pcAnywhere Source Posted

According to the Register, hacktivists affiliated with Anonymous have uploaded what they claim is the source code of Symantec’s pcAnywhere software today, after negotiations broke down with a federal agent posing as a Symantec employee.  Symantec confirmed that it had turned the case over to the Feds as soon as the hackers made contact.

According to the article, the release of the 1.27GB file coincides with the breakdown of the “negotiations” – which the group has now published on Pastebin – that took place between “Symantec” and the spokesperson of hacker group Lords of Dharmaraja, an Indian hacking crew affiliated with Anonymous.

Catch the details in the original article.  Beware downloading anything purporting to be a source code cache.  These things are tracked by the vendor, law enforcement agencies, and others, and are most often laced with some type of malicious software.  Stories like this are news-worthy, generating a lot of interest, and anything that generates conversation and controversy is fair game for miscreants.  And what better way to get their hooks into your computer than to offer you something enticing, like a peak at some commercial source code?

Symantec Source Code Follow-up

In a follow-up to a previous post, it looks like Symantec has backed away from earlier statements regarding the theft of source code of some of its security products, now admitting that its own network was compromised.  In a statement provided to Reuters, the security software maker acknowledged that hackers had broken into its network and stole source code of some of the company’s security applications.

Symantec had insisted previously that hackers stole the code from a third party, but corrected that statement on Tuesday after an investigation found that Symantec’s own networks had been infiltrated six years ago.  The list of software has also increased, now including Norton Antivirus Corporate Edition, Norton Internet Security, Norton Utilities, Norton GoBack and pcAnywhere.

If you have these products installed, you may be at increased risk.  The best advice that I can offer is to make sure that you have secured these products to their fullest, that their exposure to potential threat vectors is minimized, and that any systems that use them are monitored for abnormal behavior and network traffic.

Rumors Abound – Symantec AntiVirus Source Code Leaked?

InfoSec Island is all over a reported breach and leak of Symantec’s flagship Norton Anti Virus product by an Indian hacker group known as “The Lords of Dharmaraja”.

The hackers have apparently posted on Pastebin a list of the files they obtained with the message “Complete listing of NAV source code package which is comming…” [sic], an indication that they intend to post the actual source code for the Symantec product.

If true, this breach could render Norton AV ineffective as a defense tool, and have a very serious impact on Symantec’s bottom line and stock value.

So far, all of the evidence presented appears to be a 12 year old document explaining how NAV works, but new material has been sent to Symantec for analysis and comment.  Let’s hope it is all bogus.  We don’t need the bad guys getting even more intelligence regarding the inner workings of commercial grade defensive tools.