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Cyber Risks · Krebs on Security

Spy Eye v. ZeuS Rivalry Ends in Quiet Merger

Summary: According to Krebs on Security, the ZeuS banking Trojan's author, known as "Slavik" or "Monstr," transferred the ZeuS source code free of charge to the SpyEye developer, who posts as "Harderman" and "Gribodemon," and announced on an exclusive hacker forum on Oct. 11 that he would service ZeuS clients under the same terms. Harderman said existing ZeuS clients would get a 30 percent discount on SpyEye, that the two malware families would soon be "merged into one powerful Trojan," and that he might double SpyEye's price to several thousand dollars per license while rebuilding it as a rootkit with modular plug-ins. The FBI says ZeuS played a central role in the theft of more than $70 million from nearly 400 U.S. organizations.

What's compelling: The merger came as law enforcement moved to arrest people behind ZeuS heists, and Team Cymru's Steve Santorelli said groups drawing ZeuS-level attention inevitably shift to something off everyone's radar - Trusteer warns Bugat, SpyEye and Carberp are equally sophisticated and quietly expanding. Gribodemon also said a leaked SpyEye copy carried a backdoor he had activated, seizing control of infected machines.

Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗

Topics
Malware
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