Hackers are exploiting interest in the new Star Wars film to harvest Yahoo! login credentials. The attack is initiated when a user clicks on a malicious link (yahoopremium.bravehost.com/STAR_GAMES) sent to them from a user on their buddy list. Once at the website, the user is encouraged to enter their Yahoo credentials. Upon activation, a Trojan collects Yahoo! credentials and then sends messages out to a user's buddy list whether the IM client is logged in or not.

The Trojan URL references StarGames in an apparent reference to the latest SF blockbuster, Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith. As phishing attacks go the StarGames Trojan is hardly sophisticated but there again they do say that the Force has a powerful effect on the weak-minded. IM security firm IMlogic rates the attack as a medium risk. It advises firm to ensure that PCs are updated with the latest security patches and that all out of date clients have been blocked from accessing the Yahoo! network. Administrators are also advised to educate their users about the dangers of social engineering. ®

Related stories

IM worm hits Reuters
MSN Messenger worm seeds zombie networks
EDS bans IM
Empire Strikes Back is best SW film: official
Star Wars' galactic dollars