Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

FTA:

The IDG attack did not work initially, but succeeded when security software called NoScript was disabled on the Firefox browser, running on a Windows XP machine.

Oh my.



Since NoScript just lets you block javascript, I'm guessing their powerful security system was nothing more than a few lines of javascript code?


I'm guessing they used XSS to perform the man-in-the-middle attack and snatch the username+password+security code, but initially it didn't work on the journalist's computer because he had NoScript installed.


On my first read, I thought it was just shoddy editing, but I think you're definitely on the right track with this.


From what little I could glean, it sounded like the attackers used some kind of CSRF attack that required the target account to log in.

IDG probably logged in with NoScript enabled, preventing the attacker's script from being run by IDG's browser. Disabling NoScript allowed the CSRF attack to work properly. The website was merely an unwitting pawn.




Consider applying for YC's Summer 2026 batch! Applications are open till May 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: