Security

What You Need to Know About Acecard Trojan Malware

There are seemingly endless ways that hackers can take advantage of your computer and ruin your life. Lately, the Acecard Trojan malware has been a popular hack on banking accounts. Here’s how the virus works:

First, the virus overlays banking applications with a phishing page that replicates your bank’s login page. The user enters their username and password into this phished page, granting the hacker access to their bank account. The virus proceeds to ask for credit and debit card data so they can take advantage of your finances. Once the data is stolen, it is sent to the hacker’s banking account or it is sold to a third party.

Read More: Mobile Malware is on the Rise — Find out Why

This epidemic wasn’t detected until February 2014, and even then it was considered a minor threat. However, in May 2015, the malicious activity began, and its problems have done nothing but proliferate since then. Between May and September of 2015, for instance, over 6000 users were attacked across the globe. The epidemic is mostly affecting Russia, Germany, Austria, France, and Australia.

Acecard is a considerable threat to mobile banking because of its power to override the security system of these applications. For instance, most bank account phishing overlays can only work on a few bank branches’ apps. Usually, the other banks have the capabilities to shut down the hacking, thus making the phishing scheme futile.

On the other hand, Acecard has the capability to override the security systems of thirty different banking and payment systems. As a result, this virus has had a dire impact on the mobile banking industry.

This Trojan malware isn’t the only malicious software attempting to hack money. According to the Kaspersky Lab, there was an estimated 2 million attempts to steal money via online access to banking accounts in the year of 2015.

The software is another type of breed because it can access your personal information beyond banking as well. On top of stealing your money, it can also steal your identity on social media. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, Viper, Skype, Paypal, Gmail, and more have all experienced the ugly hand of Acecard.

Will the Acecard fold? Hopefully so.

Want to learn more about computer security? Come to the PSafe blog!

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The dfndr blog is an informative channel that presents exclusive content on security and privacy in the mobile and business world, with tips to keep users protected. Populated by a select group of expert reporters, the channel has a partnership with dfndr lab's security team. Together they bring you, first-notice news about attacks, scams, internet vulnerabilities, malware and everything affecting cybersecurity.

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