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Argamal RAT: attackers distributing a remote access Trojan through hentai games | Kaspersky official blog

By: GReAT
9 June 2026 at 18:57

In April 2026, we discovered a new campaign targeting users of hentai games. Attackers are embedding a remote access Trojan named Argamal into game installers. While concealing its presence, it can remotely control the computer and steal files and personal data.

Here’s how to avoid falling victim to this new Trojan — and how to safely and anonymously enjoy spicy content with (or without) anime girls.

How computers get infected with Argamal

Most of the infected games are distributed through adult game and torrent sites. In some cases, they are posted for download on file-sharing services and linked on gaming websites.

Trojanized hentai game Sleeping Twins hosted on AniRena

Example of a trojanized game hosted on the AniRena torrent tracker

Interestingly, instead of finding a dummy file inside the archive — as is often the case — the user gets the actual game built on popular engines like RenPy or RPG Maker. Infected pirated versions usually turn out to be scams: games fail to launch, folders are full of files with bizarre extensions, making it rather easy to put two and two together. Here, however, the user gets the actual gameplay they expected. Meanwhile, the Trojan lets itself in and keeps a completely low profile.

Malicious website featuring a library of trojanized hentai games

Example of a trojanized game hosted on the AniRena torrent tracker

Tucked right alongside the legitimate files in the archive is a DLL that the game relies on to run, but it’s been rigged: as soon as the user launches the game, the infected DLL automatically loads into memory. There are no outward signs of infection: neither an installer popping up in the background, nor a scary window or prompt asking you to disable your antivirus.

Argamal takes things real slow: instead of immediately rushing to steal files and passwords or throwing a digital rager on your computer, the Trojan first checks whether it’s running in a virtual machine or sandbox, and then goes into standby mode.

During this time, the malware writes hidden parameters to the system, conceals the paths to its DLLs, and delays its own execution. Three days later, the computer connects to GitHub, downloads an encrypted file, decrypts it, and turns it into a working Trojan module.

To ensure persistence, the attackers register the malware under the WindowsColorSystem Calibration Loader system task, a built-in Windows feature that triggers at every user logon to load monitor color profiles. Before shutting down, the malware deletes temporary files and covers its tracks to make it even harder to detect.

What makes Argamal dangerous?

Argamal is a remote access Trojan (RAT), which means attackers can use it to remotely control the victim’s computer. Here’s just a short list of what it may entail:

  • Executing arbitrary commands on the computer
  • Downloading and running files
  • Checking if an antivirus is installed on the PC (by the way, our security solution detects and neutralizes Argamal before it can harm you)
  • Searching for and exfiltrating sensitive data from files and system settings
  • Taking screenshots and streaming video from the device
  • Sending data to the attackers’ server
  • Monitoring user activity
  • Shutting down or restarting the device

Essentially, the infected computer turns into a remotely controlled machine. The owner may keep calmly going about their day, completely unaware that their device has been compromised. Yet the consequences of such an infection can be devastating.

For example, a single password stolen from a text note can lead to multiple compromised accounts at once if the victim reuses the same credentials across different sites. That’s why we recommend storing strong and unique passwords in an encrypted vault of a password manager rather than in plain text files.

Beyond hijacking accounts, the Trojan lets attackers literally spy on the user — reading their chats, digging into secret files, studying their sexual preferences… The cybercriminals can then use this highly sensitive information for subsequent attacks, blackmail, and extortion. We’ve covered what to do if you find yourself being targeted by extortionists in a previous post.

Another common scenario involves quietly stealing or substituting financial data — for instance, intercepting credentials from banking apps or replacing crypto-wallet addresses in the clipboard, which sends all your money straight to the attackers’ accounts.

In short, there’s a whole laundry list of ways attackers can exploit a victim’s device and data.

