"More and more hackers are interested in spying on the people
they manage to infect with their worms and Trojan horses," said
Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "In the
workplace, this worm opens up the possibilities of industrial
espionage. At home it is equivalent to a Peeping Tom who invades
your privacy by peering through your curtains".
The worm, which is not widespread, uses network shares to
propagate and affects only Windows PCs. It installs a backdoor
Trojan horse on infected computers, software that gives other users
remote control of the target computer, allowing them to spy through
the webcam and potentially allowing them to steal passwords and
other information as well.
"If your computer is infected and you have a webcam plugged in,
then everything you do in front of the computer can be seen, and
everything you say can be recorded," said Cluley.
"With many home users keeping poorly-defended PCs in their
bedroom, there is considerable potential for abuse. The message is
simple - keep your PC protected against the latest threats with
anti-virus software and firewalls, and if in any doubt unplug your
webcam when you're not using it," he added.
