{"id":61423,"date":"2019-08-26T13:28:53","date_gmt":"2019-08-26T18:28:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?p=61423"},"modified":"2019-08-26T13:29:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-26T18:29:00","slug":"syrk-ransomware-fortnite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\/","title":{"rendered":"Ransomware Now Spreading Through Fortnite Cheat Hack"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hackers Post Ransomware in Fortnite Forums<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Although ransomware has been targeting the business sector, they haven&#8217;t forgotten about home users.  In a new campaign to spread malicious software, hackers have masked ransomware as a Fortnite cheat hack.  By posting the malicious link in various Fortnite forums, cyber criminals hope gamers will click the link and unknowingly install Syrk.  Syrk is a ransomware variant that encrypts the user&#8217;s files and attempts to encrypt any data found on connected USB drives.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once encryption is complete, a ransom note displays on the screen.  The ransom note <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmagazine.com\/home\/security-news\/ransomware\/syrk-ransomware-comes-disguised-as-fortnite-cheat-tool-to-ambush-gamers\/\">states <\/a>all of the user&#8217;s personal files have been encrypted and a timer begins counting down.  In two hours, if a ransom payment has not been made, the files in the photo folder will be deleted.  Then a second timer is set, and the files in the desktop folder will be deleted.  If a payment is not made, a third timer displays claiming the files in the document folder will be deleted.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The exact amount of the ransom demand hackers are requesting is still unknown.  In order for the user to determine the payment amount, they are asked to email a specific email address for payment instructions.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hackers Post Ransomware in Fortnite Forums Although ransomware has been targeting the business sector, they haven&#8217;t forgotten about home users. In a new campaign to spread malicious software, hackers have masked ransomware as a Fortnite cheat hack. By posting the malicious link in various Fortnite forums, cyber criminals hope gamers will click the link and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":55582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4949,5000],"tags":[5542],"class_list":["post-61423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsletter","category-ransomware","category-ransomwarewar","tag-fortnite"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ransomware Now Spreading Through Fortnite Cheat Hack<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a new campaign to spread malicious software, hackers have masked ransomware as a Fortnite cheat hack. To spread the ransomware...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ransomware Now Spreading Through Fortnite Cheat Hack\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a new campaign to spread malicious software, hackers have masked ransomware as a Fortnite cheat hack. To spread the ransomware...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PC Matic Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pcmatic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-08-26T18:28:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-08-26T18:29:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/ransomware-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"740\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"416\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kayla Elliott\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pcmatic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pcmatic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kayla Elliott\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kayla Elliott\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4a11f480158af9f8090d8d90e0de8db\"},\"headline\":\"Ransomware Now Spreading Through Fortnite Cheat Hack\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-26T18:28:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-08-26T18:29:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":210,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/ransomware-2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Fortnite\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Newsletter\",\"Ransomware\",\"RansomwareWar\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ransomware Now Spreading Through Fortnite Cheat Hack\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/ransomware-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-26T18:28:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-08-26T18:29:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"In a new campaign to spread malicious software, hackers have masked ransomware as a Fortnite cheat hack. To spread the ransomware...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/ransomware-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/ransomware-2.jpg\",\"width\":740,\"height\":416,\"caption\":\"Ransomware Attacks\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ransomware Now Spreading Through Fortnite Cheat Hack\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"PC Matic Blog\",\"description\":\"Tech Tips and Tricks\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png\",\"width\":1535,\"height\":483,\"caption\":\"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA.\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/pcmatic\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/pcmatic\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/pcmaticusa\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/pcmatic\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/c\\\/PCMaticVideo\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4a11f480158af9f8090d8d90e0de8db\",\"name\":\"Kayla Elliott\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/kayla\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ransomware Now Spreading Through Fortnite Cheat Hack","description":"In a new campaign to spread malicious software, hackers have masked ransomware as a Fortnite cheat hack. To spread the ransomware...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ransomware Now Spreading Through Fortnite Cheat Hack","og_description":"In a new campaign to spread malicious software, hackers have masked ransomware as a Fortnite cheat hack. To spread the ransomware...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\/","og_site_name":"PC Matic Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pcmatic","article_published_time":"2019-08-26T18:28:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-08-26T18:29:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":740,"height":416,"url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/ransomware-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kayla Elliott","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@pcmatic","twitter_site":"@pcmatic","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kayla Elliott","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\/"},"author":{"name":"Kayla Elliott","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d4a11f480158af9f8090d8d90e0de8db"},"headline":"Ransomware Now Spreading Through Fortnite Cheat Hack","datePublished":"2019-08-26T18:28:53+00:00","dateModified":"2019-08-26T18:29:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\/"},"wordCount":210,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/ransomware-2.jpg","keywords":["Fortnite"],"articleSection":["Newsletter","Ransomware","RansomwareWar"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\/","name":"Ransomware Now Spreading Through Fortnite Cheat Hack","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/ransomware-2.jpg","datePublished":"2019-08-26T18:28:53+00:00","dateModified":"2019-08-26T18:29:00+00:00","description":"In a new campaign to spread malicious software, hackers have masked ransomware as a Fortnite cheat hack. To spread the ransomware...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/ransomware-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/ransomware-2.jpg","width":740,"height":416,"caption":"Ransomware Attacks"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/syrk-ransomware-fortnite\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ransomware Now Spreading Through Fortnite Cheat Hack"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/","name":"PC Matic Blog","description":"Tech Tips and Tricks","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA.","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png","width":1535,"height":483,"caption":"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA."},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pcmatic","https:\/\/x.com\/pcmatic","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pcmaticusa\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/pcmatic","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/PCMaticVideo"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d4a11f480158af9f8090d8d90e0de8db","name":"Kayla Elliott","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/author\/kayla\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}