Taterf worm : Gamers new target for virus writers, warns Microsoft

hacker

Online role-playing games are increasingly being targeted by virus writers to spread worms and other malicious software, according to the latest security report from Microsoft.
The Microsoft Security Intelligence Report found that known cases of the Taterf worm had risen by 156 per cent since the second half of 2008 to 4.9 million, with massively multiplayer online role-playing games, such as World of Warcraft and Legend of Mir, a key target for virus writers.

Microsoft said that these attacks relied less on “social engineering” to spread between computers, and instead relied more heavily on access to unsecured shared files and external storage devices, such as hard drives and USB sticks.
“Taterf’s impressive growth underscores the need for organisations to develop guidelines for removable drives and evaluate how connections are made to outside machines,” warns the report.

Cliff Evans, a senior security consultant at Microsoft, said that the Taterf virus used a variety of tricks to steal users’ login information. Once hackers and cyber criminals had gained access to this data, they could sell the information on to a third party. “There’s clearly a financial angle to it that makes it worthwhile,” he told the BBC.

Worms are now one of the biggest security threats facing businesses and domestic users, said Microsoft. The Conficker worm was named as the biggest worm threat for enterprises. Home users were less badly affected by the worm, because personal computers are more likely to have automatic security updates in place, patching against threats.

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telegraph.co.uk