Argamal, yamete kudasai! How to protect yourself from similar threats

If you’ve decided to become the proud owner of “Waifu Simulator Ultra Definitive Edition”, stay on your guard:

  • Use security software that runs in real time and catches sophisticated malware. Despite the attackers’ best efforts to make the Trojan invisible, Kaspersky Premium instantly detects and removes Argamal from users’ devices.
  • Avoid downloading adult apps, installation files, and spicy content from untrusted sources. Clicking a “free XXX game, no signup needed” is a surefire way to invite malware onto your device. That said, even official platforms like Google Play and the App Store unfortunately let infected apps slip through the cracks at times. To stop worrying about accidentally downloading a Trojan or an infostealer, use Kaspersky Premium on all your devices.
  • Don’t share more data than you absolutely have to. If an adult game or website insists you sign up, enter personal data, or link third-party accounts instead of just checking your birth date, that’s a huge red flag. Sites rarely collect sensitive data for no reason. In the best-case scenario, it ends up with marketers and ad trackers. In the worst-case, it falls into the hands of bad actors who will use it for blackmail, phishing, or breaking into your other accounts.
  • Don’t click ad banners on adult websites. Even the most popular platforms like Pornhub occasionally host ads laced with malware. If you find it hard to hold back, use a security solution that will block malware downloads and prevent redirects to suspicious sites.

The Stealka stealer hijacks accounts and steals crypto while masquerading as pirated software | Kaspersky official blog

18 December 2025 at 14:34

In November 2025, Kaspersky experts uncovered a new stealer named Stealka, which targets Windows users’ data. Attackers are using Stealka to hijack accounts, steal cryptocurrency, and install a crypto miner on their victims’ devices. Most frequently, this infostealer disguises itself as game cracks, cheats and mods.

Here’s how the attackers are spreading the stealer, and how you can protect yourself.

How Stealka spreads

A stealer is a type of malware that collects confidential information stored on the victim’s device and sends it to the attackers’ server. Stealka is primarily distributed via popular platforms like GitHub, SourceForge, Softpedia, sites.google.com, and others, disguised as cracks for popular software, or cheats and mods for games. For the malware to be activated, the user must run the file manually.

Here’s an example: a malicious Roblox mod published on SourceForge.

Attackers exploited SourceForge, a legitimate website, to upload a mod containing Stealka

Attackers exploited SourceForge, a legitimate website, to upload a mod containing Stealka

And here’s one on GitHub posing as a crack for Microsoft Visio.

A pirated version of Microsoft Visio containing the stealer, hosted on GitHub

A pirated version of Microsoft Visio containing the stealer, hosted on GitHub

Sometimes, however, attackers go a step further (and possibly use AI tools) to create entire fake websites that look quite professional. Without the help of a robust antivirus, the average user is unlikely to realize anything is amiss.

A fake website pretending to offer Roblox scripts

A fake website pretending to offer Roblox scripts

Admittedly, the cracks and software advertised on these fake sites can sometimes look a bit off. For example, here the attackers are offering a download for Half-Life 3, while at the same time claiming it’s not actually a game but some kind of “professional software solution designed for Windows”.

Malware disguised as Half-Life 3

Malware disguised as Half-Life 3, which is also somehow “a professional software solution designed for Windows”. A lot of professionals clearly spent their best years on this software…

The truth is that both the page title and the filename are just bait. The attackers simply use popular search terms to lure users into downloading the malware. The actual file content has nothing to do with what’s advertised — inside, it’s always the same infostealer.

The site also claimed that all hosted files were scanned for viruses. When the user decides to download, say, a pirated game, the site displays a banner saying the file is being scanned by various antivirus engines. Of course, no such scanning actually takes place; the attackers are merely trying to create an illusion of trustworthiness.

The pirated file pretends to be scanned by a dozen antivirus tools

The pirated file pretends to be scanned by a dozen antivirus tools

What makes Stealka dangerous

Stealka has a fairly extensive arsenal of capabilities, but its prime target is data from browsers built on the Chromium and Gecko engines. This puts over a hundred different browsers at risk, including popular ones like Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Yandex Browser, Edge, Brave, as well as many, many others.

Browsers store a huge amount of sensitive information, which attackers use to hijack accounts and continue their attacks. The main targets are autofill data, such as sign-in credentials, addresses, and payment card details. We’ve warned repeatedly that saving passwords in your browser is risky — attackers can extract them in seconds. Cookies and session tokens are perhaps even more valuable to hackers, as they can allow criminals to bypass two-factor authentication and hijack accounts without entering the password.

