Jump to content

Thousands of online banking customers have accounts emptied by 'most dangerous trojan virus ever created'


WestVirginiaRebel

Recommended Posts

WestVirginiaRebel
New-trojan-virus-Zeus-v3-empties-online-bank-accounts.html
Daily Mail UK:

Cyber criminals have raided the accounts of thousands of British internet bank customers in one of the most sophisticated attacks of its kind.

The fraudsters used a malicious computer programme that hides on home computers to steal confidential passwords and account details from at least 3,000 people.

The internet security experts M86, who uncovered the scam, estimate that at least £675,000 has been illegally transferred from the UK in the last month - and that the attacks are still continuing.

All the victims were customers with the same unnamed online bank, the company said.

Last night online banking customers were urged to make sure their anti-virus software was up to date - and to check for any missing sums from their accounts.

The attack has been traced to a 'control and command' centre in Eastern Europe. However, the nationality of the cybercriminals is unknown.

The attacks were carried out when hundreds of thousands of home computers were infected with a type of harmful computer code called a Trojan.

Trojans hide in websites, emails or downloads. Once installed on a computer they can record every type of the keyboard, steal confidential information or even open up a PC's security so that it can be controlled remotely from another country.

The latest attack involved a Trojan called Zeus v3 which hides inside adverts on legitimate websites.

Once installed on a home computer, the programme waits until the user visits their online bank and then secretly records their account details and passwords - using the information to transfer between £1,000 and £5,000 to other bank accounts.

The attacks began on July 5 and are still progressing, according to Ed Rowley, product manager at M86.

'In the vast majority of cases, if people had kept their computer's operating systems and software such as Internet Explorer up to date they would not have been attacked,' he said.

'More often than not Trojans exploit known vulnerabilities that can be simply patched and fixed by downloading updates.'
________

Cyber crime alert!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So many easy ways to avoid this.

 

Install all updates for your operating system.

Make sure you have a good Internet security program and it is up to date.

Use Firefox with Ad-Block Plus and No-Script installed.

Avoid p0rn

Don't do online banking.

 

I love the Internet and computers, but I will never, ever do any online banking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • 1711647426
×
×
  • Create New...