Banking details of thousands of Aussies stolen by cybercriminals

Research from Aussie tech security firm, Dvuln said the compromised data, found from the last four years, relates to “multiple major banks”.

But rather than the credentials being stolen from the banks, they were swiped from customer’s devices by criminals using “infostealer malware infections”.

Dvuln warned the data shows only a “fraction” of what’s going on.

Details from 10,000 customers of one bank were found on “infostealer logs” where criminals can share and sell the data.

Another bank had 5000 details found, and another again had 4000.

The information of customers from Australia’s big four banks, including Commonwealth Bank, NAB, ANZ and Westpac was among the details found.

Dvuln warns multi-factor authentication, which is now common to get onto banking apps or websites, is “not a complete defence”.

It said “coordinated” action is needed, from financial institutions, government, cybersecurity professionals and the public “to close the gap between endpoint compromise and financial abuse”.

The report said infostealer malware, which is short for malicious software, is “one of the most pervasive yet underreported threats facing Australia’s financial sector.”

Australian Banking Association CEO Anna Bligh confirmed the issue that’s been identified relates to data being accessed from personal devices such as phones and laptops, and not from any breach of bank security systems.

“Keeping customers secure online is the top priority for Australia’s banks,” Blight said.

“They continue to invest security defences to help keep customers safe, including using advanced intelligence systems to monitor both open and dark web sources for compromised customer credentials.

If a bank becomes aware that a customer’s credentials may have been compromised, they take steps to secure their account and advise them on how to prevent further activity.

“If customers have any concerns about their account details, they should get in touch with their bank as soon as possible.”

CommBank also advised customers to create unique, strong passwords and change them regularly, install and maintain reputable anti-virus software, monitor their accounts and enable transaction notifications, and contact them if they notice suspicious activity.

An Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) spokesperson said the agency is “persistently working to counter the cybercriminal threat targeting Australia”.

“Cybercriminals use Information-stealing malware to steal and exploit valid user credentials and system information, then reselling this information for monetary gain,” the ASD spokesperson said.

“Cybercriminals are using information stealers to undermine the security and wellbeing of Australian organisations.

“Information stealers pose a serious problem as they provide cybercriminals legitimate user credentials which could lead to gaining initial access against other targets.”

Government agency Australia Signals Directorate, part of Australia’s national security community received over 87,400 cybercrime reports in 2023-24.

The most common was identity fraud.