Conducting a penetration test on the system of a TOP 1000 world bank

Case study VSEC - BLOG

Our clients are those who operate in the banking sector. In line with the trend, they are actively developing online software utilities to provide more convenient services for current clients as well as expand their new client network. These utilities is often accompanied by security risks. VSEC’s VCHECK penetration testing service visually demonstrates the significant risks of an online banking application. They may arise from the potential for a valid user to proactively access the full bank account information of other clients.

About clients

Our client is a joint-stock commercial bank in the Top 1000 largest banks in the world, with total assets of nearly USD 6 billion and more than one million regular active accounts. After nearly 25 years of operation, this bank has been frequently awarded prizes such as EuroMoney, Asian Banker, The Banker, and so on from prestigious international organizations.

Challenge

To enhance transaction convenience, the bank has developed a Mobile Banking application on mobile phones. Through this software, clients can query and conduct basic transactions similar to when they do so at a teller counter. At the time of assessment, over 1.06 million bank accounts have been activated and regularly used. The service development has posed challenges regarding information security assurance. Bank account numbers are considered non-confidential information. When conducting online transactions, many users provide them on websites for transferring money to buy and sell goods and services However, certain account-related financial details must always be protected at the highest level: account balance, transaction information, etc. Securing this information is the responsibility of the bank which provides the technological infrastructure. In the home country, the state bank has also issued many strict regulations that bind banks to comply with and ensure information security, such as BASEL, PCI/DSS, and so on. Due to handling multiple tasks with a heavy workload, technical personnel often lack the necessary resources, time, and skills to carry out information security assessments and testing. As regulations become increasingly specific, banks are required to ensure proper compliance and consistently maintain control checks.

Solution

One of the biggest concerns of banks is whether the Mobile Banking application that is provided to clients is safe or not, and how well user data is protected. As a result, the bank needs to use an information security penetration testing service to obtain objective and multidimensional information. VCHECK is VSEC’s overall information security service, which includes penetration testing. The service is capable of imitating the most realistic way that external attackers take advantage of the vulnerability to illegally collect Client’s data. To begin the penetration testing process, the Bank provides VSEC the name of the Mobile Banking application on the Google Play (Android version) or Apple Appstore (iOS version). VSEC technicians will act as attackers and imitate real-life techniques in order to identify software vulnerabilities. Skilled engineers combined with various specialized tools will learn how the Mobile Banking application works and how the server interacts with the application to detect weaknesses, reconstruct security errors and finally report. After 10 days, a VSEC engineer establishes a bank account as a customer of the bank. With the key technique of using a proxy, it assists the engineer in fully comprehending how the application works and how it interacts with the Bank’s server. The application includes many different components, VSEC engineer noticed a serious issue while allowing him to view the details of any other account. This serious security error occurred because computer programmers did not closely apply to user account management and safe programming standards. VSEC have transferred the entire implementation process to the Client. Simultaneously, VSEC recommended to remedy it by modifying the application and providing the ability to verify whether the query submitted to the server is valid, and the correct information of the client is using or not.

Benefits of VCHECK security testing service

Deployment is quick and Clients do not need to provide much information.

Penetration testing project for government agencies

Case study VSEC - BLOG

This time, our customer is the state management agency in charge of information security, responsible for establishing regulations and policies of information security. This is also the unit in charge of assisting government agencies and businesses with information security. 

Although it is a State agency, the team of information security specialists is relatively small, It is challenging to meet the demands of completing multiple tasks at once.

Furthermore, the unit lacks objective evaluation from external partners to exclude cases of omission due to subjective factors from internal employees.

In our experience, we have provided evaluation and penetration testing services for your system and applications. From there, we can determine the best suggestions and solutions for the unit. VSEC collaborates with the unit to deploy solutions of reducing information security risks such as Pentest testing of the entire system, application, etc.

Following the working procedure, we have quickly identified a large number of risks and vulnerabilities on the unit’s system and applications. This reduces the risk of being attacked and exploited in the unit’s system and application, and thereby contribute to ensuring the image of the State management agency on information security and social security.

