Threat of mass cyberattacks on U.S. banks is real, McAfee warns

A cyber fraud campaign targeting U.S. brokerages and banks is a "credible threat," and at least 500 accounts are vulnerable after early attacks planted software that could help thieves steal money, according to McAfee report released today. The impending attack on U.S. financial institutions is dubbed Project Blitzkrieg.

"McAfee Labs believes that Project Blitzkrieg is a credible threat to the financial industry and appears to be moving forward as planned," the report reads. "Although Project Blitzkrieg hasn't yet infected thousands of victims and we cannot directly confirm any cases of fraud, the attackers have managed to run an operation undetected for several months while infecting a few hundred."

Project Blitzkrieg is believed to be headed by an individual known as vorVzakone, according to McAfee. In September, vorVzakone announced a massive fraud campaign to be launched against 30 U.S. banks in spring 2013. VorVzakone also put out a call to arms for fellow hackers to join his cause. The attacks are said to be done with a highly developed Trojan that could infect victims' computers, plant software, and allow cybercriminals to steal information and money.

"We do know that the thieves have had an active system since April 2012, with at least 500 victims who can be linked to vorVzakone," the report said. "Most victims' accounts are at investment banks. It will be interesting to see how the attackers will move money from these accounts, which are certainly targets of high value."

Read more -here-

• Dropbox breach exposes customer credentials, authentication data
• Google: Passkey authentications top 1 billion across 400 million accounts
• FTC fines Razer for misrepresenting COVID masks as N95s
• FCC fines Verizon, AT&T other major carriers nearly $200 million for sharing customer data
• Federal regulators accuse Amazon executives of deleting messages
• FCC restores net neutrality rules