Microsoft's handy automated Windows error report feature "Dr. Watson" mostly transmits crash log data in the clear, leaving organizations that use the function vulnerable to targeted attacks, researchers say. Websense Security Labs found in a study of risks posed by some popular applications and services that Microsoft Windows Error Reporting, which automatically sends to the software giant details of a system crash, does so without encrypting the information. The sensitive information in these reports, which includes the make and model of the machine, BIOS version, ID, and applications, can help bad guys and even the National Security Agency profile potential targeted machines and networks. Word that the NSA was likely doing just that came among other new revelations in a report over the weekend by German publication Der Spiegel that pulled back the curtain on an elite team of NSA hackers called the Tailored Access Operations (TAO) Group. According to the report, TAO appears to use NSA's XKeyscore spy tool to grab Windows crash reports from Internet traffic it captures, and the intelligence can be used to profile a machine and exploit its vulnerabilities. <more>
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment