FARMINGTON HILLS – A new Trojan has begun attacking account holders of the online game World of Warcraft. Win32. WOW then shuts down antivirus and firewall software, opening gamers to a flood of malware that drains their personal accounts.
World of Warcraft is a multimillion dollar player in the world of cyber games where huge sums change hands each second. Users become alien characters exploring imaginary galaxies. Win32.WOW slips into a gamer’s computer through pop up ads that appear on some gaming web sites, through a vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer. The Trojan allows the hacker to seize the gamer’s password, clean out his assets and convert them to cash through Gaming Currency Exchange web sites.There are other reports circulating that contend the Rootkit components in some Music CDs also were exploited by the Trojan.
?The realm of online games is a high octane one with a huge percentage of teenage population,? said Govind Rammurthy, CEO, MicroWorld Technologies. ?In this frenzied world, gamers are exchanging and sharing computer files and programs via emails and Peer-to-Peer devices, all the time. Naturally, one tends to overlook the security aspect and easily falls prey to the vicious designs of identity thieves.
?New variants found for Win32.WOW is a clear indication that malware writers are targeting any thing that involves money, yet remains vulnerable,” he said. “Bucks may be smaller compared to a Trojan that steals bank accounts or credit card numbers. However cyber criminals are not complaining as long as the target is soft and numbers are high.”
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