A Cautionary Tale: My Experience with a Malware Incident

In the realm of gaming, where competition and fun collide, it’s not uncommon for players to seek an edge—sometimes through questionable means. My recent experience serves as a stark reminder of why illicit shortcuts can lead to dire consequences.

Several weeks ago, in a lapse of judgment, I decided to download a Fortnite aimbot with the intention of pranking my friends. Admittedly, my usual gaming ethic involves avoiding cheats, reserving them solely for single-player experiences when boredom kicks in. However, this time, I strayed from my principles and faced the repercussions of my actions.

Shortly after my ill-fated download, I realized I had been thoroughly hacked. The perpetrator operated through a nefarious screenshot service, threatening to expose my personal data and intimate moments unless I paid a ransom in Bitcoin. The email was chilling—it listed various passwords, which I suspect had been extracted from either Windows Hello or my Chrome password manager.

In the wake of this incident, I promptly changed all of my passwords and activated two-factor authentication (2FA) across all accounts. However, despite my efforts, I felt an unsettling lack of security, especially since my trusted malware scanners—Malwarebytes, Tronscript, and Norton—failed to detect any remnants of the malware.

When I tried to launch Fortnite again, my system crashed with a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death), displaying a Kernel_Security_Check Error. This indicated to me that some form of infection was still lurking beneath the surface, potentially hidden or using advanced evasion techniques.

The initial infection occurred when I unwittingly clicked on a Loader.Exe file, and while I attempted to sift through the accompanying .txt files, they appeared to be a jumble of binary code. My primary goal now is to discern exactly what changes were made to my system and how to rectify this situation, but I feel overwhelmed and unsure of the next steps.

I’ve already attempted the standard procedures: uninstalling and reinstalling both the Epic Games Launcher and Fortnite itself, but to no avail. My anxiety about reintroducing the hack intensifies with every failed launch.

To further investigate my predicament, I’ve consulted a specialized analysis tool called Triage. Here’s the link to the analysis I ran: Triage Analysis. If anyone possesses the expertise to decipher the information from the