The popular battle royale-style video game "Fortnite" has gained millions, if not billions, of users over the past couple of months. Since its inception in late 2017, the video game has gone live on four different consoles, earned millions of dollars in profit from in-game acquirables alone, and spurred over 300 divorce claims. Coincidently, the Fortnite video game has also attracted hackers and malicious attackers seeking to profit from the greed created with the in-game currency known as 'V-bucks'. According to a recent report released by Malwarebytes, it seems that the most recent hacking attempts took the form of malware that seeks users with Bitcoin wallets stored on their computer.
The specific malware downloads and copies itself onto a user's computer in the form of a malicious virus that siphons through computer data to look for a predetermined set of keywords associated with bitcoin or crypto. If any matches are made, the virus activates and breaks into the wallet with ease, as it has already been given access to modify any computer files upon download. Once in the targeted wallet, the program executes to send the funds found on the wallet to pre-initialized wallet addresses, that are then broken down into bits and sent to other wallets to anonymize the hacker's identity. Considering the irreversible nature of the blockchain, once the funds are stolen they are lost forever.
Fortnite has become the latest victim of these attacks due to the low level of technical literacy of most users. Apparently hackers have come to the conclusion that a majority of Fortnite users have some sort of bitcoin wallet on their computer. Combine this with the user base of Fortnite that seemingly never ceases its exponential expansion, and unfortunately you are left with a large amount of user funds that are stolen.
The malicious software is usually hidden in the form of programs disguised as a "Free V-bucks Generator", or something similar. The amount of users that search for 'V-bucks Generator' has averaged approximately 60 million per month, and continues to increase, at least according to Google Trends. "This is another reason why those who utilize bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have to teach themselves as much as possible about the technical landscape. Hackers can steal funds in an instant," says Daria Generalova, Co-founder of ICOBox. "The cryptocurrency industry is still very immature. People delve into it but are unaware of the dangers involved. If something is too good to be true, it most likely is, especially when it comes to the internet."
Fortnite malware and hacks have become an growing problem over the past couple of months, with no signs of slowing down. Similar problems have been faced by popular video games such as Call of Duty and Halo, and now Fortnite joins the infamous list of games that have caused millions of dollars in losses due to malware and hacking attempts. To make sure your computer is not infected with any of these potential viruses, always run consistent performance checks and keep all cryptocurrency wallets on very tight locks.
