Cyber-criminals use keygens, software cracks to infiltrate PCs

CEBU, Philippines - Computer users are warned from using keygens (key generator) and software cracks as it is considered as new method for cyber-criminals to infiltrate unwary PC users.

Secure content and threat management developer Kaspersky Lab announced that a malware, idenfitied as Trojan-PSW.MIL.Agent.wx., disguises itself as a Kaspersky Trial Resetter, an application that can be used to reset a software evaluation period that has expired.

Instead of extending the evaluation period of a legitimate software, the Trojan steals information from an infected PC, including passwords saved in a web browser or by other applications installed in a the PC.

The most targeted browser was Microsoft Internet Explorer, followed by Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Opera, Kaspersky Lab statement said.

The most stolen information were from MSN accounts with 400 reported cases. Ebay and Facebook accounts were also stolen, 175 and 169 cases, respectively.

Surprisingly, ICQ, an outdated Internet messaging service, was also largely targeted with 116 accounts stolen.

Other online service accounts that were stolen were from Amazon, Twitter, LinkedIn, and PayPal.

Kaspersky Lab security expert Nicolas Brulez said that this incident is a good case of "free cheese" where users actually lose money while trying to save it on pirated software.

Brulez said the detected malware was found to have been created in January 31 this year and has been making the rounds infecting PCs until it was detected on February 6 (2011).

In 23 days since its first detection, there already have been a total of 1,109 computers infected, or an average of 48 reported infections a day. — THE FREEMAN