Question

In malware aimed at Identity theft, what kind of information would be targeted? How/where would a hacker try to position his/her malware in order to have a good chance to collect such info?

Answer 1

Identity theft means, that an unauthorized person steals the sensitive/confidential personal information of another person, such as
Name
User name
Password
Address
Date of birth
Social security number
Phone number
e-mail
Credit/Debit card number.

The hacker can then use this information to gain access to bank accounts, e-mail, cell phones, identify himself/herself as an authorized person.

malware is software with malicious intention.

Keylogger(software/hardware)
is a spyware/malware , it can record all the keys pressed by the user.a hacker can use
this keylogger to steal confidential information of user.
Once a key logger is installed on a victim's computer, Hacker can monitor the activities of a victim.
for example , if a victim goes for on line shopping, he/she will enter Credit/Debit card number
PIN number , Password, address or some other confidential information.
All the key strokes are being recorder by the key logger, hacker can use this confidential information.

key logger can be installed on victim's machine using internet phishing, where a fake email/web page can be used to take confidential information of victim.

mostly such type of malware comes with media file(audio/video), when user clicks any link to download a media file, malware takes its place on the victim's computer.
for example , hackers attaches malware with some videos, and if victim clicks/downloads such type of videos, then malware is installed on victim's computer.

IP spoofing:-it is the theft of ip address.
if an attacker gets the IP packet, attacker can read the source ip address.
and can use this ip address in his/her packet, to show that attacker is a legitimate person.
it can be done by passive attack(silently monitoring the network traffic).