P0wned by a barcode: stealing money from offline users

Thursday 25 September 10:00 - 10:30, Green room.

Fabio Assolini Kaspersky Lab

This paper is available online (HTML, PDF).

José is a very mistrustful person. He never uses Internet banking services or buys anything using a credit card. Indeed, he doesn't even have one. He doesn't trust any of these modern technologies in the slightest.

He is well aware of all the risks that exist online, so José prefers to keep his life offline. However, not even that could save him from today's cybercriminals. He lost more than $2,000 in a single day: José was p0wned by a barcode and a piece of paper.

Brazilian bad guys have created a unique way of stealing money from these kinds of users: changing 'boletos' - banking documents issued by banks and all kind of businesses, even govern institutions use it. Boletos are actually one of the most popular ways to pay bills and buy goods in the country.

In a series of online attacks targeting flaws on network devices - especially DSL modems - and involving malicious DNS servers, fake documents, browser code injections in the style of SpyEye, fraudulent Android apps, malicious browser extensions and a lot of creativity, the crooks have successfully stolen vast amounts of money, even from people who don't have credit cards or Internet banking accounts, causing concern for banks and financial institutions in the country.

In this presentation we will describe the details of such attacks and how the users can be protected - even those who have chosen to live offline.

Fabio Assolini

Fabio Assolini joined Kaspersky Lab's Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) in July 2009 to focus primarily on one of the most dynamic countries in Latin America: Brazil. Fabio's responsibilities include the analysis of virus, cyber attacks, banking trojans and other types of malware that originate from Brazil and the rest of the region. He particularly focuses on the research and detection of banking trojans. In November 2012, he was promoted to senior security researcher. Since 2006, Fabio has been a voluntary member of the security community Linha Defensiva (Defensive Line), a non-government organization. In addition, he is a member of the Alliance of Security Analysis Professionals (ASAP), a network of NGOs, professionals and individuals dedicated to providing security-related support to end-users. Fabio has more than five years of experience as a malware analyst and possesses a university degree in computer science.

@assolini