In 2009, we saw the start of high profile attacks by a group using the Hydraq (Aurora) Trojan horse. We've been monitoring the attacking group's activities for the last three years as they've consistently targeted a number of industries. These attackers have used a large number of zero-day exploits against not just the intended target organization, but also on the supply chain manufacturers that service the company in their cross hairs. These attackers are systematic and re-use components of an infrastructure we have termed the "Elderwood Platform". The term "Elderwood" comes from the exploit communication used in some of the attacks. This attack platform enables them to quickly deploy zero-day exploits. The attacking methodology has always used spear phishing emails but we are now seeing an increased adoption of "watering hole" attacks (...

As we are all aware, Adobe released security updates for Adobe Flash Player 11.3.300.270 and earlier versions for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. These security updates address the Adobe Flash Player CVE-2012-1535 Remote Code Execution Vulnerability that could cause the application to crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the compromised computer. Adobe has also stated that there are reports of the vulnerability being exploited in the wild in limited targeted attacks distributed through malicious Word documents.

We have observed these threats since August 10, 2012, and to-date we have successfully blocked more than 1,300 samples. The first sample...

Hello and welcome to this month's blog on the Microsoft patch release. This month the vendor is releasing nine bulletins covering a total of 16 vulnerabilities. Four of this month's issues are rated 'Critical' affecting Microsoft Data Access Components, Internet Explorer, and XML Core Services.

As always, customers are advised to follow these security best practices:

• Install vendor patches as soon as they are available.
• Run all software with the least privileges required while still maintaining functionality.
• Avoid handling files from unknown or questionable sources.
• Never visit sites of unknown or questionable integrity.
• Block external access at the network perimeter to all key systems unless specific access is required.

Microsoft’s summary of the July releases can be found here:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-...

Hello, welcome to this month’s blog on the Microsoft patch release. This is a larger month—the vendor is releasing seven bulletins covering a total of 27 vulnerabilities.

Ten of this month's issues are rated 'Critical' affecting Remote Desktop Protocol and Internet Explorer. The remaining issues affect .NET Framework, Office, and Dynamics AX.

As always, customers are advised to follow these security best practices:

• Install vendor patches as soon as they are available
• Run all software with the least privileges required while still maintaining functionality
• Avoid handling files from unknown or questionable sources
• Never visit sites of unknown or questionable integrity
• Block external access at the network perimeter to all key systems unless specific access is required

Microsoft’s summary of the June releases can be found here:
...