With the immense popularity of online videos, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that hackers are targeting one of the primary elements that make online videos possible: codecs.  Thought making or modifying innocent-looking codecs, people unconsciously continue to download them so they can watch a quick clip of whatever.  So, if you are a video-addict, you might want to see if those codecs you ‘need’ come from reputable sources.

Trojan horse programs dressed up like video decoders, or codecs, have become a popular way to attempt to infect the computers of unwary Web surfers.

Research by antispyware firm Sunbelt Software found that a number of sites hosted by blog service provider Blogger, a subsidiary of Google, contained fake video files that, if clicked on by a visitor, would prompt the victim to download and install a video helper application. In reality, the application is a Trojan horse program designed to infect the victim’s PC, CEO Alex Eckelberry stated in the blog post.[more]

Tags: Hackers