Google: Net Hacker Tool du Jour

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,57897,00.html

By Christopher Null
Mar. 04, 2003

Why bother pounding at a website in search of obscure holes when you
can simply waltz in through the front door?

Hackers have recently done just that, turning to Google to help
simplify the task of honing in on their targets.

"Google, properly leveraged, has more intrusion potential than any
hacking tool," said hacker Adrian Lamo, who recently sounded the
alarm.

The hacks are made possible by Web-enabled databases. Because
database-management tools use canned templates to present data on the
Web, typing specific phrases into Internet search tools often leads a
user directly to those templated pages. For example, typing the phrase
"Select a database to view" -- a common phrase in the FileMaker Pro
database interface -- into Google recently yielded about 200 links,
almost all of which lead to FileMaker databases accessible online.

In a few cases, the databases contained sensitive information. One
held the addresses, phone numbers and detailed biographies of several
hundred teachers affiliated with Apple Computer. It also included each
teacher's user name and password. The database was not protected by
any form of security.

Another search result pointed to a page served by the Drexel
University College of Medicine, which linked to a database of 5,500
records of the medical college's neurosurgical patients. The patient
record included addresses, telephone numbers and detailed write-ups of
diseases and treatments. Once Google pointed the visitor to the page,
the hacker merely needed to type in an identical user name and
password (in short, the name of the database) in order to access the
information.

Both databases were Web-enabled using the FileMaker Pro Web Companion,
a component of the $299 FileMaker Pro application, which is primarily
targeted at beginning users. According to FileMaker, the Web Companion
promises to "convert a single-user database into a multi-user
networked solution in one simple step.... Authorized users can search,
edit, delete and update records using most popular Web browsers."

Apple did not return calls requesting comment, but the teacher
database was apparently taken offline on Friday afternoon.

Drexel University immediately shut down its database upon being
informed of the vulnerability. Spokeswoman Linda Roth said university
officials had not been aware that it existed online, as it was not a
sanctioned university site. Drexel's dean also sent a memo to all
employees reiterating the university's policy against unapproved
databases. The school is canvassing its network to ensure no other
databases have been posted online, Roth said.

A FileMaker spokesman said the company tries its best to make users
aware of security issues.

"We're critically aware of security and the need for it," said Kevin
Mallon. "We publish white papers and software updates on our site, and
we send updates to our registered users about the need for security."

But Mallon suggested that configuring access rights and selecting
appropriate passwords are ultimately the user's responsibility. "We
constantly emphasize with our users to be aware of the extent of the
exposure they want -- or more importantly, the exposure they do not
want -- for all databases published on the Web."

Regarding the vulnerable Drexel database, Fred Langston, senior
principal consultant of Guardent, an information security services
company, said part of the reason the incident occurred might have been
because such institutions typically encourage openness with regard to
knowledge sharing.

"We've done a lot of work at universities and teaching hospitals, and
it's the hardest environment to impose security, because they tend to
have an open information-sharing model," Langston said. "It makes it
very difficult to impose restrictions on data: In a teaching
environment, that's how people learn and extend their knowledge.

"Even if (the vulnerability) hadn't been exposed through Google, it
would have been exposed eventually."

A Google spokesman said the company was aware of the situation, and
that it provides tools that let webmasters remove inadvertently
published information from Google's index within about 24 hours. Tools
that allow for even speedier removal are in the works.

Removing links after the fact, though, isn't a very elegant solution,
Lamo said.

"When your medical records are indexed in Google, something's wrong."



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