Live blog: programs with insecure code & outstanding programs

Posted on March 27, 2018April 12, 2018Categories Uncategorized

This is a public list of programs you should avoid using due to flaws in code that have been reported or programs that have outstanding security. These companies code do not meet our standards of a secure plugin or do meet or exceed our standards.

wpform lite, also known as Contact Form by WPForms version 1.4.5.2 is secure after a non-quicky review, which we recommend you use if you need a WP form plugin.

quick overview of edit flow, shows better security than expected with an area that could use improvement, but over all the project thus far gets an A by us. We consider it safe enough to use.

 

We do not know why   parsedown on github appears to be  allowing rawhtml comments in an area dedicated to block comments. Also most of the parsedown does not apply security automatically. Is this by design? We wouldn’t use this project, but won’t say it isn’t safe enough to use.

 

 

 

Planet Zuda podcast 6: Some Open Source Code is like Poisoned Food & Rise Of Mac Malware

Posted on March 14, 2018March 14, 2018Categories cyber security, information security, podcast, podcasts, technologyTags , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Some open source code is like food poisoning by getting food off the road from a random person. It will make you puke your brains out is a good analogy to explain how insecure the majority of the code written by individuals is and how you can lose everything. Other open source code from companies is more along the lines of getting food from a food truck, which is a company and the majority of companies try to deliver a safe product and not one that is the equivalent of food poisioning.

Macintosh Malware is on the rise. In 2017 Macintosh malware rose 270 percent in one year. If anyone tries to tell you Macintosh is bullet proof, they are wrong.

Podcast Cyber security & Technology news: Binance phishing scam & Oculus Rift Fixed

Posted on March 8, 2018April 9, 2018Categories cyber security, information security, oculus rift, podcast, technologyTags , , , , , , , , ,

Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange has responded to claims that they were hacked and show that it was in fact a clever phishing scam, not a hack. Oculus rift, which we discussed yesterday has fixed their issue making oculus rift headsets work again.

Podcast cyber security & Technology: United Nations, IOTA, Oculus, Oh My!

Posted on March 8, 2018April 6, 2021Categories united nationsTags , , , , , , , , ,

In our latest podcast we cover the lack of security in the United Nations site, and a few IOTA security issues. In our Technology segment we covered how all Oculus Rifts aren’t working due to an expired security certificate and the new Oculus Rift that will be coming out. We also discussed augmented reality app Do Not Touch by Nickelodeon. Enjoy the podcast and subscribe, so you get everything straight to your inbox, including podcasts.

United Nations & Lack Of Cyber Security

Posted on March 7, 2018March 8, 2018Categories cyber security, information securityTags , , , , , ,

Today we will be covering the United Nations hacks that haven’t gotten the level of publicity that they deserve both in this article and on our podcast. In recent years we reported a compromise in the United Nations site and we can say per our experience that calling the United Nations to report their site has been hacked is no pleasant task. Per our experience their initial response was a polite way of saying you may be arrested, but once they realized we didn’t hack them, we just spotted that the site had been hacked we were transferred to the IT guy who seemed to be in a panic. Like any organization, the United Nations should implement  proper cyber security vetting for the code they use. This includes having the code that they currently have in use go through a third party audit and have the security updated. They should also have all their programmers learn secure development practices, and audit all third party code that they use on their website.

So is the United Nations using proper cyber security measures? It doesn’t seem to be the case, since the United Nations hasn’t been hacked just once this year, the most recent known United Nations hack was Feburary 4th, 2018. The United Nations was also hacked several times in January, 2018 as as shown here on January 28th, January 16th, January 15th, January 14th and six times in 2017 just on Open Bug Bounty alone.

These aren’t the only times the United Nations has been hacked and was publicly documented. Zone-h, a site for archiving defaced websites has two archived instances of the United Nations being hacked in 2008 and in 2006.

While the United Nations has been hacked more than anyone would want, it is important to take into consideration the gigantic size of the United Nations site with multiple sub domains. It certainly does not appear that there has been a review of all their code in years. The best solution would be for them to have a full security audit, get rid of old sub-domains they no longer need, and make their code easier to maintain through multiple tools that are available.

Unfortunately, our conclusion based on the public information about the United Nations site right now, is that they are not a safe website per our companies policies of what are acceptable risks. Being hacked for the last 12 years with no significant appearance that we can see of improved cyber security certainly does not seem like a safe website to us, but it is ultimately up to the user to decide the risk level they want to take when using a website.