Users are constantly spoofing video games to take advantage of them. In this way thousands of users look for cheats and cheat programs. Call of Duty: Warzone is no exception. But this time they got a taste of their own medicine. Since a group of hackers hid a malware in a supposed program that alters the mechanism of the video game in favor of the players. But instead of getting advantages, the players got a virus.
Call of Duty: Warzone is a free-to-play Battle Royale video game released on March 10, 2020. Both for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows. Activision, the American company creator of Call Of Duty sent a detailed report on the case. In this it warns of a program called Warzone Cheat Engine, promoted over the internet as a way to cheat the game. Which, however, actually installed malware on users’ computers. Hackers promoted this software on various forums and it was first spotted in April 2020. Despite this, it resurfaced again last month.
How does the malware work?
The software’s instructions stated that to install the program you had to disable the antivirus and run it in administrator mode. Consequently, these actions left the door open for the software to install whatever it wanted without being detected. The distributors of the software claimed that this was an effective and simple way to start a malware campaign. It simply appealed to the desire to cheat so that victims would voluntarily lower all computer defenses.
This particular tool is considered a dropper, a piece of malware that is used to install or deliver an additional payload, such as credential stealing malware, on a target system or device. A dropper is a means to an end, rather than the end itself – but still is a critical link in the chain.
Team Activision
In addition, the software offered attackers the ability to customize it so that they could include whatever malware they wanted in their version of the software. A list of Warzone Cheat Engine variants identified by the company can be seen in Activision’s report. Including one that caused infected computers to secretly mine cryptocurrencies. In the face of this attack, it is advisable to avoid installing this type of program. Finally, piracy leads to consequences such as these.
