this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2026
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The 'MovieReaper' malware has infected hundreds of users, according to antivirus provider Kaspersky, which traced the attack to iTorrents.org, a site that appears to be compromised.

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[–] Chronographs@lemmy.zip 21 points 1 week ago (4 children)

If you run an exe expecting it to be a movie you kind of deserve it.

[–] A404@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 1 week ago (3 children)

windows hides file extensions by default.

[–] brax@sh.itjust.works 18 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I still don't get why this is the default, and why people don't change it when they install. It's been a detriment of the OS since day one, and changing that one thing alone probably could have saved so many people over the decades.

[–] LodeMike@lemmy.today 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] brax@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 week ago

I think it's in the view menu, or in folder options somewhere. I only really use Windows at work these days so I can't check it right now. But yeah, you can turn on extensions. It used to be one of the first things I did on a Windows install.

[–] daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 week ago

DOS making file extensions a fundamental part of their filesystem just to hide them by default in windows is some good irony.

[–] Chronographs@lemmy.zip -3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

So unhide them? It will still say Application under type. I’m not going to defend Microsoft doing that but it’s not like it’s a new thing or it’s hard to fix.

[–] AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] Chronographs@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Sure, but this isn’t geochemistry it’s the most popular desktop OS in the world that the person in this scenario ostensibly owns and uses. In addition, they’re using it for the famously risky practice of piracy so you’d expect a modicum of caution.

[–] AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You've never ever played tech support for a relative. I can tell.

[–] Chronographs@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I absolutely have, and if they infected themselves with The.Odyssey.2026.1080p.AMZN.WEBDL.H265.exe I would absolutely make fun of them.

[–] A404@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Thats not very nice of you

[–] Chronographs@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 week ago

Can’t argue that, but hopefully it’d be motivation for them to look at what they’re opening.

[–] PabloSexcrowbar@piefed.social 5 points 1 week ago

I've gotten infections from payloads hidden in MP4 metadata before. It doesn't have to be an exe.

[–] bss03@infosec.pub 3 points 1 week ago

It would be a kinder world if ignorance wasn't exploited / punished.

But, yeah. It's not like malware in movies was the first time that ignorance would be very much the opposite of bliss. Plenty of berries that will give you a bad time if you ignorantly eat them; and some plants (and animals) even use mimicry take advantage of the lack of observation or knowledge.

"deserve" might not be the way I'd put it, but you execute enough movies and bad things will happen to you.

[–] quickenparalysespunk@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 week ago (3 children)

if the site is compromised, the hackers wouldn't need to use .exe

just visiting the site would be enough to get infected, potentially

or even clicking on an itorrents link from 1337x, cuz the latter doesn't host their own torrent files

[–] fartzo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

That kind of browser exploit isn't cheap and this is not the way that it is likely to get used.

[–] quickenparalysespunk@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

fair enough.

although the apparent goal of a hack can also be an obfuscation of the true goal which may be more worthy of expense.

whatever though. i accept the community feels I'm overreacting.

fwiw I've always avoided .exe in torrents. maybe why i thought that was a basic b level safety warning.

[–] fartzo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 week ago

Avoiding executables from untrusted sources is pretty reasonable.

[–] twix@infosec.pub 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Well if visiting a (compromised) site can get you infected the problem is not the site, but your browser, right?

i know that's a figurative way of emphasizing things in a certain way. but it's better to acknowledge that both things are problems.

[–] Chronographs@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 week ago

Sure except they did use a .exe. The article states the expected .torrent was being replaced with a .torrent that downloads an 865 MB .exe file.

[–] mysticpickle@lemmy.ca -3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)