"And the Cyberattack Goes to ... Fans of Oscar-Nominated Films"

The greater the popularity and critical acclaim of a pirated film, the greater the likelihood that it contains more infected files. A ReasonLabs research team analyzed data on film piracy from January 2022 until last month, focusing on some of the most well-known films from the previous year, all of which were nominees for awards at the 95th Academy Awards. The researchers discovered thousands of cases in which these highly nominated films masked cyber threats. The traps include spyware, Trojans, and malware. This past year, "Everything Everywhere All at Once," "Top Gun: Maverick," and "Avatar: The Way of Water," all of which were fan and critic favorites, were among the top films used to phish and draw victims. ReasonLabs discovered that the most prevalent threats in this year's pirated Oscar nominees were spyware personal document stealers, password stealers extensions, keyloggers, search hijacker extensions, and the Bat Worm. This article continues to discuss the rise in malicious files present in attempts to watch popular films for free.

Dark Reading reports "And the Cyberattack Goes to ... Fans of Oscar-Nominated Films"