McAfee Labs has been working around the clock, diving deep into the attack we are now calling Aurora that hit multiple companies and was publicly disclosed by Google on Tuesday.

We are working with multiple organizations that were impacted by this attack as well as the government and law enforcement. As part of our investigation, we analyzed several pieces of malicious code that we have confirmed were used in attempts to penetrate several of the targeted organizations.

New Internet Explorer Zero Day
In our investigation we discovered that one of the malware samples involved in this broad attack exploits a new, not publicly known vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer. We informed Microsoft about this vulnerability and Microsoft published an advisory and a blog post on the matter on Thursday afternoon.

As with most targeted attacks, the intruders gained access to an organization by sending a tailored attack to one or a few targeted individuals. We suspect these individuals were targeted because they likely had access to valuable intellectual property. These attacks will look like they come from a trusted source, leading the target to fall for the trap and clicking a link or file. That’s when the exploitation takes place, using the vulnerability in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

Once the malware is downloaded and installed, it opens a back door that allows the attacker to perform reconnaissance and gain complete control over the compromised system. The attacker can now identify high value targets and start to siphon off valuable data from the company.

Our investigation has shown that Internet Explorer is vulnerable on all of Microsoft’s most recent operating system releases, including Windows 7. Still, so far the attacks we’ve seen using this vector have been focused on Internet Explorer 6. Microsoft has been working with us on this matter and we thank them for their collaboration.

While we have identified the Internet Explorer vulnerability as one of the vectors of attack in this incident, many of these targeted attacks often involve a cocktail of zero-day vulnerabilities combined with sophisticated social engineering scenarios. So there very well may be other attack vectors that are not known to us at this time. That said, contrary to some reports our findings to date have not shown a vulnerability in Adobe Reader being a factor in these attacks.

Operation “Aurora”
I am sure you are wondering about the name “Aurora.”  Based on our analysis, “Aurora” was part of the filepath on the attacker’s machine that was included in two of the malware binaries that we have confirmed are associated with the attack. That filepath is typically inserted by code compilers to indicate where debug symbols and source code are located on the machine of the developer. We believe the name was the internal name the attacker(s) gave to this operation.

Changing The Threat Landscape
Blaster, Code Red and other high profile worms are definitely a thing of the past. The current bumper crop of malware is very sophisticated, highly targeted, and designed to infect, conceal access, siphon data or, even worse, modify data without detection.

These highly customized attacks known as “advanced persistent threats” (APT) were primarily seen by governments and the mere mention of them strikes fear in any cyberwarrior. They are in fact the equivalent of the modern drone on the battle field. With pinpoint accuracy they deliver their deadly payload and once discovered – it is too late.

Operation Aurora is changing the cyberthreat landscape once again. These attacks have demonstrated that companies of all sectors are very lucrative targets. Many are highly vulnerable to these targeted attacks that offer loot that is extremely valuable: intellectual property.

Similar to the ATM heist of 2009, Operation Aurora looks to be a coordinated attack on many high profile companies targeting their intellectual property. Like an army of mules withdrawing funds from an ATM, this malware enabled the attackers to quietly suck the crown jewels out of many companies while people were off enjoying their December holidays.  Without question this attack was perpetrated during a period of time that would minimize detection.

All I can say is wow. The world has changed. Everyone’s threat model now needs to be adapted to the new reality of these advanced persistent threats. In addition to worrying about Eastern European cybercriminals trying to siphon off credit card databases, you have to focus on protecting all of your core intellectual property, private nonfinancial customer information and anything else of intangible value.

We will continue to provide updates on this event as it continues to unfold.  As I said in my last post, this is only the tip of the iceberg.

(To  get real time updates on this story follow George on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/george_kurtzCTO)

(Update: Added detail on IE 6 being a primary attack vector at 1.55 PM PT on 01/14/10)
(Update 2: Added link to Microsoft advisory and blog at 6.47 PM PT on 01/14)