Cheating PC Gamers Get Credentials Stolen in New Campaign

PC gamers seem to be the target of a new info-stealing campaign. Early reports indicate that publisher and developer Activision is looking into the situation because hackers are seeking to steal credentials of players using their games.

Gamers’ credentials are a precious commodity for criminals. Stolen information is sold to others, or the culprits demand ransom to give victims access back to their own accounts. The tactic is widespread enough that digital platforms such as Steam or Epic warn people about sharing their credentials online.

But there’s another situation where the credentials are taken from people’s computers after they install an information stealer. According to a TechCrunch report, Activision is already investigating the situation in an effort to “remove the malware” and is “working on identifying and remediating player accounts for anyone affected.”

The official stance on the matter comes from Activision spokesperson Delaney Simmons. “Some player credentials across the broader industry could be compromised from malware from downloading or using unauthorized software,” and the company servers “remain secure and uncompromised.”

One of the ways people get tricked into installing malware is by disguising it as something players want. And cheat software is something that a lot of people search for online. The malware campaign was actually uncovered by Zeebler, a developer for a real cheat software named Phantom Overlay.

One of his clients complained about losing someone stealing his credentials for Phantom Overlay, and on closer inspection, Zeebler figured out that hackers were actually to blame. The cheat software developer even told Activision that gamers’ credentials were being stolen.

Of course, any gamer should use a comprehensive security solution such as Bitdefender Total Security that will keep you safe, starting with viruses, worms and Trojans, and all the way to ransomware, zero-day exploits, rootkits, and spyware - nothing can hurt your device.