Keylogging malware steals 50GB of passwords

Writers of a password-stealing Trojan horse program have managed to infect hundreds of thousands of computers - including more than 14,000 within one unnamed global hotel chain - by waiting for system administrators to log onto infected PCs and then using a Microsoft administration tool to spread their malicious software throughout the network.

The criminals behind the Coreflood Trojan are using the software to steal banking and brokerage account usernames and passwords. They've amassed a 50GB database of this information from the machines they've infected, according to Joe Stewart, director of malware research with security vendor SecureWorks.

"They've been able to spread throughout entire enterprises," he said. "That's something you rarely see these days."

Since Microsoft shipped Windows XP Service Pack 2 with its locked-down security features, hackers have had a hard time finding ways to spread malicious software throughout corporate networks. Widespread worm or virus outbreaks soon dropped off after the software's August 2004 release.