Since the primordial days of data tapes and floppy disks, viruses have used removable storage to spread between computers or, more correctly, have used computers to spread between storage media.
The
Flame attack, however, takes the infection of removable media to another level.
In an ongoing analysis of the attack, security firm BitDefender has pinpointed a component of Flame that uses removable media as a carrier to sneak data out of secure installations. On computers not connected to the Internet -- a potential sign that the system is part of a sensitive, "airgapped" network -- Flame waits until a USB drive is inserted. Then it copies not only itself, but a prioritized list of stolen data as well.
