Citadel (malware) explained

Citadel (malware) should not be confused with Citadel (software).

Citadel is a piece of massively-distributed malware based upon Zeus.^[1] It targets credentials stored in password managers such as Keepass, Password Safe and neXus Personal Security Client.^[2]

By 2017 (it was first identified in 2011)^[3] Citadel had infected about 11 million computers worldwide and had caused over $500 million in losses.^[4]

On March 20, 2017, having been extradited from Norway to the United States, a Russian computer science professional Mark Vartanyan pleaded guilty to a computer fraud charge for his part in developing the Control Panel for Citadel. In July 2017, he was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison.^[5]

See also

• Conficker
• Command and control (malware)
• Gameover ZeuS, the successor to ZeuS
• Operation Tovar
• Timeline of computer viruses and worms
• Tiny Banker Trojan
• Torpig
• Zeus (malware)
• Zombie (computer science)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Segura . Jérôme . Citadel: a cyber-criminal's ultimate weapon? . Malwarebytes Labs . 5 November 2012.
2. Web site: Cybercriminals Use Citadel to Compromise Password Management and Authentication Solutions . 19 November 2014 . securityintelligence.com.
3. News: Citadel Banking Malware Is Evolving and Spreading Rapidly, Researchers Warn . PCWorld.
4. News: Russian sentenced in U.S. to five years prison for 'Citadel' malware . Reuters . 19 July 2017 . en.
5. News: Russian Citizen who Helped Develop the "Citadel" Malware Toolkit is Sentenced . www.justice.gov . 20 July 2017 . en.