U.S.: International Raid Targets Data-Stealing Computer Virus

@AFP
U.S.: International Raid Targets Data-Stealing Computer Virus

Washington (AFP) – An international dragnet has dismantled a global computer hacker network which used a sophisticated computer virus to steal millions of dollars from companies and consumers, the U.S. Justice Department announced Monday.

Gameover Zeus, which first appeared in September 2011, stole bank information and other confidential details from victims.

According to FBI investigators, the virus infected between 500,000 and a million computers in 12 countries, creating a network of “bots” the hackers could “infiltrate, spy on, and even control, from anywhere they wished.”

“Gameover Zeus is the most sophisticated botnet the FBI and our allies have ever attempted to disrupt,” said FBI Executive Assistant Director Anderson.

The FBI blamed the Gameover Zeus botnet for the theft of more than $100 million, obtained by using the stolen bank data and then “emptying the victims’ bank accounts and diverting the money to themselves.”

The bust also targeted another computer virus, dubbed “Cryptolocker,” which appeared in September 2013.

The virus encrypted the computers of its victims and demanded a ransom — often in excess of $700 — in exchange for the password to unlock it. Investigators say the cyber criminals amassed more than $27 million in just the first two months.

Russian Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev, 30, an alleged administrator of the network, was charged in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with 14 counts including conspiracy, computer hacking, bank fraud and money laundering in the Gameover Zeus and Cryptoblocker schemes.

Bogachev, sometimes called “Slavik” or “Pollingsoon,” was also charged in Omaha, Nebraska with “conspiracy to commit bank fraud” in relation to an earlier incarnation of Gameover Zeus.

“Evgeniy Bogachev and the members of his criminal network devised and implemented the kind of cyber crimes that you might not believe if you saw them in a science fiction movie,” said Leslie Caldwell, deputy attorney general.

U.S. investigators worked with counterparts in Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Luxemburg, New Zealand, Canada, Ukraine, and Britain, as well as the European Cybercrime Center, according to a statement.

They were also aided by private companies, including Dell, Microsoft, Afilias, Deloitte and Symantec.

Victims are urged to contact a site created by the Department of Homeland Security: https://www.us-cert.gov/gameoverzeus

AFP Photo

Start your day with National Memo Newsletter

Know first.

The opinions that matter. Delivered to your inbox every morning

How A Stuttering President Confronts A Right-Wing Bully

Donald Trump mocks Joe Biden’s stutter,” the headlines blare, and I am confronted (again) with (more) proof that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee hates people like me.

Keep reading...Show less
Trump at Trump Tower

Former President Donald Trump at Trump Tower in Manhattan

NEW YORK, March 25 (Reuters) - Donald Trump faces a Monday deadline to post a bond to cover a $454 million civil fraud judgment or face the risk of New York state seizing some of his marquee properties.Trump, seeking to regain the presidency this year, must either pay the money out of his own pocket or post a bond while he appeals Justice Arthur Engoron's February 16 judgment against him for manipulating his net worth and his family real estate company's property values to dupe lenders and insurers.

Keep reading...Show less
{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}