Viruses target online gamers
Online gamers are in the computer virus firing line and cyber crooks may be hiding behind seemingly harmless computer trojans. This is according to the latest PandaLabs report of the most active computer malware of the past month.
According to the PandaLabs report, multiple versions of the SpamtaLoad trojan are doing the rounds at present. The most active piece of malware over the past month, however, has been the Rebooter.J trojan.
"Rebooter.J does not spread automatically using its own means – it needs an attacking user’s intervention in order to reach the affected computer," says Jeremy Matthews, head of Panda Security’s sub-Saharan operations. The Rebooter.J trojan can be spread using flash drives, CDs, emails with attachments, internet downloads, FTP, IRC channels, and peer-to-peer file-sharing networks.”
Online gamers are also in the firing line with the Lineage.GYE trojan targeting players of the multiplayer online game Lineage. Lineage.GYE attempts to steal passwords from gamers.
Two Spamta variants sit in third and fourth place on the monthly malware charts. The Spamta worms don’t actually do much damage, spreading trojans via email. But, says Matthews, "while the viruses themselves do not pose great danger, the motives behind their propagation assume more sinister proportions: cyber-crooks often launch attacks like these to distract attention from far more dangerous, targeted attacks that use more sophisticated, stealthy technology to steal confidential data from oblivious companies and consumers."
"Spamta uses a cyclical propagation technique: the worms are designed to distribute SpamtaLoad Trojans through email, which then, in turn, download Spamta worms onto infected PCs that, again, will start to distribute the Trojans", says Matthews.
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