Monitoring information security for the state’s provincial unit information management agency

Case study VSEC - BLOG

The client is an agency in charge of managing the website system representing the voice of the state, informing and orienting information across the entire province. They own a system of more than 150 websites that operate continuously 24/7.

The number of websites requiring monitoring is substantial. The business operations are diverse. The connectivity system is extensive. There is a high volume of access traffic. The displayed information must ensure absolute accuracy and integrity.

Provide 24/7 security monitoring services for critical website systems, install 24/7 downtime monitoring for the entire website, periodically review vulnerabilities, offer recommendations, and collaborate on remediation efforts. Coordinate with on-site personnel to address identified vulnerabilities.

The client enhances their capability to manage and monitor information security for critical website systems. This reduces personnel costs and investment for the IT security team while whole system is still guaranteed to be monitored 24/7. It also decreases response time to incidents.

Information security monitoring for a pioneering corporation in green cities

Case study VSEC - BLOG

The customer is an FDI enterprise, a branch of a multinational corporation in the field of motorcycles and automobile assembling and manufacturing, whose market share is among the top motorcycles and automobile business enterprises in the Vietnam market.

Subject to the general regulations on information security of the parent group. Using monitoring services for external threats (data leak, web phishing, etc.), monitering the reputation of international providers at a great cost. Building a team in charge of local information security leads to the need for great support from partners.

Providing monitoring services for external threats (data leak, web phishing, etc.), and reputation monitoring. Coordinating and discussing with customers to continuously optimize the monitoring process.

VSEC SOC detects and promptly informs customers about fake websites and leaked data of customers published and sold on the dark web and dark forums. Provide services with reasonable cost and international-suppliers-level quality. Support the local team in the process of ensuring information security for businesses.

Webinar: Hack hackers with “multi-dimensional” defense tactics

Event VSEC - BLOG

On July 11, 2023, the webinar “Hack hackers with “multi-dimensional” defense tactics organized by The Vietnamese Security Network (VSEC) in collaboration with Vietnam Internet Association (VIA), took place successfully and leaving many good impressions in the IT community and small and medium enterprises in Vietnam. With useful sharing from experienced speakers in the industry, the webinar attracted the attention of more than 150 attendees.

The security story is not only for large businesses anymore, but regardless of the object, any business of any scale, whether it generates or owns large sources of data or liquidity, is the target of the company. cybercriminals for profit.

Monitoring information security in the enterprise
SOC is one of the security trends in the past 5 years. Large enterprises have equipped themselves, only a few small and medium enterprises pay attention to this issue. In his presentation, Mr. Vu The Hai – Head of VSEC Information Security Monitoring and Operation Center affirmed: “Information security solutions cannot prevent 100% of incidents. No solution provider commits that their solution can prevent all attack incidents.” Therefore, when system solutions, solutions, technologies and machines cannot be solved, we need to have a plan to detect and handle such attacks and incidents – that is by human means. People. At VSEC, SOC always ensures compliance with British CREST standards and other standards such as Azure.

Time to start SOC
Enterprises need to build SOC as soon as possible, should build immediately after having equipped with basic security solutions. At this time, the number of personnel, the amount of information and the processes just needs to be simple and moderate to suit the working environment.
It is not necessary to have a centralized SIEM system, a system to collect and analyze logs, you can directly use the portal of those solutions.

What do I need to prepare to work at SOC?
Webinar is not only for small and medium enterprises but also attracts a lot of students interested in working at SOC. To be able to work at the Information Security Monitoring Center, students need to master the basic knowledge: programming skills, system skills, application management and usage skills… Then , strengthen more specialized skills in SOC such as malware, web, common attacks, writing rules to detect malicious code….

 

Realistically react to Hackers using the Red Team method
The concept of Red Team (Deep Penetration Assessment) is very familiar in the international market. However, in Vietnam today, this concept is still not well understood and deeply understood, making businesses still hesitant to use Red Team.

