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Cyber Risks · Krebs on Security

11 Charged In ZeuS & Money Mule Ring

Summary: UK authorities charged 11 people with running an international cybercrime syndicate that laundered funds stolen with the ZeuS banking Trojan, believed to have taken more than $30 million from banks worldwide between October 2009 and September 28, 2010, and roughly £6 million (US$9.5 million) from UK financial institutions over a three-month period. Police arrested 20 people in a pre-dawn raid on Tuesday, nine were bailed on Wednesday, eight were charged with money laundering and 10 with conspiracy to defraud, and the Wall Street Journal reported the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan was preparing to announce 60 people charged in connection with a major ZeuS crime ring.

Why it matters: ZeuS sold for a few thousand dollars per copy in underground forums, and at least 160 unique ZeuS control networks were online worldwide at the time, according to Zeus Tracker. As consultant Andy Fried put it, stolen banking credentials have no real value until money mules convert them into cash, which is why choking off the mule network was seen as the best short-term way to blunt the operation.

Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗

Topics
Data Breaches
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