Fuss About Self-Signed Certificate On Dell Laptops

On the Internet fuss about a self-signed certificate which all Dell laptops would be delivered. On social news site Reddit reports reader Kevin Hicks how his new XPS Dell laptop a self-signed root certificate discovered called eDellRoot. Allows users could be attacked, for example via malware that uses the certificate.

The certificate on the Dell laptops is its own private key features that can not be exported. The key however, been found to be able to be copied. Dell user Joe Nord discovered on his laptop the same root certificate using the same private key.According to Nord Hicks and this is exactly the same situation as with Lenovo and Superfish debacle. The laptops from Lenovo came with adware that could intercept the encrypted traffic using a self-signed certificate to inject in here then ads.

In the case of Dell, however, the situation looks very different. The certificate can not be used namely to issue other certificates to perform eg man-in-the-middle attacks on HTTPS sites, says another reader on Reddit. Yet there is also criticism that Dell does not use a certificate from a valid certificate authority. Dell leaves in front of Hicks that eDellRoot is a trusted certificate and not a threat. Hicks's remark that the certificate or a security risk is the Dell Webcare team announced that the company will come with an explanation of the presence of the certificate. A spokesman confirmed to Security.NL Dell later today comes with an explanation.

Microsoft Office: Documents Install Backdoor Through Recent Office Leak

A recent vulnerability in Microsoft Office that in April was patched is already several weeks actively attacked and used to install a backdoor on Windows computers. A problem because many organizations install security updates for Microsoft Office or wait very long time here.

By opening a malicious document, an attacker could then install malware on the computer. A tactic that has been successfully applied. Last year made ​​the British anti-virus firm Sophos study (pdf) to the vulnerabilities that attackers use to this kind of attack. Two leaks, one from 2010 and one from 2012, was attacked by most of the malicious documents. Also from other surveys show that the vulnerability in 2012 the favorite target of attackers.

Although there is an update to the now attacked Office leak for about five months is available, the question is how many organizations have installed. Even before the patch Microsoft released the vulnerability was attacked. Early August saw Sophos, however, pass by a series of papers that try to take advantage of the leak. The documents have subjects like "WUPOS_update.doc", "ammendment.doc", "Information 2.doc" and "Anti-Money Laude Ring & Suspicious cases.doc".

In case the files are opened on an unpatched machine, the code in the document called Uwarrior install a backdoor on the computer. This allows the attackers full control over the machine. To prevent infection, managers and users are advised to patch Office and not to open unexpected or unsolicited documents. Last week warned IBM all e-mail attachments to make a comeback as an attack vector.