For quite some time, the Internet security community has been aware of computers being compromised and taken over as part of a “Zombie Army” or “Botnet”. (See the FTC’s article)
Now, a far reaching cyber espionage networks using Ghost RAT has been uncovered. A RAT is a Remote Access Trojan that takes over the host computer.
The GhostNet RAT uncovered by a team from the University Of Toronto found 1,295 infected computers in 103 countries. What makes these RATS all the more alarming is that it appears to be a well organized network attacking high level computers in government agencies, financial institutions and defense departments.
GhostNet was originally investigated because the Dalai Lama thought his computer might be infected.
The GhostNet RAT spreads itself through Microsoft Word documents or Adobe PDF files sent in email as attachments.