Tekblog

With the advent of banking Trojans  such as the Clampi virus spreading like wildfire across the Internet, the security of online banking and financial transactions needs to be addressed more so than at any other time in history.   The virus, called Clampi, “is pretty scary,” says Tim Wilson, editor of DarkReading, a technology security news site. “It’s worth worrying about.”  –USA Today

In mid-July 2009, an account manager at Ferma Corporation in Mountainview, CA logged in to the company bank account to pay bills online and within minutes his session was hacked in real time, forcing the company to suffer a devastating financial loss.  Why? Computer forensics revealed that the account manager had initially visited an infected website;  malicious malware was able to download to his PC while the malware secretly conducted 27 transactions totaling $447,000 loss to Ferma Corporation.

Windows operating systems are precariously dominant in securing infection via malware drive-by downloads, and consistently targeted by cyber-criminals.    Contracting a banking or financial Trojan is as simple as clicking on a tainted web page –  if your operating system has been  compromised or is vulnerable to attack.  With all the new malware variants morphing on a daily and sometimes hourly basis, Microsoft Windows continues to be the most vulnerable operating system on the planet.

A small business can minimize the risk of Internet fraud by:

Following the seven ways to secure your computer as outlined at Telegraph.co.uk and installing an extra layer of security such as Zemana AntiLogger.

Uber paranoid methods of protecting your financial transactions online:

Locking down and dedicating one windows workstation (fire-walled) that is isolated from the local network and is only able to access specific financial sites that are necessary to conduct financial transactions for the company.

Using a different operating system such as Ubuntu to perform all financial transactions for the company.  Let the OS handle all security, login to a limited account,  and always have the computer connected to a hardware firewall.

Until next time — Stay safe online!

Tags: banking, botnet, Clampi, financial, hacking, Internet security, Malware, Trojans