SecureWorks finds stolen data cache, variants of Prg trojan

The caches contain bank and credit union, credit card and Social Security numbers, usernames and passwords, according to SecureWorks officials.

Researcher Don Jackson said that hackers are working around encryption standards.

"When data is located, it is always encrypted to keep others from ‘leeching.’ New variants of the trojan have new ways of encrypting that data, making old analysis tools obsolete," said Jackson. "New encryption methods must be reverse-engineered from raw machine code."

The company said that the trojan’s variants have the ability to lift sensitive data from PCs before that data is encrypted and sent to SSL-protected sites. Numerous hacker groups have launched attacks using the malware, according to SecureWorks.

Jackson told SCMagazine.com today that the trojan highlights the trend of increased use of malware-creation kits.

Earlier this month, trojans controlled by Russian gangs attacked mostly Italian victims in a large-scale operation aided by the MPACK kit.

"It’s being posted on hacker sites in the underground, and people just buy it and use it," he said, adding that the kits "allow people to send out these variants pretty quickly."