Tech Talk: Be very respectful of Zeus

As the Greek God of Gods was believed to control all, it is fitting that a really powerful computer program is named after him.

Unfortunately this program is a nasty and widespread computer virus and not worthy of a God.

Zeus (also known as Zbot) is financial malware whose purpose is to secretly infiltrate computers to secure banking and financial information. Zeus then uses the information to wipe out bank accounts.

In a recent “60 Minutes” report on this virus, they focused on how small businesses were targeted to get access to payroll accounts. According to the interview, around $70 million was stolen in this one investigation.

However, hundreds of millions of dollars have been lost worldwide to this virus and all its variants.

The scheme in the “60 Minute” piece involved gangs in Eastern Europe hiring people in the United States or getting U.S. visas for foreign nationals. These “money mules” set up bank accounts.

When the virus emptied the payroll accounts of the companies, the mules were sent a message and immediately withdrew the cash. These mules personally delivered it to local gangs or delivered it to them in Europe.

Good commissions were to be had.

So how does Zeus do its dirty work? It all starts with a computer getting infected by a Trojan horse. The Trojan horse sneaks in with an email, or a link from a “friend.”

Infected websites are the newest, major source of the virus. (Stay away from those porn sites!) Simply clicking on an infected site or downloading an “update” may bypass your security software.

Some estimate that millions of computers are now infected.

Once Zeus gets into a computer, it goes to work preventing anti-virus software from functioning, The software then sits there and looks for passwords and even monitors keystrokes to get the information it needs. Some versions even enter fields on legitimate forms to capture the information needed to get into bank accounts.

There are now more than 40,000 versions out there. Kits are even available on the Internet's black market to be purchased by any aspiring hacker.

So how do you protect yourself? First, install anti-virus software that is updated continually.

Second, install OpenDNS software - it is the best software we have found to protect you from website infections.

You Mac users have nothing to fear from Zeus at this time. But stay vigilant.