More than 130,000 users were scammed in this way in the last year.
07/09/2022 23:45
Taking advantage of the fact that Minecraft is best selling game of all time and has a large community of child players, according to a recent study, the Mojang game is the most used by hackers to distribute malware on the internet (malicious software).
According to Kaspersky, an endpoint security provider and consumer IT security software company, these Minecraft hacking attacks affected 131,005 users from July 2021 to June 2022 with a total of 23,239 malicious files distributed. Even so, it represents a reduction compared to other years, but the Minecraft game continues to lead the mobile category with 2,406 malicious files distributed.
One of the main Minecraft artworks
Be careful what you download
According to this study, in the list of games through which the largest number of malicious files are distributed, Minecraft is followed by games like FIFA (10.776), Roblox (8.903), Far Cry (8.736), Call of Duty (8.319), Need for Speed (7.569), Grand Theft Auto (7.125), Valorant (5.426), Los Sims (5.005) y CS:GO (4.790).
Regarding the type of malicious files distributed by these means, 88.56% corresponds to downloaders, a type of “unsolicited software that might not be dangerous in itself, but can be used to load other threats onto devices,” the security firm warns. Other malicious file types found in this study include: not-a-virus:AdWare (4.19%), Trojan (2.99%), DangerousObject (0.86%), Trojan-SMS (0.49%), Trojan-Downloader (0.48%), not-a-virus:WebToolbar (0.47%), not-a-virus:RiskTool (0.45%), Exploit (0.34%), and Trojan-Spy ( 0.29%).
These types of files can be very difficult to detect on your devices and are capable of steal confidential informationas indicated by the graph below on the type of files most used to extract information through these channels.
Type of malware used to steal information through games
During the duration of the study, 6,491 users affected by 3,705 files of this type. “Trojan-PSW (Password Stealing Ware) collects victims’ credentials, Trojan-Banker steals payment data, and Trojan-GameThief collects login information for gaming accounts,” Kaspersky explains.
A Minecraft player spends 2500 hours to reach the limits of the game and you will not believe what happens
To avoid falling into one of these malicious traps created by hackers, the best advice is do not download anything from unknown sources. It is advisable to avoid unreliable websites and always check that you are browsing through secure pages to avoid cheating, since hackers’ traps are becoming more and more elaborate. Take advantage of users trying to download free games or looking for other types of cheats, guides, content, etc..