Minecraft Cheaters Try to Steal Accounts, Download Ransomware Instead
Home News Survival Minecraft Minecraft cheaters attempt to steal accounts, instead download ransomware
By Tyler Colp published 1 November 21
Japanese Minecraft players searching for stolen accounts are scammed by malware.
Minecraft cheaters in Japan are getting some instant karma, as per cybersecurity outfit Fortinet. Wannabe hackers are being targeted by ransomware that destroys data that masquerades as an inventory of stolen Minecraft accounts.
This list is appealing to players who wish to hide their accounts to avoid being banned. It also allows them to cheat, grieve, or engage in other nefarious behaviors. It's not known how many Japanese Minecraft players have fallen into the ransomware scam, Fortinet has detailed what the attack does.
According to Fortinet the ransomware temporarily corrupts files smaller than 2 MB , until the victim has paid 2,000 dollars (about $17) to save them. However, it doesn't offer victims a chance to save everything. When they launch the executable, any files larger than 2MB and possess a variety of extension types (a list of extensions is available on Fortinet's site) are filled with random bytes that erase them. It also deletes all Windows backup copies of the files, meaning you can't just restore them. It also puts an ransom note on the wallpaper. The only thing it doesn't do is steal any of your data. It's so considerate.
As a payment, the criminal demands prepaid cards to be used for online shopping, gaming streaming, music, and other services. The best part is that, as per Fortinet the ransom note says that the attacker is "available only on Saturdays and apologizes for any inconvenience caused." Even even if the victim is willing to pay the fee for restoration, files smaller than 2 MB can't be restored.
The ransomware is an variant of the Chaos ransomware that's been making the rounds since June. Other variants of the Chaos ransomware have been found to infect all hard drives of a system and also disable Windows recovery mode entirely.
It doesn't matter if you're trying cheat at Minecraft or not downloading executables from untrusted sources is not a good idea. (But don't try cheating in Minecraft, either.)
Tyler covered games gaming, games culture, and hardware for more than a decade prior to joining PC Gamer in the role of Associate Editor. He's done in-depth reporting on communities and games as well as critiques for sites such as Polygon, Wired, and Waypoint. He is fascinated by the bizarre and the extraordinary in the world of gaming, and is constantly looking for stories and talking with the people involved. Tyler enjoys dipping into games like Final Fantasy 14, Overwatch, and Dark Souls to see what is going on and figure out the parts worth talking about. minecraft His aim is to talk about games in their entirety: broken and beautiful, wacky, and strange.