How hackers are using pirated pc games to become crypto-rich ? [ Crackonosh Malware ]

In Short:

• Avast
  antivirus has announced the discovery of a
  new crypto mining malware found in pirated video games.
• The mining
  malware, named “Crackonosh“,
  is embedded within the code of the game and released upon installation.
• The virus
  takes control of your computer and allows crypto miners to use your
  computing power to help hasten the mining process.

The crypto mining malware (Crackonos) is
being hidden deep within pirated versions of popular titles like Grand Theft
Auto V, Far Cry 5, The Sims 4, and Jurassic World Evolution along with various
games in the NBA2K series.

If you are downloading pirated game from forum & torrent sites than it have
high chance that your computer will be infected by Crackonosh.

How Crackonosh malware works ?

Once the infected pirate game downloaded and installed,
Crackonosh then makes itself at home within the computer’s processor to hijack
it and use it to mine cryptocurrencies for the hackers.

So far, reports show that the Crackonosh mining malware
has made its creators north of $2 million in crypto since June of 2018.
In this case Crackonosh was designed to mine the Monero cryptocurrency.

How to track Crackonosh infected your PC?

If you downloaded any pirated game recently and if you
are facing following conditions:

In an interview with CNBC, Daniel Benes, a researcher for Avast, stated that
the malware

• Takes all the resources that the computer has so the computer is
  unresponsive.
• Benes also said that users will notice their computers are performing
  slower and continue to see the high-rate performance decline through
  overuse.
• The malware does well to protect itself by disabling Windows updates
  and uninstalling your antivirus software.

  
  

“Crackonosh shows that
trying to get games for free can get you something you didn’t expect – malware” Christopher Budd,
from Avast, said.

And Avast detects malicious software on
devices only where its antivirus is installed, so the true impact of Crackonosh
is likely to be far higher.

So far, the malware has been found in
more than a dozen countries, including:

·        
Philippines: 18,448 victims

·        
Brazil: 16,584 victims

·        
India: 13,779 victims

·        
Poland: 12,727 victims

·        
United States: 11,856 victims

·        
United Kingdom: 8,946 victims

Cracknosh Origin (not confirmed):

Avast company believes the malware’s creator may be Czech, hence the name,
Crackonosh, which means “mountain spirit” in Czech folklore.

Conclusion:

Gamers expanding huge money on their system because
of the high-end graphics games. Crypto-mining required strong machines which
cost higher so targeting gamers PC will be easy target for Hackers to mine
crypto using pirated games.

There is a famous phase that “ Nothing is free in this world “ , so
if you are not planning to buy the game and using the pirated version then you
also need to pay it’s cost indirectly.