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Millions of Fornite gamers may have allowed hackers to download malicious apps onto their phones without ever realising.
A serious flaw in the first Fortnite installer – an app that helps users download the game on their Android phones – allowed any app on a user’s phone to silently install other apps.
The discovery was made by Google’s security team after Fornite maker, Epic Games, decided to release its own installer as a way to bypass the Google Play Store.
The Google Play Store is the app store for Android phones, used on smartphone models from Samsung, Sony and Huawei.
It is considered a more secure way to download apps from the internet, which could contain viruses or malware.
But Fortnite, the widely popular cartoon-like online game where players compete in a “battle royale”, isn’t featured.
Instead, Epic Games decided to skip using the Google Play store to distribute Fornite so that it could avoid paying Google a 30pc cut of its game’s revenue.
What is Fortnite: Battle Royale?
Fornite: Battle Royale has quickly become one of the world’s most popular online games. Free to play, Battle Royale was released in 2017 by Epic Games, a firm based in North Carolina. It was designed as a spinoff from the company’s main release, Fortnite. The game allows users to compete against dozens of others around the world in a last-man-standing deathmatch.
What happens in the game?
Up to 100 players start off the deathmatch in a flying bus. One by one, they drop to the ground of the game’s map, which includes areas called ‘Tomato Town’, ‘Tilted Towers’, and ‘Shifty Shafts’. Players then quickly have to arm themselves and find shelter. The aim is to kill every other player and emerge as the sole survivor. Players are given a huge amount of choice – they can focus on amassing weapons, building an elaborate base, or luring others into traps. Most games last for around 20 minutes.
How many people play it?
Estimates vary on just how many people play Battle Royale. Data from financial information service MarketWatch however, suggests the game pulls in 40 million users each month. That shows a huge rise in popularity in recent months: at it’s previous peak the game showed a concurrent player count of 3.4 million, and a total player count of 45 million.
How much money does it make?
In just one month in April 2018, Fortnite made $296 million across all of its platforms (including console, PC, and mobile), according to research company Superdata. This made it the highest-grossing digital console game that month, the data showed.
How does it compare with other online games?
Battle Royale has quickly become one of the world’s most popular and successful online multiplayer games. Its 40 million monthly users makes it more popular than its giant competitor, Grand Theft Auto V Online, which is produced by Rockstar Games as part of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, which is one of the most profitable entertainment franchises in history.
Google’s security team first disclosed the vulnerability privately to Epic Games on August 15. Epic Games said it fixed the issue within hours of being informed.
Google found that the installer was vulnerable to what is known as a “man-in-the-disk” attack.
Fortnite downloads an APK, which is the package for Android apps, stores it locally and then launches it.
The installer, however, only checked that the name of the APK was right. If a file wascalled “com.epicgames.fortnite”, it would launch it, regardless of whether it was fake or malicious.
This means hackers could intercept the request to download Fornite and download something else instead, such as spyware.
Ahead of its release on Android, cyber security company Sophos warned the decision to bypass the Google Play store could backfire.
“[It] risks undermining one of the simplest, most useful and easiest to remember pieces of security advice we can offer: stick to Google Play,” it said.
NCC chief technology officer Ollie Whitehouse told the Telegraph: “It is not what we would recommend.
“There is a lot of effort put into securing these stores, and this is setting a precedent.”
–
Telegraph
