Hackers blackmail gamers

Demon_Skeith

Demon_Skeith

Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
Credits
49,552
Steal Penalty
You're Rich Money Bags Award
Profile Music
(Flickr/Taylor McBride) gamers Hackers have hauled in millions over the years, mostly in bitcoins, with a blackmail scheme called ransomware, experts say.

You visit a hacked website or download an evil file, and it encrypts files on your computer and won't give them back until you pay money to designated account.

Those who visit porn sites have been victims of this type of thing for years. Even police stations have been forced to pay up.

Now two security researchers have found a new type of ransomware that slips in through Flash files or through an old hole in Internet Explorer and specifically targets video games, writes security researcher Vadim Kotov from Bromium Labs.

Want your game back? Want all your high scores and other game-related data back? Pay up.

"We haven’t seen gamers being targeted by ransomware until now," writes  in a blog post about the ransomware.

(Bromium) And if you're not a gamer? It can lock down other files on the computer as well, including your iTunes, your Office documents, and your finance software.

The new form of malware, called TeslaCrypt, was discovered by Fabian Wosar of Emsisoft in late February, according to a post on Bleeping Computer.

It holds for ransom about 40 video games including popular single-player games like these:
  •     Call of Duty
  •     Star Craft 2
  •     Diablo
  •     Fallout 3
  •     Minecraft
  •     Half-Life 2
  •     Dragon Age: Origins
  •     The Elder Scrolls and specifically Skyrim related files
  •     Star Wars: The Knights Of The Old Republic
  •     WarCraft 3
  •     F.E.A.R
  •     Saint Rows 2
  •     Assassin’s Creed
  •     S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
  •     Resident Evil 4
It also targets a bunch of popular online games, like World of Warcraft, League of Legends, and some games from Valve, which folks commenting on the Bleeping Computer say is odd, since not much gamer data from streaming games is actually stored on your PC.

Unfortunately, since it can nab other files, once you're attacked your hosed. "At this time there is no known method of decrypting your files for free," warns Bleeping Computer.
The best way to avoid this is prevention.

    Make sure your web browser and related plug-ins like Flash are the latest, most updated ones your computer can use.

    Back up your files.

    Beware of auto-backups to Dropbox or other cloud services, Kotov warns. "If you have folders synchronized with an online storage – malware will get to them too," he says.
Click to expand...
source

I reformat my PC before I pay up.
 
I think Steam OS, and Steam for Linux installed on Ubuntu and other Linux operating systems are less vulnerable to Ransomware because most Ransomware is made for Windows, and Mac.
 
froggyboy604 said:
I think Steam OS, and Steam for Linux installed on Ubuntu and other Linux operating systems are less vulnerable to Ransomware because most Ransomware is made for Windows, and Mac.
Click to expand...
that's because the average user would be using windows and Mac. Plus linux is hard to break from what I hear and learning.
 
Demon_Skeith said:
that's because the average user would be using windows and Mac. Plus linux is hard to break from what I hear and learning.
Click to expand...
Linux is hard to use, and to break for the typical user because you basicly need to type in your admin password to do simple stuff like installing a program or making a settings major change. Some Linux OS also requires you login as root through the command line, and Linux restricts your access to system files unless you know what you are doing.
 
froggyboy604 said:
Linux is hard to use, and to break for the typical user because you basicly need to type in your admin password to do simple stuff like installing a program or making a settings major change. Some Linux OS also requires you login as root through the command line, and Linux restricts your access to system files unless you know what you are doing.
Click to expand...
I've been taking a linux class this semester and its not that hard to learn linux. you just need to know command line coding.
 
This is terrible!  I guess evil people will do anything for a buck. I have never connected my gaming console to any online service, which restricts my gameplay a bit, but I would rather prevent anything like this from happening.  I guess, though, if a hacker wants to get something from you, he or she will always find a way.
 
Who would be dumb enough to actually pay this? Just run your anti-virus, and malware-bytes, and if that fails, just reformat your PC. Especially if you use a service like Steam, because steam stores all your game data, save files, scores, etc on their cloud. I assume other similar digital distribution services also do this.

And if you're the type who prefer physical CDs, yeah it might suck having to start over with your games, but I'm sure you still have your CDs, probably displayed nicely, and organized well, and can easily reinstall the games after you reformat.

I think only very young children, elderly, or non-tech savvy people would fall for this
 
I had ransomware once a few years ago.  I booted up my PC in safe mode and just went to town deleting anything that looked fishy.  I also ran malwarebytes, not sure if it helped, but I was eventually able to get rid of it and claim my PC back without having to pay! It was super annoying though, and from what I hear there are different versions of it, with some being harder to get rid of than others.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top