Zeus Trojan Migrates to Blackberry OS

Monday, March 07, 2011

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A Zeus Trojan designed specifically to run on the Blackberry operating system has been detected by researchers at Trend Micro.

The malware allows remote access of infected Blackberry devices by the attacker, who can then change the SMS message default number, add a new device administrator, control blocked call lists, and even turn the device on and off.

The Trojan also removes itself from the list of installed applications to avoid scanning and detection by antivirus software.

"Banking trojans are evolving and more sophisticated attacks involving smartphones are among the most recent developments," said Trend Micro's Patrick Estavillo.

"With the increased popularity of mobile banking goes the increase of mobile threats. Thus users are strongly advised to keep their mobile devices secure, and be cautious in installing applications and clicking links sent by unknown users, as they may lead to the download of malicious applications." 

The Zeus Trojan is widely hailed as one of the most dangerous pieces of malware to ever surface in the wild, and the malicious code continues to spread.

The Zeus Trojan can lay dormant for long periods until the user of the infected machine accesses banking accounts. Zeus then harvests passwords and authentication codes.

Trusteer researchers previously reported they had detected the use of man-in-the-middle and social engineering tactics in conjunction with Zeus, and the Associated Press reported that the malware had also been modified to target enterprise bank accounts.

Security researchers at McAfee warned of a merger of the Zeus Trojan and Spyeye tools last fall, and it appears as if the first toolkit combining the exploits arrived on the black market early this year.

via infosecisland.com

Posted via email from Whistleblower