More info on the Target hack

[thewayne]

Turns out Target was using a network management system from BMC Software (a major player in network management) to keep an eye on their infrastructure, and said software had a canned admin account and password, and that was very helpful for the attackers.

And it is now believed that everything came through a SQL injection attack, an attack vector that's been known for years, if not a decade, and can be defended against.

Interestingly, the article also gives a little more info on the Albert Gonzalez hack, he's the one who stole 160 million cards from TJ Maxx et al. Gonzalez and an associate would travel to stores, identify the make and model of the point of sale terminals, then report it back to his hacker crew who would customize the hack software for that type of POS.

Barnes & Noble took their POS terminals off the counter when they were hacked, but they specifically were target through their POS terminals being replaced with hacked counterfeits. Now you have to hand your card to the clerk. The problem is, that if the POS terminal is compromised, such as it was by the Target memory scraper, it doesn't matter where the POS terminal is located or who swipes your card, your card has been swiped.

And the FBI just said that it's going to be a growth industry and there's little that can be done to stop it at this time.

Time to start writing checks, where you're vulnerable to compromise at the upstream check processing clearing house (my checking account was compromised this way) or stopping at an ATM before shopping and paying with cash.

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/01/new-clues-in-the-target-breach/

Comments

[silveradept]

ATMs can be compromised as well, especially the ones in stores, so the answer basically is "your money and stuff will be stolen at some point, unless you happen to be incredibly lucky."