Don’t miss out on our latest stories. Add PCMag as a preferred source on Google.
YouTube videos that advertise ways to help viewers “crack” and run software for free, including Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop, have been found trying to spread malware.
Cybersecurity company Check Point today warned about the threat, which has been circulating via 3,000 malicious YouTube videos for several years.
“The network appears to be active at least since 2021, maintaining a steady output of malicious content each year,” Check Point wrote in its report. “Notably, in 2025, the creation of such videos has tripled, highlighting both the scalability and increasing effectiveness of this malware distribution campaign.”
The scheme worked by enticing YouTube viewers to download archives hosted on Dropbox, Google Drive, or MediaFire. Fake comments left on the videos also made it appear that the game hacks or bootleg software were legitimate.
“The most common lures were free or cracked software such as Adobe Photoshop, FL Studio, and Microsoft Office, or game hacks for titles such as Roblox,” according to Check Point, which has been investigating the threat for the past year. Links to download the archives were also posted in the YouTube video description or shared as pinned comments.
Users who fell for the scheme were also instructed to disable Windows Defender, the built-in antivirus, before opening the downloaded archives and executing the program inside. In reality, victims were installing Windows-based malware such as Lumma or Rhadamanthys, which can steal data from their computers, including passwords and details about cryptocurrency wallets.
The hackers circulated their attack by creating new YouTube accounts and hijacking existing ones. In one instance, a “compromised YouTube channel with 129,000 subscribers posted a cracked version of Adobe Photoshop, reaching 291,000 views and over 1,000 likes,” Check Point said. Another video focused on the music production software FL Studio received over 147,000 views.
The findings serve as a reminder to exercise caution when using pirated software and content, as hackers frequently exploit these to spread malware. Check Point named the threat the YouTube Ghost Network and alerted Google, which has taken down most of the videos. But some remain up.
Google didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But Check Point told PCMag that it “discovered and reported over 3,000 videos to Google on September 25th. While verifying and removing each video individually takes significantly more time, we reported all of them. Later, we also shared our full report on how these networks operate, which could help Google/YouTube more effectively identify similar videos or future distribution attempts.”
About Our Expert
I’ve been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I’m currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country’s technology sector.
Since 2020, I’ve covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I’ve combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink’s cellular service.
I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. Earlier this year, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.
I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I’m now following how President Trump’s tariffs will affect the industry. I’m always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.
-
Iridium: SpaceX-EchoStar Spectrum Deal Will Be ‘Disruptive,’ Force a Pivot
-
Former Director at US Hacking Tool Provider May Have Sold Secrets to Russia
-
‘This Is Insanity’: DDR RAM Prices Soar Due to AI Demand
-
Nvidia GPU Heads Into Orbit on a Mission to Test Data Centers in Space
-
Amazon Reportedly Wants Robots to Replace 600,000 Human Hires
-
More from Michael Kan
