Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/06/image_snaffling_malware/
New trend: Trojan which steals your pics instead of your text
That private stash of, ah, special-interest jpgs? Lifted
Posted in Security, 6th November 2012 08:27 GMT
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Miscreants have developed a strain of malware that steals image files from compromised systems.
The Pixsteal-A Trojan dispenses with the conventional tactic of only stealing text files, instead concentrating on uploading .jpg, .jpeg, and .dmp (memory dump) files from infected machines onto a remote FTP server.
The switch in tactics reflects the changing way that users store potentially sensitive information, an advisory by Trend Micro explains [1].
"Information theft routines have been mostly limited to information that is in text form, thus this malware poses a whole new different risk for users," writes Raymart Paraiso, a threat response engineer at Trend Micro. "Users typically rely on photos for storing information, both personal and work-related, so the risk of information leakage is very high. Collected photos can be used for identity theft, blackmail, or can even be used in future targeted attacks." ®