With experience in participating in Red Team assessment for many domestic and foreign organizations for financial and banking units, etc., Mr. Be Khanh Duy – Head of VSEC’s Southern Regional Expert Service team said in the era Regarding the current development of network security, Red Team has become a trend in Vietnam, bringing many benefits to organizations and businesses. Before deploying Red Team, businesses need to plan and prepare thoroughly to ensure the process is efficient and brings the desired results. Here are some key steps businesses should take before implementing Red Team:

Identify goals: Clearly outline the Red Team’s goals and objectives. Identify specifically which part of your organization’s security infrastructure, processes, or people you want to evaluate and improve. Besides, it is also necessary to set the Red Team’s attack target, for example: Internet Banking system, Customer information,…
Scope and Rules of Engagement: Clearly define the Red Team’s scope, including the systems, networks, and applications that are in scope and those that are out limitations eg: Core-Banking system, no leadership Phishing,… Establish rules of engagement to ensure Red Team operates within legal and ethical boundaries.
Get Stakeholder Consent: Ensure approval and support from key stakeholders, including upper management, IT team, legal department, and any other stakeholders. They should be aware of the goals, benefits, and potential risks associated with Red Team exercises.

“Currently the cyber environment is no longer safe. For organizations that always put information technology security first, it is even more important to protect their company’s data assets. Therefore, using Red Team can increase the responsiveness of the organization and improve the defensive knowledge of your Blue Team team.” Mr. Be Khanh Duy affirmed.

Digital social management and implementing instruction for Decree 53

Cyber world trending VSEC - BLOG

Digital Society Management and Decree 53, which guide the implementation of a number of Cybersecurity Law articles

Decree 53/2022/ND-CP guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Cybersecurity will take effect on October 1. With the technology development, especially the connection technology infrastructure in the globalized world, these are the necessary regulations that VSEC experts will share the following from the perspective of the supplier: provide network security services.

Interview with Mr. Truong Duc Luong – Chairman of VSEC

Question: We have recently received contact from a number of foreign newspapers  and members of the community who are keenly interested in Article 26 regarding regulations for foreign enterprises providing cross-border services. As a network security expert, could you provide your perspective on this matter?

Mr. Truong Duc Luong: Within the framework of the law, I think it is necessary to have regulations like this. With the development of technology, especially technology infrastructure, it has made connecting easier than ever. Technological applications have also created a parallel society to the real society in which we live every day. We can call it a digital society. Digital society has many common features of real society and also has many unique features. The most basic feature is borderless, identity. Digital society, besides the positives, also comes with many negatives like the real society, and the development of the digital society also needs to be accompanied by management measures to help the population to be less affected by negative impacts such as intimidation, fraud, fake information, etc. 

VSEC – The first MSSP service provider in Vietnam to achieve CREST international certification for Pentest and SOC services 

Many technological tools, like the Internet and social media platforms, etc., originate from the West and bring with them Western philosophies and cultures. Digital society can therefore be said to be built mostly from the West. And in the development process, the conflict between the real society and the digital society is understandable when the borderless nature is different from the borderless nature of the real society. These contrasts are evident in areas like perceptions of freedom, business practices, and tax views. 

Mr. Truong Duc Luong – Chairman of VSEC. 

This brings us to the content of Article 26 of the Decree, which defines the types of enterprises/businesses that will be governed by the law. These are companies in the fields of communication (social networks), finance (payment gateways), and commerce (markets, electronic floors). Managing real society and digital society, in my opinion, real society must be prioritized because incidents in digital society can cause significant damage in real society. Numerous examples in the media have demonstrated this. A digital society can emerge from anywhere in the world due to its borderless nature. Therefore, the management of the digital society will be difficult to achieve effectively without a real way of linking between the manager and the unit that creates the digital society. 

