Victoria's (malicious) secret: fake lingere an information-stealing trojan

The Troj/Keylog-HD trojan displays a three-photograph slideshow of a woman named "Victoria Stasova," according to a Sophos report. But the malware also steals keystrokes and confidential information from the infected PC.

"The danger is that people might think they are just looking at pictures of a Russian beauty who is on the lookout for love," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "But behind the scenes, information and key presses – including usernames and passwords – are being secretly stolen from the PCs by hackers."

Users may be duped to view the slideshow if it is sent by someone with whom they have been romantically chatting online, Cluley said.

The Sophos report said the malware is not prevalent, although the firm recommended users run up-to-date anti-virus protection and launch only trusted applications.