Security firm RSA has warned that the software kit behind half of the world's phishing attacks has been upgraded.
The Rock Phish software has been used in attacks on over 40 European and US financial institutions.
The tool has been very successful, using innovations including unique URL generation to defeat blacklists. But Rock Phish has not used malware as part of its attack until recently.
The fake phishing pages now include a Trojan dubbed Zeus, so that once a victim's financial data has been harvested the Trojan allows the computer to be controlled remotely.
"The victim is duped into visiting a phishing site," said Uriel Maimon from the RSA 24x7 Anti-Fraud Command Center.
"Whether or not the victim surrenders his/her credentials into the site is irrelevant, as many people click on phishing links but do not fill in meaningful information.
"However, with this new attack twist the victim will still be infected with a Trojan."
The group behind the Rock Phish attacks did not develop the Trojan themselves, but purchased it for the job in much the same way as a legal software developer.
Zeus is a very flexible and persistent Trojan which can be used to steal data, make the infected machine part of a botnet and even take regular screenshots of a user's activity.
"The Zeus Trojan has many startling capabilities," said Maimon. "As I look on this blissful union of fraud and crime technologies, I can only envy the criminals who can find such coupling."
The Rock Phish software has become something of a cause célèbre in the IT security industry since it surfaced.
The creators have been described as the Kaiser Söze of the online world, and no-one is sure whether the creator is a single person or a hacking group.
RSA is confident that it is a hacking group behind the code, and no-one disputes that the software has been astonishingly successful.
Hundreds of millions of pounds have been siphoned out of users' bank accounts over the past four years.
The latest news and views from Europe's number one information security event 01 May 2008
Infosec 2008 Preview: Ed Gibson, Chief Security Advisor at Microsoft UK, talks to vnunet.com about the security focus for the coming year. 21 Apr 2008Security is now everyone's problem 23 Apr 2008Lack of control and security fears outweigh benefits 23 Apr 2008
Malware writers reap big reward from bank Trojan 01 Oct 2009
Malware startup costs put at a mere $2,500 04 Mar 2010Talking points at this week's security conference 06 Mar 2010
Security experts say new threat could affect 2,500 organisations 18 Feb 2010
Websense researchers discover new wave of attacks targeted at government and military workers 14 Feb 2010
Desert tortoise fears allayed? 19 Mar 2010
Cameron presents pre-election energy policy, promising greater investment certainty for low-carbon projects, green loans for households, and streamlining of planning system 19 Mar 2010
Joint statement from carbon exchange and Hungarian government aims to restore confidence in CER market 19 Mar 2010
More news
From climate change contrarians to the "KitKatastrophe" of Nestle's palm oil policy, we look at the best the green web has to offer this week 19 Mar 2010
"It needs the political enthusiasm that was behind the war on terror after 9/11" 19 Mar 2010
From the government's plans for a marine energy revolution to John Lewis' proposals for an off-grid supermarket 19 Mar 2010 More in-depth
Post your comment
Send an email to the Business Green editor at feedback@businessgreen.com
