The IBM (NASDAQ:IBM) Security group has unearthed a sophisticated bank transfer cyber scam, involving a well-funded Eastern European gang. The gang had used the Dyre malware, along with phishing and phone calls to withdraw funds between $500,000 to $1 million.
The Dyre malware made its debut in 2014 and uses middle man tactics. The hacker redirects customers to a fake site, when a fake link or attachment is clicked. The secure information is hacked and the user’s account is taken over. The Dyre Wolf assault is further sophisticated as attackers can bypass the two-factor authentication, used in several online accounts. The malware is sent into users’ emails with suspicious attachments or fake links.
“Organizations are only as strong as their weakest link, and in this case, it’s their employees,” said Caleb Barlow, IBM Security vice-president.
Barlow stated that the use of social engineering techniques was unprecedented and the huge wire transfers caught their attention.The cyber gang also uses a fake site to claim that the legit site is down or under maintenance. Users are then prompted to call the support and convince the victim to hand over the credentials. The customer support is an English-speaking operator who has knowledge about the user’s account, falling prey to the attack.
The transferred money goes though several foreign banks to avoid detection by law enforcement agencies. IBM claims that 95 percent human error was the cause of the attacks and there is no rule book to prevent these attacks. The only way to prevent these types of attacks is to prevent clicking suspicious attachments or links.
IBM did not disclose the names of the companies that were affected by the malware or the hacker gang’s location. Users are likely to become more concerned regarding the two-factor authentication, which is considered to be the most secure way to login.
via thenextdigit.com
