Security researchers have developed a method for detecting violations by the NSA Quantum. Fox-IT has developed and have free open source tools to track duplicate HTTP packets that have different data sizes, which are the main features of Quantum Insert attack.
Η Quantum Insert, is a hacking technique used by services information, and was first exposed by Edward Snowden. It is essentially an “HTML redirect” attack and works by injecting malicious content into a specific TCP session. The session selected for the injection uses a permanent cookie monitorings that is specified in the person we are interested in.
You can see more details about the attack from its official website Fox-IT.
Anyone able to monitor networks and send fake packages can perform Quantum attacks, although in practice it is much easier for governments.
So it's not just the UK's NSA and GCHQ that are using the attack. China recently allegedly used this type of attack, as we reported in the post about Great Cannon.
"Detection is possible through searches for duplicate TCP packets, which have different payloads, and other anomalies in TCP streams," explained Lennart Haagsma, Fox-IT network security analyst, adding that various countermeasures are already available in addition to new detection tools they developed.
"Using HTTPS in conjunction with TGV can reduce the effectiveness of the QI [Quantum Insert] attack. "Also, using a content distribution network (CDN) that offers low latency can make it very difficult for a QI package to win the battle with the real server," said the researcher.
Snowden leaks include a slide from Communications Security Establishment Canada that describes how to detect Quantum Insert attacks, and is a useful tool highlighted by Fox-IT.
Transparency helped the company from the Netherlands in its path to develop Quantum Insert-sniffing tools.
See the presentation video