Communications of the ACM
Honeynet Project Tackles Usb-Carried Malware Like Flame
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The Honeynet Project has launched an initiative to build technology that traps malware spread from PC to PC via USB storage.
Organizers of the nonprofit security research group say better security is needed because the strategy is effective in closed networks that contain highly sensitive documents, noting that portable storage drives are typically used to transfer data between computers on separate networks.
USB devices were used to spread the Flame cyberespionage malware, considered to be the most sophisticated malware to date. The malware created a folder that could not be seen by a Windows PC, hiding the application and its payload of stolen documents from the user, according to experts.
Sebastian Poeplau, a student at Bonn University's Institute of Computer Science, and other researchers have developed a virtual drive that runs in a USB device to trap malware. "Basically, the honeypot emulates a USB storage device," says the project's Web site. "If your machine is infected by malware that uses such devices for propagation, the honeypot will trick it into infecting the emulated device."
From CSO Online
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