Minecraft games, Roblox or cartoons such as Paw Patrol are increasingly used as entry points for malware. The techniques used by hackers are becoming more sophisticated and easily deceive young users.
Cybercriminals are becoming more and more inventive by directly targeting brands of games and toys popular with children, such as Minecraft, Roblox, Lego, Disney and even Paw Patrol and Bluey. Hackers lure their victims, particularly on forums, by offering links to download a successful game that normally requires a fee for free; “cheat codes” to cheat; or even links to tools that promise unlimited lives in the game.
With 1.3 million attempted cyberattacks exploiting topics popular with young people in the first quarter of 2024, children have become prime targets for hackers. This figure, the result of a study from the Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky, is up 35% compared to last year.
“The child won’t see anything”
By clicking, children will “execute the small utility offered to them”, explains Victor Martins Fidalgo, head of consumer products at Kaspersky, in La Matinale de la RTS.
“Malware will then be deployed, but in silent mode. The child will not see anything, he will install these small tools, which will then collect all the data that is on the computer. Typically, if the parents have left a notepad with the passwords for the bank account, Facebook or Instagram, everything will be repatriated without the child noticing, and he will wait,” explains the expert.
Cybercriminals take advantage of the naivety of young players, since promises are rarely kept. These threats mainly affect PCs (98.7%) and to a lesser extent smartphones (1.3%).
Digital hygiene
To avoid these dangers, Bertrand Trastour, general manager of Kaspersky France, interviewed by 20minutes.fr, advises adopting what he calls “digital hygiene”, or “the need to have a sufficient degree of knowledge of one’s Informatic tool”.
It is also recommended to enable parental controls on devices used by children, while monitoring their online activities.
Miruna Coca-Cozma/jfe
