COMPUTER users have been urged to take action against a cyber virus spreading across the globe.
The Gameover Zeus software has been temporarily held off by law agencies but experts warn that the hackers will soon rebuild their network and strike again.

They advised installing anti-virus software and updating operating systems to the latest versions.

The virus puts data, including photographs and personal files, at risk and can lead to financial accounts being emptied.

It infects a computer when the user clicks on a link in an unsolicited email or website and steals details such as passwords which are sent to the hackers. The software can even lock the computer until an online ransom of a Bitcoin, is paid.

An international dragnet including Australia was involved in dismantled the global computer hacker network which used a sophisticated computer virus to steal millions of dollars from companies and consumers.

Gameover Zeus, which first appeared in September 2011, stole bank information and other confidential details from victims.

According to FBI investigators, the virus infected between 500,000 and a million computers in 12 countries, creating a network of “bots”’ the hackers could "infiltrate, spy on, and even control, from anywhere they wished.’’

The Australian Federal Police confirmed it has been involved in operational activity supporting the FBI disruption action against the Gameover Zeus botnet.

The activity is designed to prevent Australian computer users from compromise or further compromise by malicious software supporting the botnet.

The FBI blamed the Gameover Zeus botnet for the theft of more than $100 million, obtained by using the stolen bank data and then “emptying the victims’ bank accounts and diverting the money to themselves.’’

The bust also targeted another computer virus, dubbed “Cryptolocker,’’ which appeared in September 2013.

The virus encrypted the computers of its victims and demanded a ransom — often in excess of $700 — in exchange for the password to unlock it. Investigators say the cyber criminals amassed more than $30 million in just the first two months.

Russian Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev, 30, an alleged administrator of the network, was charged in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with 14 counts including conspiracy, computer hacking, bank fraud and money laundering in the Gameover Zeus and Cryptoblocker schemes.

Bogachev, sometimes called “Slavik’’ or “Pollingsoon,’’ was also charged in Omaha, Nebraska with “conspiracy to commit bank fraud’’ in relation to an earlier incarnation of Gameover Zeus.

“Evgeniy Bogachev and the members of his criminal network devised and implemented the kind of cyber crimes that you might not believe if you saw them in a science fiction movie,’’
said Leslie Caldwell, deputy attorney general.

US investigators worked with counterparts in Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Canada, Ukraine, and Britain, as well as the European Cybercrime Center, according to a statement.

They were also aided by private companies, including Dell, Microsoft, Afilias, Deloitte and Symantec.