Quote:The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Friday the arraignment of a Latvian for her alleged role in creating and operating the infamous TrickBot malware.
 
Alla Witte, who is known in cybercrime circles by the handle “Max,” was arrested in February in Miami. According to the indictment, she’s one of TrickBot’s main coders, responsible for developing ransomware-related functionality, including control, deployment and payments.
 
TrickBot is a well-known and sophisticated trojan first developed in 2016 to steal online banking credentials – but it has a history of transforming itself and adding new features. Moving far beyond its banking roots, it has developed over the years into a full-fledged, module-based crimeware solution offered in a malware-as-a-service model, typically aimed at attacking corporations and public infrastructure.
 
Devices infected with TrickBot will become part of a botnet that can allow attackers to gain complete control of the device. Typical consequences of TrickBot infections are bank account takeover, high-value wire fraud and ransomware attacks. It’s often seen working in concert with other trojans too.
 
“TrickBot infected millions of victim computers worldwide and was used to harvest banking credentials and deliver ransomware,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, in a Department of Justice (DoJ) announcement. “The defendant is accused of working with others in the transnational criminal organization to develop and deploy a digital suite of malware tools used to target businesses and individuals all over the world for theft and ransom.”