Slingshot: the silent malware that hits routers

Kaspersky Lab researchers have discovered a new malware that uses the Mikrotik routers to access the computer and perform various actions such as sensitive data theft.

It’s called Slingshot, and despite its discovery only dates back a few days ago, its distribution dates back to 2012. The reason for it being alive so long is mainly the complexity of its malicious code, so sophisticated that it has gone unnoticed in all these years.

The malware is in fact able to evade anti-virus checks installed on your PC through the use of encryption: its so complex and multilevel attack mode is thought to have been funded by a government to promote the fight against terrorism in Iraq, Afghanistan  Kenya, Jordan, Libya and Turkey.