Zeus Source Code Expected to Produce More Trojan Variants

Amit Klein, CTO of Trusteer, recently stated that, hardly two months after cybercrooks placed the source code of Zeus up for sale at $100,000, reports are now coming that the source code is now being provided at bargain basement prices from various sources, as reported by HELP NET SECURITY on April 5, 2011.

It appears that market forces have taken over, with the code's exceptionality and price has taken significant falls. The code is easily accessible through online file-sharing networking.

Commenting on the matter, Mickey Boodaei, Trusteer's Chief Executive, stated that, what they had noticed is that the source code was leaking, as reported by V3 on April 6, 2011. He further added that, Zeus was included in a sole automated toolkit, which was responsible for making all the variants that they had noticed up till now. He stated that, the toolkits are leaking and more Zeus based toolkits are expected in near future.

Boodaei commented that, as the novel toolkits will start emerging, their users will introduce a host of several novel Zeus variants that will require being acknowledged and blocked.

The only good news to arise from this file-share of Zeus' source code is that the RAR files are accounted to be protected from password, but there are also reports that few groups of cybercriminals are trying to hack or steal the password, as reported by Mr. Klein.

Further, the security experts stated that, if the malware is incorporated into other virus toolkits then an increase in the number of attacks is expected. The security industry is becoming progressively worried with the upsurge in the usage of such toolkits, which few estimates suggest are accountable for above 60% of online attacks.

According to a security expert, as they stated earlier during February (2011), the extensible nature of Zeus, and its ability to be recoded, indicates that the malware is probable to continue to be a trouble for financial users of the internet, along with their organizations, for near future", as reported by HELP NET SECURITY on April 5, 2011.

Significantly, Zeus poisons or compromises a machine and waits until its user visits the websites of banks and financial organizations prior to attempting to hack private information by sending it to an isolated server in real time.

Related article: Zeus Trojan Stole Huge Amount of Information

» SPAMfighter News - 4/15/2011