Key Government websites in the UK have been infected by cyber-criminals aiming to steal browsers’ personal details, it was reported today.
Eastern European hackers are suspected of placing the Asprox virus on more than a thousand British websites, including those run by the NHS and a local council, in the past two weeks. Experts described the Asprox virus as an alarming departure from commonplace viruses, which tend to be spread through rogue e-mails and unregulated websites.
Included are Web sites operated by Britain’s National Health Service and at least 12 local government councils, meaning anyone visiting them to pay parking tickets or their council taxes were at risk over a three-day period, the newspaper said.
Security experts say that it has so far spread to about two million computers worldwide. Any computer not protected by the most up-to-date anti-virus software is vulnerable to the virus.
