A fake 113GB GTA VI build is packed with malware, using massive empty files to hide a tiny malicious payload. GTA VI hype has reached the point where people are volunteering to infect their own computers just to check if a leak is real. Someone on X asked their followers to “take one for the team” and test a 113GB file claiming to be a playable Grand Theft Auto VI build, according to Tom’s Hardware’s reporting. Someone did, and the results were exactly what you’d expect. A user that goes online with the handler @Aidas29506493 analyzed the file and found that it was completely fake and contained malware. Almost all of its 113GB consisted of empty data, with a tiny malicious payload hidden inside. did some reverse engineering. it is fully fake and full of viruses pic.twitter.com/An6VnSNTkd — Aidas (@Aidas29506493) August 22, 2026 “The decompiled bytecode literally contains commands to whitelist the entire C:\ drive in Windows Defender (powershell Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath %SystemDrive%\) and kill security software (taskkill -f),” The researcher added in a post on X. They also added in another response, “It’s not 100 GB of actual code—it’s just a tiny 50 KB virus padded with 99.99% empty junk (literally endless zeroes).” It’s not 100 GB of actual code—it’s just a tiny 50 KB virus padded with 99.99% empty junk (literally endless zeroes). — Aidas (@Aidas29506493) August 22, 2026 The malware became obvious when researchers examined its code. It included commands to exclude the entire C: drive from Windows Defender and shut down other security software. Anyone who ran it could effectively disable their antivirus before the malware launched its next stage. This was not an accidental side effect, it was a deliberate step to prepare the system for further attacks. This particular fake didn’t appear in a vacuum. According to to the website IGN, that fake GTA 6 downloads have flooded piracy and torrent sites throughout the recent leak wave, riding genuine momentum from a leaker going by CyberLeek, who’s been releasing real gameplay clips and map footage in protest of Rockstar’s digital pre-order plans. That real leak activity is exactly what makes the fake downloads believable, since fans searching for CyberLeek’s actual content are primed to trust whatever else shows up alongside it. Every time GTA 6 appears in the news because of leaked footage, people quickly share it across Discord, mirror sites and other platforms. This creates the perfect conditions to trick users with fake downloads and phishing pages. With real and fake content mixed together, it becomes harder for users to tell what is safe. The scams go beyond huge fake game files. Researchers have found fake GTA 6 websites offering Windows installers that use DLL side-loading to run malware. They also found a fake “GTA 6 Mobile” app that redirects users to a domain linked to infostealers and ransomware. Other fake Rockstar Social Club login pages try to steal users’ account credentials. None of this should be surprising given the numbers involved. Kaspersky separately documented over 19 million attempted downloads of malware disguised as popular game titles across a single year, with GTA, Minecraft, and Call of Duty topping the list of abused brands specifically because of their large, dedicated communities. Big anticipated titles are a magnet for this stuff regardless of whether there’s an active leak cycle happening, and GTA VI right now has both the hype and the leak chaos simultaneously. There is no legitimate playable build of GTA VI circulating anywhere, full stop. The game launches November 19 on consoles, with a PC version to follow, and the only responsible move for anyone tempted by a torrent claiming otherwise is to close the tab. If the file looks too good to be true and it’s a hundred gigabytes of an unreleased AAA game showing up on a torrent site months early, it’s not a leak, it’s bait. Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon Pierluigi Paganini (SecurityAffairs – hacking, GTA VI Leaks)
Microsoft is rolling out a new Teams meeting protection policy that allows administrators to automatically block all identified external bots from joining Teams meetings. This new feature builds on another Teams policy introduced in June that added smarter bot protection, ensuring all detected bots are tagged in the lobby and require organizer approval before joining. The new policy goes one step further and will automatically prevent external bots from joining Teams meetings, without requiring explicit organizer confirmation before they're admitted. "With this update, organizations can strengthen meeting security by configuring Teams policies to automatically block detected external meeting bots from joining meetings," the company said in a Microsoft 365 Message Center update on Friday. "This gives administrators additional control over how identified bots are handled and can help reduce organizational risk."
A breach at South Korea's government-backed startup platform exposed encrypted personal data after an encryption key was included in an API. Penta Security explains why encryption keys must be securely managed and kept separate from the data they protect.
