SpyEye source code leak could fuel new wave of attacks
The source code of the notorious SpyEye toolkit has been leaked, fueling speculation that one of the largest criminal malware families could become an even bigger threat.
SpyEye, which surfaced in late 2009 and immediately started to compete against users of the Zeus banking malware toolkits, targets account credentials and other sensitive data. Leaking the SpyEye source code gives security researchers valuable information about the malware and the techniques of the code writers, but it also opens the door for other cybercriminals to create new variants and attack techniques.
It’s anyone’s guess how cybercriminals will respond to the leaked SpyEye code. Since the source code of the Zeus attack toolkit was leaked in March, researchers at Damballa Inc. have been tracking dozens of new Zeus bot operators, said Sean Bodmer, a senior threat intelligence analyst at Damballa. In addition, researchers have discovered merged code, showing malware variants with SpyEye and Zeus characteristics.
