New Virus Targets Webcams

A new variant of the Rbot virus, Rbot-GR, is said to able to hit and control your Webcam and computer microphone, sending images and sounds back to the hackers and opening new prospects for industrial sabotage and home invasions of privacy.

So said security company Sophos August 24, which added that Rbot can also let its author see information on your hard drive, steal your passwords, and launch denial-of-service attacks. But it's the ability to send back images and sounds from your homes that makes Rbot especially unsettling.

Sophos isn't yet sure whether Rbot is the handiwork of a pro or a particularly clever amateur. "Whether this worm is the work of professional snoopers or lusty teenagers – it's hard to say for certain," said senior tech consultant Graham Cluley.

"What we do know is that there have been a few-hundred different versions of the Rbot worm, all of which have been designed to gain some kind of remote access to innocent users' data," he continued. "This one goes further by also specifically collecting Webcam footage. It seems more and more hackers are building a cocktail of different functionality into their creations."

And, apparently, Cluley said, getting more interested in invading people's privacy. "In the workplace, this worm opens up the possibilities of industrial espionage. At home it is equivalent to a Peeping Tom who invades your privacy by peering through your curtains. If your computer is infected and you have a Webcam plugged in, then everything you do in front of the computer can be seen, and everything you say can be recorded."