WoW Hackers Exploit Windows Flaw

If you play World of Warcraft, chances are you know someone or have heard of someone logging in to the game only to discover that their characters have been stripped bare, all their items have been sold, and all their gold has gone missing. This is the result of hackers who infect people's computers with keyboard loggers to acquire their account information and password, usually through a booby-trapped Web site. After getting their hands on your account and selling all your gear, the hackers trade the WoW gold for real money. According to a recent BBC article, this has become more profitable than stealing credit card info. It turns out that a flaw in the way Windows implements animated cursors is to blame for a lot of this. Microsoft released a patch on April 3rd to address the issue, so it's a good idea to do a Windows Update and protect yourself from this particular vulnerability.