Botnets, like legitimate software, are moving to the cloud
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
The infamous Zeus Trojan has a cloud computing component, according to security researchers at CA. The identity theft-enabling malware apparently has a primary command-and-control system that works via Amazon's EC2 cloud computing service.
The "xmas2.exe" application - Zeus in one of its many disguises - was distributed by spam mail campaigns telling prospective victims that they have received a holiday ecard which can be retrieved by clicking on the Zeus-infected link. The malicious URL directs victims to a legitimate website that has been compromised to serve the malware.
Dancho Danchev at ZDNet writes that the cyber criminals are using the RDS managed database service offered by Amazon as a backup to their EC2-based primary command-and-control system. Danchev also says that Amazon has been insufficiently receptive to the concerns of the security community, and that the Zeus criminals may have selected their cloud provider wisely.
Two people were arrested last month in Great Britain over their involvement with the Zeus Trojan, but recent information shows that the malware is still going strong and posing a threat to private data.
Related News:
Password security a tall order for many web users - 1.22.2010
A recently released study from tech researcher Imperva showed that the most popular password among users whose accounts were compromised in the recent RockYou data breach was as follows: 123456.
Facebook fixes "wrong friends list" mobile network security glitch - 1.22.2010
CNET reports that social media network Facebook has repaired a problem in the mobile version of its service that caused some mobile users to have full access to the friends lists of unassociated users.
Automated phishing scam hits bank customers - 1.14.2010
Phishing attacks do not target victims exclusively via email, experts say, pointing to a recent rash of automated phone calls that attempted to convince victims to give up sensitive banking information.
Scammers ride aftershocks of Haiti catastrophe - 1.14.2010
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued a warning to those who want to contribute to earthquake relief efforts in Haiti, saying that cyber criminals and other types of scam artists are trying to take advantage of an outpouring of humanitarian support.
Banking Trojans finding new vector with fake Outlook alerts - 1.11.2010
A spurious alert purporting to come from Microsoft Outlook has cropped up in recent weeks, according to a maker of email filtering software.
|
