Fortnine Gamers on the crosshair of Bitcoin-Stealing Malware

One of the leaders in cyber-security – Malware Labs, has found malware, embedded in-cheat tools. The malware can steal personal and game data, as well as bitcoin directly from users. The thread was unveiled to the gaming society by Christopher Boyd, a lead analyst at Malware Labs.

The malware, disguised as a “hack” for Fortnite, is often put as a link in numerous YouTube videos, or hidden under redirections to different sites. Boyd described these moves as “sweeping your steps” to prevent tracing to the original file location.

Some videos have reached over 120 000 views, before being taken down by Youtube. Boyd cleared that this is not a new practice – its roots date well back into the early 2000s.

The malware is named initial.exe. It does a snapshot of the data, stored on a user’s PC. The data then is transferred via a POST command to a remote file in Russia.

The virus specializes in stealing bitcoin wallet information, Steam accounts, cookies, and browser information.

Using malware, injected into a file is maybe the oldest trick in the book of hacking, but unfortunately, it still works. Cheaters get cheated – they slurp their own medicine.”, Boyd added. “Competition is healthy, but using the malicious deed to win is not a part of the game. You may give all of your personal data just by getting a slight lead over your game enemies.”

Global wallet stealing and hijacking have become a trend in the past few months. South Korea, China, and the Philippines are among the primary targets for crypto thieves. Their focus now shifts toward the gaming industry, where over $108 billion were made in 2017.