How do infostealers work?

Infostealers follow a short, automated process designed to go unnoticed by both users and security software. The entire attack usually takes less than 30 seconds.

1. Infection, The victim downloads a malicious file through phishing, cracked software, or malvertising.

2. Execution, The stealer runs briefly in memory. No alerts. No persistence.

3. Exfiltration, It collects credentials, session tokens, autofill data, and system info.

4. Log creation, The data is packaged into a "log" and uploaded to a remote server.

5. Distribution, Logs are sold on dark web marketplaces or shared via Telegram.

This process is often invisible to antivirus or EDR tools, especially on unmanaged or personal devices.

Infostealers don’t exploit vulnerabilities. They exploit habits, and appear where convenience meets opportunity.