Topic: AVG Research: 55,000 Computers Compromised by Mumba Botnet (whitepaper download)

[Samker]

AVG Technologies, makers of the world’s most popular free anti-virus software, today issued a report developed by the AVG Web Security Research Team which identified a global network of 55,000 malware-infected computers infected by the Mumba botnet.

The report (whitepaper), which can be downloaded from here: http://avg.typepad.com/files/revised-mumba-botnet-whitepaper_approved_yi_fv.pdf , found that the Mumba botnet has stolen more than 60GB of personal data from users including credentials from social networking Web sites, banking account details, credit card numbers and email communication. The United States had the highest share of PCs infected by the Mumba botnet (33 percent), followed by Germany (17 percent), Spain (7 percent), United Kingdom (6 percent), Mexico and Canada (both 5 percent).

The Mumba botnet was created by one of the most sophisticated group of cybercriminals on the internet known as the Avalanche Group who perfected a mass-production system for deploying phishing sites and data stealing malware. Mumba uses the latest version of Zeus, currently one of the most common malwares.

“The unique infrastructure of the Mumba botnet means that going after the servers hosting the stolen data is now much more difficult than before,” said Yuval Ben-Itzhak, senior vice president at AVG. “As cybercriminals become increasingly sophisticated, it is paramount that consumers and corporations prevent their PCs from becoming the next victim in these dynamic cyber attacks by using anti-virus and LinkScanner tools such as those that AVG offers for free”: http://linkscanner.avg.com/

(BW)

[Fireberg]

The only thing we can is up date a good antivirus with a good firewall, or turn off the Pc.!!

Thanx!!

[Samker]

The only thing we can is ..... turn off the Pc.!!

 

[bBbLaHhH]

I agree it is pertinent to have a reliable virus scan and firewall....

However since AVG is FREE... would that make it less reliable than say Norton and/or Mcafee since these 2 brands are paid for?

I'm more inclined to believe the saying..."you get what you pay for".  Not to say AVG is bad scanner because I've never used it and therefore can't have a proper opinion on it.

[Samker]

However since AVG is FREE... would that make it less reliable than say Norton and/or Mcafee since these 2 brands are paid for?

I agree with you about free version(s), but for example AVG also offer paid versions which provide additional features like McAfee or Norton...

FYI, AVG comparative chart: http://free.avg.com/ww-en/download-avg-anti-virus-free