Gamers who are passionate about the multiplayer game Call of Duty are in the sights of hackers.
According to TechRadar games, one of the most popular Call of Duty today is being used by hackers to infect dangerous malware capable of self-replicating.
Specifically, a report by TechCrunch shows that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was targeted by a computer worm that can automatically spread in online lobbies. After being warned, publisher Activision quickly disabled the game’s online feature.
The issue was first reported by players on the Steam forums in June 2023. In that thread, the poster noted that hackers are attacking Modern Warfare 2 by taking advantage of the game’s lobbies to spread malware. This person also analyzed and found that software in VirusTotal’s online threat archive.
Further analysis identified this malware as a worm that can bypass protections and exploit security holes in application code. After infecting a game lobby, the malware can then execute malicious code and infect any player’s computer.
The issue only seems to affect the PC versions of Modern Warfare 2. This is likely due to the recent enhanced cross-platform backward compatibility, which has made this version a prime target for hackers and scammers. Players or those who have accessed the game since June 2023 should run an anti-virus program or perform a computer security scan immediately.
Activision was the victim of a large-scale cyberattack in December 2022, with nearly 20,000 detailed employee records, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, and office addresses, stolen and released online
