There are plenty of ransomware dangers to watch out for when it comes to keeping your devices and data safe, including viruses, phishing attempts, compromised wifi networks, and rogue USB sticks. Here, we’re going to talk about a lesser-known threat: compromised images.
You might not have realized it, but malware can be injected into digital photos that appear to be perfectly normal. The technique for doing so is known as steganography or the practice of hiding one file in another. The method takes advantage of the hidden data that comes along with an image, data which isn’t necessarily translated into pixels on your screen.
Almost any image file can be edited to conceal ransomware, and the more appealing and popular the picture, the better. Images from the James Webb telescope were recently used as part of a malware attack. Typically, these compromised pictures get served to you on websites or embedded in documents. In another recent attack, the ObliqueRAT malware was hidden inside a seemingly ordinary bitmap file displayed in a browser tab.
As with other security threats, bad actors and security experts are in a constant battle to stay ahead.