PayPal Charges Result in Renewed Publicity Surrounding iTunes Account Phishing Attacks

A report in the San Jose Mercury News yesterday and a follow-up post by TechCrunch this morning are again bringing publicity to users who have experienced unauthorized charges via their iTunes Store accounts. According to the reports, the majority of complaints are coming from PayPal users who have linked their payment accounts to their iTunes Store accounts.

At least one group of scammers has found a way to charge thousands of dollars to iTunes accounts through PayPal. One targeted customer told us, "My account was charged over $4700. I called security at PayPal and was told a large number of iTunes store accounts were compromised." His email was filled with nearly 50 receipts from PayPall for $99.99 each. He was able to catch it before his bank disbursed funds to PayPal.
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TDSS: Rootkit technologies at the heart of cybercrime

Kaspersky Lab publicize that TDSS is the most powerful and complex rootkit to date.

This universal malware can hide its own presence and that of other malware on an infected system while offering enhanced opportunities. In order to penetrate computers, TDSS infects drivers; this ensures that it will be launched almost immediately the operating system is started. Consequently, it is extremely difficult to detect and remove this rootkit.

Kaspersky Lab has invested significant time and effort into solving the issues raised by TDSS. This article looks at the technologies implemented in TDSS, the way in which the rootkit spreads, and how cybercriminals profit from this malware. TDSS is spread via an affiliate program which uses all methods possible to deliver malware to victim machines. The rootkit attacks computers around the world. Kaspersky Lab estimates that 3 million computers have been infected by the rootkit. Affiliates earn money according to the number of computers they infect; the highest payment is made for machines located in the USA.

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