Cache Attack: Firefox as the New Weapon of Cyber Criminals

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Cache Attack Firefox as the New Weapon of Cyber
Criminals
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Cache Attack
Firefox as the New Weapon of Cyber Criminals Web
cache is data front liners that're automatically
downloaded for faster bootup times during your
next same-site visit. It's a typical web
practice that normally wouldn't warrant any
suspicions, but recent research now finds it
vulnerable to abuse - and attack website's
visitors.
www.izoologic.com
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Cache Attack Firefox as the New Weapon of Cyber
Criminals

• The Research Team from PortSwigger Web Security,
  under the supervision of its head James Kettle,
  recently discovered a way to hack into sites by
  exploiting how web caching works.
• Exploiting even further an API for one of Mozilla
  Firefox's web cache plug-ins, Kettle spoke of how
  DDoS Attacks and Credential Theft can even be
  made possible.
• Moreover, this kind of attack orders the web
  cache to propagate malware or redirect unknowing
  victims to malicious pages by forcefully
  whitelisting suspicious URLs.

www.izoologic.com
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Cache Attack Firefox as the New Weapon of Cyber
Criminals
www.izoologic.com
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Cache Attack Firefox as the New Weapon of Cyber
Criminals

• These have been achieved through Kettle's
  employment of Cache Poisoning, which he used to
  attack at the back of the browser that checks and
  sends plug-in updates, as well as application
  updates.
• "I found by accident ... that I was able to use
  cache poisoning to effectively input some limited
  commands to Firefox browser users worldwide," he
  comments. "If you opened Firefox, I got control
  of it.
• "It's not specific to any given technology or any
  given cache", as Kettle starts hacking away at
  web caching infrastructure of a US government
  agency, a popular cloud platform provider, a
  hosting platform provider, a software product, a
  video game, an investment firm's investor
  information, and several online stores.

www.izoologic.com
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Cache Attack Firefox as the New Weapon of Cyber
Criminals

• "It's sort of a design flaw in the way caching
  and websites work."
• Fortunately, Mozilla already fixed this upon
  their recent update last January, within 24 hours
  of James Kettle's report.
• Even though this particular issue was resolved,
  it is unlikely for it to be just an isolated case
  in the future.
• Hence users should be aware about the threatening
  extent web caching can be twisted into.

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Cache Attack Firefox as the New Weapon of Cyber
Criminals

• Some tips include
• For Companies It is always best practice to
  block internal network connection from outside
  and using corporate proxies during visits to
  outside resources.
• It helps as well to monitor Traffic from own
  company sites a sudden influx of visitors that
  wasn't forecasted before normally is suspicious.
• For Users Stay updated, not only with security
  software systems, but also with News about Cyber
  Security and legal privacy.
• 
  By Kym Patrick Benedicto

www.izoologic.com
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How Firefox as the New Weapon of Cyber Criminals
www.izoologic.com
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Contact Us
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London UNITED KINGDOM
44 20 3734 2726
info_at_izoologic.com
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