Experts from the cybersecurity company CloudSEK have identified in 2022 an increase of up to 300% in the number of videos that try to promote malware on platforms such as YouTube. Cybercriminals are reportedly including malicious files such as Vidar, RedLine, and Raccoon.
These malware are disseminated through tutorial videos that teach the user how to download some known paid software for free, such as Adobe Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Autodesk 3ds Max and AutoCAD. The procedure of illegally downloading a program is known as “cracking” and is very popular on YouTube.
As stated in the report, hackers use artificial intelligence (AI) to create credible looking videos in order to convince the victim to download the malicious software. Once the installation is completed, the virus begins to monitor the device on which the installation took place, which could be a cell phone or computer, for example.
Malware can monitor device usage by recording sensitive information such as texts typed on the keyboard, passwords and files stored in the device’s internal memory. According to the CloudSEK, YouTube is the main social network used by cybercriminals in spreading these infected programs.
Generally, downloads are hosted on third-party sites such as MEGA and MediaFire, in some cases requiring the user to disable security tools such as firewall and antivirus.
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