Online Banking Malware Revamped to Avoid Detection

Good news in this otherwise somewhat negative world of identity theft and cyber security is that the volume of the banking malware Dridex appears to be on the decline. The not so good news is that it is still being actively developed and revised to do more damage.

Researchers from the security software company, Forcepoint have found several changes and “improvements” in the malware that make it more difficult to detect and protect against, including a way to target crypto wallets. It also contains more features that allow it to profile a system for software that may allow the criminals to acquire some financial payout.

The best advice for avoiding Dridex and malware like it is to make sure your systems are kept updated with the latest patches and versions of the software running on it. Unfortunately, this may be difficult for some software because you might need to manually check for updates. Many browsers and many products by Microsoft and Apple, for example, can be set up to do automatic updates. If you use these, make sure that setting is enabled. If you use Adobe Flash, get into a habit of checking Adobe’s site for the latest secure version and if you don’t need Flash, disable it. Lately, even Adobe Acrobat has been vulnerable to many exploits. If at all possible, get a different PDF reader that is more secure.

Also, get a good and reliable anti-malware and anti-virus solution for your system. Keep it running at all times and keep it updated. Most have an option to auto-update and if yours has this, opt in.
If your financial institution gives you a choice to use multi-factor authentication when you are using online banking, take advantage of it. It can save you a lot of grief later, even if it’s a bit annoying to have to type in a separate code each time you want to check your bank balance. It really is worth it.

Security companies that provide software to detect malware such as Dridex are constantly updating their products counter these attacks. So, while it may seem like a dark cloud is always hanging around, remember that dark clouds produce rain and that is not necessarily a bad thing.