Tag Archive for: game

Fake Pokémon NFT game spreads malware, ‘Jai Ho’ singer to launch metaverse and more

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Hackers hide malware in fake NFT game

A phishing website purporting to offer a Pokémon-branded nonfungible token (NFT) card game has been spreading malware to unsuspecting gamers, a cybersecurity firm has warned.

The website, which at the time of writing was still online, also claims to offer an NFT marketplace, with a link to buy tokens, and even an area to stake NFTs — all based on the popular Japanese media franchise.

However, an arm of the South Korean cybersecurity firm AhnLab warned the public about the website on Jan. 6, noting that instead of downloading agame, users were actually downloading a remote access tool that allows hackers to take control of their device.

A screenshot of the phishing website. The “Play on PC” link at the bottom of the image downloads the malware.

The tool, known as NetSupport Manager, would allow the attackers to remotely control the computer’s mouse and keyboard, access the system’s file management and history and even execute commands allowing them to install additional malware, the firm warned.

The public has been advised to only purchase or download applications from official websites and not open attachments in suspicious emails.

The composer behind ‘Jai Ho’ to spin up metaverse

Allah Rakha Rahman, the Indian composer and singer known for the Grammy Award-winning song “Jai Ho,” is launching his own metaverse platform for artists and their music.

Rahman tweeted on Jan. 6 that his “Katraar” metaverse “is one step closer to launching.” He attached a video of him explaining the upcoming platform, which will use “decentralized technology,” according to its website.

In the video, Rahman said his vision for the platform was to “bring in new talents, technologies, and […] direct revenue for artists,” with one revenue stream seemingly the integration of NFTs.

“Right now we are working with the HBAR…

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NetQin Mobile Security Antivirus

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The Cyber Security Head Game

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Recently, the cyber arm of Homeland Security, CISA, announced a new, North Korean sponsored ransomware attack on health care systems, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies just listed 89 major international cyberattacks in 2022 alone, including a recent China-sponsored compromise of vital telecommunication systems.

As if these incidents weren’t sobering enough, CISA also warned that Russia, in retaliation for US support of Ukraine, could compromise vital US infrastructure such as mobile networks, banks, power and energy systems, in the same way Russian hackers took down the Colonial Pipeline system last year, causing severe fuel shortages.

In sum, we find ourselves in a never-ending, low-level global cyber conflict that threatens to erupt into a major cyber war at any time… and we are not winning that conflict.

Why aren’t we winning?

As the former CTO of the US Intelligence Community and current Chairman of the Board of the US Technology Leadership Council, I can say with confidence that the problem isn’t our technology. We invented the internet and still have the deepest technical resources of any country in the world, so our cyber defenses, including access controls, anti-malware, firewalls, secure computing platforms, intrusion/data loss detection systems and AI cyber defense systems are second to none. But, as the gloomy statistics show, having an impressive array of cyber defense weapons hasn’t been enough.

General George S. Patton, way back in World War II, was eerily prescient about our current difficulties when he observed. To win battles you do not beat weapons—you beat the [soul] of the enemy man.

What Patton meant was that war is more a test of wills than a battle of weapons, so, without the right mindset, an impressive arsenal of weapons won’t save you.

Getting the right mindset

Another famous General, Sun Tsu, suggested one way out of our difficulties when he observed “All war is deception.” If you’re not a student of war, an intuitive way to understand the role of deception in conflict is to observe the successful camouflage (becoming invisible) and mimicry (looking like a scarier animal than you are) of…

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Random: This Pokémon Crystal Bug Lets You Hack Game Boys Over The Internet

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Pokemon Crystal Suicune
Image: The Pokémon Company

If you’ve not heard of the Mobile Game Boy Adapter, we don’t blame you. This Japan-only Game Boy peripheral can connect to a Japanese mobile phone and play certain Game Boy games online. They didn’t sell very well back in the day, but trust fans to track this peripheral down to find an unusual way of using it. And, a security researcher has managed to use the adapter and Pokémon Crystal to take control of an opponent’s Game Boy remotely.

In a chat with Vice’s tech column Motherboard, Xcellerator shared his fascination with retro tech. So, with the annual Binary Golf Grand Prix — a competition to find “the smallest file which will crash a specific program” — Xcellerator wanted to use this adapter in his entry. Instead, what he ended up discovering was what he thinks is the very first case of ‘remote code execution‘ (a hack where you can run any kind of code on a target device) using a Game Boy Color.

The process was pretty lengthy for Xcellerator, as detailed over on his blog, but the gist of it is that it takes advantage of a bug in the Japanese version of Pokémon Crystal. This allowed the security researcher to trick the Game Boy into reading a different part of code — one that he managed to get inside the system. And it’s this exploit that allowed Xcellerator to control the Game Boy on the other end of the internet.

This ‘hack’ doesn’t just let you control your opponent’s Game Boy — you can also beat them by triggering the code for “no health” to just instantly wipe a Pokémon. Ouch!

Believe it or not, Xcellerator hadn’t even heard of the adapter before attempting to enter the Binary Golf Association’s Grand Prix. But because this isn’t a crash (binary), and it’s not a small feat, this is sadly not eligible. But it’s fascinating how a 22-year-old game still has unusual, complicated tricks hiding in its cartridge — with a lot of steps.

Check out the full write-up from Vice down below. And let us know about any of the strange bugs and glitches you’ve found in retro Pokémon titles in the comments!

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