American bank customers could be next to fall victim to a hacking technique that empties customer's accounts, according to a report from antivirus software company Trend Micro.
The Japanese outfit says that a toolkit used with popular hacking programs SpyEye and Zeus can perform tasks such as checking account balances, conducting wire transfers and modifying account transactions. Criminals can employ these tools without leaving a trace, according to Trend Micro.
Banks in Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy have already fallen prey to the attacks. No U.S. banks have reported attacks to date.
"The attacks are of particular concern because they circumvent traditional and even enhanced online banking security measures," says Tom Kellermann, Trend Micro's vice president of Cybersecurity, in a press release. "Due to the seemingly imperceptible way that this [Automated Transfer System] tool modifies records, endpoint solutions must be used to prevent infections from starting or to detect the threat after it has already affected a machine."