Currently, article 26 is carrying out methods including: Storing identity data in Vietnam and Setting up offices/branches in Vietnam. In the future, there may be other methods. However, for now, I think these two tools are enough to start. In my opinion, there are some following reasons. Firstly, electronic transactions and the inherent nature of identity technology are often weak. As a result, detailed requirements for the information to be stored will make it feasible to enforce management when issue occur. Secondly, the law was introduced in 2018, and now after 4 years, businesses in Vietnam have had a certain growth to meet the technical requirements of modern storage. Thirdly, legitimacy is important in management. Additionally, when there are people who have the authorities to work and be present in Vietnam, it has created more efficiency in coordination, management information or handling issues. Therefore, having offices or branches of “virtual society” companies in Vietnam has had great effects on managers. 

The proposed law will often take time to put into practice and adjust accordingly. I hope the law will be a good tool for the virtual society to become healthier and more positive, bringing good value to the real society

Thank you Mr. Truong Duc Luong,

 

Learn more about Decree 53/2022/ND-CP here

Source: VSEC

Network scam tatics to be cautions about

Cyber world trending VSEC - BLOG

In the final months of the year, consumers in Vietnam and around the world tend to shop more when the commodity market shows signs of stabilization and when Christmas and the Lunar New Year are approaching. This is a golden time for shopping, as well as the month of December in which hackers and scammers can increase their online fraudulent activity.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the total retail sales of consumer goods and services in the third quarter of 2022 were estimated at VND 1,450.4 trillion, up 3.8% from the previous quarter and 41.7% from the same period the previous year. In the first nine months of 2022, total retail sales of consumer goods and services are projected to increase by 21% over the same period last year, with the first quarter showing a 5% increase, the second quarter showing a 20.1% increase, and the third quarter showing a 41.7% increase.

Crime increase in the last months of the year

E-commerce or shopping applications are believed to be an essential factor in promoting year-end consumption, particularly when consumers prefer online shopping following the Covid-19 epidemic’s fluctuations. This is also the time of year when consumers and sellers are most at risk of hacker attacks if they are not vigilant while shopping online. Here are a few types of attacks that consumers should pay special attention to.

  1. Impersonating employees of companies/brands giving gifts

Scammers obtain shopper contact information by impersonating post office workers or customer service agents of some companies, who provide warranty upgrade information, promotions, or gift announcements. The gullible consumer will supply information or pay a fee or tax in order to acquire the freebie.

In addition, numerous subjects impersonated bank employees and money-lending companies in order to obtain personal information from users, such as social security numbers, certificate of land use rights, etc. 

  1. Stealing personal information on social networking sites

Numerous subjects commit cyber fraud by stealing personal information from social networking sites and chat applications in order to borrow money, preying on the credulity of victims. Experts recommend that consumers “slow down” in order to verify the veracity of the information exchanged and contact their acquaintances through alternative communication channels.

  1. Creating fake social media accounts

As the platform for chat applications, social networks make it simple to establish accounts; many con artists take advantage of this to create fake social media accounts. Targets are online merchants on e-commerce websites. In order to steal information and hack the seller’s bank account, the subject will request a bank account number with internet banking, account holder name, phone number, etc. when ordering products online.

To receive money, the scammer will send a message stating that the account has been credited and requesting that the recipient access a link and update all login information and the OTP code. 

  1. Impersonating a banker/police agency/procuracy, etc.

The scammer will pretend to be a bank employee or a police officer and inform you that your bank account is having problems, errors, cases, etc. When a recipient is concerned, they may be tempted to supply a pin code, card information, a phone number, and a link to access the login and account information. 

  1. Creating fake sales and investment information pages

Sophisticated fraud occurs when scammers create fake sales websites. Fake websites or names of reputable sales units, inexpensive sales pages, and inducements for customers to log in to their shopping accounts in order to steal credit card information, or establish websites for financial investments, virtual money with extremely high interest rates. After customers have participated in the investment for a period of time, the objects will actively destroy the fake website in order to steal the customers’ investment funds.

