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Today, 9 November 2017, WikiLeaks publishes the source code and development logs to Hive, a major component of the CIA infrastructure to control its malware.
Hive solves a critical problem for the malware operators at the CIA. Even the most sophisticated malware implant on a target computer is useless if there is no way for it to communicate with its operators in a secure manner that does not draw attention. Using Hive even if an implant is discovered on a target computer, attributing it to the CIA is difficult by just looking at the communication of the malware with other servers on the internet. Hive provides a covert communications platform for a whole range of CIA malware to send exfiltrated information to CIA servers and to receive new instructions from operators at the CIA.
Hive can serve multiple operations using multiple implants on target computers. Each operation anonymously registers at least one cover domain (e.g. "perfectly-boring-looking-domain.com") for its own use. The server running the domain website is rented from commercial hosting providers as a VPS (virtual private server) and its software is customized according to CIA specifications. These servers are the public-facing side of the CIA back-end infrastructure and act as a relay for HTTP(S) traffic over a VPN connection to a "hidden" CIA server called 'Blot'.
The code shows how the CIA could impersonate Kaspersky Lab:
According to WikiLeaks, CIA used these fake certificates to impersonate existing entities including Kaspersky Lab. "The three examples included in the source code build a fake certificate for the anti-virus company Kaspersky Laboratory, Moscow pretending to be signed by Thawte Premium Server CA, Cape Town. In this way, if the target organization looks at the network traffic coming out of its network, it is likely to misattribute the CIA exfiltration of data to uninvolved entities whose identities have been impersonated," noted WikiLeaks.
Also at The Register (follow-up).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 14 2017, @07:56PM (6 children)
Does black hide residue better? I have heard of the rare pink AR-15, but that's it. Black, black, black...
I'd expect the norm to be camo, both regular and deer-hunter-orange.
I'd expect a wide variety of polished metals to be popular: chrome, titanium, silver...
Some bastard needs to make one mostly out of bright translucent plastic, with a white barrel showing through, and an orange tip. :-)
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by Grishnakh on Tuesday November 14 2017, @08:17PM (5 children)
For military use, polished metals are out because they're too visible from a distance and can give your position away to the enemy. Matte black eliminates that problem. You could do camo, but that probably costs more, it probably wasn't available back when the M-16 was new (I see it now on hunter's guns, but I've only been seeing it in the last decade or so, probably because of improved paint technology--gun barrels get really hot), and the military probably doesn't want to mess with it because black is simple and works well.
For civilian use, they probably don't use polished metals on military-style rifles because then they wouldn't be military-style any more. Civilians buying military-style guns want everything to look "tactical", because they seem to think they're one day going to need to use those guns to shoot at alien invaders or zombies or something. Civilians who are into fancy guns get ones that aren't military-style (i.e. AR-15 derivative), and those frequently do have polished metals in places. There's a bunch of ultra-fancy (and expensive) shotguns with chrome or nickel plated barrels and hardware, dark walnut woodwork, etc. There's also nickel-plated handguns that'll blind you from the glare. I guess it just depends on what you're into: if you think you're going to have to fight off zombie hordes in 5 years, then a black AR-15 is going to be your gun of choice. If you're trying to impress people at the country club, then nickel-and-walnut is going to be your style.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 14 2017, @09:24PM
Well here is one that is not going to survive the zombie apocalypse! Matte black so as not to give your location away to zombies? The ones with rotten or missing eyeballs? Actually, the reflected glare is actually quite effective at repelling zombies. Thus the nickel-plate for the Country Club. I
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 14 2017, @09:43PM
A matter of taste, I know, but I do prefer AK series.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday November 14 2017, @09:57PM (2 children)
I'll let you in on a secret. Civilians who've always been civilians buy military-looking weapons almost exclusively because they look cool. Veterans, when they buy the civilian model of their service weapon, do so because they know the thing like the back of their hand.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday November 14 2017, @10:10PM (1 child)
> Veterans, when they buy the civilian model of their service weapon, do so because they know the thing like the back of their hand.
And/or they buy it because of the memories of who they were and what they did, when wielding that weapon was their identity.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday November 14 2017, @10:51PM
Some nostalgia there too, yeah.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.