"This is what happens when you try to get something for nothing. "This is the sort of thing where prevention is the best cure," said Christopher Budd, senior global threat communications manager at Avast, in a Zoom call with Lifewire. Some of those downloads are infected with Crackonosh. At time of writing, the only confirmed method of spread for Crackonosh is via pirate software sites, which offer free "cracked" downloads for popular PC games such as Grand Theft Auto V, NBA 2K19, Far Cry 5, and the 2018 Call of Cthulhu. It’s also easy to avoid, as these things go. "This malware typically is distributed via torrents and executables geared toward gamers." If your computer’s been hit with Crackonosh, at least your local files aren’t at risk. There’s been no evidence of data loss or theft from infected systems. That resulted in its nickname, which is a nod to the Krakonoš, the Czech name for a mountain spirit from Polish, German, and Bohemian folklore.Īs a malware package, Crackonosh is remarkably specific.
"Gamers’ systems typically have more processing power, which generates more revenue for the cybercriminals." Monsters of CodeĪccording to Avast’s Daniel Beneš, Crackonosh’s code suggests its author might be Czech. "This malware typically is distributed via torrents and executables geared toward gamers," said Bryan Hornung, CEO of Xact IT Solutions, in a direct message to Lifewire. While versions of Crackonosh have been in circulation since 2018, the recent spike in cases has put it on security researchers’ radars. Roughly 220,000 cases have been reported worldwide, with estimates that the scam has netted over $2 million in Monera cryptocurrency for its unknown authors. Spread via torrents and direct downloads of pirated games, Crackonosh hijacks a computer to convert it into a crypto mining rig. If you or someone you share a computer with likes to download "cracked" pirate copies of popular computer games, you’re at risk of being hijacked by a particular type of malware. An infected system takes a massive performance hit, but there are no reports of data theft.It deletes a host computer’s antivirus settings and rewrites its registry, which makes it difficult to remove once it’s there.The "Crackonosh" malware has spread to around 220,000 systems nationwide, turning infected PCs into cryptocurrency mining rigs.
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