Virus clears cash from bank accounts

IRISH bank officials are working with their British and US counterparts to counter the threat of a new computer virus which can empty customers’ accounts while covering its tracks by showing the customer fake bank balances.

The new version of the computer trojan virus Zeus, which cannot be detected by most firewalls, is believed to have already resulted in about 3,000 customers of a British bank losing nearly €1 million since early July.

Irish Payment Services Organisation Limited (IPSO) spokeswoman Una Dillon said: “We have not seen Zeus here yet. We work closely with our British counterparts in the UK payments council and they are working very hard on this threat and identifying which accounts have been compromised.”