Tag Archive for: cracked

Hackers are distributing free, cracked games infected with crypto mining malware

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For one reason or another, gamers turn to piracy to get free yet illegal copies of their favorite games. Hackers are well aware of the demand and are more than willing to provide these games, but there’s a catch—the games may be infected with crypto mining malware.

Per a report by the BBC, cracked versions of popular games such as Grand Theft Auto V and NBA 2K19 have been modified to include crypto-mining malware. One particular malware recently discovered by researchers at security company Avast is Crackonosh.

When installed and activated, Crackonosh can successfully disable an operating system’s security and updating software, and then subsequently use the computer’s processing power to mine Monero, a cryptocurrency that’s popular among cybercriminals.

If left unchecked, the malware can slow down the computer and increase the victim’s electricity usage.

Avast says that more than 220,000 computers have been infected with Crackonosh so far, with the Philippines among the countries with the highest number of infections.

  • United Kingdom: 8,946 victims
  • United States: 11,856 victims
  • Poland: 12,727 victims
  • India: 13,779 victims
  • Brazil: 16,584 victims
  • Philippines: 18,448 victims
Crackonosh-malware-data

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Hackers Infect Cracked Games With Cypto-Mining Malware That’s Almost Impossible To Remove

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KEY POINTS

  • Hackers are reportedly using cracked games to infect computers
  • A new report revealed the details about the malware
  • The scheme has netted hackers over $2 million in Monero cryptocurrency 

Hackers and other malicious actors are apparently building cryptomining malware into copies of AAA games to infect unsuspecting players’ computers and cause them a lot of trouble.

A recent report has warned gamers who are fond of downloading and installing cracked, pirated or “free games” on their PC. It turns out copies of major games like “Grand Theft Auto 5,” “NBA 2K19,” “Pro Evolution Soccer 2018,” “Far Cry 5” and “The Sims 4,” among others, are being offered for free. Unknown to gamers, these titles are infected with devastating malware that gives hackers access to their PC and personal details.

Antivirus firm Avast recently reported a new piece of coin-mining malware, dubbed Cracknosh, infected over 200,000 Windows PCs since 2018 and allowed scammers to net more than $2 million in Monero cryptocurrency. If users happen to download and install these infected games, their antivirus software could be turned off, Windows security updates could stop and their GPU could be hijacked and programmed to mine cryptocurrency.

Free yourself from malware attacks A few simple steps will help Photo: Pexels

According to the report, the installed cracked games run just fine, seemingly suggesting that they are legit and there is nothing harmful in them. However, the most troubling part about the Cracknosh malware is that once it is installed, it can make itself impenetrable even from Windows updates and security software. This is possible because the malware uninstalls any present antivirus software such as Avast, F-Secure, Bitdefender, McAfee, Panda, Kaspersky or Norton.

It also tweaks the Registry and disables Windows security updates, Microsoft/Defender. That’s not all, though. The Cracknosh malware will then deploy the XMRig miner to hijack the cycles of the PC and enable it to mine Monero, exposing the computer to internet malware. Cracknosh will eventually slow down the infected computer, wear out its components and of course, increase the user’s electricity bill.

For users who want to know if their computers have been…

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Signal: Firm claimed to have cracked chat app's encryption – BBC News

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Signal: Firm claimed to have cracked chat app’s encryption  BBC News

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You’d Think The FBI Would Be More Sensitive To Protecting Encrypted Communications Now That We Know The Russians Cracked The FBI’s Comms

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On Monday, Yahoo News had a bit of a new bombshell in revealing that the closures of various Russian compounds in the US, along with the expulsion of a bunch of Russian diplomats — which many assumed had to do with alleged election interference — may have actually been a lot more about the Russians breaching a key FBI encrypted communications system.

American officials discovered that the Russians had dramatically improved their ability to decrypt certain types of secure communications and had successfully tracked devices used by elite FBI surveillance teams. Officials also feared that the Russians may have devised other ways to monitor U.S. intelligence communications, including hacking into computers not connected to the internet. Senior FBI and CIA officials briefed congressional leaders on these issues as part of a wide-ranging examination on Capitol Hill of U.S. counterintelligence vulnerabilities.

These compromises, the full gravity of which became clear to U.S. officials in 2012, gave Russian spies in American cities including Washington, New York and San Francisco key insights into the location of undercover FBI surveillance teams, and likely the actual substance of FBI communications, according to former officials. They provided the Russians opportunities to potentially shake off FBI surveillance and communicate with sensitive human sources, check on remote recording devices and even gather intelligence on their FBI pursuers, the former officials said.

That all seems like a fairly big deal. And, it specifically targeted the FBI’s encrypted communications phone system:

That effort compromised the encrypted radio systems used by the FBI’s mobile surveillance teams, which track the movements of Russian spies on American soil, according to more than half a dozen former senior intelligence and national security officials. Around the same time, Russian spies also compromised the FBI teams’ backup communications systems — cellphones outfitted with “push-to-talk” walkie-talkie capabilities. “This was something we took extremely seriously,” said a former senior counterintelligence official.

The Russian operation went beyond tracking the communications devices used by FBI surveillance teams, according to four former senior officials. Working out of secret “listening posts” housed in Russian diplomatic and other government-controlled facilities, the Russians were able to intercept, record and eventually crack the codes to FBI radio communications.

While this is all interesting in the “understanding what the latest spy v. spy fight is about,” it’s even more incredible in the context of the FBI still fighting to this day to weaken encryption for everyone else. The FBI, under both James Comey and Christopher Wray, have spent years trashing the idea that encrypted communications was important and repeatedly asking the tech industry to insert deliberate vulnerabilities in order to allow US officials to have easier access to encrypted communications. The pushback on this, over and over, is that any such system for “lawful access” will inevitably lead to much greater risk of others being able to hack in as well.

Given that, you’d think that the FBI would be especially sensitive to this risk, now that we know the Russians appear to have cracked at least two of the FBI’s encrypted communications systems. Indeed, back in 2015, we highlighted how the FBI used to recommend that citizens use encryption to protect their mobile phones, but they had quietly removed that recommendation right around the time Comey started playing up the “going dark” nonsense.

Of course, it’s possible that the folks dealing with the Russians cracking FBI encrypted comms are separate from the people freaking out about consumer use of encryption, but the leadership (i.e., Comey and Wray) certainly had to understand both sides of this. This leaves me all a bit perplexed. Were Comey and Wray so completely clueless that they didn’t think these two situations had anything to do with one another? Or does it mean that they thought “hey, if we had our comms exposed, so should everyone else?” Or do they just not care?

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