Archimedes is used to attacking computers inside an office LAN
In its seventh CIA leak since March 23rd, WikiLeaks has just revealed the user manual of a CIA hacking tool ‘Archimedes’ which is ostensibly used to attack computers inside a Local Area Network (LAN).
The CIA tool works by redirecting a target’s web page search to a CIA server which serves up a web page that looks exactly like the original page they were expecting to be served, but which contains malware. It’s only possible to detect the attack by examining the page source.
Archimedes is usually used in offices. It allows the redirecting of traffic from the target computer inside the LAN through a computer infected with this malware and controlled by the CIA. This technique is used by the CIA to redirect the target’s computers web browser to an exploitation server while appearing as a normal browsing session.
The document illustrates a type of attack within a protected environment as the tool is deployed into an existing local network abusing existing machines to bring targeted computers under control and allowing further exploitation and abuse.
The technique is used to redirect the target’s computer web browser to an exploitation server while appearing as a normal browsing session, the whistleblowing site said. In this way, the hackers gain an entry point that allows them access to other machines on that network.
The tool’s user guide, which is dated December 2012, explains that it’s used to re-direct traffic in a Local Area network (LAN) from a “target’s computer through an attacker-controlled computer before it is passed to the gateway.”
This allows it to insert a false webserver response that redirects the target’s web browser to a server that will exploit their system all the while appearing as if it’s a normal browsing session.
It may be mentioned here that Archimedes is an update to a tool called ‘Fulcrum’ and it offers several improvements on the previous system, including providing a method of “gracefully shutting down the tool on demand.”
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