Warning all weebs: Kaspersky says hackers are distributing malware via anime girl wallpapers on Steam Workshop's Wallpaper Engine

A late afternoon view shows two young women walking past a wall-sized anime mural along Chuo-dori (Central Avenue) in the Akihabara district (known as Electric Town for its maze of electronics stores, but currently considered an almost sacred destination by members of Japan's otaku culture, drawn to Akihabara's video game centers, maid cafes, anime shops, and manga comics), located in Chiyoda Ward in central Tokyo, Japan.

When it comes to desktop wallpaper, I often go with an illustration by Finnish artist Heikala. Making your own wallpaper, not unlike conjuring the visual arts, is a skill. As such, it's no wonder that many go looking for pre-made backdrops on Steam Workshop—though cybersecurity firm and anti-virus creator Kaspersky warns this has become yet one more avenue to be leveraged by bad actors.

Security researchers have found that malware is being pushed out in the guise of packages for animated desktop wallpapers. A Kaspersky press release claims that multiple infected Workshop wallpapers were downloaded thousands of times via Wallpaper Engine on Steam.