A new Internet virus is reported to have infected and destroyed more than 500 000 online bank accounts and affected several thousands credit cards in Nigeria, South Africa and some countries in the developed world.
The Trojan’s’ origin is yet to be established, but computer experts on security say it was first detected in 2006 in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Poland.
According to a local daily newspaper in this commercial capital city of Nigeria, the virus has been under close scrutiny but no solution has been forthcoming.
A joint internet research by Nigeria and its South African counterparts specialising in computer security is working on possible ways to destroy the virus which is threatening internet banking, internet researches and email communications.
Nigeria and South Africa computer experts have described Trojan virus as one of the most sophisticated “crime syndicates” to emerge in the 21st century.
A local newspaper here quoted South Africa’s Fraud Action Research Lab expert, Sean Brady, as saying the new internet virus is called “Windows Sinowal Trojan”, which he claimed was detected in 2006.
“This is a serious incident on a very noticeable scale and we have seen an increase in the number of Trojans and their variants, particularly in the United States and Canada. The effect has been really global with over 2000 domains compromised,” said Brady.
It is estimated that 500 000 online bank accounts and more than 270 000 credit and debit cards have been compromised from several financial institutions, particularly the United States, Poland, United Kingdom and Australia.
Information technology researchers believe the Trojan virus was “created” by unscrupulous scientists with a view to do business, and have been modifying it occasionally.