The shadowy
actions of the U.S. Government in cyberspace have taken another chilling turn.
Researchers
from Kapersky Labs have been picking apart the Flame virus to find common
components that may pop up in similar cyber weapons. Their efforts just paid
off.
The newly
discovered virus, bearing “Gauss” as a codename, appears to have a very similar
architecture to its predecessor and was built with some of the same modular
components. However, the virus is far more advanced. It is better at covering
its tracks and hiding within computers and USB drives.
Gauss
appears to have been created in 2011. The malware has been actively distributed
in the Middle East for at least the past 10 months. The vast majority of Gauss
infections are in Lebanon.
The virus
specifically targets computers within banks and collects as much information
about systems as possible. It steals access credentials for banking software,
social networks, email addresses and instant messenger accounts.
The coding
is also designed to intercept proprietary data required to work with several
Lebanese banks. Considering how it works, there can be little doubt regarding
the intent of its creators. Lebanon is a Hezbollah stronghold, which is heavily
funded by Iran and works very closely with the aggressive militaristic state.
In spite of
the very specific targets, incidents appear to be popping up outside of the
Middle East. 43 of the incidents occurred in the USA. Kapersky Labs believes it
may be due to VPN connections, which mask the real location of the user.
Let's hope
they are right. It took almost a year to find Gauss. With how advanced the U.S.
Government's cyber weapons are becoming, it could take years to find evidence
of anything that is stealing or corrupting our computers today.
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