U.S. Arrests Zeus-Operating Cybercriminals
September 30, 2010It looks like some of the recent success in taking down Zeus-using cybercriminals is coming to the United States. The FBI has recently announced that it has charged as many as 60 people and has arrested 10 as part of a global cyberfraud scam. Summaries of the incident can be found here, here, and here.
Zeus is one of the nastiest and most persistent pieces of malware we deal with. It steals banking logons, can act as a bot, and recently started targeting mobile devices, as well. Recently one of our McAfee Labs researchers, Chintan Shah, posted an excellent blog on the inner mechanisms of the Zeus Crimeware Toolkit; his article is definitely worth a read. You can also listen to a great AudioParasitics podcast episode in which my podcast-partner-in-crime Jim Walter and I discuss Zeus (also called Spy-Agent.bw).
If you are running any of our DAT-based security technologies and they are up to date, you are already enjoying excellent coverage against Zeus.
———- UPDATE October 1 —————
It now seems that Ukrainian authorities have taken action against individuals with suspected involvement in the Zeus cybercrime and money laundering network. The Ukrainian contingent seems to be associated with the more technical aspects of the infrastructure. Read detailed accounts here and here.
Let’s keep those arrests and takedowns coming and take back our Internet!
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Posted by David Marcus
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