‘Osama Bin Laden’ Trojan Horse Spying on Online Banking Sessions

inaudit.com
May 05, 2011 /

Online or offline, the specter of Osama bin Laden hounds internet users no end as cyber criminals and scammers are resorting to different tactics to lure willing victims to bite on their trap, including a new Trojan horse that purports to contain death images of the notorious al-Qaeda leader.

Some instances of spreading the bin Laden malware across the cyber space include the use of phony claims in emails with malicious texts presumably leading to the “shocking video” and the classic Nigerian Letter or “419” Fraud that asks for an advance fee in exchange for a percentage of millions of dollars that the sender purports to spirit away from Nigeria.

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SMS-Based Trojan Targeting Android Smartphones

informationweek.com
Evil-doers have finally taken it upon themselves to go after Android devices. A new Trojan hijacks Android handsets' SMS application to send texts to premium messaging services, running up the bill.

According to Kapersky Lab, it has discovered the first known Trojan to be specifically targeted at Android smartphones. Kapersky classifies the "malicious program" as a Trojan-SMS, which attacks users where it hurts the most: their wallet.

The Trojan disguises itself as a media player application. The file name is: Trojan-SMS.AndroidOS.FakePlayer.a (kinda gives itself away if you're paying attention, don't ya think?). The file is just 13Kb and has a standard .APK Android app extension. Once the Trojan has been installed, it causes some serious trouble.

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IBM: We distributed malware-ridden USB drives

news.cnet.com

IBM is apologizing for handing out USB drives at a security conference in Australia this week that had malware on them.

The thumb drives were distributed for free to people who walked up to the IBM booth at the AusCERT conference.

"Unfortunately we have discovered that some of these USB keys contained malware and we suspect that all USB keys may be affected," Glenn Wightwick, chief technologist at IBM Australia, wrote in a letter to AusCERT delegates that was reprinted on the Beast or Buddha blog.

"The malware is detected by the majority of current Anti Virus products [as at 20/05/2010] and been known since 2008," the letter said. "The malware is known by a number of names and is contained in the setup.exe and autorun.ini files. It is spread when the infected USB device is inserted into a Microsoft Windows workstation or server whereby the setup.exe and autorun.ini files run automatically."

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Data Thefts Cost Firms $2 Million Each a Year, Symantec Says

businessweek.com

Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The theft of trade secrets and customer information cost companies an average of $2 million each last year, according to research conducted by security software maker Symantec Corp.

In a survey of 2,100 information-technology executives worldwide, 75 percent of respondents reported cyber attacks last year. Most intrusions were aimed at stealing a company’s intellectual property, such as product designs, according to the study released today.

“We can expect to see companies going out of business because their intellectual property is stolen,” Maureen Kelly, a senior director of product marketing, said in an interview. “For some, this is a matter of life or death.”

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