Adobe Zero-Day Attack on DC-Based Organizations

On June 4, 2010, Adobe announced a critical vulnerability with Adobe Flash Player, Adobe Reader and Acrobat that could allow attackers to take control of the affected system. While Adobe is working to release a fix, the vulnerability is being actively exploited in what are known as Zero-Day attacks.

Since then, a series of Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) attacks have been launched against corporate employees in the form of emails that contain malicious links to sites that use this vulnerability. As of last night, SecurityOrb.com a Washington DC Based Information Security media company has obtained information that a number of corporate employees had received such emails and many of them had clicked on the links causing their machines to be compromised.

SecurityOrb, LLC is asking everyone to take extra caution and validate the sender on all emails before opening them. All externals emails should be scrutinized closely before opening any attachment or clicking any links.

SecurityOrb.com has also obtain information many of these organizations are blocking all Flash downloads from the Internet. This means that users will not be able to view Flash videos/animation in certain web sites they visit. Adrian Williams of SecurityOrb.com stated, “We do not know how long it will take Adobe to come up with a fix, but it is very important for organizations to implement the proper security controls until the matter has been resolved.”

If you have a business critical need to access Flash video in a specific business-related web site, please contact our Service Desk or Internet Service Provider with the site information and business justification and they may be willing to have it white-listed (allowed) for you to access it.

Please continue to be vigilant and never assume you are protected. Visit SecurityOrb.com for additional tips on how you can be secure.

Information Security Definitions - Zero Day Attack (0 Zero Attack)

A zero-day attack or threat is a computer threat that tries to exploit unknown, undisclosed or unpatched computer application vulnerabilities. The term Zero Day is also used to describe unknown or Zero day viruses.

Zero-day exploits are released before the vendor patch is released to the public. Zero-day exploits generally circulate through the ranks of attackers until finally being released on public forums. The term derives from the age of the exploit. A zero-day exploit is usually unknown to the public and to the product vendor.