Online games have always attracted cheaters to varying degrees since their inception. But thanks to a recent study conducted by Surfshark, we now know which franchise cheaters are most interested in.
Call of Duty takes the top spot, with 66 searches for cheating techniques per 1,000 users. Tomas Stamulis, Head of Security at Surfshark VPN, explained this phenomenon.
“From a cybersecurity perspective, the high search volume for cheats in games like Call of Duty represents an attack surface for threat actors. Because “cheats” inherently require users to disable antivirus software and grant high-level permissions (especially for Kernel-level games), the high search volume could act as a funnel for distributing malware, such as info-stealers and remote access trojans (RATs).
*This data suggests that the “cheating interest” in these communities doubles as a serious personal cybersecurity risk for the millions of players seeking an unfair advantage.”
Of course, Activision’s IP is not alone, as it is followed by Rocket League (59 searches per 1,000 players), Rainbow Six: Siege (53 per 1,000), Marvel Rivals (45 per 1,000), and PUBG: Battlegrounds (39 per 1,000). Finally, Fortnite comes in eighth place with 20 searches per 1,000 users.
