Game Trojans: Should You Be Concerned?

The short answer is yes. A Trojan that targets gamers can also collect other data suitable for nefarious purposes. They may even open a backdoor on the system, leaving it vulnerable to further compromise from other sources. And while some in the antivirus industry may view game Trojans as a rivalry between players, the reality is it likely has little to do with personality and everything to do with money. After all, there's real world cash to be made from the hijacked accounts and stolen items.

One such Trojan, Legmir, was originally discovered in July 2004 and already counts 279 variants as of May 8, 2006. The high numbers are no doubt facilitated by a freely available Legmir-toolkit that lets even the most inexperienced user create a customized Trojan. Most of these Trojans are distributed via peer-to-peer filesharing networks, ironically disguised as cheats and cracks for popular games.

Prevention of such Trojans is easy - avoid downloading free software from unknown sources, don't use P2P filesharing networks, keep your antivirus software up-to-date and use a personal firewall that monitors both inbound and outbound connections.

See also: MMORPG Trojans Abound