DownloadBanker Trojans threaten Christmas shoppers
Banker Trojans are one of the main threats online shoppers will face this Christmas. These malicious codes are designed to steal passwords for accessing online banking services, payment platforms like PayPal, etc. Banker Trojans accounted for 18.59% of malware infections in 2007 and 24.10% of the infections caused by Trojans.
“The number of online transactions grows a lot during the Christmas season. That’s why cyber-crooks also increase the number of creations they put in circulation in order to get users’ money”, explains Luis Corrons, technical director of PandaLabs.
This type of malware works in various ways, from capturing keystrokes to redirecting users to spoofed banking sites in order to get their money. Online shoppers must make sure their computers are free from malicious code before carrying out online transactions. Another threat consumers must face during the holiday season is phishing: emails that simulate to come from a banking entity or an online purchase service, but are actually false. Usually, users are asked to click a link and enter their banking details. However, if they do this, they will be giving their data to cyber-crooks.
Online shoppers must be cautious as, according to estimates, the average amount of money stolen from victims through phishing and Trojans in 2006 was €6,383 1.
Besides online transactions, the time spent by users playing online games like World of Worldcraft (WoW) or Lineage also increases in Christmas. Cyber–crooks know this and have actually started to launch attacks to get passwords for video games.
“The reason for this is the huge number of assets and extra features available to players as they advance through games. Unexperienced players are ready to pay for them in forums, chats, auction pages, etc. This is exploited by cyber-crooks to make money out of passwords stolen from users”, explains Corrons.
Another tool people will massively use this Christmas is instant messaging. Aware of this, cyber-crooks have been working on ways to use these services to spread their creations over the last few months. Generally, malware spreads by sending out links or files that seem to come from one of the targeted users’ contacts. However, if one of them clicks the link or runs the file, they will also become infected.
“Users must follow this simple advice: never click a file or a link before checking who the sender is. To do this, just ask your contact if they have sent you something”, explains Corrons.
Panda has prepared a guide with tips to help users surf the Internet securely this Christmas. This guide can be downloaded from www.pandasecurity.com/resources/pandanews/Christmas_Guide.pdf.