Rise of stealth attacks on Banks: Silence Trojan
Security researchers have discovered a new attack against financial organizations, in which hackers break into their infrastructure and stay lurking for months to learn their internal procedures before starting to steal money.
Because of the extended period of time when attackers monitor and learn the behavior of their victims, researchers have dubbed the Trojan program used in this attack “Silence.” Since September, the malware has been identified inside the networks of banks from Russia, Malaysia and Armenia, but the attackers are likely to expand their operation.
The cybercriminals behind Silence are not the first to incorporate stealthy techniques normally associated with cyberespionage and APT threats. In 2014, a cybercriminal group called Carbanak used similar methods to infect more than 100 financial institutions worldwide and steal $1 billion.