Steam Stealer malware begins to proliferate says Kaspersky Labs

[Boobies Sprinkle]

Sources:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/kapersky-finds-1200-versions-steam-stealer-malware/          

 

http://hexus.net/tech/news/software/91340-steam-stealer-malware-begins-proliferate-says-kaspersky-labs/

 

Over the past decade, Steam has become the go-to storefront for many PC gamers looking to expand their libraries. However, with its massive user base, the service has become a target for criminals - and new information from Kaspersky Lab suggest that the tools these wrongdoers are using are become more sophisticated.

 

A new piece of malware; thought to originate in Russia, is being implemented to gain unlawful access to Steam accounts, according to a report from Hexus. Various different versions of this " Steam stealer" exploit are being shopped around the dark corners of the Internet, with prices apparently starting at around $30.

 

The malware uses two main forms of attack to target users. It can be distributed via fake websites purporting to be legitimate, or through instant messages sent via Steam infrastructure - the latter being a method that's plagued the service for some time, and has prompted Valve to encourage vigilance among users.

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Late last year we saw the Valve Blog report that around 77,000 Steam accounts are hacked every month. The news came with a new initiative from Valve to push users to adopt two-factor authentication using the Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator (part of the Steam mobile app). The popular PC gaming platform also implemented delays in the trading process to give people a decent chance of noticing they have been hacked and be able to act and get their account back. The delays amount to 3 days for trading items to go through the system, or 1 day for trades with Steam friends you have had for over 1 year. However in an email HEXUS has recently received from Kaspersky Lab, there's a new breed of malware increasing in popularity -built to gain control of your Steam Account.

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The new malware originates from Russia, says Kaspersky, and it is sold under a malware-as-a-service business model for as little as £20. You can buy it "in different versions with distinct features, free upgrades, user manuals, custom advice for distribution and more," say the researchers.

There are still hurdles to jump to get the malware onto target user systems. Kaspersky says that "Steam Stealers are mainly distributed either via fake cloned websites hosting the malware or through a social engineering approach where the victim is targeted with direct messages, encouraging them to open a malicious file". However once on a target system the malware "steals the entire set of Steam configuration files," plus the Steam KeyValue file that contains user credentials, as well as the information that maintains a user's session. That theft enables cybercriminals to control the stolen accounts, assert the researchers.

 

         

[WereCat]

This sucks big time. I would hate to lose my Steam account as I invested a lot of time and money into the games I own. On the other hand, I dont like that Steam is forcing me to use their app. I cant trade now without waiting 15 days because they havent made the app available for Windows Phone .. Its not like I am going to buy new phone so that I can just use their Steam Guard app... They should make it able to disable this requirement at my own risk.

 

And I dont care that we Windows Phone users are minority... Steam focused on Linux which is also minority and they poured a ton of money into it so why crap on WP users? I dont think that making the app available for WP is very hard to do or expensive for someone like Vavle.

[That Norwegian Guy]

Norwegians are too smart to click bogus shit

 

4 hours ago, Boobies Sprinkle said:

         

 

Conversely, I'd expect Sweden to be in the red 

[OPSJono]

The only reason Australia is green is because they don't have the bandwidth to receive said malware.

[Thony]

Not only prices for Russia are the lowest on steam, they need to steal from those who pay more

[Castdeath97]

Anyone else notice the huge range for the red label?

[SkywardKkalox]

No one is touching Greece apparently. Can't pay for the Internet.

[suicidalfranco]

angola is too smart to fall for this 

[thexzenon]

Romania's internet is so fast we don't even show up in the statistics.

[FPSwithaWacomTablet]

5 minutes ago, crisro996 said:

Romania's internet is so fast we don't even show up in the statistics.

Speaking from the grape vine, I hear that Romanian techies have better stuff to do than Steam. 

 

 

/s

[Sakkura]

3 hours ago, Castdeath97 said:

Anyone else notice the huge range for the red label?

 

2 hours ago, AlexTheRose said:

I love how red constitutes 8 to 62% of the stats available… thumbs up for accuracy, Kapersky.

Well only 2 countries are in red. So all we have to figure out is whether it's 8% for Brazil and 62% for Russia, or the other way around.

[Murasaki]

Oh great, more Steam problems. I swear its the most insecure place on the web, not including Facebook.

[Katorice]

2 hours ago, AlexTheRose said:

I love how red constitutes 8 to 62% of the stats available… thumbs up for accuracy, Kapersky.

"Sorry, you must purchase a license key to achieve accuracy. Please give us money, pls?"

[Doobeedoo]

Well nice to see Croatia in grey area

[Trik'Stari]

23 hours ago, Thony said:

Not only prices for Russia are the lowest on steam, they need to steal from those who pay more

Those godless beady eyed communists at work again.

[Droidbot]

this is bs.. i used to visit a large scriptkiddie forum where they circulated shit like this, and multiple of them were up for sale starting around maybe 18 months ago. they were fully featured, with capabilities like running silently and deleting their .scr file when run, statistics, downloading, dropping and running of files (in case you wanted to really fuck up their day by ratting their system) etc etc. some came with bots to circulate the malware and to accept trades and route them through multiple accounts. 

 

never touched one. or a rat. it's a douchebag move and morally wrong. 

 

ended up leaving the site and wanted my acc deleted after around 50 posts