Spyware News: Malware targets immigrants

More than half of the businesses offering banking services commonly used by immigrants are actively infected with malware, according to a new study.

Approximately 60 percent of computers at businesses providing money transfers, income tax payment, check cashing, bill payment and auto insurance were found to be putting their customers at risk for identity theft because of vulnerable network and internet security, InformationWeek.com reports.

The study investigated about 1,500 PCs in predominately Latino neighborhoods in the Los Angeles and Las Vegas areas, according to the website.

Employees of these businesses were found to be working for minimum wage and "spent time chatting, using peer-to-peer networks and visiting chat sites on the very same computers sending sensitive data," stated the report. The situation was described as a "disaster waiting to happen."

Though there have been no reports of any actual identity thefts, the potential is still extremely high, InformationWeek states. One key-logging Trojan was found on a PC that was used for money transfers that could have provided a cybercriminal with sensitive information.

SMBs have long been a target for cybercriminals because many of them fail to have adequate online security or a 24-hour security team watching their website.