Banking malware 'Halfbreed' targeting US and Canadian Banks

Halfbreed a new kind of banking malware has been targeting some US and Canadian. It has stolen more than $4 Million in past few days. The malware attacks was first discovered by the IBM Security Intelligence researchers.

Researcher defined in a blogpost on Security Intelligence; cyber criminals built this banking malware with the combination of Nymaim and Gozi ( two deadly malwares). Lior Keshet further explained that; It appears that the operators of Nymaim have recompiled its source code with part of the Gozi ISFB source code, creating a combination that is being actively used in attacks against more than 24 U.S. and Canadian banks, stealing millions of dollars so far. X-Force named this new hybrid GozNym.

The names of banks targeted by these criminals isn't disclosed yet, but the news has raised figures towards banking sector security infrastructure. Banking malware aren't a new invention; last year Kaspersky Lab researchers has discovered a malware dubbed as 'ATMZombie', which has stolen money and customer data from Israeli banks. Israeli organizations and banks are considered the most secure, when it comes to addressing the cyber threats. 

Halfbreed is different in many ways from ATMZombie, because of its combined source code and ability to steal money from banks. Cyber criminals today are more focused towards stealing data, but some of them are still there who are interested in real money. Banking sectors in US and Canada are on alert after this recent attacks on their servers and trying to fix the security holes, which are exploited by Halfbreed developers. 

The security researchers are trying their best to break the source code, but haven't succeeded yet. The number of target banks is expected to increase in coming weeks.