New Study Finds Computer Virus ‘Zeus Bot’ in Internet Postcards

Gary Warner, Director of Computer Forensics, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UK) said - bogus postcards circulating on the Internet to reach people's inboxes globally contain links that lead to the PC virus - Zeus Bot, as reported by Science Daily on July 25, 2009.

Warner said - the e-mails are typically designed and their subject lines suggest that they have been sent from the 1001 Postcards website.

He also said the phony postcards direct recipients to follow a link to view its contents, however, the moment the click button is pressed; the Zeus Bot virus unleashes itself on the users' PCs. Thereafter when infection sets in, the malware enables cyber criminals to intercept banking passwords along with account numbers, and e-mail as well as other sensitive account details of users.

Furthermore, Warner stated that cyber criminals in the current incident were using the Russian language software for Zeus Bot and were utilizing postcards like never before to download and install the virus program on the computers of unwitting users.

With the virus getting settled on a PC, it (computer) is conveniently added to the Zeus Botnet and the malware steals all data that the victim enters into a website. By utilizing an image user interface, the virus monitors the infected systems across the globe while its tools let the crooks to choose the stolen accounts related to banks according to their priority for attack.

Security experts cautioned that users getting e-mails which are allegedly sent to them from a bank or websites like eBay should not click on any link provided in them instead they type the URL of the website from where the message arrives into their browser's address bar and directly access the site.

Besides, botnet attacks are presently rising as cyber criminals' gangs use hijacked PCs to distribute spam, commit theft of personal data, carry out click-fraud or hit websites with DOS assaults.

Network World magazine named Zeus Bot as the most persistent botnet virus in the USA having infected 3.6 Million PCs. Moreover, RSA (an online security company) said, phishing gang, Rock Phish introduced the virus in April 2008.

Related article: New Zealand Releases Code To Reduce Spam

» SPAMfighter News - 8/10/2009