Chinese virus infects more than 250 million computers worldwide

Researchers at Check Point Software Technologies have discovered a malicious Fireball program, distributed by the largest Chinese marketing agency Rafotech. More than 250 million computers worldwide have been affected by the virus, the Runet reported.

Fireball hits browsers by changing search engines and default start pages to fake search engines that simply forward requests to yahoo.com or Google.com. Fake search engines spy on users and collect personal information.

Fireball also manages the user’s web traffic to generate advertising revenue, and can download any files to the victim’s computer. The virus is able to avoid detection and has a multilevel and flexible structure.

Photo theRunet

Up to date, according to Check Point, more than 250 million computers have been infected worldwide: about 25.3 million — in India (10.1 percent), 24.1 million — in Brazil (9.6 percent), 16.1 million — in Mexico (6.4 percent) and 13.1 million — in Indonesia (5.2 percent). About 5.5 million infections (2.2 percent) were found in USA.

About 20 percent of corporate networks in the world have suffered. 10.7 percent of companies are affected in USA, in Brazil — 38, in India — 43, and in Indonesia — 60 percent.