philemmons
01-24-07, 11:46 PM
MOSCOW: Computer experts have traced a $1 million online bank heist in Sweden to a Russian hacker known only by his colorful sobriquet — the Corpse — in one of the more brazen Internet banking crimes of recent memory.
As the extent of the fraud became known this week at Nordea, the Scandanavian bank involved, attention shifted to the Russian-made virus behind the crime and the darker world of Russian programming, where talented minds still struggle to find legitimate outlets for the computer skills.
The case also highlighted the risks of online banking, although Nordea said only customers who operated personal computers without anti-virus programs became victims.
The Swedish police said that the virus had been distributed with a spam e- mail message and aimed at several European and U.S. banks. Police have arrested both Swedish nationals and foreigners who withdrew cash from branches of the Swedish bank after making online transfers.
Corpse, whose true identity is unknown to antivirus experts, is believed to be the author of the so-called Trojan horse program, which surreptitiously logged keystrokes while online banking customers entered their passwords.
the rest of the story (http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/24/business/hack.php)
As the extent of the fraud became known this week at Nordea, the Scandanavian bank involved, attention shifted to the Russian-made virus behind the crime and the darker world of Russian programming, where talented minds still struggle to find legitimate outlets for the computer skills.
The case also highlighted the risks of online banking, although Nordea said only customers who operated personal computers without anti-virus programs became victims.
The Swedish police said that the virus had been distributed with a spam e- mail message and aimed at several European and U.S. banks. Police have arrested both Swedish nationals and foreigners who withdrew cash from branches of the Swedish bank after making online transfers.
Corpse, whose true identity is unknown to antivirus experts, is believed to be the author of the so-called Trojan horse program, which surreptitiously logged keystrokes while online banking customers entered their passwords.
the rest of the story (http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/24/business/hack.php)