This article analyzes new attack classes against passwordless authentication, focusing on Google’s synced passkey ecosystem and the Cloud Authenticator used by desktop clients. The attacks demonstrate how malware on a compromised endpoint can misuse onboarding, recovery and device trust workflows to take over passkey-protected accounts. Palo Alto Unit 42 shows how an attacker can authenticate without user interaction, bypass user verification requirements and extract all synced passkey private keys.
After decades of breaches and billions in losses, the attack vectors that defined the era of passwords and shared secrets are finally starting to fade. Passkeys replace passwords and traditional multi-factor authentication (MFA) with public-key cryptography, decreasing entire classes of attacks that have dominated the threat landscape for years.
With no shared secret to steal, reuse or phish, many of an attacker’s most reliable tools are becoming obsolete. This represents a significant disruption for the credential theft market.
Read more…
Source: Palo Alto Unit 42
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Fortra Releases Security Advisories for FileCatalyst Workflow
August 28, 2024
Fortra has released security advisories addressing a critical vulnerability and a high severity vulnerability found in FileCatalyst Workflow. FileCatalyst is an accelerated file transfer software solution that allows the transfer of large files over remote networks. CVE-2024-6632 is an SQL injection vulnerability with a CVSSv3 score of 7.2 (high), which if exploited could allow an unauthenticated ...
- UK: Staff details stolen in poultry factory cyber attack
August 28, 2024
Staff at a poultry factory in Norfolk have had their personal details stolen in a cyber attack. Banham Poultry, based in Attleborough, said criminals had remotely accessed its system in the early hours of 18 August. In an email sent to staff, seen by the BBC, the company said information such as National Insurance numbers, copies ...
- Interpol busts Black Axe global crime network, arrest over 300
August 28, 2024
The International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) Police units had in a coordinated action in 21 countries between April and July 2024 arrested over 300 people with links to Nigerian criminal group Black Axe and other affiliated groups. In a statement, Interpol said operation “Operation Jackal III” led to hundreds of arrests, the seizure of assets worth ...
- Hunters International ransomware gang threatens to leak US Marshals data
August 27, 2024
The Hunters International ransomware group is threatening to leak what it claims to be 386 GB of data from the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), more than a year after the federal law enforcement agency suffered a major ransomware attack. The gang claims the data, comprising more than 327,000 files, includes “Top Secret” documents, gang files, information ...
- Unveiling Mobile App Vulnerabilities: How Popular Apps Leak Sensitive Data
August 27, 2024
In an increasingly digital world, the importance of mobile security cannot be overstated. With millions of apps available on Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store, users trust developers to safeguard their personal information. Unfortunately, this trust is often misplaced. A key step in preventing unauthorized access to user data is encryption, especially when it comes ...
- SMS scammers use toll fees as a lure
August 27, 2024
In April 2024, the FBI warned about a new type of smishing scam. Smishing is the term we use for phishing attacks sent via text message. This particular smishing scam tries to trick users into clicking a link by telling them they owe a “small amount” in toll fees. The scammers send a text claiming that ...