Security researchers this week discovered an NSA cyber espionage program that installs malware in hard drive firmware, making it hard to detect or delete. It’s serious stuff, but there’s a light side to this story.
Kaspersky’s researchers also published a list of URLs that the malware uses to “phone home” and pass information back to agents. Now, the NSA could use random, gibberish domains, but those look suspicious. So, instead, the agency registered and ran second-rate domains like newjunk4u.com and nickleplatedads.com. (Aside: Is that nickel plate dads or nickel-plated ads?)
via The Verge
