Zeus Evolves to 64-Bit Tor Variant

Researchers at Kaspersky Lab have detected a new 64-bit variant of the Zeus malware. 64-bit-based operating systems are increasingly becoming the norm, though malware, for the most part, has remained in the 32-bit world. Being 32-bit software doesn’t, however, limit the ability of software to run on 64-bit platforms. Most Web browsers in use today even on 64-bit platforms remain 32 bit. Kaspersky is also seeing other noteworthy components in the new 64-bit Zeus variant.

What’s noteworthy with the new Zeus malware is that there is a 64-bit piece of code that was hidden inside a more typical 32-bit Zeus variant, Richard Henderson, security strategist at Fortinet’s FortiGuard Threat Research Lab, told eWEEK.

“If Zeus was able to determine the infected victim was using a 64-bit OS, the malware would attempt to inject code into some 64-bit processes in the hopes of facilitating its goals, which with Zeus is the capture of banking information,” Henderson said. “As far as threat severity, in this specific case, the 64-bit portion of the malware didn’t work properly, but perhaps it was just a test to dip its toes into 64-bit waters.”

Read the full story at eWEEK:
Zeus Malware Goes 64 Bit, Includes Tor Connectivity

Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.

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