Skype Used to Hack Runescape Accounts

I just read an article that highlighted the dangers to having your Runescape account hacked via the use of instant messenger services and VOIP services like Skype. The articles suggests that during Septmeber there was an increased prevelance in the use of a worm that was spread via users’ Skype contact lists that installed a keylogger onto unsuspecting users compters which allowed the source of the keylogger the ability hack Runescape accounts:

A variant of the Bubbles Worm spread through Skype contacts in mid-September,
targeting teenagers that play Runescape with a keylogger to track everything a
user does on the PC.

After I read this article I thought it was appropriate for me to write a post about the potential dangers that you expose your Runescape account to if you use IM or VOIP services, particularly if have a lot of users on your contact lists that you don’t know well. So just make sure that when you are using such services that you do know who you are talking to and that you have you virus protection on and if you do accept and files that you scan them first before you install them to make sure they aren’t malicious.

It is also prudent to note that 80% of all hacked Runescape accounts were hacked by someone that the account owner knew. So don’t just trust people because you think they are your friends, especially if you don’t know them in person.