Experts advise consumers to be wary of any information related to requests for personal information or bank account information. In addition to us, users may also create additional multi-factor authentication.

Source: Synthesis

65% of business leaders will increase security budgets for 2023

Cyber world trending VSEC - BLOG

In most cases, the expense of fixing a data breach can exceed the company’s actual financial expenses, etc.

Most businesses are worried about cybercrime (65%), mobile fraud (41%), email (40%), cloud data leakage (38%) and other similar threats. (Illustration).

PwC’s latest 2022 Global Digital Confidence Survey polled over 3,500 CEOs from 65 different countries. Accordingly, 27% of businesses around the world have lost $1 million to $20 million or more due to a data breach in the last three years.

Despite having sustained millions of dollars in losses from cyberattacks, less than 40% of executives surveyed reported having fully mitigated cybersecurity risks in several areas, including: telecommuting and flexibility (38%); accelerating cloud adoption (35%); increasing use of the Internet of Things (IoT) (34%); increasing digitization of supply chain (32%); and office administrative activities (31%).

Moreover, senior executives voiced concern that their companies lacked the resources necessary to effectively counteract the growing threats. Cybercrime (65%), mobile fraud (41%), email (40%), cloud data leak (38%), hacking/account hijacking of business email (33%), and ransomware (32%) are on top list of risks in the cyber environment in 2023. Security in the supply chain becomes a major issue for operational executives.

Though transparency regarding cyber incidents is desired, only 56% of CEOs believe that their company can give information about a critical incident within a predetermined time frame. 70% of CEOs in businesses worry that increased openness and transparency may cause them to lose their competitive edge. 

INCREASE NETWORK SECURITY BUDGET

Sixty-nine percent (69%) of the business owners polled indicated their companies are allocating more money to security this year, and another 65 percent said they wish to invest more in 2023.

“Companies should establish a clear and consistent reporting system; have a contingency plan to respond quickly to ensure the system’s continuity; and prioritize building a network security risk management strategy.” Mrs. Nguyen Phi Lan, Deputy General Director of PwC Vietnam.

The majority of CEOs (52%), said they will take greater action to address cybersecurity in the future years and will push for substantial initiatives to strengthen cybersecurity. 

Some CFOs are also planning to prioritize cybersecurity, which includes investing in technological solutions (39%), prioritizing strategy and coordinating it with engineering/operation (37%), and working to enhance their cybersecurity expertise and hire qualified staff (36%).

According to the marketing leaders surveyed, the true cost of data leaks much exceeds the hard numbers. Loss of clients (27%), loss of customer data (25%), and reputation/brand damage (23%) are just some of the ways in which businesses have been harmed by data leaks or personal data incidents over the previous three years. 

The Deputy General Director and Head of Risk Management at PwC Vietnam, Mrs. Nguyen Phi Lan, advises businesses to develop a strategy for managing network security risks, prepare for potential disruptions to the system and implement clear and consistent reporting procedures.

Source: Vneconomy

MSI becomes victim of ransomware attack following ACER

Cyber world trending VSEC - BLOG

Taiwanese PC company MSI (short for Micro-Star International) has officially verified that their system is under a cyber attack.

After detecting “network anomalies”, the company implemented “immediately” initiated measures to handle the problem and also notified law enforcement agencies. However, MSI did not disclose specifics when the attack occurred or whether exclusive information, such as source codes leaked out.

“Currently, the affected systems are progressively returning to normal process, with no significant impact on financial operations”, according to a brief statement from the company.

According to a regulatory filing with the Stock Exchange of Taiwan, enhanced controls over the network and infrastructure have been implemented to ensure data security. MSI encourages users to only download firmware/BIOS updates from their official website, rather than from any other sources.

Money Message, a new ransomware group, has recently added the company into their victim list. Late last month, the threat was brought to Zscaler’s attention.

In the analysis published by Cyble, the experts noted: “This group applies a double blackmail technique to attack the victims, involving filtering before encrypting the victim’s data”. “Unless ransom is paid, they will upload data to their breach website.”

