- (AFP) -- Hackers have found a way to intercept passwords
for banking websites by infecting pop-up ads with a program that can install
itself on computers and record user keystrokes, say security experts.
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- The new type of threat was discovered last week by the
Internet Storm Center of the SANS Institute, a collaborative effort of
private security firms and university researchers.
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- The centre's director Marcus Sachs said hackers apparently
infiltrated advertiser servers and effectively poisoned certain pop-up
ads to install a program that reads keystrokes and relays them to a website
operated by hackers.
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- "The evil part of the scheme is that it has a list
of about 50 banks, and if it detects that your browser is going to that
bank ... it looks for login passwords, and intercepts that information
before it gets encrypted," Sachs said.
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- He said the latest threat was a variant of spyware which
installs programs on the computers of those browsing the internet and can
sometimes hijack browsers.
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- Sachs said the new type of malicious code or "malware"
had a different origin from a threat reported earlier this week involving
websites that are infected. But that the goal of both programs are the
same, to steal banking passwords.
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- "We think both of these are being done by organised
crime," he said.
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- In both cases, the websites receiving the stolen information
have been shut down by internet administrators, Sachs said.
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- But the two attacks highlight new risks to transmission
of sensitive financial information on the internet, experts said.
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- Security, security
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- Tom Liston, a SANS analyst, said he was concerned about
the new technique.
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- "I believe that this particular type of malware
represents a huge threat to the online financial industry," he said
in a posting on the SANS website.
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- "The approach ... makes this method of stealing
identity information all the more insidious."
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- Sachs said that although the websites involved in the
stolen data have been shut down, removing the immediate threat, "that
doesn't mean the owners of that technique can't put it someplace else".
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- He added that users can be protected by keeping browsers
and antivirus software updated.
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- "This is preying on is people not keeping their
software up to date," he said.
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- Don Rhodes at the American Bankers Association said the
Microsoft browser security update from April should prevent any harm from
the latest threat.
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- "Consumers need to be aware and pay attention to
the latest developments regarding security," he said.
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- "Every time we hear about a significant new threat,
we notify our banks about it. We may do it this time although we don't
know the exact extent of that particular threat yet."
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- ©2004 ABC http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1144495.htm
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