Bitdefender Launches Gauss Removal Tool

Bitdefender, the global antivirus company, has released a tool to find and remove traces of the Gauss malware, a complex financial espionage tool that hit the Middle East..

The multi-module e-threat shares similarities with Flamer, another cyber-espionage tool discovered in the Middle-East in May. However, while Flamer's main purpose is to harvest data from industrial environments, Gauss is focused on stealing login credentials for eBanking, social networking and e-mail services. Apart from stealing passwords, Gauss can also steal cookies to allow an attacker access to a specific account the user is already logged into.

"The resemblance to Flamer leads us believe that the newly-discovered Gauss may also be a state-sponsored cyber-weapon," said Catalin Cosoi, Chief Security Research at Bitdefender. "This prompts us about the fact that cyber-warfare is moving into the financial sector: tracing the origins and destination of money, and who is funding what operations."

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