Large Zeus Botnet Used For Financial Fraud 68
An anonymous reader writes "A large Zeus version 2 botnet is being used to conduct financial fraud in the UK and is operated from Eastern Europe. The botnet appears to be controlling more than 100,000 infected computers. The criminals have been harvesting all manner of potentially lucrative and revenue-producing credentials — including online account IDs plus login information to banks, credit and debit card numbers, account types plus balances, bank statements, browser cookies, client side certificates, login information for email accounts and social networks, and even FTP passwords."
Oh no (Score:5, Funny)
login information to banks, credit and debit card numbers, account types plus balances, bank statements, browser cookies, client side certificates, login information for email accounts and social networks and even FTP passwords
I was not mad right up until that last one and even FTP passwords. They can have all that other crap but when they take my precious FTP password, and I use FTP for all my most critical-to-security interent functions, well...war on buddy.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
How dare they capture my unencrypted logins?!?! Seriously, its a shame SFTP or FTPS isn't more supported, and by 'more supported' I mean supported by IE and Firefox. I hate how adding encryption to FTP is suddenly "Whoa, whoa, whoa, we only provide basic support on browsers." Funny how they don't say the same thing about HTTPS.
Re:Oh no (Score:4, Informative)
I don't know if you honestly expect Microsoft to add useful features to IE, but at least with Firefox that's what addons are for [mozilla.org].
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Add-ons arent a solution. Unless a huge install base has it then its not worth using for a general audience. That like saying "Here's an add-on for HTTPS, toodles!" At that might you might as well spend those 30 seconds just installing a stand-alone FTP client that supports FTPS/SFTP instead of trying to shoehorn it into the bloat that is your browser.
Re:Oh no (Score:4, Insightful)
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This is the same mentality that keeps millions of smtp servers using unencrypted plain-text. I really don't think adding basic encryption should be seen as such an extravagant request. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't take security seriously and they are in charge of some pretty major corporations and popular products.
>the browser support for ftp is typically intended for anonymous browsing.
Except its not. Even Firefox allows non-anonymous browsing (uses username/passwords) and IE can do uploads. For
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This is the same mentality that keeps millions of smtp servers using unencrypted plain-text. I really don't think adding basic encryption should be seen as such an extravagant request. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't take security seriously and they are in charge of some pretty major corporations and popular products.
That's why you have PGP/Gnupg and the like. Besides, who has time to read someone else's mails? I barely have time to read my own!
Except its not. Even Firefox allows non-anonymous browsing (uses username/passwords) and IE can do uploads. For 99.9% of FTP users, the FTP client is the browser.
Blasphemy to be honest. Browsers are for por^H^H^Hbrowsing, get an FTP client for massive downloads. Soon you'll be asking for mail servers to allow you to send more than 5M attachments. Who do you think you are? Mooo
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I think you just answered your own question.
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I tend to agree with the post post to your post....I think FF should come standard with that, the same as it does for https....you do not need to download extra add on for https, so why sftp
FTP (Score:1)
I keep my Financial Password Protocol password written down on a piece of paper, locked securely in a safe-deposit box in one of Warsaw's larger banks.
Again ... (Score:4, Funny)
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Breaking News: Another XXl botnet steals bank account numbers.
However, the acquisition of emails and Facebook accounts is worrying.
It's the bank login details that are worth money, not the facebook logins.
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Breaking News: Another XXl botnet steals bank account numbers.
However, the acquisition of emails and Facebook accounts is worrying.
It's the bank login details that are worth money, not the facebook logins.
Yeah, but Facebook and emails can be used for social engineering to gain more bank account numbers.
Re:Again ... (Score:5, Funny)
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Version 2 Review -- Why upgrade? (Score:5, Funny)
Zeus version 2
So, like a good little early adopter, I upgraded and installed version 2 on my machine only to find that it was a huge bloated piece of crap. The original Zeus was so much more simple and elegant and now this thing is just chewing up cycles. Yeah, like the customer won't notice that. Seriously, all I wanted it to do was safely back up my bank statements to a remote server in case I lose them. And after the "Zeus Certified" debacle, I don't know who to believe when I ask "Will this computer run the simplest of viruses like Adobe PDF Reader?" Clearly Zeus is just a resource hog ... and looking forward at Version 3 (if it's even released on time) one wonder if they're even trying to build a quality botnet anymore. It's times like these that make you wonder if it's time to switch over to Mariposa ...
Conficker design is second to none (Score:5, Funny)
Mariposa is just as bloated - if not more so.
not only that, its less secure because it doesnt have a "benevolent dictator" calling the shots design-wise.
im running Conficker and its been working like a charm. granted, its market share is not that great, and as long as you hold the mouse the right way, it "just works".
honestly, i think this will be the year of the Conficker. Mariposa and Zeus are just too behind the curve.
Conficker Fanboy! (Score:3, Funny)
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If anybody needs proof that Mariposa is the superior botnet just ask yourself this question: is anybody lining up for 12 hours in the rain to get trojaned by anything else?
Exactly
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Probably. Not that it is imposible for Mac OSX and Linux to be compromised. But right now the numbers show that almost all bot net activity comes from compromised Windows PC's.
The average user wants to be able to use a computer like they use a car, or a door, or a toaster, or a toilet. No need for technical training, no cryptic messages, etc. The problem is a computer is not that kind of device. It is more like an aircraft. If you don't gain some level of technial expertise, it is easy to "crash and burn" t
Pardon me, I have to ask... (Score:3, Funny)
If you want Linux, Ubuntu, and the rest of the free OS's to stay superior and exploit-free, then why on earth would you ever want mainstream acceptance of said OS's? Wouldn't Linux et all going mainstream and replacing Windows/OSX mean that the botnets (and their owners) and scriptkiddies would then change their tactics to exploit whatever's currently dominant in market share?
