90% of game hacks and cracks contain malware

Computer and online gaming is big business for companies creating the games, but a considerable drain on the finances of gamers, so it should not come as a surprise that many of the latter decide against buying games and add-ons, choosing instead to download cracked games, keygens, patches and more from torrent or file-sharing sites.

But, according to AVG, that decision could cost them much more in the long run, as the company’s recent research proved that over 90 percent of “hacks and cracks” found via metasearch services such as FilesTube and FileCrop contained malicious code or malware.

“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,” the researchers pointed out.

Obviously, users are advised not to download pirated software and supposed cracks from unverified sources, but to stick to official ones. It’s also a good idea to keep different login credentials for every game and gaming forum account.

If this advice comes too late, the thing to do is to go in remediation mode. First, disinfect your computer by running AV software, then proceed to change same or similar passwords you used on other online accounts and alert the game provider to the account compromise, then follow their instructions on getting back on the horse.