Computer Security Project Blitzkrieg 'Prinimalka' Malware Attack...

Project Blitzkrieg 'Prinimalka' Malware Attack Responsible for Compromising Hundreds of Banking Accounts

project blitzkrieg botnetSecurity firm McAfee has warned of a continuing malware attack, dubbed Project Blitzkrieg, which has claimed up to 500 victims in compromising banking accounts.

Experts at McAfee expect that this new sophisticated cybercrime group could be responsible for unleashing attacks on banking institutions at the start of the new year (2013). Having the characteristics of a modified version of 'Prinimalka' malware, a group of compromised systems have been put in place to perform nasty actions stealing banking information in what is called Project Blitzkrieg.

Prinimalka is much like the infamous Zeus crimeware, which was responsible for being one of the most vicious banking Trojans virtually allowing cybercriminals to rob and pilfer banking accounts around the world. Prinimalka, just like Zeus, instructs its compromised machines to occasionally dial into a host server to receive its new instructions. Researchers believe that Project Blitzkrieg could be the backbone structure for an organization employing the Prinimalka malware, which could start initiating large-scale attacks very soon.

McAfee labs made a discovery of the campaign back in September of this year through analyzing posts on a forum made by a hacker named 'vorVzankone', who posted an outline of the Project Blitzkrieg operation. Though some reports of the claims made by the hacker were not taken seriously by everyone, the threat remains to be a potentially grave situation that may end up uprooting normal operations by some financial institutions.

Researchers are apt to believe that the hacking group has quickly setup up shop ready to extract money from compromised accounts, but not until the next phase of their operation begins during the spring of next year. If done right, such a technical and well-organized cybercriminal organization could set forth a movement on a scale larger than anything we have ever seen.

Not only is this group believed to be well-endowed in the know-how on attacking banking institutions, but they have put forth efforts to attract new members to subscribing cybercriminals. Reportedly, the tools made available to members are dynamic and easy enough for their 'groupies' to orchestrate new drops or attacks. For now, only time will tell of the activities of Prinimalka and the Project Blitzkrieg are successful off of their launching pad due for lift-off next year.

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