New Stuxnet-linked cyber weapon stealing banking info in Lebanon

Washington, Aug 10 (ANI): A Moscow-based cyber security firm has discovered a new cyber weapon that is stealing banking information in Lebanon.

The new malware, dubbed Gauss for an in-code reference to a German mathematician, is believed to be linked by code to the computer worm Stuxnet, which was discovered in 2010.

According to Russian Kaspersky Labs, the malware is designed to "steal and monitor data from clients of several Lebanese banks," among other nefarious abilities, ABC News reports.

Kaspersky said in a blog post that of the more than 2,500 instances of Gauss infections in the Middle East, over 1,600 of them were discovered in Lebanon and nearly 500 in Israel.

Researchers at the security firm said they discovered Gauss while investigating Flame, a massive espionage program revealed in May.

"After looking at Stuxnet, Duqu and Flame, we can say with a high degree of certainty that Gauss comes from the same 'factory' or 'factories'," the firm added in its blog post. (ANI)