Chinese malware steals passwords.
Experts at SophosLabs™, Sophos's global
network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, have revealed
that over half of all malware originating in China in October was
designed to steal usernames and passwords. This malicious code is
designed to give cybercriminals easy access to personal and
sensitive data for financial gain and identity theft.
By analysing the malware, Sophos has identified that 45.2% aimed
to steal online game login information, with a further 7.5%
designed to provide the hackers with username and password details
for the popular Chinese QQ instant messaging client.
"Given the ever growing popularity of online gaming in China,
this is a worrying trend - once hackers have stolen login details,
they can effectively impersonate the victim in the online world,"
explained Carole
Theriault, senior security consultant for Sophos. "Millions of
people play these games every day, but once inside the game, it's
difficult to check their identity and these cybercriminals can
wreak havoc, for example buying and selling items in online stores
and running up huge debts without the victim even realising."
Furthermore, with a significant proportion of the remaining
malware designed to give hackers access to instant messaging
clients, Sophos is warning computer users of the risks of using the
same password across multiple sites and of the importance of using
secure passwords.
"While hacking into an instant messaging client may not seem
like the end of the world, the danger is that the cyber criminals
will have inadvertently gained access to bank accounts, or cracked
the passwords to secure password protected information, from which
they can steal confidential and financial information," concluded
Theriault.
Sophos recommends that businesses secure their PCs with a
consolidated solution to defend against
spyware, viruses and spam, as well as ensuring that their software
offers automatically updated protection. Computer users should also
be wary of unsolicited emails, and display caution when clicking on
or opening unknown links or attachments.
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.