14 DAY TRIAL // According to AVG’s latest “Insight” report, 90% of game hacks and pirated copies of popular games hosted on file sharing and torrent websites contain malware.
Experts say that the popularity of games such as World Of Tanks, Minecraft, Runescape, League of Legends and World of Warcraft – played by hundreds of millions of users from all over the world – is often exploited by cybercriminals.
By analyzing hacks and cracks via services such as FilesTube and FileCorp, AVG has determined that over 90% of files contain some sort of malicious code.
Considering that 330 million people worldwide play the aforementioned games, even if only 0.1% of them uses cracks or pirated software, cybercriminals would still have 330,000 potential victims, which is more than enough to make a considerable profit.
The crooks can use the malware they hide inside cracks for various purposes. In many cases, they target game accounts since they can contain virtual items, such as weapons and power-ups, that can be sold for real money.
In addition, the malicious elements could also be designed to steal bank account details and other account passwords.
The easiest way for users to protect themselves against such threats is not to download pirated content or cracks at all.
Patches should also only be downloaded from trusted websites or directly from the vendor.
Another recommendation is to utilize different passwords for each gaming-related account, including ones for online forums. Also, make sure the passwords are strong, so they can’t be easily guessed or cracked.
If you do get infected with malware after downloading such game hacks, first of all you need to run a complete scan of your computer with an updated antivirus. Then, change all your passwords.
In case the cybercriminal has already changed it, try to recover the account using the recovery features or by contacting the game provider.