Huge ID theft ring affects at least 50 banks – Security Strategy – Breaking Business and Technology News at silicon.com

This is how bad it is on the Internet and why you should always keep your system updated with the latest patches and use firewalls, spyware detectors and virus detection software, and keep them up to date.

The malicious code is hosted on a website that mainly hosts pornography, which Sites was unwilling to name. Users of Windows XP who have not installed SP2 are particularly vulnerable as the code will be automatically downloaded without the user’s knowledge. Sunbelt is currently investigating whether users of earlier Windows versions, such as Windows 2000 and Windows ME, are also vulnerable.

“If you have an unpatched Windows machine, when you go to the URL it will automatically download everything from the website, including the Trojan. All you have to do is type in the URL and you’re hosed,” said Sites.