$72M Scareware Ring Used Conficker Worm
Summary: Authorities seized computers and servers in the United States and seven other countries this week in an investigation of a hacking gang that stole $72 million by selling fake anti-virus products, with the FBI estimating at least 960,000 victims. Ukraine's Security Service said the group used the Conficker worm to deploy the scareware, which then launched a virus that stole victims' financial information, while the FBI seized 22 machines in the U.S. and 25 abroad under Operation Trident Tribunal.
Bottom line: Conficker is estimated to have infected more than 12 million PCs, and Microsoft still holds a $250,000 bounty for information leading to the arrest and conviction of its authors - a reminder that a worm first seen in November 2008 was still being named as a delivery mechanism for a $72 million scam three years later.
Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗
- Topics
- Cybercrime & Law Enforcement
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