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| A gang suspected of targeting online game players
has been arrested in Korea. |
According to Korean
media reports, authorities in the country arrested a gang of
hackers today suspected of stealing from online game players and
hacking popular websites to seed password stealers.
A 37-year-old man named Lee is said to have hired eight Chinese
hackers who installed Trojan horses on popular Korean websites and
are said to have stolen 50,000 usernames and passwords in May.
Another 37-year-old, named Cho, is alleged to have launched a
denial-of-service attack against a popular massively multi-player
online role-playing game (MMORPG) website and stole $150,000 in
"cyber-money" from users of the game. A man named Kim, 22, is said
to have used a Trojan horse to have stolen $50,000 in
"cyber-money".
In the last couple of weeks, the media has reported that MSN Korea's
website had been hacked and malicious code planted that would steal
from players of the popular "Lineage" fantasy online game.
"MMORPGs have proven incredibly popular, particularly in South
Korea, with online games have tens of thousands of active members
spending hours playing every night. Hackers are actively trying to
steal from other players, whether it be "cyber-money", spells or
armoury - these are sometimes sold for real money via the
internet," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for
Sophos. "By stealing usernames and passwords, hackers can break
into these games and steal other player's virtual identities and
belongings. It's good to hear that the Korean police are working
hard to catch online criminals."
Multi-player online games whose players have been targeted by
viruses and Trojan horses in the past include "Lineage", "Outwar"
and "Legend of Mir 2". In December 2004, a British youth received a six-month
suspended sentence for his part in distributing the Randex
worm, with the intention of gaining points in "Outwar".
Sophos recommends computer users ensure their anti-virus
software is up-to-date, and that companies protect themselves with
a consolidated solution which can defend
them from the threats of both spam and viruses.
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.