Security news
Security news13 September 2007
Ten arrested in connection with phishing Trojan horse attack Russian, Ukranian and German suspects apprehended by authorities
Experts at SophosLabs™, Sophos's global network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, have welcomed the news that members of an alleged international phishing gang have been arrested following an investigation by German police.
Germany's Federal Crime Office (known as the BKA) announced on its website, that the gang, which includes two women, have been arrested in connection with a plot to plunder the bank accounts of online surfers.
The group is alleged to have targeted users of online banks by sending them emails claiming to come from Deutsche Telekom, eBay, 1&1, Walmart, Ikea, and the German television licensing organization (GEZ). Attached to the emails were malicious Trojan horses (such as Troj/Clagger-AZ and Troj/DwnLdr-FYH) that stole information from the infected computers.
Some of the emails claimed to come from the German TV licensing organization.
The police probe, which is said to have taken 18 months, resulted in arrests in several German cities, including Dusseldorf, Cologne and Frankfurt. According to the BKA, the suspects - who come from Germany, Russia and the Ukraine -bought expensive jewelry, cars and luxury holidays from the proceeds of their criminal acts.
"The German authorities deserve credit for putting the resources into investigating the deluge of malicious emails that computer users in their country were receiving in these campaigns," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "The financial rewards for cybercrime are significant, and we are seeing more organized gangs getting involved in this kind of crime all the time. Everyone who has a computer needs to learn how to properly defend themselves, or risk having their money and identity stolen."
In another malicious campaign the emails claimed to come from Ikea.
Sophos experts encourage all computer users to learn how to reduce the risk of being hit by a phishing attack.
- Best practice advice from Sophos about safe computing
- Listen to a Sophos podcast: "Phishing - who is to blame?"
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About Sophos
Sophos enables enterprises all over the world to secure and control their IT infrastructure. Sophos's network access control, endpoint, web and email solutions simplify security to provide integrated defenses against malware, spyware, intrusions, unwanted applications, spam, policy abuse, data leakage and compliance drift. With over 20 years of experience, Sophos protects over 100 million users in nearly 150 countries with its reliably engineered security solutions and services. Recognized for its high level of customer satisfaction and powerful yet easy-to-use solutions, Sophos has received many industry awards, as well as positive reviews and certifications.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com
