Aurora

Aurora is a type of malware designed to exploit and damage computer systems, often through suspicious downloads, emails, or websites. It has been used in a series of high-profile cyber-attacks over the years, with notable instances such as Operation Aurora in 2009, which targeted major technology companies including Google, and Operation Aurora Redux in 2012. This malicious software, along with others like RedLine, LokiBot, and Mars, is built to steal session cookies and saved passwords from browsers, which can be used to evade multifactor authentication controls and access crypto wallets. The Storm-0558 group, tracked for over 20 years, has been linked to these attacks and other cloud provider compromises. In July 2022, Advocate Aurora Health, a prominent healthcare provider in the Midwest, faced a data exposure incident due to incorrect usage of meta-pixels, impacting around 3 million people. Later, in October 2022, Advocate Aurora reported a HIPAA breach affecting the same number of individuals involving its prior use of web trackers. Following these incidents, Advocate Aurora agreed in August 2024 to pay $12.25 million to settle consolidated civil class action claims that it had invaded patient privacy by using tracking codes on its websites and patient portal. Despite the threats posed by Aurora and similar malware, tools are available to combat them. For instance, an Aurora ransom decryptor tool is accessible at Bleeping Computer and Emsisoft. However, certain cloud database services, such as AWS's Aurora services for MySQL or PostgreSQL, are limited in their support against this malware. Furthermore, AWS's Outposts does not support Aurora, Oracle Database, Redshift, SageMaker, or any other AWS database model. Despite these limitations, AWS aims to provide a first-class experience with its first-party services such as Aurora for MySQL through CodeWhisperer.