By Kate Lyons The U.S. Justice Department has filed papers accusing Russian Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev, pictured, as being the leader of the gang behind the software The dangerous cyber pandemic known as Gameover Zeus could have infected thousands of Australian computers and be lying dormant gathering data, experts say. The malware, which the FBI estimates has hit between 500,000 and one million computers worldwide, has resulted in users losing tens of millions of dollars. Gameover Zeus, which experts say is 'sophisticated' and capable of evading anti-virus software, infects a user's machine when they open a PDF or click on a link sent to them in an email.
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Up to one million computers have been infected by 'Gameover Zeus'
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The software can lie dormant on computers before draining accounts
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Thousands of Australian computers may be infected with the malware, which is extremely sophisticated and can evade anti-virus software
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An international police effort has halted the spread of the botnet, giving computer users two weeks to install anti-virus before the virus hits again
The @placeholder believes Bogachev knowingly acted in a role as an administrator while others involved in the scheme conspired to distribute spam and phishing emails, which contained links to compromised websites.
This online account takeover fraud has been investigated by the @placeholder since the summer of 2009.