Ouch! Porn watchers hit by login stealing malware doubled

The number of users attacked by malware out to steal premium access login data to popular adult websites more than doubled in a year, rising from around 50,000 users in 2017 to 110,000 users in 2018. In all, more than 850,000 attacks were detected. This growth was accompanied by more offers of stolen credential for sale on dark web markets and an increase in the number of malware families launching attacks. These and other findings are unveiled in Kaspersky Lab’s report on threats to users of adult websites in 2018.

To steal the credentials to a premium account on an adult-content website, cybercriminals distribute malware through botnets: chains of ‘bots’ or devices infected with malware capable of downloading additional malware depending on the goals of the botnet master.