Your Daily Computer Security Tips

The ingenuity and brazenness of hackers never ceases to amaze me. Here’s the latest. A Trojan called Limbo is circulating on the Web. A Trojan is a program that you think does a particular task or operation, but in fact does something else entirely, usually malicious. Remember your Greek mythology.

Limbo integrates itself into your browser using HTML injection, also known as cross-site scripting (XSS). This usually involves a maliciously crafted link. When clicked, it creates new content for you, the user. So then you visit your bank site, which is of course supposedly secure. But you may notice that you are being asked for additional information.

You see new data fields that were never there before. That’s Limbo, hard at work trying to steal your bank card number or login credentials. At the moment, the only way to detect this type of malware is for you to be vigilant!

If you see extra data entry fields on a secure site, or if it looks different in any way, do not sign in. Take a screenshot by pressing Print Screen on the upper right of your keyboard. The page is now in your Clipboard. Or save the Web page. Call or email the company.

How did this malicious code get onto your PC? In the usual way. You downloaded something from an unknown or untrustworthy source. Or perhaps you responded to a pop-up, a phishing scam or a spam email. In any case, you must be prudent, especially with online banking.

These sites use SSL encryption, which has never been broken. But this is not the first time the scammers have made an end run around that encryption, to relieve you of your personal info and then your cash.