A growing number of banking Trojans pose a serious threat to both individuals’ and organisations’ financial security. Banking Trojans are hostile backdoor applications designed to steal financial data or money from financial technology systems. Unfortunately, they are highly sophisticated and frequently change their methods. They can target online banking institutions and steal funds from personal or commercial accounts without the account owner’s knowledge.

 

Read on to learn more about banking Trojans and the concerns surrounding their suspicious activities.

 

The 101 on Banking Trojans

 

Banking Trojans redirect traffic away from online banking and financial websites and toward another website controlled by the attacker. When you launch the software, it replicates itself to the host machine, creating files and registry entries along the way. It looks for cookie files related to personal finance that have been set on the computer by financial websites.

 

The “Trojan horse,” as they like to call it, may run executable files, download and distribute files remotely, steal data from the clipboard, and log keystrokes. It saves cookies and passwords and may be warned if a computer is left unattended.

 

Accidents do happen, and computers can become corrupted. Criminals’ methods for gaining access to sensitive financial data have evolved. While computer viruses, malware, and Trojan horses can still steal usernames and passwords, many of them can also take money and move it to other accounts.

 

Financial institutions have increased the security of their authentication systems in order to combat such Trojan horse programs. This is critical as banks rely more on online and mobile banking nowadays, which are intrinsically less secure than in-person banking.

 

 

The Suspicious Activities of Banking Trojans

 

They penetrate a computer, network, or Android app and wait for an unwitting victim to log in to an online banking account. Following that, the banking virus obtains the user’s password and gains unlawful access to the user’s account.

 

Banking Trojans can be used to deceive people into allowing account access in a variety of ways:

 

• Phishing

A malicious actor sends an email that appears to be from a reputable sender, such as a bank or an online retailer. The email either infects a malicious site posing as a legitimate banking site or provides a link to a compromised site.

 

• Malvertising

Banking Trojans can hide in legal website advertising. When infected adverts are clicked, they lead to a dangerous website.

 

• Exploit Kits

Exploit Kits are embedded in web pages and hunt for weaknesses to exploit in order to get access to your computer or network.

 

So, what exactly are banking Trojans? They are a total pain to deal with. Some methods for stopping these rogue actors from creating havoc are as follows:

 

• Take safety precautions. Clicking on links or downloading files provided over email should be avoided. Train workers to spot phishing emails and conduct phishing tests for banks.

 

• Pay special attention to the nuances. Take note of minor changes before using a banking website. Is there a new design? Additional fields for logging in? Is there anything wrong with the text or the design? This is a fraudulent website that appears to be authentic.

 

• Be proactive. The most effective offence is one that has the ability to defend itself. Antivirus software and web application firewalls are two examples of cybersecurity tools that can help protect a system.

 

Businesses must rethink their security strategy in light of these and other malware threats, particularly if they are digitally transformed. They must identify and then eliminate any potential weak points, conduct device inventory, gain granular access control, and run network segmentation. After that, create a proactive, integrated security plan to protect your distributed environment as a whole. Security can be improved across the whole network environment, from online devices to multi-cloud environments.

 

 

Yes, there are existing dangers to engaging with higher intelligence. Because cybercriminals will always be ready to utilise and re-invent malware, cybersecurity must be built into any new infrastructure or technology endeavour. To keep enemies at bay, security must be broad and collaborative. Your security plan is only as good as the data and threat intelligence it is based on. To keep up, your cyber strategy must change. It is a continuous process that necessitates correct data in order to respond quickly.

 

Are you in need of digital brand protection? FraudWatch has been defending client brands for almost two decades. We’re a team of experts who specialise in brand protection on social media and mobile apps against phishing, malware, and impersonation. Get in touch with us today!