Steam Users Warned After Downloading Malware-Laden Game PirateFi
- Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
- Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Former Lead Cybersecurity Editor
A free-to-play game on Steam called PirateFi has been found to carry malware that can steal your online information. The game, which was released on February 8, 2025, was flagged by users and antivirus software as dangerous, triggering a warning from Steam itself.
In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!
- PirateFi is a free-to-play game that infects PCs with dangerous malware.
- Malware steals browser cookies, giving hackers access to online accounts.
- Steam warned affected users to run antivirus scans and check for suspicious software.
The malware, once installed, targets users’ browser cookies, allowing the hacker behind PirateFi to hijack online accounts, as first reported by PCMag .
This means your social media, email, and even banking accounts could be at risk. Steam has advised affected users to run antivirus scans and check their computers for unfamiliar software.
A game called PirateFi released on Steam last week and it contained malware. Valve have removed the game two days ago. Users that played the game have received the following email: pic.twitter.com/B98BFs0WbK — SteamDB (@SteamDB) February 12, 2025
One user, who tried to run PirateFi, said their antivirus flagged the game as a Trojan virus, specifically “Trojan.Win32.Lazzzy.gen.”
The malware downloads itself onto the computer and hides in a folder under the name Howard.exe. From there, it starts stealing browser cookies, giving the hacker access to various accounts, as reported by PCMag.
The damage doesn’t stop there. Several users who downloaded PirateFi reported that their accounts were hijacked.
One user mentioned that their Microsoft account was stolen, while another saw $20 taken from their Roblox account and scam messages sent to friends. Even Steam points were stolen and used to buy awards for fake bot accounts.
The game has been circulating in various ways, including through a job offer posted in a Telegram chat, claiming to pay $17 an hour for an in-game chat moderator position. A PCMag reader investigated and discovered the job offer was a trick to get users to download PirateFi onto their computers.
Users have also noticed that the screenshots for PirateFi on Steam seem to be copied from another game, raising further suspicions about the game’s legitimacy.
Steam has urged users to reinstall Windows to ensure the malware is fully removed, as it may be difficult to completely clean your system otherwise. According to SteamDB, PirateFi may have been downloaded by over 800 users.
Valve, Steam’s parent company, has not yet commented on how the malware-ridden game made it onto their platform.
Photo by zhang kaiyv on Unsplash
Chinese Search Engine Baidu Will Make AI Model Ernie Open Source
- Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
- Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Former Lead Cybersecurity Editor
The Chinese search engine giant Baidu announced this Friday it will release the next generation of its AI model Ernie in June and will make it open-source.
In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!
- Baidu will release its AI model Ernie for free in April.
- More advanced versions, Ernie 4.5 and Ernie 5 will be launched in the following months.
- The Chinese company will make its AI models open source.
According to Reuters , Robin Li, Baidu’s CEO, has been a strong advocate for closed-source AI models, as he previously believed it was the best strategy for development. However, recent events such as DeepSeek’s arrival with a cheaper, more advanced, and open-source alternative, have made many companies and CEOs reconsider their approach.
“If you open things up, a lot of people will be curious enough to try it. This will help spread the technology much faster,” said Li at the World Government Summit in Dubai on Tuesday.
Baidu will make its AI chatbot Ernie free starting on April 1 and will transform its AI technology into an open-source model by June 30.
“We will gradually launch the Ernie 4.5 series in the coming months and officially open-source it from June 30,” said Badu in a WeChat post this Friday.
Baidu also informed that a deep search feature is now available and will be included in the free version in April.
The tech giant released premium versions over a year ago but has struggled to gain massive adoption compared to other chatbots like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, or DeepSeek now.
China’s most popular chatbot is Doubao, ByteDance’s model, with almost 80 million users, followed by DeepSeek with 33 million, and Ernie with 13 million according to Aicpb.com.
Baidu also expects to launch a more advanced model, Ernie 5, by the second half of the year, as reported to Reuters by sources familiar with the matter.
OpenAI launched its o3-mini model and deep research feature for ChatGPT a few days ago for users with subscriptions.
