Cyber attacks on at least three Asian banks share malware links

by ComputerWeekly.com, 27 May 2016, 15:45

One more case used malware virus for method in cyber crime. Cyber attacks on banks in Bangladesh, Vietnam and the Philippines used the same malware, which has links to other attacks on banks in the region, reports Symantec.

According from report by Swift, the news comes just two weeks after the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift) warned of a highly adaptive campaign targeting banks.

In recent months, we’ve seen headlines about the compromise of a bank in Bangladesh from which cybercriminals attempted to steal US$951 million. The malware they used was able to manipulate and read unique messages from SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication), as well as adjust balances and send details to a remote control server. BAE Systems wrote a detailed analysis and concluded that the malware must be based on a framework of different modules that could be used for multiple targets.

Base In the case of the Vietnamese bank, the file used for the attack is a fake version of the popular PDF reader Foxit. The malware installs itself in the original Foxit installation directory and renames the original file to FoxltReader.exe.

However, with the enhancement in technology, banking frauds have also increased likewise (Alaganandam et al, 2007). Cybercriminals are using different means to steal one s bank information and ultimately their money as well (Choo, 2011). The results of empirical study conducted by Anderson et al (2012) revealed that globally, the banks have incurred billions of dollars in losses; and provides details of cybercrimes conducted across the globe in banking sector due to direct and indirect losses, criminal revenue and indirect costs.

Although both attacks were discovered at some point during the attempts to transfer large amounts of money, the actors may well have executed a few test runs to check their operations before the real attacks.

The rapid growth to global electronic crime and the complexity of its investigation requires a global presence. Presently, the measures undertaken the banks are not sufficient and therefore it is imperative to increase cooperation among the banks across the world for the development of tools and models which can be applied to counter global banking cybercrimes