Some of you may have thought that Zeus was just a mythical figure, but, in fact, Zeus is very much alive and represents a real threat to your fiscal well-being.  Zeus is the name of a particular type of malware, also known as Zbot, that has been around since at least 2007, but has been recently getting worse and affecting more people.  Zeus is a type of keystroke logging malware, sometimes referred to as a Trojan Horse which when downloaded on to a person’s computer, smartphone, laptop, tablet or other portable device enables the hacker to steal information from the victim to use to make that person a victim of identity theft.

Zeus is specifically targeted to recognize and steal bank account information.  The Zeus malware passes on to the identity thief, the bank account password, account number and all the other information needed by the identity thief to electronically empty the victim’s bank account.  Links containing Zeus malware appeared on National Football League Facebook fan pages. People unwittingly click on the links under various pretences and end up infecting their computers and electronic devices with the malware.

With so much of our banking being done on cellphones, it is not surprising that a recent report from the security software company Kaspersky found that the numer of Zeus and other Trojan bank attack malware on cellphones increased by 196% in 2024

TIPS

The first step in your protection is to make sure that all of your electronic devices including your computer, laptop, smartphone and tablet are protected with a good Firewall, security software and anti-malware software.  Also it is critical that you keep your security software and anti-malware software up to date with the latest patches.  Many of these updates are provided regularly to you here at Scamicide, but the best thing you can do is to both automatically have your security software updated and regularly check for additional updates.  Additionally, you should never click on links or download attachments unless you are absolutely positive that the downloads or links are legitimate.  Facebook and other social media are filled with malware tainted attachments and links.  Never download anything until you have confirmed that it is legitimate.  Finally, you should use dual factor authentication for your bank accounts and other important accounts that can be accessed online so that even if a hacker is able to get your username and password, they would not be able to access the account.

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