AVG Says Most Game Hacks Are Crawling With Malware

[Steven Bogos]

AVG Says Most Game Hacks Are Crawling With Malware

Anti-virus group AVG claims that more than 90% of game hacks and cracks contain malware or malicious code.

Think twice before downloading "SuPa-LeGiT-xXxWallHAX" in the hopes of being able to dominate every Counter-Strike Source server. Anti-virus group AVG warns that the vast majority (over 90%) of such hacks, as well as cracks that allow you to play pirated games, contain malware or "malicious code." It claimed that a lot of these hacks didn't just contain malware, but were simply malware programs in disguise.

"Even if we assume that just 0.1% of the gamers playing the top five titles go looking for a hack - a highly conservative estimate - that means 330,000 people are potentially at risk of falling victim to game hack malware," said AVG in a press release. "This could lead to the loss of any legitimate, paid-for gaming assets, as well as sensitive personal data such as bank details and email or social media passwords."

AVG used metasearch services such as FilesTube and FileCrop to analyze scores of hacks and cracks to find this data. So, not only will hacking or pirating a game give you that sinking feeling of being morally wrong, it may also steal your credit card information. The bottom line is something we (should) all already know: stay away from hacks and cracks, kids!

AVG publishes the widely utilized "AVG Anti-virus" which comes with a "free" edition. I used to use AVG Free almost exclusively, until I got tired of it being a memory hog and incessantly nagging me to buy the full version. Nowadays I get by with Windows Defender and Malwarebytes. Whatever your anti-virus of choice, here's a friendly reminder to keep it up-to-date!

Source: Games.on.net [http://games.on.net/2013/04/90-of-game-hacks-infected-with-malware-claims-avg-report/]

Permalink

 

[FalloutJack]

Counter: 80% of all statistical data is generally skewed via a false premise, too little information, or a blatant lie.

AVG is a pretty solid anti-virus, but let's leave mod-hunting to the mod-hunters, mkay?

 

[bliebblob]

So do 90% of legally aquired games, it's called DRM.

Right guys? right??? Ehem...

 

[GabeZhul]

Also, yeah, if you purposefully mark cracks as malware in your anti-virus software (because publishers pay you under the table to deter the computer-illiterate with the threat of the VIRUS, which is pretty much an open secret at this point), then you have no damn right to be surprised that most cracks register as malware in your system. Real classy, AVG.

 

[lancar]

Yeah... I call bullshit.

I used to be pretty active using those things in the past, and I cought a virus from doing it only once and that was CIH (Tjernobyl) for win98 back in the last millenium. Reading the wikipedia article about it ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIH_%28computer_virus%29 ), its author apparantly designed it because of the hubris of Anti-Virus makers.
Imagine that...

From my experience these days you mostly catch viruses from malicious emails and websites.

 

[Tar Palantir]

And how many of those are false-positives?

 

[Smooth Operator]

By their definition yes, because the way hacks operate(accessing games memory space) is very similar to what malware does.
Of course this is the same as calling kitchen knives weapons of a serial killer, tools do not equal intent.

Also make sure you have something better then AVG because it doesn't find shit when it comes to actual malware.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

They are kind of right. Statistically. I use cracks for a few old SP games so that I wouldn't have to use the disc. But only a moron would actually download a malware crack. Just go to a random torrent site and search for a crack of some kind. You'll get a few search results from "trusted" crackers, but the huge majority of the results will be malware uploads.

Also, AVG sucks.

 

[Sofus]

Did AVG actually catch any of those "malware" programs.. or did they notice something was wrong when their PC went apeshit?

Also to the people from AVG..... stop downloading your trainers / editors from random places.

 

[Entitled]

Technically it might be true, if you are talking about the average of all existing cracks.

Also, it tells absolutely nothing useful, given that you can just type any game's name into any torrent site and the first, most popular result will happen to be from the clean 10%, and generally the average user can avoid that 90% without any special effort.

 

[Airon]

What is a trusted source though.

I use cracks for playing uncensored versions of games I buy(one case last year) and try to find trusted sources, in other words, groups with a reputation and download locations that are peer reviewed. That said, good faith is more or less required as well, though waiting a few days after the crack's release and checking it with virus scanners is always a good idea.

AVG will of course also want to sell its product. It's quite difficult to get independant sources to confirm statements like this. Figuring this out is quite a challenge, though the safest route is of course to avoid cracks alltogether.

 

[cidbahamut]

That is the silliest graphic I've ever seen.

 

[Scrythe]

Wait, this is AVG we're talking here, the reigning King of False Positives. Hell, just because of the way trainers work, AVG condemns them all to be virus-filled viruses with virus on the side.

If AVG made pregnancy tests, people would sell it as a gag gift.

If AVG were running NORAD at the height of the Cold War, we'd all be irradiated skeletons.

If AVG made cars, your "Check Engine" light would double as a reading lamp.

I think you get the idea by now.

 

[Monsterfurby]

What, are you telling me that completely unsuspicious .exe file that someone put on their shady website and which promises to automate headshots and make walls disappear in a popular game whose developer puts a magillion dollars into anti-cheat software is actually just meant to infiltrate my computer?

I am shocked, I tell you, SHOCKED.

 

[Slash2x]

AVG was know as All Viruses Guaranteed at the computer repair shop I worked at. AVG is one of the WORST programs I have ever seen for keeping your system safe. It misses things that other programs catch and it false positives off of things that are not even slightly related to what they ping as. So if they say this kind of BS I bet they really do believe it...

Side note most of the people who came into get their system repaired and had AVG were over the age of 50..... I want to use the antivirus that grandmothers approve of what about you?

 

[VladG]

Well, AVG is not the sharpest spoon in the drawer when it comes to anti-malware software.

Also wouldn't pretty much EVERY hack and crack be considered malware since what it does is hijack and alter the way a piece of legit software works?