"Wire transfer biz dogged by malware, security threats" (ars)

[Paul Vixie <vixie () isc org>]

New information suggests that a high number of wire-transfer businesses may
be infected with security-compromising viruses, despite the sensitive
nature of the transactions they handle. Wire transfers are a common way for
immigrants working in the United States to send money home to relatives in
need. 

These payments are oftentimes an extremely important source of revenue for
both the individuals in question and the nations in which they live and, in
some nations, account for a substantial percentage of cash inflows. In
2007, Mexican immigrants sent some $24 billion in remittances back to their
home country. That's just three percent of Mexico's GDP, but it represents
the country's second-largest source of foreign currency behind oil
revenues. It's unclear how much money flows from developed nations into the
third world from these unofficial channels, but 2006 estimates put the
total somewhere between $250 billion-400 billion.

According to security firm Panda Security, however, the wire shops many of
these transactions flow through are handling the cash flow on systems that
are infected with the nastiest kinds of spyware. Panda's results indicate
that out of the 300 businesses it evaluated, 60 percent of the 1,500
computers on-site were infested with some sort of spyware. Interestingly,
Panda notes that just 30 percent of these systems were running an outdated
antivirus solution, which implies that a substantial (though unknown)
proportion of those 1,500 systems were both infected and running an
up-to-date AV product. This is either a depressing take on the efficacy of
current antimalware software, or a not-so-subtle jab at Panda's various
competitors -- take your pick.

...

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081215-wire-transfer-security-disturbingly-poruous-vulnerable.html
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