The story doesn’t end with the account hack. Attackers use these compromised accounts to spread the malware further. For example, we discovered the stealer in a GTAV mod posted on a dedicated site by an account that had previously been compromised.

Beyond stealing browser data, Stealka also targets the settings and databases of 115 browser extensions for crypto wallets, password managers, and 2FA services. Here are some of the most popular extensions now at risk:

  • Crypto wallets: Binance, Coinbase, Crypto.com, SafePal, Trust Wallet, MetaMask, Ton, Phantom, Exodus
  • Two-factor authentication: Authy, Google Authenticator, Bitwarden
  • Password management: 1Password, Bitwarden, LastPass, KeePassXC, NordPass

Finally, the stealer also downloads local settings, account data, and service files from a wide variety of applications:

  • Crypto wallets. Wallet configurations may contain encrypted private keys, seed-phrase data, wallet file paths, and encryption parameters. That’s enough to at least make an attempt at stealing your cryptocurrency. At risk are 80 wallet applications, including Binance, Bitcoin, BitcoinABC, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Exodus, Mincoin, MyCrypto, MyMonero, Monero, Nexus, Novacoin, Solar, and many others.
  • Messaging apps. Messaging app service files store account data, device identifiers, authentication tokens, and the encryption parameters for your conversations. In theory, a malicious actor could gain access to your account and read your chats. At risk are Discord, Telegram, Unigram, Pidgin, Tox, and others.
  • Password managers. Even if the passwords themselves are encrypted, the configuration files often contain information that makes cracking the vault significantly easier: encryption parameters, synchronization tokens, and details about the vault version and structure. At risk are 1Password, Authy, Bitwarden, KeePass, LastPass, and NordPass.
  • Email clients. These are where your account credentials, mail server connection settings, authentication tokens, and local copies of your emails can be found. With access to your email, an attacker will almost certainly attempt to reset passwords for your other services. At risk are Gmail Notifier Pro, Claws, Mailbird, Outlook, Postbox, The Bat!, Thunderbird, and TrulyMail.
  • Note-taking apps. Instead of shopping lists or late-night poetry, some users store information in their notes that has no business being there, like seed phrases or passwords. At risk are NoteFly, Notezilla, SimpleStickyNotes, and Microsoft StickyNotes.
  • Gaming services and clients. The local files of gaming platforms and launchers store account data, linked service information, and authentication tokens. At risk are Steam, Roblox, Intent Launcher, Lunar Client, TLauncher, Feather Client, Meteor Client, Impact Client, Badlion Client, and WinAuth for battle.net.
  • VPN clients. By gaining access to configuration files, attackers can hijack the victim’s VPN account to mask their own malicious activities. At risk are AzireVPN, OpenVPN, ProtonVPN, Surfshark, and WindscribeVPN.

That’s an extensive list — and we haven’t even named all of them! In addition to local files, this infostealer also harvests general system data: a list of installed programs, the OS version and language, username, computer hardware information, and miscellaneous settings. And as if that weren’t enough, the malware also takes screenshots.

How to protect yourself from Stealka and other infostealers

  • Secure your device with reliable antivirus software. Even downloading files from legitimate websites is no guarantee of safety — attackers leverage trusted platforms to distribute stealers all the time. Kaspersky Premium detects malware on your computer in time and alerts you to the threat.
  • Don’t store sensitive information in browsers. It’s handy — no one can argue with that. But unfortunately browsers aren’t the most secure environment for your data. Sign-in credentials, bank card details, secret notes, and other confidential information are better kept in a securely encrypted format in Kaspersky Password Manager, which is immune to the exploits used by Stealka.
  • Be careful with game cheats, mods, and especially pirated software. It’s better to pay up for official software than to chase the false savings offered by software cracks, and end up losing all your money.
  • Enable two-factor authentication or use backup codes wherever possible. Two-factor authentication (2FA) makes life much harder for attackers, while backup codes help you regain access to your critical accounts if compromised. Just be sure not to store backup codes in text documents, notes, or your browser. For all your backup codes and 2FA tokens, use a reliable password manager.

Curious what other stealers are out there, and what they’re capable of? Read more in our other posts:

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