Info stealer computer viruses have stolen data from over 40,000 in the Netherlands
Over 40,000 people in the Netherlands have been hit by a variant of the “infostealer” virus in the last few years. The virus secretly infects your computer or telephone and steals private information, your search history, or your passwords. Most people hit by one of these viruses are not aware of it, and dozens of new victims are added every day, RTL Nieuws reported.
The stolen data is usually offered to people on the messaging service Telegram and the dark web. It is then used to plunder bank accounts, steal bitcoins, hack webshop accounts, and take over WhatsApp.
An infostealer is a sort of espionage program. People are usually getting infected by it due to downloading things illegally from the internet. There are dozens of variants of the infostealers that are spread throughout the internet. They are usually spread through illegal software, but they can also be hidden within normal, legal software like a driver for your printer or apps to use ChatGPT or create WhatsApp stickers, according to RTL Nieuws.
“The number of infections is increasing significantly every year,” said Tom Leijte of Passguard, a Dutch cyber security company that helps organizations catch infostealers. He believes the increase is because the infostealers are being hidden better and are often not found by virus scanners.
“Companies are better protected against digital threats, but regular people are still an easy target,” said Leijte. He added that hacking into people’s data also makes it easier to break into their employers.
Infostealers are hard to discover for virus scanners because most of them automatically delete their tracks to reduce the chance of detection. They are often detected months after the infection.
Leijte said that people have to change a lot of their data like passwords and credit card information when they are infected. A noteworthy fact is that a lot of IT specialists are among the victims of the infostealers. They think they are safe and regularly download illegal software and games.
Tips to protect yourself from Infostealers include checking up on what games and software your children are installing on your devices, getting a good virus scanner, always install the latest updates, and only downloading things from official providers. Apple products are less likely to be infected by infostealers.
