Baseless Malware Accusations Don't Hold Value

Analysis and Logs Don't Lie

First off, I don't consider antivirus scans reliable analysis tools. I would even go so far to say that sandboxing tools like Triage and Any.Run aren't always reliable. This isn't because they are bad tools, it's because people don't know how to properly use them. For example, Triage might see a file get downloaded to the temporary file folder. It might scream THIS IS A DROPPER! But is it really? Or is it just downloading an update for the program? There is a lot of nuance that needs to go into malware analysis. A flag being thrown out there doesn't mean it's a red flag. This doesn't mean that sandboxing tools like Triage are bad, it's just that you can't just give your average joe a tool that's designed for people skilled in cybersecurity and malware analysis and expect them to use it properly. This leads to misinterpretations.

These tools expect some level of critical thinking on the user's end. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people cheating in video games are so technically illiterate that I actually think my IQ drops slowly when I converse with some of them. Also, people love to imagine the worst. "Oh no, I saw a GET request to some random Cloudflare reverse proxy!"

Guess what? That’s a normal thing to do when the cheat checks if your copy is legitimate. Some cheats use encrypted communication (shocking, I know) to secure data from prying eyes. No, it’s not exfiltrating your personal data. It’s just communicating with a server like any legitimate software does. So, grab your Wireshark and MITMProxy, and actually do some network traffic analysis, and you’ll see that in many cases, there's nothing malicious to be found.

Stop Accusing Without Evidence

It’s really easy to point fingers and assume the worst, but let’s be honest. If you can’t bother to understand the basics of how software works, then don’t start slinging accusations. Don’t call something "malware" just because it interacts with your system in ways you don’t understand. Just because you got a "GameHack" (you're embarassing yourself by asking if a "GameHack" is malicious) or "Wacatac" (Generic name for malware through heuristics, which are terribly notorious for false positives), doesn't mean your computer is going to be in shambles. Breathe. It'll be alright.

If you really think your game cheat is malicious, do some research. Use tools like Procmon or Wireshark to understand what’s going on under the hood. Look at the binaries with reverse engineering tools. If you still think it’s malware after doing all of this, fine — don’t use it. But don’t just throw wild accusations around with nothing to back them up. We just laugh at you guys for that.

I’ve dealt with dozens of people who call JJSploit the average malware slop, whether it’s a Bitcoin miner, a remote access trojan (RAT), adware, or spyware. It’s apparently "all of the above," if you know what I mean. Doesn’t make much sense. Is it really a Swiss Army knife of malware? Not really.

And when I ask for actual feasible evidence of such, I can’t get much. They just resort to the classic fallback: "Well, I just know it’s malicious," "Someone else told me that it was," "You're involved with them, why should I trust you," "My antivirus told me it was," and all of these faceless deflections that have zero logical value. You can't back up logic with fallacies and deflections.

Come on, seriously? You’re telling me this one tool is somehow everything from a cryptocurrency miner to a RAT, adware, and spyware all at once, and nobody can provide a shred of proof? But sure, let’s just roll with it—because clearly, the sheer number of wild accusations is all the evidence we need, right?

It’s sort of like if I were to say...

"Every time I use the air conditioning, the lights flicker in my house. So the air conditioner must be trying to start a blackout just to mess with me. It's clearly a conspiracy!"

In reality, the cause of the flicker is due to the fundamentals of electricity. If I were to understand that, I’d realize the air conditioner is just drawing a significant amount of power, causing a small voltage dip that makes the lights flicker. But hey, who has time to learn basic principles? It's so much more fun to believe my air conditioner is part of some elaborate scheme to ruin my day.

So, let’s say your close friend tells you the software is malicious. Should you believe them? Maybe. But here's the thing: people love to exaggerate things to the point where it’s practically unrecognizable.

Your friend might genuinely think they’re helping you out, but remember, rumors spread fast, and half the time, they're just retelling what they've heard from someone else who’s also half-informed. It’s like that game of telephone where someone whispers, “Oh, it’s just a cheat,” and by the time it gets to you, it’s “A FULL-BLOWN CYBERATTACK THAT WILL BRICK YOUR COMPUTER AND STEAL ALL YOUR SECRETS.”

But What About the Security Risks?

Okay, I get it. Cheats can still have risks. Running any third-party software that interacts with your system introduces security vulnerabilities. That’s true for cheats, just like it’s true for any other application you install. But the key is to be discerning about what you’re running. Use cheats from trusted sources. Don’t use suspiciously-named cheats from shady websites. Especially look out for typosquatting. Had a couple of idiots install JJSploit from jjsploit.net which is not the official download, only wearedevs.net is.

The bottom line is this: Stop panicking. Think for yourself. Just because a program interacts with your system in a way you don’t understand doesn’t mean it’s out to get you. We all need to be a little more critical and cautious, but don’t let fear of the unknown turn into wild accusations. Learn how these cheats work. Learn how to analyze malware. Analyze, verify, and most importantly: use your brain.

A Little Kickstart

If you want to start analyzing exploits to test their safety, I would look into tools like Wireshark for monitoring network traffic, Procmon for observing system calls and file activity, and IDA Pro (or Ghidra, if you're looking for a free alternative) for reverse engineering binaries. These tools are essential for anyone looking to dive deeper into malware analysis or just understand how certain software behaves under the hood.

Just remember—don’t expect a quick fix or immediate results. Analysis takes time, practice, and a willingness to dive into the weeds of how things work. You might have to learn a lot of basics before even scratching the surface, but once you’re comfortable with these tools, you’ll be in a much better position to make your own conclusions about the safety of software and cheats.

Combine this with a strong mind, and you're basically all set. Here are some of the thought patterns you'll need:

Data exfiltration fundamentally requires sending personal data out of your LAN, so if you see a game cheat or software sending encrypted traffic to a server, that doesn’t mean it’s stealing your data. It means it’s just sending data out in a way that’s protected from prying eyes. You need to assess the type of traffic (e.g., is it login data, encryption keys, or user IDs?) before jumping to conclusions.

Memory manipulation (like changing in-game values) doesn’t inherently mean a cheat is malicious. Cheats modify game state by changing values in memory. It's a typical and necessary behavior for any kind of game modification. When your antivirus flags this, it's usually just reacting to the way cheats interact with memory, not to any real malicious intent.

Flags and warnings from antivirus tools don’t always mean there’s a threat. Just because something looks suspicious doesn’t automatically mean it’s malicious. It’s important to question the why and how—what’s actually being flagged and why it might be flagged by the tool, based on known patterns or heuristics.

Not every file downloaded or process started is a sign of malicious intent. Many people panic when they see a file being downloaded or a new process appearing, assuming it’s a virus or malware. However, software often needs to download additional files for things like updates, patches, or supporting libraries. The key here is to understand the intended behavior of the program. A file being downloaded by itself isn’t a red flag—it’s the purpose and behavior of the file that matters.

Closing Thoughts

In the end, if you’re going to accuse every cheat of being malicious just because you didn’t do the research, you're making pointless arguments that might, quite literally, be worse than 90% of the political arguments thrown around in the United States.

I mean, come on—at least politicians argue with a little bit of logic sometimes, right? (Well, at least some of them.) But throwing around baseless accusations without understanding the fundamentals of how software works? That’s a whole new level of intellectual dishonesty.

As always, I’m here to help. I know a lot, but I am not a miracle worker. Hope you enjoyed this rant. Now go forth and use that brain of yours. Don’t accuse before you understand. It's a much better way to get through life, trust me.