A while back we noticed that malware authors seem to have a thing for Chuck Norris. And why not: Chuck Norris kicks ass! We have been monitoring the situation carefully and have found several malware that show some sort of interest or tribute towards Mr. Norris.

We started thinking; if our automation can detect malware by looking for references to Chuck Norris, what else can we do? Then it hit us: we need to look for references to David Hasselhoff. Obvious, when you think about it!


Picture (C) F-Secure Corporation

Sure enough — there is malware that references "the Hoff".

As an example Backdoor:W32/IndSocket.A (a7de748dc32a8edda9e81a201e2a83da8f60bd42) which is a remote administration trojan (RAT) and consists of a client and a backdoor. It allows the attacker to do certain things on a compromised computer; the typical things, such as running programs, logging keystrokes, and changing the wallpaper of user's Windows desktop. There is a catch, though; the attacker cannot choose which wallpaper to use. When the attacker clicks the "David Hasselhoff Atach" (sic) button on the remote trojan control panel, the wallpaper changes automatically to a well known picture of the "Knight Rider" with two strategically placed puppies.


Picture (C) F-Secure Corporation

So, if you yourself did not change your wallpaper to a picture of "The Hoff", you know what hit you. We're sure our customers rest easily knowing our Internet Security includes "Anti-Hassle Hoff Technology(TM)".