A Brand New i2ninja Malware is Targeting Online Poker Players

Online Poker Players at Risk as a Brand New i2ninja Malware Program Targets Their Personal Gambling Account Information

Internet security specialists have alerted the online gambling industry and general public of a brand new malware called i2ninja. According to Russian gambling news, the malware poses a threat to internet users in general and online poker players in particular.

The whole story started when a chat on rather questionable hacker forums in Russia revealed that the program is particularly effective at a selection of major online poker sites in Russia. The chat has also boasted that the malware program even has a private support center set up for hackers.

The i2ninja provides a similar set of functions to a number of other big financial malware programs, namely the HTML injection and form grabbing for all leading browsers, FTP grabber, and Virtual Network Connection module. There’s also a separate module designed specifically to grab personal date from online poker players.

The malware uses I2P networking layer employing cryptography to allow secure communication between its p2p users. Through the use of I2P network, i2ninja maintains secure communication between infected devices and command&control server. The malware can grab anything ranging from updates to stolen data, and can even send commands via the encrypted I2P channels. Apparently, the malware is already being offered for sale through black market channels, naturally.

Expert’s advice

Dmitry Tarakanov, a Kaspersky Labs expert, talked to PC World describing that i2ninja is distributed through "...spam emails, drive-by-download attacks launched from websites infected with exploit kits and by direct installation through existing botnets”. In case the installation is successful on a user system, it can access and exploit privately stored information.

The advice from industry experts on how to avoid being “contaminated” with the malware is no different in this particular case: install and maintain all anti-virus scan programs, and ensure these programs are up to date. Take caution in opening emails with attachments, and be particularly careful with any unusual and unknown activity in personal files including passwords, banking info, gambling accounts, as well as other persona and sensitive information.