| Gameover ZeuS | |
|---|---|
.png) | |
| FBI-produced diagram overviewing GOZ | |
| Classification | Trojan |
| Family | Zeus |
| Authors | Evgeniy Bogachev |
GameOver ZeuS (GOZ), also known as peer-to-peer (P2P) ZeuS, ZeuS3, and GoZeus, is a Trojan horse developed by Russian cybercriminal Evgeniy Bogachev. Created in 2011 as a successor to Jabber Zeus, another project of Bogachev's, the malware is notorious for its usage in bank fraud resulting in damages of approximately $100 million and being the main vehicle through which the CryptoLocker ransomware attack was conducted, resulting in millions of dollars of losses. At the peak of its activity in 2012 and 2013, between 500,000 and 1 million computers were infected with GameOver ZeuS.
The original GameOver ZeuS was propagated through spam emails containing links to websites that would download the malware onto the victim's computer. The infected computer was then integrated into a botnet, considered to be one of the most sophisticated and secure botnets in the world at the time. The GOZ botnet was particularly notable for its decentralized, peer-to-peer infrastructure, which combined with other security measures such as rootkits made shutting down the botnet extremely difficult. The botnet's activities were additionally directed by an organized crime group headed by Bogachev and referring to itself as the "business club", which was primarily based in Russia and Eastern Europe. The syndicate further complicated attempts to combat it by law enforcement and security researchers using a large money laundering network and DDoS attacks, used as both retaliation and as a form of distraction during thefts.
In 2014, the original GameOver ZeuS botnet was shut down by a collaboration between several countries' law enforcement and private cybersecurity firms, named Operation Tovar. Bogachev was indicted shortly after and a reward of $3 million was issued for information leading to his arrest, at the time the highest reward for a cybercriminal in history. Less than two months after Operation Tovar was executed, a new strain of GameOver ZeuS was discovered. Named "newGOZ", it lacked peer-to-peer capabilities but otherwise shared ninety percent of its codebase with the original GOZ. The involvement of the original GameOver ZeuS administrators in newGOZ's activity since its creation is disputed.