UK’s National Crime Agency Gives Two-Weeks Notice Regarding GoZeuS and CryptoLocker
The UK National Crime Agency warns the public to take advantage of a two-week notice in order to protect themselves from two major malware roaming the internet, the GoZeuS and CryptoLocker, which are responsible for transferring cash from online accounts and holding personal data for ransom.
The NCA stated that the alert is the most largest industry and law enforcement collaborations to this date and that the FBI’s involvement in several countries has weakened the global network of infected computers, meaning that the notice and prevention ahead of the malware activity can help diminish the infection chance.
GoZeuS, also known as P2PZeuS or Gameover ZeuS, and CryptoLocker are said to target all versions of Windows operating systems, including the ones running in virtual environment, servers or embedded versions. The agency also states that the malware is responsible for transferring hundreds of millions of pounds around the world.
In the case where GoZeuS cannot transfer significant amounts of money from a personal computer, it is said that CryptoLocker is called as a back-up plan, locking the user’s personal data and holding it for ransom, currently price at 1 Bitcoin. The recent estimate of infected systems is said to be at 15,500 PCs in the UK alone.
The infection is said to occur by clicking fake links or attachments in e-mail sent by people in the contact book who have already been infected by the malware. The NCA recommends users to always keep their software up to date and check their computers for infection using antivirus software.
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