can viruses retreive passwords not used when infected?

[Lonkut]

if I don't use a password for a while and suddenly my comp gets infected with some kind of virus, can the guy on the other side retrieve a password even though I haven't used that password for a long time?

 

[J-man]

I don't think so, unless the password is stored on the computer in an unsecure way (not encrypted.)

 

[Lonkut]

world of warcraft password changed last night and that is why Im asking.

 

[J-man]

Maybe they retrieved your WoW password in some other way?

 

[Chieftess]

Technically, no, since a virus only replicates itself (and usually deletes things or changes settings), but it's possible that it could install something like a keylogger (malware) along side itself that reads the password and sends it. It's adware that uses the "remember my password" (and credit card info) exploit to unknowningly buy something. That happened to my sister.