New Point-and-Click Exploit Kit Appears in the Wild

A new chapter in the history of malware opens with the arrival of 3ROS, an exploit kit with a user-friendly GUI designed to make it easier for beginners to infect and exploit Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android victims. The tool, as described in the Virus Bulletin, resembles many admin GUIs that incorporate various tools into a simple point-and-click interface. The user can browse for an exploit or a malware payload through an easy series of menus.

According to a report in The Register, 3ROS will "… make pwning as easy as ordering pizza." The system is believed to originate from Russia or Ukraine and appears to be the basis for the Hunter exploit kit, which is also gaining popularity as a user-friendly attack tool.

Cyberattack used to be considered a black art practiced by shady and sophisticated computer experts, or at least, hackers with mid-level command-line skills. Even the so-called "script kiddies" seemed to aspire to the expert role and loved to navigate other people's directories from a remote terminal window. Although GUI-based attack tools have existed in the past, they typically weren't particularly polished or friendly. 3ROS and Hunter might indicate the further development of the intrusion industry. Advanced attackers can now focus on development and reconnaissance and leave the nuts-and-bolts exploit and delivery to beginners.

The actual malware included in 3ROS doesn't appear to be especially current or state of the art. The disadvantage of an elaborate GUI is that it takes longer to update and adapt the system to incorporate new exploits and stay ahead of detection services. Only time will tell if 3ROS and Hunter become a model for other exploit kits, or if the industry opts for more conventional but flexible approaches.

Red Hat Releases RHEL 7.2

Red Hat has announced the release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7.2, the latest version of the company's enterprise subscription-based Linux distribution. According to Red Hat, RHEL 7.2 includes security updates and some significant network performance improvements. Red Hat also continues its drive for better container and cloud support, with updates to Kubernetes, Cockpit, and the Docker engine, as well as enhancements to the Atomic host platform.

Perhaps the most interesting new development in RHEL 7.2 is its support for Red Hat's add-on Insight service, which the company describes as "an add-on operational analytics offering designed to increase IT efficiency and reduce downtime through the proactive identification of known risks and technical issues."

Dell Systems Ship with Faulty Root Certificate

Several news sources report that users have discovered a preinstalled digital certificate shipped with Dell Inspiron 5000 series notebooks and the XPS 15 model laptop that could allow an attacker to successfully impersonate a trusted website. The eDellRoot certificate creates a gaping security hole that is similar to the problems created by the Superfish security issue experienced by Lenovo earlier this year.

Some users report that the certificate reinstalls itself when users attempt to remove it; however, Dell has posted instructions that it says will permanently remove eDellRoot. According to the Dell Knowledge Base, "The certificate is not malware or adware. It was intended to provide the system service tag to Dell online support, allowing us to quickly identify the computer model, making it easier and faster to service our customers. This certificate is not being used to collect personal customer information. It's also important to note that the certificate will not reinstall itself once it is properly removed using the recommended Dell process."