What Is Wiretap Trojan?

Hackers are getting sneakier. A new type of virus, called a wiretap Trojan, has been discovered by security experts. These Trojans record conversations from Skype and other voice calls and IM conversations. They can even send your conversations to hackers or steal them for nefarious purposes. The Trojan allows hackers to access your computer and steal information about you, including passwords and credit card numbers. The virus can record your audio data before it can be encrypted and sent over the Internet and then save it as an MP3 file locally on the infected computer. The messages from an IM application can also be kept to a text file before being encrypted and sent online. When talking on Skype, your audio is recorded and sent to a remote location. If that sounds like a paranoid and twisted conspiracy theory, it's not. In 2009, Trojan. PeskySpy surfaced, specifically targeting Skype calls and instant messages. Such Trojans were believed to have been created because of the exponential surge in popularity of VoIP programs and Skype specifically. Either way, it is believed that the Trojan does not exploit inherent flaws in Skype's programming. Instead, it intercepts the audio signals by blocking the messages between the underlying OS API calls to the given audio device and Skype itself and then saving the audio locally as MP3 files. This bypasses the encryption done by Skype before sending the audio data over the Internet. The Trojan creates a backdoor in the infected computer to allow the attacker to send the recorded calls to a predetermined location. The best and easiest way to protect yourself against these dangerous viruses is by keeping your computer updated with the latest antivirus software. You should also refrain from downloading programs or files that may look suspicious or unfamiliar; you never know what kind of trouble they could bring!