The massive breach into Adobe’s networks may have been the work of the same attackers who compromised LexisNexis and other organizations, using the same techniques. Security professionals around the world should be on high alert for an increase in Acrobat-related attacks as hackers analyze the code for possible zero-day exploits.
 Adobe has confirmed a massive hack that led to the theft of the private information of 2.9 million customers. The hacked data includes consumer names, encrypted credit or debit card numbers, expiration dates, and other information relating to customer orders.”At this time, we do not believe the attackers removed decrypted credit or debit card numbers from our systems,” Brad Arkin, Chief Security Officer at Adobe, wrote in a blog post. “We deeply regret that this incident occurred. We’re working diligently internally, as well as with external partners and law enforcement, to address the incident.”As a precaution, Adobe said it is resetting relevant customer passwords to help prevent unauthorized access to Adobe ID accounts. The company is also in the process of notifying customers whose credit or debit card information may have been compromised. Adobe contacted the banks that process customer payments for the software firm and has also alerted federal law enforcement agencies. What now?A Chilling ReminderWe caught up with Chris Petersen, CTO and co-founder of security information and event management firm LogRhythm, to get his take on the high-profile hack. He told us when it comes to the source code breach, the first risk Adobe is concerned with is that malicious code was inserted into product source code and then distributed to customers in a compiled form. The second risk is that its source code is out in the open and vulnerable to would-be attackers.”Having access to product source code can allow attackers to identify software vulnerabilities that have been undiscovered to date. Both risks could result in a treasure trove of zero-day exploits against Adobe software,” Petersen said.”If indeed the source code stolen pertains to ColdFusion and Acrobat, this could leave thousands of web servers open to at-will compromise and make it easier to compromise end-user systems,” he said. “This breach is a chilling reminder that all software companies should be on guard, as they too could be a stepping stone to other targets.”The Biggest StoryAaron Titus, Chief Privacy Officer at Identity Finder, a security and privacy software firm, told us the biggest story is that 3 million credit card numbers were hacked from Adobe.”While this is a serious breach by any measure, to Adobe’s credit the numbers seem to have been encrypted. The underreported, but far more worrying story is that hackers apparently have obtained 40 GB of Adobe source code, which may include Adobe’s most popular products, Adobe Acrobat and ColdFusion,” he said. |
