Webopedia Term of the Day: What is ZeuS?

“The most widespread botnet in history, ZeuS is a Trojan horse
that infiltrates computers in order to steal data by logging
keystrokes and spread copies of itself to other devices via instant
messaging and e-mail messages. Computers infected by a ZeuS variant
can be controlled by the attacker and monitored for keystrokes in
order to gain access to online accounts and other sensitive
data.

“More than 50,000 variants of the ZeuS Trojan have been
recognized since ZeuS made its first known appearance in 2007. The
most prolific period for ZeuS came in 2009 and 2010, with some
security reports estimating as many as 3.6 million ZeuS-infected
computers in the United States alone during that time.

“Several mobile botnet variants of the ZeuS Trojan have surfaced
more recently, with some targeting Google Android phones while
others attack Blackberry devices, Symbian phones, or Windows Mobile
phones. These variants are considered part of the Zitmo family of
mobile malware and are designed to steal the mobile transaction
authentication numbers that banks use to strengthen security for
logging in to online accounts.”

Complete
Story