A strain of malware based on the Zeus trojan has been modified to monitor and potentially take over your Facebook and Twitter accounts. 

The malware, which was originally designed to steal banking and financial credentials, has been repurposed with "new espionage capabilities," according to an article at ZDNet. In addition to affecting Facebook and Twitter posts, the malware can also monitor email, ZDNet reported, citing research by Bitdefender, a Romanian tech security company. 

Known as Terdot, the malware targets Windows systems. It's been active since mid-2016.

The malware uses social media accounts to spread itself and can steal login information so that access to the accounts can be resold, Bogdan Botezatu, a Bitdefender analyst, told ZDNet. 

A Terdot attack, like many other attacks, starts with phishing email that appears to contain a PDF. Clicking that file directs the computer to download the malware.