Photographs and images from your computer could be easily stolen and sent to a remote FTP server. Trend Micro has come across a malware that can do this on all the drives of an infected PC.
Called TSPY_PIXSTEAL.A, this malware opens a hidden command line and copies all .JPG, .JPEG, and .DMP files and send them over the Internet. Most pictures are saved in the .JPG and .JPEG. The .DMP files are memory dump files that contain data on why a system crashed.
One the malware infects your PC, it will scan for all the images on all your drives and copy them. It nest connects to a FTP server where it will send the first 20,000 images to the server, says TrendMicro.
To-date, information stored in text form could routinely be stolen, but with the appearance with this form of malware, it looks like even the precious photographs of your loved ones will not be safe. Collected photos can be used for identity theft, blackmail, future targeted attacks or could even end up on bad sites!
Stay safe!
