{"id":40479,"date":"2015-01-02T06:00:37","date_gmt":"2015-01-02T14:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.mcafee.com\/?p=40479"},"modified":"2025-08-17T20:05:56","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T03:05:56","slug":"game-of-thrones-file-sharing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/game-of-thrones-file-sharing\/","title":{"rendered":"How Hackers Use Popular Shows to Infect Your Devices"},"content":{"rendered":"

If there\u2019s one reasonable measurement of how popular a television series has become, it\u2019s how often it\u2019s illegally downloaded online. And for HBO\u2019s hit series, Game of Thrones (GoT), episodes are stolen about as often as weddings are ruined in the series. That is to say: all of the time.<\/p>\n

Torrentfreak<\/a>, a website dedicated to file-sharing (the act of transmitting files from one computer to another over the Internet and often used to share \u00a0software, movies and other digital content without payment) news, has published its \u201cmost pirated\u201d TV show of 2014. As you may have guessed, Game of Thrones won\u2014for the third year in a row.<\/p>\n

Episodes of the heralded series, including the latest season, were downloaded more than eight million times<\/a> over BitTorrent, one such file-sharing service.<\/p>\n

That gargantuan tally, sadly, does not translate into any direct monetary gain for those who help make the show possible. But, (and in theme with GoT\u2019s appreciation for ruthless revenge) cast, crew and producers can take solace in the fact that a good deal of said thieves have probably downloaded malware<\/a>\u2014malicious software designed to steal information and ruin computers\u2014in addition to stolen episodes.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because shady sites like The Pirate Bay<\/a> (which offers free downloads of pretty much anything), and services, like BitTorrent, often unwittingly promote and spread malware as well as other viruses. This can happen in a few ways:<\/p>\n

First, and most obvious, is through malware and viruses found on the site, masquerading as more innocuous file types, such as a video. File-sharing sites operate on the honor system, allowing any type of user to upload and download content freely. You can bet that some users are going to upload malware to the site to be downloaded by unwary users later.<\/p>\n

The second way is by hosting suspicious advertisements. Open-source sites like BitTorrent use side banners and popup ads just like any other page on the Internet. These malvertisements<\/a> may look like other ads, but direct users to malicious sites, where they\u2019ll then have data stolen and malware pushed to their devices. While site operators do have some control over ads shown, most cannot court big time products, like Nike or BMW<\/a>, due to the nature of their service, and so look to less reputable advertisers to fill the gaps.<\/p>\n

Finally, stealthy crooks can embed a malware program in the product the user is looking for\u2014such as a Game of Thrones episode. Usually this is limited to software, but hackers can also use video files to spread their malware by instructing the user to download additional applications or files in order to play the video in question.<\/p>\n

How to Protect Yourself from Online Betrayal:<\/h2>\n