Malware writers target online gamers

Online games have been spared so far from massive amounts of malware, but things seem to change lately, as more and more malware writers concentrate their efforts on writing malicious software that will allow them to hijack the accounts of WoW, Maple Story, Cabal Online and other games’ players.

According to BBC News UK, after getting the login names and passwords, the hackers either sell the account on the net’s black market, or they strip it clean of virtual money and items, and sell them separately.

“Crooks also use stolen credit cards for gold farming which has become a much more serious problem,” says Steven Davis, chief of game security firm Secure Play. “They are attacking games because it is easy and there is no real interest from law enforcement.”

One might wonder why is that? Is it that computer games are still considered as a waste of time and their players as childish, antisocial freaks, whose time and effort isn’t worth much?

Be that as it may, for the time being the gamers are left to their own devices, so they are advised to access their game accounts only from computers they know are clean, and to avoid visiting site with cheats and cracks – malware can often be found there, disguised as help.