Call of Duty: Warzone cheats have hidden malware — What we know

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Cheaters never win

Call of Duty Malware
(Image credit: Activision)

According to a report released by game publisher Activision, hackers have been injecting malware onto Call of Duty: Warzone users' systems via fake cheats. So cheaters beware. Those cheats you hope will help you stealthily assassinate your opponents will actually fill your system with a ton of malware. 

Activision's report states that the company discovered a recent discussion on dark web forums. Cybercriminals were chatting about luring unsuspecting gamers into downloading a dropper, which is a malicious program, onto their systems disguised as cheats. The malware can be customized to install far more damaging and malicious bugs onto your computer and devices. 

According to Activision's report, the free cheat offers users things like infinite ammunition for all weapons, extra speed, and a 1hit1kill feature. All of which sounds awesome but, none of it is real and will infect your system. 

What's even more troubling, is that the poisonous cheats are being advertised on multiple popular cheating forums under titles such as "new COD hack." Sadly, Activision's report did not mention which forums would've been helpful. The report does mention that the cheat offers pop up numerous times on these forums and may lure users in. 

These cheats work so well because they usually require users to disable security features that would normally keep their systems protected. An abundance of comments on several forums proves that these hackers luring techniques have been very effective at getting users to help do their dirty work for them. 

Activision's reports state, " It is common practice when configuring a cheat program to run it the with the highest system privileges, and noted that "Guides for cheats will typically ask users to disable or uninstall antivirus software and host firewalls, disable kernel code signing, etc."

Stay vigilant, my friends, and remember, cheaters never win. 

Mark Anthony Ramirez
Mark Anthony Ramirez

Mark has spent 20 years headlining comedy shows around the country and made appearances on ABC, MTV, Comedy Central, Howard Stern, Food Network, and Sirius XM Radio. He has written about every topic imaginable, from dating, family, politics, social issues, and tech. He wrote his first tech articles for the now-defunct Dads On Tech 10 years ago, and his passion for combining humor and tech has grown under the tutelage of the Laptop Mag team. His penchant for tearing things down and rebuilding them did not make Mark popular at home, however, when he got his hands on the legendary Commodore 64, his passion for all things tech deepened. These days, when he is not filming, editing footage, tinkering with cameras and laptops, or on stage, he can be found at his desk snacking, writing about everything tech, new jokes, or scripts he dreams of filming.