Winning is easy when the game is rigged.
Hackers successfully targeted PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, two of the largest poker sites online, with malware that lets the attackers take screenshots of opponents’ cards, giving them an enormous advantage over their victims, Business Insider reports.
First discovered by security company ESET, the Trojan virus known as Win32/Spy.Odlanor (or just Odlanor) infects a victim by hiding in various programs and torrents around the Web. Poker calculators and other software are used as traps, allowing the hackers to just wait until victims come to them.
Odlanor has been active since at least March.
Once the infection is complete, the hacker is able to join the poker table where the victim is playing. She receives screenshots that reveal the victims’ cards.
After that, it’s an easy game to take their money. Typical online poker games involve thousands of dollars in a single hand, making the games potentially lucrative to target.
The newest versions steal passwords and can snatch other data as well.
Victims are concentrated in Eastern Europe, according to ESET, and number into the hundreds.
H/T Business Insider | Photo via shoobydooby/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
