(Image Source: International Business Times)

BY: MEGAN FAROKHMANESH

ANCHOR: ANA COMPAIN-ROMERO

You're watching multisource tech video news analysis from Newsy.

Android users beware: there’s a new money-sucking trojan virus in town, and this one is after your mobile phone. The application is a new strain of the infamous Zeus Trojan that stole millions by hacking bank accounts.

Narmeen Choudhury (Fox Connecticut): “It’s called the Zeus Trojan virus, and it’s considered to be one of the most advanced cyber-crime scams out there right now. Essentially, if the Zeus virus was infected on my laptop, almost every key stroke I make on this computer could be tracked by a hacker that may not even be in the same country." 


The Zeus virus started out infecting computers-- but now has made the leap to mobile devices.
Dubbed “Zitmo,” or “Zeus in the mobile,” a new version of this virus is now taking Android for all it’s got. And while Android users are the newest victims of theft, an antivirus analyst tells InformationWeek-- they’re certainly not the first.


"’Zitmo has been used by the ZeuS gang to defeat SMS-based banking two-factor authentication onSymbian, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile for a several months.'"

So what’s the virus do?

“It is designed to steal mobile transaction authentication numbers, or one-time passwords that some banks, mostly in Europe, send via SMS message to mobile users as an additional layer of security." (Source: SC Magazine)

The trojan slips in under the guise of trusted security software. MSNBC further explains...

“The rogue banking application appears to be part of Trusteer’s Rapport software, which, in its legitimate form, confirms that users are securely logged in to their bank’s online portal." 

And Fortinet adds...
“In the background, it listens to all incoming SMS messages and forwards them to a remote webserver." 


But in an interview with Information Week-- Trusteer CEO Mickey Boodaei says-- there’s no reason for mobile bankers to freak out.


“Boodaei said that the current threat from smartphone seeking malware is relatively small, especially since many banks don’t use [one-time passwords], and because few people bank usingsmartphones." 

Don’t breathe a sigh of relief just yet, mobile users. Boodaei also says-- this time in an interview with SC Magazine-- There’s still time for smartphone malware to take off, and when it does, it’ll be trickier than ever.
 

“We will start seeing malware that actually tries to tamper with your transactions through your mobile phone instead of just getting SMS messages."