The development occurs one month after Acer disclosed their own mistakes leading to 160GB of secret information theft. Such data was advertised on March 6th 2023, for sale on BreachForums and is now defunct.

According to The Hacker News.

Security assessment is necessary for which types of businesses?

For pentester VSEC - BLOG

Enter the digital era, the top concern of businesses is information security. It could be said that security assessment is the top priority that every business that wants to undergo digital transformation needs to do, especially in industries with high-value industries, with exceptional growth rates and a large volume of customer data. Typically businesses in the following 4 areas:

1. Finance – Banking sector

In 2020, up to 23% of attacks  around the world targeted organizations in the Finance and Banking sector (up 6% compared to NTT’s statistics in 2018). These organizations tend to grow rapidly. However, the investment to ensure the safety of the system as well as the IT applications has not been commensurate with this growth rate. Particularly the Fintech sector, which is experiencing exceptional growth, possesses a large amount of customer data. Being hacked will seriously affect the image and brand of organizations and businesses, an important factor in financial business.

2. Energy – Manufacture

Nearly 50% of attacks in 2020 involved seizing control of industrial operational technology (OT) systems in the energy and industrial manufacturing sectors. Ensuring energy security is always a key requirement of any national regime. Attacks on these units’ IT systems could lead to national security instability due to interruptions in the country’s energy supply.

3. State organization sector

This sector has a high rate of technology updates and owns a variety of equipment and diverse application functions. Moreover, the volume of customer data stored and circulated in this sector is significant. It’s the target that most hackers aim for, exploiting data for dissemination, business purposes, affecting the economy and the business’s brand image.

4. Trade – Service sector

With the robust demand for digital transformation in Vietnam, government agencies are gradually shifting to the digital government model – e-government. This is the target of attackers seeking to exploit sensitive information, modify or post malicious content, paralyze public services, cause economic damage, and affect national political and security concerns.

VSEC offers information security assessment services including technology, environment, and human assessments. With the participation of leading IT experts, VSEC will assist businesses in detecting even the most minor security errors, providing advice and directly implementing measures to improve the business’ security system.

Improper permission management leads to privilege escalation in Chamilo LMS

Security for Newbie VSEC - BLOG

Introduction:

On April 22, 2020, I wanted to find a CVE for myself and after some searching, I chose Chamilo LMS. This is the second vulnerability I found in Chamilo LMS 1.11.10. I had high hopes for this vulnerability to be given a high score, but the outcome was that Chamilo didn’t know how to assign a CVE to me, so sad :3

I typically write my blogs with a cheerful and playful style, but today I’ll attempt to write like a thoughtful young man. It’s enough to ramble like a madman, let’s exploit.

 

Environment:

Version tested: Chamilo LMS 1.11.10 for PHP 7.3.

Web server: Apache webserver-Apache/2.4.41 (Debian).

Issue: Allow users with Sessions administrator privileges the ability to create new users with administrator rights.

 

PoC:

Step 1: Log in with the ‘abcd’ account, endowed with Sessions administrator rights.

Step 2: Create a new user named ‘654’.

Step 3: Click on button to edit ‘654’.

Step 4: Launch Burp Suite and click “Save.” Then, proceed to modify the request body as follows:

Step 5: Log in to the ‘654’ account. BOOM!! Now, ‘654’ is an administrator.

Okay, done!

At the end of the blog, I want to express my gratitude to my new friend, Hoang Kien. He has helped me a lot during the exploitation of this vulnerability.

The main reasons causing security risks

Security for Newbie VSEC - BLOG

On a summer day at the end of April 2017, Mr. Truong Duc Luong, Director of VSEC, had a talk on the current hot topic of information security risks at a small conference organized by VSEC in Hanoi, Vietnam. The conference covered many aspects that information security risks could be caused on servers as well as clients. 

