The Scourge of Banking Trojans, and How to Protect Yourself

Banking Trojans are nasty, warned Andy Hayter (@malcodemgr), security evangelist at G Data Software, in our conversation at the 2015 Black Hat Conference in Las Vegas.

Hayter went on to explain that a banking Trojan is malware that often intercepts your transaction with a “man in the middle” attack while you’re on an online banking site. It downloads DLLs and some information that can be intercepted by the malware and then replaced. The new software redirects your transaction and collects your information. It’ll do keylogging, password stealing, or it may take you to a fake banking site and let you go through a transaction.

To protect yourself, Hayter recommends you use two-factor authentication on your login ID. In addition, use software that can prevent “man in the middle” attacks especially with banking transactions. Keep an eye on your bank account and your balances. If you look at your account and you see anything suspicious, even if it’s a 50 cent transfer, alert your bank. That’s how the attackers start to see if they’ll get caught or not. If not, they’ll start conducting big transactions and really rip you off.