Hackers Look to Steal Online Gaming Passwords

Researchers at McAfee have uncovered an attempt by hackers to steal passwords for online games by infecting some 10,000 Web pages.

Security researchers at McAfee’s Avert Labs discovered the attack March 12. According to the security vendor, the hackers have injected script into valid Web pages to include a reference to a malicious .JS file. The file uses script to write an IFRAME, which loads an HTML file that attempts to exploit several vulnerabilities, including ActiveX control vulnerabilities affecting RealPlayer, Baofeng Storm, Xunlei Thunder DapPlayer and Ourgame GLWorld Global Link chat, McAfee officials said.

“A variety of malware can be installed,” Dave Marcus, security research and communications manager for McAfee Avert Labs, said in an interview with eWEEK. “[The] major payload appears to be password-stealing Trojans that target online games.”

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The Java script transparently redirects the browser to a Chinese server that distributes the malware. Among the games in the attackers’ sights is The Lord of the Rings Online. The company has declined to identify any of the infected Web sites for fear of luring curious visitors, but reported that none of the Web sites were high-profile, mainstream brands.

“This is one of those cascading threats, where one page leads to another and another, which leads to an executable, which leads to another and another,” Craig Schmugar, a researcher at McAfee’s Avert Labs, wrote in a blog posting.

Researchers at McAfee are comparing the attack to the well-known hack of the Miami Dolphins and Dolphins Stadium Web sites just before Super Bowl XLI in 2007. In that case, the file downloaded by victims was an NsPack-packed Trojan keylogger/backdoor that gave an attacker full access to the compromised computer.

Marcus said he expects such attacks to grow in popularity and continue throughout the year.