Keyloggers used to loot US county

$415,000 sneaked from local government funds.

A Kentucky county has suffered losses of $415,000 after keylogging malware infiltrated its computer systems, allowing cybercriminals access to sensitive user data which let them syphon cash to accounts in the Ukraine.

Custom variants of the Zbot trojan were used to steal the passwords of the county treasurer, and accounts accessed via a tunnel to the infected system to minimise suspicion. Numerous small payments were made to non-existent county employees created by the crooks, who then used money mules ignorant of the scam to filter the money out of the US.

How the malware was inserted into the county’s systems remains unclear, and some other aspects of the attack have also yet to be fully revealed, but a detailed report from Brain Krebs at the

Washington Post

is

here

, with further coverage in

The Register


here

.

Posted on 07 July 2009 by

Virus Bulletin