Malicious hackers are targeting people in the UK with a dangerous computer virus called Zeus v3 to wipe out bank accounts. Zeus v3 has been coined as “the most dangerous trojan virus EVER!”
Thousands of people in the UK have already had their bank accounts drained by this new and highly sophisticated trojan computer virus.
The Zeus v3 trojan virus has been found on legitimate websites, and not confined to pornographic or gambling websites.
The cyber criminals have yet to be caught, still progressing, and all online banking customers should beware!
It was discovered by M86 Security Labs, based in California. This virus has been traced to a server in eastern Europe.
Here's How the Zeus v3 Trojan Virus Works:
- On an unprotected computer, this virus secretly installs itself.
- This virus lies dormant until you access your online bank account.
- Once you've logged into to your bank account, it copies your username, password and all of your online user details.
- The virus then transfers all of your money to a different bank account.
- It gives you a “false” bank balance screen, making you unaware that your cash has been stolen.
- It only transfers money if your bank balance is over $1,000.
Is the Zeus v3 Virus a Threat to the United States?
Professor Douglas Seaplane, of John Jay College for Cyber Crime Studies in New York, said “Just by visiting infected websites, malware can be downloaded onto your computer. And that was one of the attack vectors involved in this particular Zeus trojan” He then went onto say, “You can simply click on an advertisement on a website, you'll be directed to some other website than the one you just visited, and that website, that advertiser's website could easily have malware on it. And again, this was one of the vectors used by this trojan to distribute malware.”
Even if you have a protected computer, he pointed out that if it's too new of a virus it's potentially useless. It's necessary to protect your computer, but it's not sufficient. It can't do the whole job. “Zero-day attacks” could still come down onto your computer because the software you have doesn't know about it.
Tips to Help Protect Your Computer from the Zeus v3 Virus
- Make sure your anti-virus software is up-to-date.
- Set your firewalls to the highest level.
- Never open email attachments from people you don't know.
- Never open a .exe attachments (this is an executable file).
- Contact your bank immediately if you're affected.
Bottom Line: It's your responsibility to make sure your computer and/or laptop is safe!
I did find an article on how to “Find and Remove Zeus (Zbot) Banking Trojan” virus, but not sure how accurate it is for Zeus v3.
Update 08/15/2010 at 3:20pm: Thanks to Andreas of Xavier Media for pointing out that this virus can also steal your logins to Facebook, MySpace and possibly other log-in information.
We'd like to hear from you
Have you been infected by this trojan virus or know someone who has? Share your story by leaving a comment below.
Securely yours,
Regina Smola
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Thank you, Regina, for a great post. This is some scary stuff! Cyber crimes will continue to increase, and like you said, it is our responsibility to be proactive and aware.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, identity theft is the “unauthorized use or attempted use of a credit card, existing accounts, misuse of personal information, or multiple types at the same time.” Of those, the number of victims of multiple forms of identity theft grew the most, with a 37 percent increase from 2005 to 2007. That was followed by credit card theft with a 31 percent increase, and then by unauthorized use of accounts including bank, checking or debit and cellular phone accounts.
Identity theft is one of the leading cybercrimes.
When someone (a hacker) obtains your bank account information, they are privy to other personal data as well. While most banks have a zero-tolerance & zero-liability policy for their customers, on average it still can take up to 5,840 hours (the equivalent of working a full-time job for two years) to correct the damage from ID theft, depending on the severity of the case.
This is serious and I personally thank you, Regina, for bringing this new trojan to our attention. I love that I can count on you and WPSecurityLock.
kc
You’re welcome, Kelli. And thanks for your information about identity theft.
What a timely reminder and thorough report.
3 things happened this past week that brought Hackers to the front of my mind.
1. The two WP blogs that I had not yet updated were hacked –
2. A friend absent mindedly clicked a phishing link that hyjacked her email account
Her friends started getting email to rescue her from financial disaster in Europe.
3. Another friend had his wallet stolen and is now working to clean up identity theft.
I was watching one of the news programs about how diligent these hackers are – they are out there hoping we will let our guard down, not update our virus software, or click a link that looks legitimate.
As I was banking on line this AM I thought about changing my password. Now I will do it.
I appreciate this information and will pass it on.
Terry
Hi Terry. Wow what a week you and your friends have had!
Good idea about changing your password. Good luck. Stay safe!
Great article Regina, and thanks so much for alerting us so quickly! I have already forwarded this to my mom and other friends and family members so they will be aware that they need to take action to make sure their systems and accounts are secure.
Sheri,
Thanks for spreading awareness! We need Allen (www.internettechguy.com) to give us some input. I’m worried about using my laptop on an unsecured network at the hotel next week.
Regina
The videos are no longer available ;-(
Hi Andreas,
I just checked the videos on this page and they both play for me. Can you try again? They are on YouTube and embedded here.
Regina
FBI have developed guidelines to help protect banking clients from financial malware. A key aspect of these recommendations is reducing the chances for financial malware aka zeus to infect client computers. NACHA and FBI recommendation can be summarized by into the following guidelines:
•Use only one dedicated computer to perform banking transactions– do not use email, office applications, or visit non-banking websites
•Protect the computer with anti-malware software
•Keep the computer up to date with the latest software updates
•Use strong, two-factor authentication for gaining access to banking according to FFIEC rules
Thanks for the info David. We should connect more later and see how we can help everyone be more secure.