Have you heard about GOZ - game over Zeus?
Here follows info I have gleaned about it, both on TV and on radio these last couple of days.
It is Windows that it targets, i.e. posing as a legit email from, say your bank, with an attachment. So be very careful before clicking on this. It is said to currently mostly target small businesses (and larger ones) stealing money from bank accounts, but that anyone can be affected.
http://www.zdnet.com/gameover-zeus-botnet-seized-two-week-window-to-protect-yourself-say-authorities-7000030110/
There is said now to be a 2 day window (from today) until it fully strikes.
There are 2 ways the hackers operate:-
1. By clicking on an email attachment, they can directly take over your pc and control it as you do, e.g. taking out your money (billions have been lost so far world wide...this scheme has been operational now for some weeks but is only recently getting publicity since the powers that be have learnt to get some kind of handle on it - international co-operation - and slow it down).
or
2. By encrypting all your pc data and blackmailing the unfortunate target into parting with some money over 72 hours and hence they will unlock the data or else steal your money. We are told to clean our machines e.g. with current, up to date anti virus software and to have the latest version of Windows.
This link was given to help safeguard our pcs - it is currently experiencing problems but keep it for when it operates again
If you have a russian keyboard, you will not be targeted. The current active group springs from Russia.
Not sure I'd label it a 'rampant' virus, but it's certainly a very nasty piece of malware if you fall for the scams that get your computer infected. It's also not just targeting small businesses, but many personal computers too. The key things about it is a) it will install itself silently and then try and scan your computer and your activity for any financial information it can get, or try and inject web pages into your browsing activity to get you to reveal such details, and then if it's failing to do that, there's a risk of it downloading and running the CryptoLocker virus on your machine, which can encrypt all your files and demand a ransom from you (typically around $300) to obtain the 'key' that will unencrypt your files again. From past information, even if people pay the ransom, it's rare that they actually get the key, and they just lose the money without ever getting their files back... therefore ENSURE YOU'VE BACKED UP ALL YOUR IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS.
The full link for reading about it is at:
where you can find links to many internet security firms' free software downloads to check and (hopefully) remove any potential threats.
I've already checked my laptop, fortunately all ok.
Unlike other 'scares' before, this one seems pretty serious, and should be considered a serious threat.
Yes it's because it is out of control and aggressive in nature that I called it rampant. I don't feel that it is overstating the case since the reach of these hackers has been world wide and people affected lose their entire bank account.
Just for info, a further link from the National Crime Agency, as supplied by our local police...
Right now I am VERY glad I use a mac................
I realise this news can be somewhat alarming but there are 3 key actions that would be beneficial and so make the outcome of this virus infecting your pc more unlikely if you are in Windows:-
- Be wary of clicking on an email attachment, e.g. if it may look legit and, say, is from your bank.
- Ensure that you have anti viral software and that it is in use, i.e. checked recently.
- Ensure you have the latest Windows. Mine updates itself automatically - if yours does not then you can change the settings via the control panel - security section to do this.
I generally never click any of those emails especially those with a link or attachment unless I know for sure it's from a reliable source. Generally though my bank doesn't send me emails with attachments or links to follow. Just got to keep your wits about you.