2,112 crore and an actual operating margin of Rs 61 crore (3 per cent of revenues). This has resulted in artificial cash and bank balances going up by Rs 588 crore in Q2 alone.
The gap in the balance sheet has arisen purely on account of inflated profits over several years (limited only to Satyam standalone, books of subsidiaries reflecting true performance).
What started as a marginal gap between actual operating profit and the one reflected in the books of accounts continued to grow over the years.
It has attained unmanageable proportions as the size of the company operations grew significantly (annualised revenue run rate of Rs 11,276 crore in the September quarter, 2008, and official reserves of Rs 8,392 crore).
The differential in the real profits and the one reflected in the books was further accentuated by the fact that the company had to carry additional resources and assets to justify a higher level of operations thereby significantly increasing the costs.
Every attempt made to eliminate the gap failed. As the promoters held a small percentage of equity, the concern was that poor performance would result in the takeover, thereby exposing the gap. It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten.
The aborted Maytas acquisition deal was the last attempt to fill the fictitious assets with real ones. Maytas' investors were convinced that this is a good divestment opportunity and a strategic fit.
One Satyam's problem was solved, it was hoped that Maytas' payments can be delayed. But that was not to be. What followed in the last several days..."
Firefox has a cool little easter egg, just type in about:robots in the address bar & you will find robots greeting you with a special message. The title of the page reads Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!, wondering what it means. According to wikipedia Gort! Klaatu barada nikto! originates from the Cold War-era science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). In the film, the phrase, Klaatu barada nikto, was used by Helen Benson to stop the robot Gort from destroying the Earth. Klaatu is the name of the humanoid alien protagonist in the film. Here is a quick view of the page..
