‘Distribution of financial Dyre malware stopped by Russian authorities’
Russian authorities allegedly raided a film company in Moscow in November. The company is alleged to be associated with the use of the Dyre malware, which was mainly used to steal login details from internet banking users.
Reuters writes that there are three sources reporting the raid, but neither a spokesman for the Russian Interior Ministry nor a spokesman for the FSB secret service could confirm this. The CEO of the film company 25th Floor also declined to comment on the possible raid. However, security experts are said to have observed an interruption in the distribution of the Dyre malware, which may be the result of a successful police operation. It remains unclear whether any arrests have been made and whether criminal charges have been initiated.
Reuters further reports that 25th Floor was in the middle of shooting for a movie titled ‘Botnet’. This is about an American case in 2010, in which 37 suspects were arrested for internet crime. The case also involved the use of malware known as ‘Zeus’. According to the director of a security company in Moscow, 25th Floor had engaged his company to advise the film writers on internet crime. He also informed Reuters that the CEO of the film company urgently wanted to speak to him in November, because he would know that he was under investigation.
According to a report from Symantec, the Dyre malware was used for various purposes. For example, the software was able to hijack several browsers to intercept Internet traffic between users and their bank with a kind of man-in-the-middle attack in the browser. For example, criminals could send users to phishing sites and steal login credentials. Dyre is also able to download additional malware to an infected system and use it as part of a botnet to send spam, for example. The malicious program is said to have caused millions of dollars in damage, including at banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.