Sinowal virus has compromised more than 500,000 banking accounts

On the Internet circulates a free virus that till the present has managed to find out the details of more than 500,000 online bank accounts and credit and debit cards all over the world, the experts in informatics security say.

They add that this is one of the most dangerous viruses ever created. The virus represents a serious threat because uses a common infection method known as "drive-by download" and the users get infected without knowing, in background or through a received mail. Named Sinowal, the virus infects the computers on which is activated, without leaving any trace, and the vulnerability allows to the hackers to make payments of the exposed banking accounts.

The virus was tracked by RSA, the security division of informatics of the American company EMC and it was activated long time ago. Thousands of computers all over the world are infected with this virus. Moreover, the success has determined also other criminal organization to try similar methods. Per total, till the present, 270,000 accounts accessible online and 240,000 credit cards, especially from United States, Great Britain, Australia, and also from Eastern Europe, as Poland, were affected. Without any explanations, RSA says that no Russian accounts were hit by this virus.

At the moment, the major providers of security applications can identify the moment in which the infected site is accessed or can eliminate the virus through detecting the compromised systems. The Group that has set up the virus updates it constantly with new versions, for being with a step ahead of the security applications, the experts warned.

Financiarul