The Deadly Planeswalker: How The TrickBot Group United High-Tech Crimeware & APT
2019-12-10 • Sentinel One •
SentinelOne traces the evolution of high-end crimeware from GameOver Zeus through Dridex, Dyre, and TrickBot, emphasizing how service models blurred lines between specialized banking malware, ransomware delivery, and APT-style operations. The excerpt describes GameOver Zeus as an early cybercrime-as-a-service model that enabled clients to use the botnet and helped introduce ransomware delivery such as CryptoLocker. It then links Dridex and Evil Corp to large-scale bank fraud, targeted ransomware operations including BitPaymer and DoppelPaymer, and alleged cooperation by Maksim Yakubets with Russian state interests. TrickBot is presented as the culmination of this evolution: a modular banking malware family that expanded from financial theft into automated, corporate-focused intrusion capability.