While the investigation is just beginning into the massive espionage toolkit known as Flame, which has targeted computers, mainly in Iran, it is important to consider the consequences of this malware.
Illegitimately signed Microsoft certificates were used to help spread the nefarious Flame malware, another sign detailing just how sophisticated the espionage toolkit is.
The espionage toolkit known as Flame has sparked widespread awe over its capabilities. But at least some researchers already have exhibited how malware can disguise itself as a software update to infect computers.
Flame, aka Skywiper, is a sophisticated tool used to locate and steal data accessible from the infected computer. The malware uses multiple exploits to propagate and is highly configurable.
Gauss, which researchers have linked to Flame and Stuxnet, both believed to be built by the U.S. government, functions mainly as a banking trojan -- but it also contains a mystery encrypted payload.