(ETH) – The private login information belonging to tens of millions of people was compromised after malware infiltrated over 3.2 million Windows-based computers during a two-year span.
According to a report by cybersecurity provider NordLocker, a custom Trojan-type malware infiltrated the computers between 2018 and 2020 and stole 1.2 terabytes (TB) of personal information.
As a result, hackers were able to get their hands on nearly 26 million login credentials including emails, usernames, and passwords from almost a million websites, according to Nordlocker’s report, which was conducted in partnership with a third-party company specializing in data breach research.
The targeted websites include major namesakes such as Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Facebook, Twitter, Apple, Dropbox, and LinkedIn. The malware was transmitted through email and “illegal software” which included a pirated version of “Adobe Photoshop 2018, a Windows cracking tool, and several cracked games,” according to the report.
To steal the personal information, the malware was reportedly able to take screenshots of a person’s information and also photograph “the user if the device had a webcam.” Among the stolen database were 2 billion browser cookies and 6.6 million files, including 1 million images and more than 650,000 Word and .pdf files. READ MORE
