Trojan horse

A new scam is being spread across the Internet with fraudsters distributing fake Microsoft notifications to users advising them to check if their operating systems could be upgraded to Windows 7. The software attached to the message is nothing more than a Trojan horse that infects user PC once he/she installs it.

Last week Department of Homeland Security's US-CERT reported that the Energizer Bunny infects PCs with backdoor malware. Researchers at US-CERT (United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team) have found that the software accompanying the Energizer DUO USB battery charger has a Trojan which allows total access to users’ PCs to hackers.

Energizer Holdings which confirmed the software contained the Trojan horse said that the Energizer DUO, a USB-powered nickel-metal hydride battery recharger, has been discontinued.

Gartner Inc. warns that the measures taken by the financial institutions to protect online transactions are lame and are no longer enough to protect online banking systems against fraud.

Sophisticated tools used by the cybercriminals make them successful in hacking security systems so as to steal customers' log-in credentials and pillage their bank accounts, says Gartner analyst Avivah Litan.

On Wednesday a Chinese court sentenced 11 cybercriminals who participated in writing and distributing Trojan horse viruses meant to steal online game account passwords, as reported by the local media sources.

Xinhua media agency says that the crooks who stole login information for more than 5 million game accounts, were given prison sentences of up to three years and were fined a total of 830,000 Chinese yuan (US$120,000). Dozens of other members of the ring, which is suspected of 30 million yuan ($4.4 million) in crime, are expected to be sentenced soon.

 The first arrest in Europe was made by the police in a battle against the malware perpetrators who stood behind a "trojan" computer virus which is believed to have infected tens of thousands of computers across the world.

The ZeuS or Zbot trojan, a type of sophisticated malicious computer program, has been used to collect millions of lines of data from machines allowing those responsible to obtain a mass of personal information.

 While the production of Apple Inc has always featured original design and in many cases unmatched functionality, this has never implied perfect performance with no faults or shortcomings. And this proves true when it comes to the security of Apple’s Mac operating system. Like its main rivals it can also be hit by hackers and fall under the attack of malware.

 Money comes to all in different ways. Some people get money easily but others have to wake up early and to engulfed themselves in their work just for a few dollars. Regardless the way you earn their money it is unpleasant to lose it for anyone. And, interestingly enough, many people when they lost their virtual dough begin to say that it had happened because of bad luck, magnetic storms, a black cat cross the distance from the mouse to the computer… In other words they blame anything except themselves.

 According to the latest reports the attack performed by Israel on the al-Kabir site in Syria's eastern desert on September 6, 2007 was based on the data obtained in the course of Trojan attack.

The reports say that Israeli spies got details of a Syrian nuclear facility by sending a Trojan Horse to an official when he was staying at a luxurious Kensington hotel. According to the German magazine Der Spiegel the malware stole the details about Syrian nuclear program and sent them directly to the Mossad agents' computers.

Users who have already downloaded the leaked copies of Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) on file-sharing sites complain that the upgrade contains malware. Windows 7 RC will officially be launched by Microsoft Corp. this week, but pirated copies appeared two weeks ago, firstly on BitTorrent tracking sites on April 24. Some of the pirated builds include a Trojan horse, numerous users said in message forums and in comments on BitTorrent sites such as Mininova.org.