

Botnet protects code with hardware-based licensing system - seven
http://www.secureworks.com/research/threats/zeus

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Groxx
_How to Protect Yourself from ZeuS

The CTU recommends that businesses and home users carry out online banking and
financial transactions on isolated workstations that are not used for general
Internet activities, such as web browsing and reading email which could
increase the risk of infection._

Hahahahahahahahha

Try getting _that_ suggestion to stick with people who are still likely to use
"1234" as their PIN.

~~~
raganwald
Not too long ago I had certain responsibilities with respect to a bank's
online banking system and its 3.5 million users. The bad news was that I had
to support WebTV. Really. The good news was that I really wasn't worried about
Malware on it :-)

Getting serious for a moment, I wonder if "walled gardens" like iPhone and its
Mobile Safari will have fewer attack vectors for malware because of the
difficulty of downloading a trojan and the lack of public plugin support?

~~~
Groxx
definitely a possibility (currently), though my phone crashes more often than
my laptop, and in general I have _far_ less trust in my phone's programming
than my Mac.

------
allenbrunson
well, that was a pretty horrifying read. makes me glad i'm not a windows user.

~~~
ErrantX
Don't get feeling too safe; plenty of malware exists for other operating
systems.

~~~
allenbrunson
Yes, no doubt. But how many other platforms have malware creation tools that
come with a _hardware lock_? Because we wouldn't want the poor author to get
ripped off through piracy. Oh, the irony. Seriously, though: doesn't that
sound like it must be a fourth- or fifth-gen product, to be that advanced?

This sounds to me like one of those problems where I don't have to outrun the
bear. I just have to outrun all the other juicy, tasty Windows users that the
bear is going to eat first.

~~~
ErrantX
Oh right yes, I see your point.

> I just have to outrun all the other juicy, tasty Windows users that the bear
> is going to eat first.

In fairness I suspect people like you and me are able to "outrun the bear" on
any OS. The main attack vector is getting people to install spurious
"software" (or tricking them into installing something) and I suspect we're
statistically less likely to fall foul.

(fair point though)

