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Game Over for GameOver Zeus and Cryptolocker malware that stole millions

Image Credits: Symantec

The U.S Department of Justice announced that FBI and other international Law enforcements have disrupted two of the world's most notorious botnets: GameOver Zeus and Cryptolocker ransomware.

Game Over Zeus is one of the most notorious botnets which first emerged in September 2011 responsible for millions of infections worldwide.  It is based on the original Zeus malware, attempts to steal financial information from the victim.

According to the United States Department of Justice report, the cybercriminals behind the GameOver Zeus have stolen more than $100 million.

Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev, 30-year-old Russian, has been charged for his alleged role as an admin of the Gameover Zeus botnet.

Cryptolocker is a particularly nasty piece of malware that encrypts all files on the infected machine, then demands a ransom to unlock it.  If the files are important one and no backup is there, victims don't have choice other than paying ransom to get a key to unlock.

DOJ report suggests that more than 200k computers have been infected by this ransomware as of April.  The malware appeared in September 2013, within two months cyber criminals collected more than $27 million.

Symantec has also released a tool to remove GameOver malware completely from your computer.  You can download it from here.

#Eurograbber Campaign - Trojan steals $47 Million from 30k European Bank accounts

Eurograbber Banking Trojan

A highly sophisticated cybercriminal campaign , dubbed as "Eurograbber" , enabled criminals to steal more than $47 million (€36 million) from more than 30,000 bank accounts belong to corporate and individuals across Europe.

The finding comes from a case study published by Security firm Check Point and online fraud prevention solutions provider Verasafe .

According to the case study, the attack began in Italy, and soon after, tens of thousands of infected online bank customers were detected in Germany, Spain and Holland.

The campaign starts when a victim unknowingly clicks a malicious link in a spam email or possibly through general web surfing. Clicking on the link directs them to a site that attempts to drop the Banking Trojan - a malware that steals Bank login credentials.

The next time the victim logs in to their bank account , the Trojan intercepts the session and displays fake banking page that informs the customer of the “security upgrade” and instructs them on how to proceed.

The page recommend user to input their smartphone OS and phone number. Once victim gave the phone details, the Eurograbber Trojans sent SMS with a link to a fake "encryption software"- in fact, it is "Zeus in the mobile" (ZITMO) virus.

Once the Eurograbber are installed on the victims' PC and smartphone, the trojan lays dormant until the next time the customer accesses their bank account. When victim log in , immediately it transfers victim's money to criminals' account.

The Trojan then intercepts the confirmation text message sent by the bank, forwarding it to C&C server via a relay phone number. The server uses the message to confirm the transaction and withdraw the money.