Minecraft players have fallen victim to malware that re-formats player’s hard drives and deletes backup data and systems. The malware infected over 50,000 Minecraft player’s accounts through custom skin downloads. Avast discovered the Minecraft malware after their anti-virus program and Avast Threat Labs picked up on virus reports.
What kind of malware or virus is affecting Minecraft skins?
Minecraft’s skin malware is a malicious Powershell script distributed through PNG Minecraft skins. The malware program itself is fairly simple and clearly not done by an expert cyber criminal. However, it’s concerning that the affected files were allowed to be uploaded to the official Minecraft server. Avast contacted Mojang to inform them of the Minecraft malware and Mojang has since released a Minecraft update to address the issue.
How to tell if your PC is infected with Minecraft malware
Don’t stress, if your PC is infected with Minecraft malware there are ways to tell. Of most importance, the malware is only found in skins downloaded from the official Minecraft website. So, if you have not downloaded any skins from there, no need to worry. Some players may receive unusual messages in their Minecraft account inboxes such as the following.
- “You Are Nailed, Buy A New Computer This Is A Piece Of Shit”
- “You have maxed your internet usage for a lifetime”
- “Your ass got glued”
Further, if you downloaded skins similar to the ones pictured below your computer could be infected. The pictured Minecraft skins below are confirmed to contain the Minecraft skin malware. Lastly, any system issues related to disk formatting or system performance issues could be indicative of infection. Moreover, take note of the hosted URL of the malicious code and remember to hover over links to preview URLs before visiting.
How to detect and remove Minecraft malware
If you’ve experienced any of the issues mentioned above or you’d just like to double check try these options
- Run an anti-virus/anti-malware scan
- Remove custom Minecraft skins
- Reinstall Minecraft
- In extreme cases, PC will need complete data restoration and OS reinstallation
Further, remember to always reboot the PC in between trialing different changes. Some changes won’t come into effect until the computer has been through a full reboot. A wise PC user can get away with no anti-virus program at the end of the day. However, doing that requires some smart behavior and caution when downloading or clicking on unknown links.
