Security News > 2021 > April > Cracked copies of Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop steal your session cookies, browser history, crypto-coins

Cracked copies of Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop are stealing browser session cookies and Monero cryptocurrency wallets from tightwads who install the pirated software, Bitdefender has warned.

As many Reg readers will no doubt be aware, cracked software is a legitimate application that has had its registration or licensing features removed.

Often distributed through BitTorrent in the days of yore, cracked software appeal mainly to freeloaders who are happy to use a particular suite without paying for a licence.

With Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop being two of the most popular software suites in their niches, cracked versions were always going to be popular.

Those cracks come with a price, though: Bitdefender discovered that certain versions of both suites were being distributed with malware that stole browser session cookies, hijacked Monero cryptocurrency wallets, and exfiltrated other data via BitTorrent, having first opened a backdoor on the target machine and turned off its firewall.

"Jake Moore, a cybersecurity consultant at infosec biz ESET, told us:"As illegal as cracked software is, it is still very much commonplace on both home and work devices which makes this even more worrisome.

News URL

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