Ryan Naraine

Ryan Naraine is a journalist and social media enthusiast specializing in Internet and computer security issues.

Dancho Danchev

Dancho Danchev is an independent security consultant and cyber threats analyst, with extensive experience in open source intelligence gathering, malware and cybercrime incident response.

Latest Posts

Botnet herders pounce on Windows DNS RPC flaw

Online criminals have pounced on the unpatched Windows DNS Server service vulnerability, using the security hole to seed and replenish for-profit botnets. The latest twist in the ongoing attacks comes less than a week after Microsoft's pre-patch advisory provided clues for hackers to write and release detailed exploit code.

April 17, 2007 by

129 Comments Vote

Microsoft's advisories giving clues to hackers

How's this for a new twist on the old responsible disclosure debate:  Hackers are taking advantage of information released in Microsoft's pre-patch security advisories to create exploits for zero-day vulnerabilities.The latest zero-day flaw in the Windows DNS Server RPC interface implementation is a perfect example of the tug-o-war within the MSRC (Microsoft Security Response Center) about how much information should be included in the pre-patch advisory.

April 16, 2007 by

13 Comments Vote

How to turn off RPC management of DNS on a large scale

In an advisory issued earlier today, Microsoft issued several workarounds/mitigations for the Windows DNS server service zero-day attacks, including a recommendation that network admins completely disable remote management of RPC capability for DNS Servers.The recommendation included instructions on registry key edits but if you're in charge of a large-scale Windows shop with numerous domain controllers, Microsoft only gave you the switch but no way to automate the registry changes.

April 13, 2007 by

2 Comments Vote

'Storm Worm' surge exposes AV deficiencies

The crime ring behind the latest Storm Worm-related malware attack (Techmeme discussion) is using new tactics to slip malicious executables past anti-virus defenses, serving up another black eye to an industry that already uses questionable tactics to find new customers.Arbor Networks researcher Jose Nazario flagged the poor anti-virus detections of the Storm Worm Trojan in a blog entry that noted the use of password-protected ZIP files to hide .

April 13, 2007 by

8 Comments Vote

Windows DNS Server code execution hole under attack

An zero-day vulnerability in the DNS server service in Windows is under attack, Microsoft warned in a security advisory.The "limited attacks" are exploiting a stack overflow error in the Windows Domain Name System (DNS) Server's RPC interface implementation when processing malformed requests sent to a port between 1024 and 5000.

April 13, 2007 by

7 Comments Vote