One popular method for many cybercriminals to infect their victims is by disguising their viruses as popular files, such as movies or Facebook add-ons, and tricking computer users into downloading them.
Hackers are up to their usual tricks once again, this time taking advantage of the recent release of the popular PC game, StarCraft II. Many gamers have reported being infected after downloading malware masquerading as a free digital copy of the game.
The Microsoft Malware Protection Center reports there are two different viruses using the game as a delivery vehicle. One is malware that acts as a gateway to other malware, while the other is a key logger that steals sensitive information, such as account passwords and credit card numbers.
"Here in the MMPC, we monitored this event as malware writers almost always attempt to take advantage of high-profile news, this being a prime example. Sure enough, we found samples that pretend to be StarCraft-related files but are actually malware," said Protection Center.
To prevent infection, computers users should be careful not to download anything suspicious. If something seems too good to be true – a free copy of a game in this case – it probably is.
Dang. I’ve been waiting for this game for such a long time. I haven’t picked it up yet, but this is good to know.
Only a total newbie would be silly enough to download a “free copy” of Starcraft 2. Whatever. But thanks for the heads up.
I agree with Terry. It’s kind of ridiculous. But people want a bunch of things for free now, and with all kinds of P2P sharing it’s really easy to get free stuff. But it’s also really easy to get free viruses.
So simple to avoid viruses…just buy the darn thing at the store, at least have a good pal copy it for ya hahaha.