German ‘Government’ R2D2 Trojan FAQ

What has happened?
A Trojan horse has been discovered that is capable of spying on Skype internet calls, monitoring the online activity of infected computers, logging keystrokes, and updating its functionality via the net.

The Trojan, which most anti-virus vendors are calling “R2D2”, but is also referred to as “0zapftis” or “Bundestrojaner”, was announced by the famous Chaos Computer Club (CCC).

Why is the Trojan called R2D2?
The name comes from a string of characters embedded inside the Trojan’s code:

C3PO-r2d2-POE

Where did the CCC get the malware from?
German lawyer Patrick Schladt has told the media that the Trojan horse…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the anti-virus industry having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent security analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of computer security, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter at @gcluley, on Mastodon at @[email protected], or drop him an email.