Call Of Duty Cheaters Are Spreading A Virus
If you've been thinking of downloading cheats before your next Call of Duty: Warzone match, you may want to think again. A new report from Activision has revealed how hackers are sneaking vicious malware onto players' computers — by pretending that they're providing cheat programs for Warzone.
As explained by Activision's security officers, hackers have been advertising cheating tools on multiple Call of Duty forums. These hackers have told Warzone players that their cheating software is "free, 'newbie friendly,' and 'effective,'" thereby increasing the number of curious users who might want to download the program in question. In reality, the software acts as a remote access trojan, which allows the hacker to access the systems of their target. With this approach, hackers have been able to remotely upload further viruses, some of which can be used to obtain players' personal information.
According to Activision's report, many of the posts advertising these types of "cheats" also request that interested parties disable any antivirus programs that they may be running. Activision points out, "The [hacker's] suggested method for convincing the victims to disable their protections is made significantly easier by advertising their RAT as a video game cheat. It is common practice when configuring a cheat program to run it the with the highest system privileges."
Once a Call of Duty player has taken down those important protections, their system is wide open for attack. Players might not even realize they've downloaded a virus until it is too late.
The most insidious aspect covered in Activision's report is how hackers have coordinated these attacks on Warzone players. Activision included numerous screenshots of hacker message boards, wherein users have bragged about their conquests and suggested methods of subterfuge to one another. Some have mentioned spreading these cheats as an easy way to make money off of Call of Duty fans.
Hacking has been an issue with Warzone ever since the game launched. Although Activision has attempted to curb this issue by suing third-party sites selling cheats, Warzone hasn't been able to fully shake its hacker problem. The issue has become so widespread that pro players like NickMercs have urged the developers to do more about it. Some high profile players, like Dr Disrespect, have seemingly given up on the game altogether.
Hopefully this report shows that Activision is getting closer to solving this complicated mess. Warzone may not be the game with the most cheaters — that title belongs to another major battle royale — but fans seem to have had enough.