{"id":95753,"date":"2019-07-02T10:14:05","date_gmt":"2019-07-02T17:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/securingtomorrow.mcafee.com\/?p=95753"},"modified":"2025-08-29T02:05:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T09:05:25","slug":"can-video-game-mods-expose-players-to-malware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/can-video-game-mods-expose-players-to-malware\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Video Game \u201cMods\u201d Expose Players to Malware?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"auto\">\u201cHackable?\u201d host Geoff Siskind\u2019s son is a huge fan of the world-building computer game Minecraft \u2014 and downloads \u201cmods\u201d for it often. These mods are third-party updates that allow players to alter their favorite game. Whether you want to improve the graphics or add your favorite movie character to a game, there\u2019s a mod for it. But are they safe to download? Do mods allow hackers to conceal malware that threatens your devices and data?<\/p>\n<h2 dir=\"auto\">Ep. 4<\/h2>\n<p dir=\"auto\">On the latest episode of \u201cHackable?\u201d the team investigates if the mods Geoff\u2019s son is downloading are putting his computer at risk. We invited white-hat hacker Tim Martin back on the show to create a Minecraft mod for Geoff. Listen and learn if Tim is able to hide dangerous code in a seemingly innocuous game update.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">Listen now to the award-winning podcast \u201cHackable?\u201d.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\"><a href=\"https:\/\/link.chtbl.com\/hackable?sid=Orion.Ep28\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-95476 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/securingtomorrow.mcafee.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/ListenHackable_Button_Vr3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1322\" height=\"123\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/ListenHackable_Button_Vr3.jpg 1322w, https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/ListenHackable_Button_Vr3-300x28.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/ListenHackable_Button_Vr3-768x71.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/ListenHackable_Button_Vr3-1024x95.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1322px) 100vw, 1322px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.simplecast.com\/c7d33889-da75-49a0-9258-195348ae6c5a?dark=false\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cHackable?\u201d host Geoff Siskind\u2019s son is a huge fan of the world-building computer game Minecraft \u2014 and downloads \u201cmods\u201d for&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1005,"featured_media":95754,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10661],"tags":[],"coauthors":[5385],"class_list":["post-95753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-internet-security"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Can Video Game \u201cMods\u201d Expose Players to Malware? | McAfee Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cHackable?\u201d host Geoff Siskind\u2019s son is a huge fan of the world-building computer game Minecraft \u2014 and downloads \u201cmods\u201d for it often. These mods are\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can Video Game \u201cMods\u201d Expose Players to Malware? | McAfee Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cHackable?\u201d host Geoff Siskind\u2019s son is a huge fan of the world-building computer game Minecraft \u2014 and downloads \u201cmods\u201d for it often. These mods are\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/can-video-game-mods-expose-players-to-malware\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"McAfee Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/McAfee\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/McAfee\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-02T17:14:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-29T09:05:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Ep28_900x900.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hackable? 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