Link to the Workshop event “Security Risks & Information Security” of VSEC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuekJt9C1fU

Server risks

Server-related security risks can be caused by a variety of causes, such as Poor Authorization and Authentication, Insecure Direct Object Reference, Missing Function Level Access Control and Using Components with Known Vulnerabilities.

Poor Authorization and Authentication occurs mainly due to lack or no control over authentication. Some applications in Vietnam often use constant values such as IMEI, UUID as the only authentication method. At the conference, the speaker gave some examples of an application using UUID as an authentication method, and a few examples of an application dividing APIs into classes according to different levels of security (Low Security, Medium Security, High Security). 

Insecure Direct Object Reference occurs when the programmer exposes references to objects in the system (files, directories, keys in database) without controlling access. Attackers can gain access to unauthorized data. This is one of the topics which most of guests pay attention to due to its serious danger. The speaker provided images of some bank mobile banking apps that encountered this error. The prevention method is to use Access Reference Map and Access Modal Diagram. A guest shared that he used to apply Access Reference Map, but he messed up IDs on clients, so it was not safe. Another guest shared that he did not use Access Reference Map, but its ID field was very complex, so it was difficult for an attacker to guess.

Missing Function Level Access Control occurs when the server does not control whether the user with this function has the right to execute or not. This results in the attacker being able to use unauthorized permissions. The speaker gave some pictures of the case where anyone could use administrator function and get information from Mail server system.

Using Components with Known Vulnerabilities occurs when the server uses components (operating systems, frameworks, libraries, etc.) with published vulnerabilities. Some vulnerabilities have been found and exploited automatically by a certain amount of tools, but this increases the risk of the system being attacked. The best measure to prevent this risk is to regularly update the system to the latest versions, cutting down unnecessary functions. VSEC also shared with everyone a situation when deploying a service to a partner, the partner knows that the framework is old with many vulnerabilities but it cannot be updated to a new version because this affects their system suite. 

WannaCry, ransomware virus is dominating in 150 countries today

(Source: theverge.com)

Client risks

Some causes of information security risks from the client include: Insecure Data Storage, Unintended Data Leakage, Insufficient Transport Layer Protection, Broken Cryptography, and Lack of Binary Protections 

Insecure Data Storage occurs when the programmer saves important information to the device but does not encrypt or protect it. When there were some cases of saving Tokens in cleartext, the guests also shared about some solutions and prevention in case of encountering such cases.

Unintended Data Leakage: This error belongs to the operating system and framework, this error is beyond the programmer’s wishes. Some points are vulnerable to information such as copy/paste buffers, system logs, and analysis data sent to third parties. The guests also shared about how to install apps to prevent screenshots on Recent App, prevent copying, etc.

Insufficient Transport Layer Protection: This error occurs when applications do not use encryption protocols, or use older versions, or only encrypt a part of transmission line. The speaker gave some statistics about the number of applications that do not check the server’s certificate, ignoring certificate errors. The speaker introduced additional prevention methods that some Vietnamese applications often use, such as encrypting packets sent, creating signatures for packets. However, the speaker also suggested that the entire packet should be encrypted, and gave an example of an exploit by changing the information returned from server.

Broken Cryptography: This error affects the confidentiality of the data to be encrypted. The speaker showed a number of applications that hardcode passwords in files, use insecure base64 encoding and more.

Lack of Binary Protections: The speaker explained process of compiling from java code to apk file, and explained why apk file was easily decompiled. In case of being decompiled, sensitive information is exposed such as: API, encryption and decryption methods, operating structure of the program. The speaker also offered some messing tools such as DexGuard, ProGuard for Android and a number of techniques

Conclusion

As mentioned in the conference by Mr. Luong, Director of VSEC, it was only the main causes of information security risks. There are also many other risks. However, if these risks are well overcome, the enterprise’s IT system could avoid 91% of the risks. Currently, the world is increasingly connected, which not only facilitates favorable conditions for our works but also better supports hackers. It’s time for us to seriously pay attention to information security!