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Cybercriminals Turn GTA VI Leaks Into Malware Bait
Attackers spread fake 113GB GTA VI builds whose 50KB payload whitelists the entire C: drive in Windows Defender, alongside credential phishing and infostealer campaigns.
Researchers found that a 113GB file claiming to be a playable Grand Theft Auto VI build is 99.99% empty data hiding a tiny malicious payload that excludes the entire C:\ drive from Windows Defender and kills security software, preparing systems for follow-on attacks. Related lures include fake GTA 6 Windows installers using DLL side-loading, a fake 'GTA 6 Mobile' app redirecting to infostealer and ransomware infrastructure, and counterfeit Rockstar Social Club login pages harvesting credentials. The fakes ride genuine leak momentum from the leaker CyberLeek, and Kaspersky separately documented over 19 million attempted downloads of game-themed malware in a year, with GTA, Minecraft, and Call of Duty the most abused brands. No legitimate playable GTA VI build is circulating; the game launches November 19 on consoles.
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Four REVSTEALER-Linked Modules Disable Windows Update and Defender to Run a Crypto Miner
Elastic documents four persistent REVSTEALER-linked tools (ProManager, WinUpdate, SoftManager, LockAppHost); LockAppHost disables Windows Update and Defender to run a crypto miner.
Elastic Security Labs identified four previously unreported executables tied to REVSTEALER, a commercial Windows infostealer sold since at least February 2026: ProManager, WinUpdate, SoftManager, and LockAppHost. LockAppHost abuses CMSTP for elevation, adds Microsoft Defender exclusions, disables five Windows Update services and 13 scheduled tasks, then hides a miner in legitimate Windows processes; other modules steal wallets, clipboard-swap crypto addresses, and turn victims into reverse proxies. The components share REVSTEALER tradecraft including packer, runtime function resolution, and Polygon smart-contract backup configuration (EtherHiding). Elastic's detection rule matched about 4,700 VirusTotal samples over the past year; distribution uses hijacked YouTube channels promoting game cheats and a fake 'Claude Opus 5 Free Desktop' app.
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Upatre Continued to Evolve with new Anti
Unit 42 analyzes an undocumented Upatre downloader variant with VM detection via process hashing, packed code, disabled Windows defenses and Namecoin .bit C2 domains.
Unit 42 analyzed an Upatre downloader variant compiled in December 2016 that went largely undetected by automated systems, featuring heavy code flow obscuration, on-demand decryption of network communications, and novel virtual machine detection. The sample enumerates running processes, computes CRC32 hashes XORed with a hard-coded key, and sleeps if analysis-related processes such as vmtoolsd.exe or python.exe are found. It masquerades with Google Chrome icons, disables Windows Defender, Firewall and other security services, injects code into msiexec.exe, and resolves .bit Namecoin domains like bookreader[.]bit via hardcoded OpenNIC DNS servers over TCP.
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