Kaspersky: Squid Game-themed malware proliferating

Threat actors have begun developing scams and malware based on the hit South Korean Netflix show Squid Game, TechRepublic reports. Kaspersky researchers discovered dozens of malicious files mentioning Squid Game spreading on the web, most of which were simple Trojan downloaders enabling malicious program installation. "One of the cybercriminals' schemes worked as follows: the victim was allegedly shown an animated version of the first game from the series, while simultaneously, a Trojan was invisibly launched that could steal data from users' various browsers and send it back to the attackers' server. A shortcut was also created in one of the folders, which could be used to launch the Trojan every time the system was started," said Kaspersky in its report. Cybercriminals have been found to offer malicious Squid Game-themed apps in third-party app stores, as well as create fraudulent Squid Game merchandise sites, according to Kaspersky. The malicious use of Squid Game follows a trend of pop culture-themed online scams, which include the film Black Widow and Kanye West's newest album Donda, both of which also reported by Kaspersky.