Suddenly you have tens of thousands of users who have effectively installed a trojan on their computer.Ĭhaos can then remotely deploy any code he chooses to users simply by releasing updated code on his GitHub. Users install Harmony (redesigned) with the bundled with it.

Then they implemented an access control list that would block certain Steam IDs from using their mods or interrogating any of their code. They then added fake error messages into this mod which would fire if you used the original Harmony, enticing users to their version.

forked another popular mod, and set their version of Harmony as a dependency. Talking to NME, a moderator of the Cities: Skyline subreddit said, This practice came to light when legit modders inspected the new Harmony code after receiving complaints of performance regression from users of their mods. Chaos then used the updater to deliver malware to any device that downloaded it, crippling the performance of mods by other developers.Ĭhaos advertised other mods as solutions to reverse the adverse effects of the original mod and thus, spread the malware even more. It all started in 2021 when a modder by the name Chaos launched a modified Harmony mod with an automatic updater. Late last week, NME reported that popular Cities: Skylines mods were infected with a trojan horse that was targeted at specific modders and employees of game developer Colossal Order. However, gamers were in shock as news started coming out that some of the mods contained malware that opened the doors to all kinds of unwanted stuff like keyloggers, viruses, and even Bitcoin miners. Cities: Skylines is a strategy game with a vibrant modding community.

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