This post is the third and final entry for our 3-part series on HTML5. You may check the previous two entries, HTML5 – The Good, and HTML5 – The Bad.

Welcome to the final part of our miniseries on HTML5 and the security issues surrounding it. Today, we are going to look at what, in my opinion, is the scariest security concern that HTML5 introduces by a long margin: BITB (Botnets In The Browser).

With HTML5, attackers can now create a botnet which will run on any OS, in any location, on any device. Being heavily memory-based, it barely touches the disk, making it difficult to detect with traditional file-based antivirus. JavaScript code is also very easy to obfuscate, so network IDS signature will also have a very hard time. Finally, being web-based, it will easily pass through most firewalls.

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This post is the second of a 3-part series of blog entries on HTML5. You can also check the first part: HTML – The Good.

Yesterday, we started the first of a three-part series investigating the new HTML5 standard. We started this by looking at some of the new features which are going to improve how we can interact with the Web.

In today’s post, we will look at how some of the features of HTML5 can be misused by attackers. This post is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but if you are interested in more details we will be releasing an in-depth paper on HTML5 Attacks tomorrow.

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This morning, I came across an entertaining Christmas-themed ZeuS Web panel while monitoring online forums. Here’s what it looks like:

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This post is the first of a 3-part series of blog entries on HTML5

HTML5 is the fifth revision of the language that makes the web work, and this Wednesday we will be releasing a paper detailing some of the new attacks that are made possible by this technology. Over the next three days we’ll be looking at the Good, the Bad and the downright Ugly of what HTML5 adds to the web, and to the arsenal of cybercriminals.

First up – HTML5 (and its associated APIs) is not an upgrade like you may be familiar with when it comes to software – it’s actually a whole lot of individual features, each with differing browser support. There is a good Wikipedia article that shows which features are currently implemented. For me there are very many fantastic features in HTML5, but five of them really stand out – and I think these will really change how we interact with the web.

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Last month, Google announced that they were making search more secure for their users. They announced that users already signed in to Google would have a more secure experience. This meant two things: first, search queries and results would now be sent via HTTPS. This protects the searches of users with unsecured Internet connections, such as most WiFi hotspots.

The second part was far more interesting. According to our tests, Google does not include the search terms used to reach websites anymore in the HTTP referrer header. Here’s part of the URL that Google is now sending as the referring URL:

Note that after the &q= portion, no search term is specified. By contrast, a standard search has a referring URL more like this:

The repercussions are twofold. First, legitimate web sites won’t be able to point out what terms they use are popular. Thus, their own optimization efforts might be impeded. I know that as a web site owner, it’s really useful to have those stats and be able to tune your content so that it’s more easily searchable. To get this information, you now have to sign up for Google’s own analytics services–which may or may not be feasible for all websites.

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