A new Trojan is recording Skype phone calls on Windows PCs, security research firm Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) reported today.
"What we're looking at is something that could be considered the first 'wiretap Trojan,'" Symantec's Intel Security Team wrote in a blog post.
Symantec's analysis found that the Trojan, which it dubbed "Trojan.Peskyspy," can record audio on a computer such as Skype calls, store the file locally as an encrypted mp3 and then relay it back to the hacker.
Trojan.Peskyspy is designed to beat Skype's encryption, Symantec found. "Since the Trojan listens to the data coming to and from the audio devices, it gathers the audio independently of any application-specific protocols or encryption applied by Skype when it passes voice data at the network level," the company said.