Dissecting SpyEye – Understanding the design of third generation botnets

Botnet malware is improving with the latest (3rd) generation exemplified by the SpyEye and Zeus botnets. These botnets are important to understand because they target online financial transactions, primarily with banks. In this paper, we analyze the components from multiple generations of the SpyEye botnet in order to understand both how it works and how it is evolving. SpyEye is a sophisticated piece of malware with a modular design that eases the incorporation of improvements. We will discuss in detail the complete framework of SpyEye botnet consisting of the Bot Development Kit (BDK), the plugin architecture, the backend storage server, the bot design and the web-based Command and Control (C&C) management system. In addition, we also examine the techniques used by SpyEye to steal money.