Online Banking Trojan Stole Money From Belgians

hankwang writes "Belgian authorities uncovered an international network of online banking fraud (Google translation; Dutch original), which has been going on since 2007. The fraud targeted customers of several major banks, which used supposedly secure two-factor systems that require the customer to generate authorization codes from transaction information (random code and amount or recipient's account number) that is manually keyed into a cryptographic device (Flash demo from one of the banks; manufacturer's website). Trojan horses that were planted onto the victims' computers would generate a fake error message and request that the victim re-enter the authorization code. This way, amounts up to €4,000 were transferred to money mules and thence to Eastern Europe. The worrying part is that many cases were never reported to the police, because the bank preferred to refund the money to the victim rather than risking its reputation. The extent of this type of fraud is unknown." The article mentions in passing that similar crimes are occurring in Germany and Sweden.

Comments

I wouldnt dream of using a Windows box for banking

[miffo.swe]

I personally never use a Windows computer for banking. I always use an updated Linux computer when i do anything involving money.

Windows + Internet Explorer is proven to be unsecure and not fit for anything that demands security. With Linux you can be unsure about security, with Windows you know its very bad and unsecure by design.