【Sport Archives】

An old botnet has learned new tricks. It's leveraging our fear of privacy invasion via webcam to scam people with an email spam attack.

Cyber-security firm Check Point is Sport Archivesdetailing the latest evolution of the Phorpiex botnet (also known as Trik) into a sextortion attack. The attacking malware spams victims with emails claiming to have compromising videos of them and demanding payment or else the photos will be released into the wilds of the web.

According to Check Point, the Phorpiex bot downloads an email database from a command and control server, randomly selects an email address from the database, and sends its spam message to the address, claiming to have the victim's private data and a video of the victim "SATISFYING YOURSELF" via the victim's webcam.

---

You May Also Like

---

---

But the bot ups the spam game by using databases that include leaked passwords and including those in the email, thus making the attack seem more authentic to victims. The email, of course, demands payment via Bitcoin to prevent the alleged video from being spread.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The breadth of the operation is breathtaking; Check Point says the bot can shoot out up to 30,000 of these emails per hour and each campaign could affect up to 27 million users in total. According to the firm, the scam has a transfer of 14 Bitcoins in the five months they've been tracking it, which, as of Wednesday, is worth a little over $111,000.

Alexey Bukhteyev, Reverse Engineer at Check Point, told ZDNet that the emails exploited thus far were available in the Have I Been Pwned database, a growing collection of email addresses whose passwords have been affected by various hacks and breaches.

Phorpiex has previously been used to spread ransomware such as Gandcrab and the malware attack known as Pony. This new sadistic twist is simply the bot upping its game and a reminder to up your own password security game, remain skeptical of anything that might seem like a spam email, and, hey, cover your webcam while you're at it.

Just in case.

Topics Cybersecurity

• Science
• Social Good
• Games
• Shopping
• Life
• Deals
• Tech
• Digital Culture

• 'The Last of Us' Season 2, episode 4: Why Ellie sings 'Take on Me'
• TV shows donate medical equipment to hospitals to fight coronavirus
• 'The Last of Us' had a secret cameo by Jason Ritter, Melanie Lynskey reveals
• Apple's iPhone 15 Pro Max might break the record for thinnest bezels
• The State of PC Gaming in 2016
• The 'Shadow and Bone' Season 2 finale drops a sneaky 'Six of Crows' hint
• The coronavirus crisis kind of has me dreading the warm weather
• The 'Shadow and Bone' Season 2 finale drops a sneaky 'Six of Crows' hint
• What cracked the Milky Way's giant cosmic bone? Scientists think they know.
• The most important thing to know about social distancing

• GOP lawmaker blames women for health care fiasco, suggests manly duel
• Twitter will ask everyone if they read an article before they retweet it
• Everything coming to Netflix in October 2020
• Here are just a few of the trans soldiers who keep your dumb ass alive, Donald Trump
• GoFundMe users have raised $625 million for pandemic relief since March
• Julia Louis
• When Microsoft Paint looked done for, the internet creatively wept
• Google Maps now shows COVID
• Amazon quietly announces major expansion to neighborhood surveillance networks
• Seal pup found on farm is a long, long way from home

• Philips now allows customers to 3D print replacement parts
• How to livestream Iowa State vs. Pittsburgh in NCAA tournament
• The 'Shadow and Bone' Season 2 finale drops a sneaky 'Six of Crows' hint
• Elon Musk questions Microsoft cutting its AI ethics team after doing the same at Twitter
• Q&A with tendercare founder and CEO Shauna Sweeney
• Insomnia Twitter is a remarkably unhinged yet unifying place
• March Madness: How to watch the Sweet 16 NCAA Men's Basketball livestreams
• Baylor vs. UC Santa Barbara livestream: How to watch the March Madness matchup live
• 5 Ways to Access a Locked Windows Account
• The most important thing to know about social distancing

• 'The Last of Us' Season 2, episode 5: The spores are here!
• 'Quordle' today: See each 'Quordle' answer and hints for March 18
• Photos show New York City streets emptied out because of coronavirus
• How to livestream Iowa State vs. Pittsburgh in NCAA tournament
• This is the fattest of the extremely fat bears
• Sex toy sales are skyrocketing because of social distancing
• Dating apps are introducing video chats so you can date during social distancing
• Everyone's favorite goat farm is posting a soothing video every day
• SpaceX's Starlink will provide free satellite internet to families in Texas school district
• Twitter's press email now auto