Research carried out by Microsoft has uncovered that there is a growing trend for malware to be aimed at stealing the login usernames and passwords of online gamers. Individuals who play games such as Maple Story and World of Warcraft are said to be targeted with hijackers stealing in-game inventory products or selling credentials in underground markets.
Microsoft UK’s head of security Cliff Evans explained that that a large growth in the number of taterf programmes had been seen. With the past six months seeing an increase of 156per cent up from the same period in 2008, he said that taterf’s had caused approximately 4.9 infections. “It’s all about getting login credentials,” he explained. “The question is what might they do with those credentials. They might sell them because they are worth something. By using them they can obtain certain things within the game or they can buy services through some sort of market place. There’s clearly a financial angle to it that makes it worthwhile.” He added that users could help prevent credential theft and should “Never log onto a game account unless you are on a machine that you trust. And never download cheats or cracks from websites.”
Meanwhile game security firm Secure Play’s chief Steven Davis added “Online game account information has been an increasingly lucrative target for crooks as they can steal the account or loot game currency. Crooks also use stolen credit cards for gold farming which has become a much more serious problem. They are attacking games because it is easy and there is no real interest from law enforcement.”
