Pirated Game of Thrones Episodes Pose Biggest Malware Risk: Report

“Game of Thrones accounted for 17 percent of all the infected pirated content in 2018,” report said.

A still from Game of Thrones.

(Photo courtesy: HBO)

Hackers across the world are now looking at popular TV shows as a bait to install malware on viewers' computers.

According to a report published by Security company, Kaspersky, out of 31 TV shows, Game of Thrones topped the list of containing the most number of malware, when downloaded from piracy-websites or applications such as Torrent.

"Game of Thrones accounted for 17 percent of all the infected pirated content in 2018, with 20,934 users attacked, despite being the only TV show in the list that didn’t have new episodes released in 2018," the report said.

It also added that the first and the last episodes of each Game of Thrones season were the most dangerous as it contained the “greatest number of malicious files” whick affects most number of users.

Other shows on the list included Westworld, The Walking Dead, The Big Bang Theory, Stranger Things, Suits and Modern Family.

The report also added that GoT’s first episode, "Winter is Coming," was most actively exploited.

The viruses mainly get carried into the system when users download files without looking at the extension of the file.

One of the common method of disguising malware through these files is by using popular extension formats such as AVI video files. “AdWare can trick its way into the users’ devices and play dirty, for instance, by disguising executable files (.exe files) as media (for example, The.Walking.Dead.S06E04.FASTSUB.VOSTFR.HDTV.XviD-ZT.avi.exe)” Kaspersky report said.