Your data could have been stolen

On that occasion, a malware distributed through mods in popular repositories such as Curseforge and Bukkit infected millions of playersstealing credentials from Minecraft and Discord.

Now, according to a technical report published yesterday, June 24, By Kasperskythe cybersecurity company, the malware has already been detected in more than 25 repositories and uses an infection technique in several phases to steal credentials and sensitive data.

Viruses reach Minecraft

The threat, according to Canal26, is spreading through Github, an open source platform that is normally associated with developers and reliable projects, but as always happens in the digital world, not everything is what it seems. That is where cybercounts appear, which are being professionalized, hiding a malware with the capacity to spy your entire system, getting access to your Minecraft account, with your saved passwords and with much more. Everything can be stolen and sold in a moment.

And the hook is very simple, since millions of users install these mods (complement for the game created by people outside the developer) to improve the experience of the gameplay. This is also done, for example, in the Grand Theft Auto saga, and is the perfect entrance door to strain a virus.

The process is as follows: the user is trusting and a file that seems correct is discharged. When installing it, malware performs a system analysis. If it detects an active antivirus or behavior that could give it away, it self -destructs to avoid being tracked. But if the land is free, it connects to the Internet and downloads a second file, even more dangerous. This second phase, identified as Mixinloader-V2.4.jarcollect key information such as your player ID, access tokens to your account and even your IP address. Then, download a third component that really executes the massive theft of data.

This last malicious software has access to practically everything What you do or have done on your computer. You can extract passwords, read what you copied on the clipboard, take screenshots, access sensitive files and track movements inside and out of the game. Everything you consider of value is compressed in a package and sends directly to the attackers servers. From there, the data can be resembled, used for extortion or even to kidnap your digital identity.

Taking into account that per month there are more than 200 million players who go through the grids of Minecraft, according to January 2025, this threat becomes one of the most worrisome of the moment. And the worst part is that many of the victims are minors.

How to avoid viruses when playing video games

Luckily, it is possible to avoid falling into the trap. To do this, it will be important that you meet the following recommendations:

• Be very careful with the origin of the files that are downloaded. If you are going to install a mod, make sure it comes from a verified source or communities with good reputation.
• Always keep your operating system, your browsers and, of course, Minecraft itself. These updates will be responsible for covering those security holes that may arise.
• Have a good antivirus activated on your computer. You can make a difference between a virus detected in time and a total loss of your data, so do not skimp in this regard.

Online video games have ceased to be just an entertainment space. Today, they are also a very valuable objective for cybercriminals, especially when they involve great communities and digital resources from which these thieves can get money.