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Torpig malware threatens K-Staters' bank account information

Silently sneaking onto your computer, Torpig lies in wait for you to log in to your bank’s website and sends your account information to well-organized criminals. Torpig has found its way on to more than 70 computers at K-State in the last year, and the number of infections is on the rise. The chart below shows infections from February 2009 through February 2010.

K-State Torpig Infections

Unfortunately, security technology can’t always prevent infection because the malicious software changes rapidly and uses sophisticated stealth techniques to hide itself on infected computers. Thus, once again the user plays a key role in preventing infection and financial fraud.

Torpig, also known as Sinowal or Anserin, is malicious software belonging to the Trojan horse family that is designed to steal sensitive information from the computer that it infects. It specifically targets personal and corporate financial information such as credit card data, usernames, and passwords used in the victim’s web browser. It’s constantly changing and evolving and employs rootkit functionality to make it very difficult to detect and remove.

Torpig initially infects computers in several different ways. Continue reading “Torpig malware threatens K-Staters' bank account information”

“Antivirus XP 2008” scareware a lucrative “business”

A recent article in the New York Times reported that the people responsible for the “Antivirus XP 2008” scam and it’s successor “Antivirus XP 2009” can theoretically make as much as $5 million a year. This type of scam, often referred to as “scareware,” tries to trick the user into buying fake antivirus software by scaring them with false reports of infections. A naive user panics when the warnings pop up on their computer and hands over $49.95, thinking they will get software to disinfect their computer. Instead, all they get is a smaller bank account, a computer that is very difficult to repair, and a lesson learned the hard way.

Continue reading ““Antivirus XP 2008” scareware a lucrative “business””

XP Antivirus 2008 malware difficult to remove; requires reformat/reinstall

If your computer gets infected with the malicious program “XP Antivirus 2008” or one of its variants, you must reformat the hard drive(s) and reinstall all software and data before returning the computer to service and using it on K-State’s campus network. The criminals responsible for this malware are primarily trying to trick people into sending them money under the guise of buying software to clean up an “infected” computer.  However, K-State has seen several instances where other types of malware get installed at the same time as XP Antivirus 2008, including backdoor trojans and software that uses the computer to send thousands of spam messages. Continue reading “XP Antivirus 2008 malware difficult to remove; requires reformat/reinstall”