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Http://www.google.com/wo0dh3ad

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Http://www.google.com/wo0dh3ad

#1
This is the function used by Tunisia Gov agencies to harvest login/passwords : see also http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/201101/6651

>4;cl=c&0x0F; st2=st2+String.fromCharCode(ch+97)+String.fromCharCode(cl+97);}return st2;} function r5t(len){var st="";for(i=0;i

Re: Http://www.google.com/wo0dh3ad

#3
Proves again, there is really no excuse not to use HTTPS for everything.

Encryption/certificate validation make it much harder to pull of a MITM attack like this, especially by companies and small repressive governments.

Re: Http://www.google.com/wo0dh3ad

#4
Fortunately, because the fake "wo0dh3ad" page accessed was on their site, Facebook may well have a log of everyone whose account was compromised and can take steps to warn and protect their Tunisian users.

Why would the Tunisian government have allowed ISPs to forward these requests? Facebook probably knows nothing about this.

Re: Http://www.google.com/wo0dh3ad

#5
post #3

Proves again, there is really no excuse not to use HTTPS for everything. Encryption/certificate validation make it much harder to pull of a MITM attack like this, especially by companies and small repressive governments.

With this scale of access to the network infrastructure[1], I'd be worried about them injecting drive-by downloads of browser exploits which install trust for a root certificate controlled by the government. Once in place, MITM attacks on https are possible. The tricky bit would be telling apart requests from compromised machines and uncompromised ones. (attempting to MITM the latter will cause the browser to start jumping up and down, potentially raising suspicion)

Even more scary is the thought experiment that Microsoft might cooperate with the Tunisian government and allow installing trust for such a root certificate via the windows update mechanism. (I have no evidence that this actually happens, it just seems a convenient vector)

[1] They're under no time pressure and can transparently proxy every single TCP connection and IP packet if they so desire. They control DNS.

Re: Http://www.google.com/wo0dh3ad

#6
post #3

Proves again, there is really no excuse not to use HTTPS for everything. Encryption/certificate validation make it much harder to pull of a MITM attack like this, especially by companies and small repressive governments.

I guess SSL is an improvement. Now you just have to trust 2000 companies and anyone controlling their purse strings, instead of having to trust everyone. You feel safe, which is much better than being safe...

Re: Http://www.google.com/wo0dh3ad

#7
post #3

Proves again, there is really no excuse not to use HTTPS for everything. Encryption/certificate validation make it much harder to pull of a MITM attack like this, especially by companies and small repressive governments.

I agree TLS should be more widely used. But...

When the government or ISP in question controls its own certificate authority (and many do), they can MITM you even over HTTPS. Yes, it's another speedbump for them to get over. No, it's not going to stop them.

The X.509 security model is broken and needs fixing or replacing.

Re: Http://www.google.com/wo0dh3ad

#8
post #3

Proves again, there is really no excuse not to use HTTPS for everything. Encryption/certificate validation make it much harder to pull of a MITM attack like this, especially by companies and small repressive governments.

The simple answer for small repressive governments is to block the HTTPS login form so you have to fall back to HTTP. ATI has complete control of all Internet access in Tunisia. You're just not going to get through them unless you can find a way through.

In some countries I work in we routinely come across censorship and all kinds of dodgy goings on, so we have a variety of tunnelling methods (VPN, SSH, ICMPTX, DNSTX, Tor and a few non-public tunnelling options). For the most part as long as you can terminate a connection in somewhere you're fairly comfortable with you're better off.

Also don't make the mistake of feeling that the US, UK or EU are automatically comfortable options. It all depends what you're doing with the data. A little common sense goes a long way.

Re: Http://www.google.com/wo0dh3ad

#9
This is why login forms themselves must be opened over an HTTPS connection. Displaying a login form over HTTP which POSTs to HTTPS is easily MITMd.

Think of your users. Some of them will be accessing your sites from oppressive regimes. Let them do so safely.

Taking Facebook as an example, considering how global their usage is, and the amount of sensitive data peoples accounts contain, it's unforgivable that they don't force HTTPS traffic for everything.

Re: Http://www.google.com/wo0dh3ad

#10
post #6
post #3

Proves again, there is really no excuse not to use HTTPS for everything. Encryption/certificate validation make it much harder to pull of a MITM attack like this, especially by companies and small repressive governments.

I guess SSL is an improvement. Now you just have to trust 2000 companies and anyone controlling their purse strings, instead of having to trust everyone. You feel safe, which is much better than being safe...

So what you are trying to convey, there is no advantage to using SSL vs. plain connection? I wonder why then they shut down SSL in my home country during elections..
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