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Minecraft Cheaters Try to Steal Accounts, but instead Download Ransomware

Home News Survival Minecraft Minecraft cheaters try to steal accounts, instead download ransomware



By Tyler Colp published 1 November 21



Malware is tricking Japanese Minecraft players into stealing their accounts.



Minecraft cheaters in Japan are being slapped with some instant karma, according cybersecurity company Fortinet. Wannabe hackers are being targeted by ransomware that can destroy data that disguises itself as a list of stolen Minecraft accounts.



This list could be attractive to players who want to hide their identities to protect their main accounts from getting bans, and most importantly, to get away with cheating or griefing and other bad conduct. It's not known how many Japanese Minecraft players have fallen into the ransomware scam, Fortinet has detailed what the attack is able to do.



According to Fortinet, the ransomware damages files with less than 2 MB , until the victim has paid 2,000 dollars (about $17) to save them. But it doesn't give the victims the chance to save everything. It is possible to open the executable and any files that are larger than 2MB or have various extensions (a list is available on the Fortinet's website) will be filled with random bytes that permanently delete them permanently. It deletes any Windows backup copies of the files, meaning it isn't possible to restore them either. It also places an inscription for ransom on the wallpaper. It doesn't take any of your personal information. Irc101 It's so considerate.



The attacker is demanding pre-paid cards for online shopping, gaming music, mobile phones, and streaming services as payment. Fortinet reports that the ransom note states that the attacker is only available on Saturdays and he apologizes for any inconvenience. Even even if the victim is willing to pay the restoration fee files that are smaller than 2 MB can't be restored.



The ransomware is a variant of the Chaos ransomware that's been in circulation since June. Other variants of Chaos ransomware have been discovered to infect all hard drives and disable Windows recovery mode completely.



It is irrelevant if you're trying to cheating in Minecraft, or not downloading executables from unknown sources is a bad idea. (But don't try to cheat at Minecraft also.)



Tyler covered games, games culture , and hardware for more than a decade prior joining PC Gamer in the role of Associate Editor. He has conducted extensive reporting on communities and games, as well as writing criticism for websites such as Polygon, Wired and Waypoint. He's interested in the weird and the intriguing when it comes to games, and loves looking for stories and speaking to the people who are involved. Tyler enjoys dipping into games like Final Fantasy 14, Overwatch, and Dark Souls to see what is going on and figure out the interesting aspects to talk about. His goal is to talk about games in the way they are: broken, beautiful, and strange.


Website: https://www.irc101.org/