Malware publishes users' net histories on website

A new virus has appeared in computers using file sharing services that publishes a user's internet history to a website, according to the BBC.

The trojan virus originates from Japan and installs itself in PCs using the popular file sharing service Winni. The BBC says Winni is used by 200 million people.

The virus targets those who download illegal copies of games featuring an explicit form of Japanese animation called Hentai. Japanese newspaper the Daily Yomiuri reports that 5,500 people have admitted to being infected by the virus.

Posing as a game installation process, the virus requests personal details and takes screengrabs of the user's web history before a pop-up screen demands £10 to remove the newly minted website that holds the information.

Senior security advisor Rik Ferguson from Trend Micro, an antivirus software company, says that his firm is familiar with the hackers.

"We've seen the name before in association with the Zeus and Koobface trojans", Ferguson told the BBC. "It is an established criminal gang that is continuously involved in this sort of activity".

Hackers also attacked the Daily Telegraph website recently. The Guardian reports that the site was hacked by a group drawing attention to the way Romanians are referred demoralizingly as gypsies in England.