 |
| The phishing gang targeted online internet
bankers. |
Phishing gang is said to have targeted internet bankers with
Trojan horses and forged emails
German police have announced that they have arrested 5 men in
connection with a combined phishing scam and Trojan horse attack
which successfully targeted users of Postbank online accounts.
However, a sixth member of the gang - which is headquartered in
Bonn - is reported to have absconded.
An estimated 30,000 Euros is said to have been stolen by the
gang from Postbank customers.
In mid-2004 Postbank customers were the subject of a number of
phishing attacks, which attempted to steal confidential passwords
and login information. According to reports, the suspects are also
believed to have distributed Trojan horses which lurked in the
background of infected PCs and intercepted online banking
transactions.
"Most people are familiar now with the phishing scams which arrive
via email and lead you to a bogus banking website," said
Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant for Sophos. "However, we are increasingly
seeing organised criminals writing pharming Trojan horses to
monitor the activity of innocent computer users - and wait for them
to visit a legitimate banking website before stealing the essential
login information. Computer crime authorities around the world need
to work closely with each other to break apart these criminal gangs
and bring them to justice."
In October, police in Brazil announced they had arrested 53 people in
connection with Trojan horses which targeted online banks. In May
German police arrested Sven Jaschan,
the teenager who confessed to writing the hard-hitting Sasser and
Netsky worms.
"All computer users should be running an up-to-date anti-virus
as well as protecting their PC with a firewall. This, combined with
the safe computing practice of exercising caution over what you
choose to run on your computer, can dramatically reduce the risks
of these kind of attacks," continued Cluley.
Over 12 million people have accounts with Postbank.
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.