Experts at SophosLabs, Sophos’s global network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers, have reminded internet users to be on their guard following the discovery of a spyware Trojan horse that displays pictures of a potential Russian love match while secretly stealing information.

When first run on a user’s computer, the Troj/Keylog-HD Trojan horse displays a slideshow of 3 photographs of a young woman called “Victoria Stasova”. Accompanying the photographs is a love heart and an AOL email address.

However, while the pictures are being displayed, the malware steals keypresses and information from the infected user’s PC which could allow hackers to plunder bank accounts and commit identity theft.

“One of the ways in which malware like this could work is that computer users could find themselves being chatted up online by someone who they believe is a potential lovematch, and then be sent the slideshow as the virtual romance blossoms. Having found new love victims may rush to run the slideshow with their head in the clouds, and not realise their finances are being consigned to the gutter”, said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos.

Although Sophos has not seen a large number of reports of the Trojan horse, it recommends that users ensure their anti-virus protection is up-to-date and they exercise caution about which programs they choose to run on their computers.

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