The Google redirect TDSS virus has infected more than 4.5 million computers around the world.
According to the Russian security company Kaspersky the TDSS / TDL-4 rootkit virus or better known as Google redirect virus is estimated to have infected more then four million computers all over the world since its launch in august 2010. Majority of the hijacked computers are located in United States (about 1.1 million), United Kingdom, Germany and other parts of Europe but also 300,000 PCs in India has been affected.
The Google redirect virus uses highly sophisticated dynamic encryption techniques and various rootkit components to conceal its and other malware's presence on the compromised machines. The TDL-4 virus can embed its files into deeply rooted system components and reactivate itself after reboot. It can also facilitate a hidden “backdoor” connection with remote bots and hacker servers for a range of malicious activities to gain financial benefits.
Depending of location of the target computers malware writers are paid up to $20 for every 100 successful installations of the Google redirect TDSS virus. According to ESET the average earnings per month for a major cyber criminals hacker group could reach over $1,000,000. The TDSS or TDL-4 virus targets both Windows and OS PCs and has been classified by leading security frims as one of the most virulent and sophisticated malware threats of today.
Date: July 19, 2011
Is TDL-4 the indestructible virus?
Independent security experts claim that Karspesky’s report about the TDL-4 being “indestructible” is a greatly overstated alert. Researchers agree that the TDL-4 botnet (or TDSS) responsible for infecting large networks of online computers and redirecting millions of search engine results around the world may be very tricky and complex to detect but none of the TDL-4 variants are indestructible.
Several security firms like iS3 STOPzilla have developed removal tools that can detect and completely remove the TDL-4 rootkit virus.
Date: July 20, 2011
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