If I were you, I'd be praying to the FSM for Windows/MS to stay dominant forever, just so that you could continue to use Linux with
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Wouldn't Linux et all going mainstream and replacing Windows/OSX mean that the botnets (and their owners) and scriptkiddies would then change their tactics
Yes, they would, but with two orders of magnitude less success. You see, windows is a crapware operating system built on the cheap, somewhat based on with DOS. Redmond's strong point is marketing, not quality. With closed source code you are guaranteed that security holes will be found perpetually, because not as many people can review the code.
On the other hand, Linux is based on UNIX, where even file system had built-in security system, while DOS was happily crashing the whole OS when your current app
Re:Pardon me, I have to ask... (Score:5, Insightful)
While I'm sure OS X and Linux can be exploited, I think we'd all be far safer if they were adopted to anywhere near the ubiquity of windows. And who knows? That may be soon, if Google apps and other productivity software is available for free or cheap as compared to Windows, and its current lock on business drone software.
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Yes, but can you install WeatherBug on your Linux live CD? No? Then is isn't going to be of any use to the millions of housewives and grannies that have installed it.
Seriously, a live CD is only of use if you don't want to save anything. And no, you aren't going to get people to boot into an unfamiliar environment to do banking or whatnot.
The "other" problem is that what is really needed is an Internet Appliance for these folks. No software installs, no executable anything. It does email, web browsing,
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You got your driving license without any technical training?
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The vast majority of (at least US) drivers certainly act like they found a driver's license at the bottom of their Cocoa Puffs box.
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yup...I didn't have to learn how to gap a spark plug or change the oil or any of that fun stuff. Just had to learn how to "point" the wheels and "click" the right pedals.
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Yes I did. I was not required to learn anything at all about the engine of the car. There is not even a requirement to understand the lights that say "check engine" or "oil". How many RPM's are bad for the car? What should my tire pressure be? How do I open the hood? None of those things are requirements.
Knowing how to open the door, operate the gas/break, read the stuff in the dash, that is about the same as "put a CD in" or "click on that icon there."
There is a requirement on how operate a car. Not how to
I predicted this (Score:5, Insightful)
Botnet herders have access to a very large number of computers, it was only a matter of time until they realized that the data on these computers is worth far more than the few pence they are making from Viagra spam and blackmailing gambling sites with DDOS attacks.
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I'd like to know the 'Security savvy' level of the infected users . Did they surf with administrator credentials ? Follow email links and foolishly install? Had no anti-virus? and What OS version and patch level? Did they all use one particular program which lead to their being compromised ?
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They simply did like my wife and my mother-in-law, they pressed "okay" when the pop-up came asking them to install this weird executable that they didn't ask for. They just wanted the pop-up to go away, you see.
Firewall, anti-virus, tea-timer, a host of other security measures... but you can't fix the user.
Re: (Score:1, Interesting)
Should it matter? Dell and Best Buy didn't educate them about the security hazards of using Microsoft Windows(R).
Is it BMW's (and their dealers) responsibility to tell the buyer of any operability issues inherent in the car before purchase?
Yes.
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You do realise this isn't the first incidence? Botnets have been installing key loggers and stealing sensitive data for years now. Credit card numbers harvested thus sell for a few dollars/thousand.
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Botnet herders have access to a very large number of computers, it was only a matter of time until they realized that the data on these computers is worth far more than the few pence they are making from Viagra spam and blackmailing gambling sites with DDOS attacks.
I happened to be working on my site at 4am (EDT) this morning and got hit simultaneously by several bots that turned out to be from major US universities. Not only do they own university networks, but use them to recruit oth
That's awesome, but... (Score:2)
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As a precaution I've changed all my passwords to "DROP TABLE Stolen Data"
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
On a side note, it would be interesting to use x'; DROP TABLE Passwords; -- as my actual password for email, banking etc, and see if A) my password is hashed for that site, and B) if it destroys their databases
Re:That's awesome, but... (Score:4, Insightful)
Always wondering... (Score:3, Interesting)
Considering all these weird captchas on the login pages, I don't think it's possible to check every collected bank account automatically, and doing that manually would be too tiring.
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Not all services use captchas. I'd guess that most assume that if you're a bot trying to log in, you will make multiple attempts and can be locked out of making futher attempts. How many architects would think to protect against automated entry of the correct credentials?
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Do you have any idea how big a computer a large botnet makes?
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> Eastern Europe? What the fuck is this "Eastern Europe"? Have you ever been to the "Western Europe?" You are one fucking asshole, dweeb !!
Uh.. I'm in the UK, which is in Western Europe. This botnet is believed to be operated from the Ukraine, amongst other places, and Ukraine is in Eastern Europe. Got it now?
Time to go back to phone banking (Score:3, Insightful)
Hmm maybe we should go back to phone banking. It's not like phones can be easily hacked to sniff passwords.
Oh wait, I forgot, we aren't in the 1980s [cunatechno...ouncil.org] any more. Nevermind.
I think I'll do my business in person now. I'll just have to make sure the Russian Mafia doesn't set up a look-alike storefront [collisiondetection.net] down the street that looks like my bank's latest branch office.
Sigh.
Well, at least I know my currency is real [slate.com].
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The nice grandparent poster referred to the fake ATM as an example of the kind of thing that the Russian Mafia does, and implied that they might set up a fake branch office next. I believe it was a humorous exaggeration.
No shit (Score:2)
Really? Botnet used for financial gain, just like every other botnet in the past decade?
I'm flabbergasted!
Well my machine is safe (Score:3, Funny)
I do all my banking at an internet cafe
Large? I'll show you large! (Score:2, Insightful)
Is that really large nowadays?
Eastern Europe (Score:3, Funny)