GTA 6 'demo' delivers malware directly to your PC

Rockstar Games

Following today's extended trailer for the much-hyped Grand Theft Auto 6, suffice to say gamers are a wee bit excited. Unfortunately, that's made them prime targets for a new malware campaign that claims to have content for the upcoming Rockstar Games title.

Using phony websites that imitate Rockstar's promos and branding, there is an ongoing cyber attack campaign that encourages fans to download a file that claims to be a demo or an official download of the game. The file is actually an infostealer that can access stored passwords from browsers, cookies and authenticated sessions. According to analysis by Malwarebytes, the malware in question can attempt to find saved passwords and logins, session cookies, browsing and download history, saved browser profile data such as autofills, and FTP client credentials.

There have been multiple leaks in the lead-up to today's official reveal of more gameplay. While damaging and frustrating for the dev team, those were at least benign for players. Rockstar has not released any demos, so sites claiming to have one are likely trying to scam you. Similarly, the person or people responsible for the recent leaks only published videos and screenshots — there is no build or demo available online.

No matter how much you want a first look at Lucia and Jason in action, keep your wits about you. Double-check that a site is legit before downloading files or entering passwords. And if the file seems way too small for what will surely be a storage-hog of a AAA video game, don't download it. If you want to know all about today's GTA 6 "extended look," have a read through our similarly extended breakdown.