Over 90% of cracked WoW, Runescape, other games have malware –AVG study

Gamers, download at your own risk: Nine out of 10 hacked or pirated games are likely to contain malware, a security vendor warned this week.

 

AVG said the affected games may include World of Warcraft, League of Legends, Runescape, World of Tanks and Minecraft, which are downloaded via torrent or file-sharing sites.

 

"Unsurprisingly, not everyone either wants to spend such cash or can afford to, which has led to pirated ‘cracked’ games, license key generators (keygens) and thousands of other game hacks such as patches, cheats and trainers appearing online, usually on unregulated torrent or file-sharing sites. These may at first glance appear to be an easy option for a gamer seeking to improve their character’s standing or simply to get something for free, but the bad guys are constantly producing hacks and cracks for the latest and biggest titles, and most contain small chunks of executable code designed to pry, steal and disrupt," it said.

 

It noted the five popular titles it mentioned are played by more than 330 million people worldwide and part of a multi-billion-dollar industry.

 

On the other hand, it said many gamers may not be able to afford these Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMOs), priced at $5 to $50.

 

This does not yet include add-ons such as extra powers or resources.

 

AVG noted that in the US alone, gamers may spend an average of $127 on gaming software every year.

 

Hacks and cracks

 

AVG said its researchers analyzed hacks and cracks found through metasearch services such as FilesTube and FileCrop.

 

It said they found "more than 90 percent of them contained some form of malware or malicious code."

 

"Even if we assume that just 0.1% of the gamers playing the top five titles go looking for a hack – a highly conservative estimate – that means 330,000 people are potentially at risk of falling victim to game hack malware, which could lead to the loss of any legitimate, paid-for gaming assets, as well as sensitive personal data such as bank details and email or social media passwords," it said.

 

It said the malicious code in the hacked games would attempt to decrypt the saved website passwords stored in the machine’s web browser keypass.

 

The malware would then send back any sensitive information to the attacker via email.

 

On the other hand, it said players risk losing their game accounts altogether since attackers can trade the accounts online in exchange for cash.

 

"A registered user account could cost hundreds of dollars and hours of gameplay to replace, while in-game purchases (power-ups, weapons, equipment, etc.) may be lost or sold before the user has a chance to contact the game developer and reclaim their hacked account. This would be in addition to the more common objective of malware – stealing bank account details, hacking email accounts or accessing social networks," AVG said.

 

Safety tips

 

AVG urged exercise extreme caution in downloading games, and urged gamers to at least have the latest security products on their computers.

 

Its recommendations include:

 

 — TJD, GMA News