Point-of-sale malware creators still in business with Spark, an Alina spinoff

A malware program dubbed Spark that steals payment card data from compromised point-of-sale (POS) systems is likely a modification of an older Trojan called Alina, and highlights a continuing, lucrative business for cybercriminals.

Spark steals card data from a compromised system’s RAM (random access memory) when it’s being processed by specialized software running on the machine. Similar memory scraping malware was behind large data breaches at numerous retailers over the past two years, including Target, the Home Depot and Neiman Marcus.

Spark gets installed on a system through an AutoIt script that was previously converted into an executable file, according to researchers from security firm Trustwave.

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