A new warning by the FBI is telling users to check their computer security today. The agency has been able to temporarily take the botnet down and disrupt the flow of the 
virus. The Zeus virus works by making the infected computer a part of the malicious chain. Essentially, your computer becomes a server for the bad guys. This particular botnet is designed to scope out user names and passwords and send the information back to the villains. You become part of their army and you do not even have a clue it is happening.
Most of these infections are coming from spam e-mails and malicious websites. The virus will often flood websites with so many requests that the website will essentially be shut down due to being overwhelmed with requests.
The reason for the warning from the FBI is because even though the activity is now disabled, they expect that within 2 weeks the botnet will again be active. It is really hard to track down the actual locations of the main server because individual computers on the system are acting as the servers. It appears that the main system is being deployed from somewhere in Russia.
Since you likely only have about 2 weeks before the system is again re-activated, you should take action now to be sure you are protected. Take a full review of your security now. Make sure that all your security tools are completely up to date and working properly. Be sure to run a Full System Scan at your first available opportunity. Remember that a full scan will take some time so you might want to do this as an overnight project.
One way to help keep this and other botnets at bay is to block e-mail attachments that contain .exe files as an attachment. This is often a way that the bad guys try to get Malware on your system. You should never click on an attachment if you are not certain what it is. Attachments can often come from people that you know and trust. The problem arises if that person’s computer has been compromised. This can lead to infected files being sent out without the knowledge of the user. Even if you have an anti-virus program running on your computer, you might want to do a scan with the Microsoft Security Scanner. This tool is a free download and you must download the tool when you are going to do the scan or you risk having an out of date tool.
In addition to the above, you will also want to add Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit to your arsenal of Malware defenses. This tiny tool uses very little in the way of resources and it does not update nor does it scan your computer. It looks for “patterns” that are consistent with exploit activity and blocks it from starting. The tool is free and is a must have, especially if you are using Windows XP.
If you have any doubts about your system security or if you simply want a professional to check out your system, give us a call at 1-888-901-4335 so we can check and be sure your system is clean. Remember, you only have about 2 weeks or less before this virus likely re materializes and starts to do its dirty deeds all over again. Your urgent action should be taken immediately to ensure your online safety as well as that of others.
By, Joe Z
Leave a Reply