Microsoft has confirmed that .NET Framework updates released as part of the August 2026 Patch Tuesday are breaking printing and PDF export in some applications. In a Windows release health alert seen by BleepingComputer, Microsoft says this known issue affects only apps that use the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) UI framework, an open-source graphical subsystem for building Windows desktop client applications. "After installing the August 2026 .NET Framework cumulative update, some WPF applications may fail with a System.IO.FileFormatException when printing or generating PDF/XPS content that uses certain fonts, including Calibri," Microsoft says. The complete list of impacted platforms includes both Windows client releases (including the latest versions of Windows 10 and Windows 11) and Windows Server (from Windows Server 2012 up to Windows Server 2025).
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has ordered U.S. government agencies to patch an actively exploited vulnerability in Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) within three days. The Zimbra security team patched the security flaw (tracked as CVE-2026-73570) in version 10.1.20, released on July 20. Successful exploitation allows unauthenticated attackers to gain remote code execution by exploiting a command injection weakness in the SNMP monitoring component when SNMP notifications are enabled on the targeted system. "Due to improper sanitization of untrusted input during SNMP notification processing, an unauthenticated attacker can send specially crafted SMTP requests that may result in execution of arbitrary operating system commands as the Zimbra user," it explained. CISA's warning comes after CERT Polska, the Polish Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), first flagged the vulnerability as targeted in the wild last Monday.
Microsoft has shared a temporary fix for ongoing gaming issues caused by Windows 11 updates released during the August 2026 Patch Tuesday. On impacted PCs, users reported games crashing or failing to launch, as well as game freezes, "EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION" errors, and even unexpected system restarts. When it confirmed it was investigating this known issue on Wednesday, Microsoft said it affects games like ARC Raiders, MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls, and The Finals on systems running Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2. "Following the release of Windows updates on August 11, 2026 (KB5121003) and later, Microsoft received reports of issues involving inability to run games as expected," Microsoft noted. In a Thursday update, the company linked the gaming issues to drivers or components installed by RGB devices on affected Windows systems.
TikTok will pay $400 million to settle U.S. claims that it violated child privacy laws by collecting data from users under 13. The U.S. Department of Justice announced that TikTok will pay $400 million to settle a 2024 lawsuit over children’s privacy. “Today, the Department of Justice announced a $400 million settlement with TikTok, ByteDance, and affiliated entities (TikTok) resolving litigation concerning compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and its implementing regulations (COPPA).” reads the press release published by DoJ. “Under the settlement, TikTok will pay $300 million immediately and an additional $100 million upon entry of an order vacating a prior consent decree entered against TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly. The settlement represents one of the largest recoveries ever obtained in a COPPA case.” TikTok will pay $300 million immediately and another $100 million after a court order removes an earlier consent decree involving Musical.ly. The 2024 case, brought by the DoJ and FTC, accused TikTok of knowingly allowing children under 13 to create accounts and illegally collecting data from children using Kids Mode. Since the Justice Department filed its lawsuit against TikTok in 2024, the company has made major changes to its ownership, management, compliance, and privacy practices. It has also introduced stronger safeguards for younger users, improved age controls, and expanded parental oversight. The DOJ said these measures have advanced the goals of its case and strengthened protections for millions of U.S. families. The settlement reflects a focus on practical results, securing a significant recovery while recognizing TikTok’s compliance improvements. The case was filed in California and handled by the DOJ’s Civil Division following a referral from the FTC. “This settlement is a major victory for American children and parents,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. “The Department’s priority is ensuring that children are protected online and that companies entrusted with their personal information meet their legal obligations. This resolution secures a substantial recovery while reinforcing the protections that families expect and deserve.” TikTok has faced regulatory scrutiny over children’s privacy before. In September 2023, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission fined the company €345 million for breaching the GDPR through its handling of children’s personal data. Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon Pierluigi Paganini (SecurityAffairs – hacking, privacy)
If your developers are using AI coding tools, you are probably already seeing the upside: faster development, more code, and less time spent on routine work. The harder part is what comes after. AI can also introduce open-source packages at a pace your security team was never built to handle. More dependencies mean more vulnerabilities to review, more remediation work, and a backlog that can
Cybersecurity researchers have flagged a cyber espionage campaign targeting Myanmar that uses graduation ceremony invitation lures to deliver a Go backdoor called QUICAgent. The campaign, codenamed Operation QUICSILVER, has been found to target government and information technology sectors, per Seqrite Labs. The activity is assessed to be the work of a China-nexus threat actor with moderate
Big security risks come in small packages. While enterprise security teams focus on policing the proliferation of employees using ChatGPT and Claude for quick drafting tasks, a more urgent threat is posed by a handful of AI super-adopters who are quietly hardcoding unvetted tools into critical business operations. According to new research published by Akamai, the top 5% of enterprise power
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