One hundred banks already hit by Ursnif malware in Italy alone

Researchers at Avast Threat Labs found that the Ursnif malware has already claimed victims in at least 100 banks in Italy alone. In analyzing the information located on the web, the researchers found usernames, passwords, payment card numbers, banking and payment information that appear to have been stolen by Ursnif malware operators. “We saw evidence from more than 100 Italian banks in the information we obtained. We also saw more than 1,700 credentials stolen from a single payment processor, ”said researcher Christopher Budd on the company’s blog. In fact, the researchers have already counted 2,200 credentials.

Ursnif is malware that started operating in 2007 as a banking trojan, but that has evolved over the years and has remained a constant and persistent threat according to Avast.

Over the past 14 years it has reached users in many countries, often using bait in emails written in the victim’s language. Among the countries in which the Ursnif has made the most frequent attacks is Italy, a fact that according to the researchers is reflected in the quality of the information obtained by them.

After locating the information, Avast researchers shared it with the payment processors and banks of which the victims were customers. They also shared with financial services protection groups such as CERTFin Italy. With this information, companies and institutions are taking steps to protect customers. According to Christopher Budd, “Avast strongly believes in sharing information to protect everyone on the Internet.”

With international agencies