*SERIOUS ISSUE*: Trojans hidden in game files

[Vector Van Damme]

I was just installing after purchasing this game when my Norton Antivirus indicated some security threats it had just removed. It seems to think trojans are in files for levels 11, two in level 12, 13, and 19 if the file descriptions are to be believed. I stopped downloading and uninstalled at around 30% so I don't know if there is any more than that. Here's the report on the one that looks like it's from level 11 as an example.

Filename: 1c7308e8a0159d8a6b23758b65efbeaf.rsc.sse
Threat name: Trojan.Gen.NPE.2Full Path: d:\steamlibrary\steamapps\downloading\448850\overload_data\gi\level11\1c\1c7308e8a0159d8a6b23758b65efbeaf.rsc.sse

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On computers as of 
8/8/2018 at 12:07:28 PM

Last Used 
8/8/2018 at 12:07:28 PM

Startup Item 
No

Launched 
No

Threat type: Virus. Programs that infect other programs, files, or areas of a computer by inserting themselves or attaching themselves to that medium.


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1c7308e8a0159d8a6b23758b65efbeaf.rsc.sse Threat name: Trojan.Gen.NPE.2
Locate


Few Users
Fewer than 100 users in the Norton Community have used this file.

Very New
This file was released less than 1 week  ago.

High
This file risk is high.


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Source: External Media


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File Actions

File: d:\steamlibrary\steamapps\downloading\448850\overload_data\gi\level11\1c\ 1c7308e8a0159d8a6b23758b65efbeaf.rsc.sse Blocked
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File Thumbprint - SHA:
Not available
File Thumbprint - MD5:
Not available


Anyone care to explain wtf is going on? I didn't by this game on my new computer just to see it get wrecked by malicious software within the first couple of days. If this is just my Norton being weird (which I doubt but isn't outside the realm of possibility) I'd be more than happy to eat my words as I've been really looking forward to this game.

[CHILLYBUS]

I'm willing to bet large sums of money this is a set of false positives, or infection from some other software/files that's trying to get into incoming traffic on your machine. That being said, I /have/ seen the 'Fewer than 100 users in the XXXXX Community have used this file.' message before, but that's just a cautionary one, not indicative of any viral infection.

Tons of folks have played this since the very beginnings of early access and private alphas and such, and I don't think anyone's had their AV trip them up -- and if they have they've not reported it.

Also, the team themselves are a set of highly credible, respected developers within the industry with decades of experience building software -- there's no reason or incentive for them to be putting anything malicious anywhere.

[Jaknet]

With the amount of time this has been played and the amount of people playing since closed access and then open early access and this is the first report, I'd lay the blame with Norton

[Miasmic]

I am also willing to bet this is a case of Norton false positives (Norton is kinda wack).

[Valkyrie Celes]

We *just* started getting a few reports of AV software flagging the game as unsafe like this. I'm guessing definitions are shared between companies to some extent (as it wasn't just Norton complaining), and that they just started rolling out updates that falsely flag us. Norton at least has a way to report false flags. I feel like if we had a big publisher, we'd have *someone* that's messed with this stuff before, but this is a new thing to us - we haven't been called viruses before ;) .

https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/kb20100222230832EN_EndUserProfile_en_us

[nul]

"Trojan.Gen.NPE.2 is a generic detection for non-PE threats for which specific definitions have not been created. "
Anything with "NPE" is not actually known to be a threat or not. It's just the AV being extra careful.

[Valden21]

Originally posted by Miasmic:

I am also willing to bet this is a case of Norton false positives (Norton is kinda wack).

Wouldn't surprise me either. Norton, and Symantec to a lesser extent, have been known to do stuff like this before. Both AV programs long ago earned a reputation for getting confused and flagging innocent software as malware, so that's probably what you're seeing now.

[Vector Van Damme]

Fair enough. First time something like this has happened to me with anything from Steam but I am aware it's possible. I might take a look at the game again sometime in the future when I'm feeling a little less paranoid about my shiny new gaming rig exploding into tiny pieces because the game looks awesome and I would love to play it.

[Jaknet]

Have you tried just downloading the taster demo and playing that, at least that will give you a feel for the game

[FlyingTiger]

I blame the PTMC

[gpk99]

You can bet your sweet patootie that if games included trojans that were a serious threat to anyone's PC,that that gameMaker would be quickly shutdown by STEAM.It's a known fact that some apps are laced in this manner with malware,etc...but a game?...This would be the first time I have ever heard of such a thing. I hope you reconsider 2 things BEES...re-installing the game because it is totally fun...and SAFE....and secondly choose a better virus checker than NORTONS.

[Valden21]

In order to help reassure you, I've had this game for about two weeks. In that time, I've done AV scans on my computer, multiple times, from both Avast Free Antivirus and Malwarebytes. Neither of them flagged Overload as malware. Considering that those are two of the best AV programs out there, I'd say the game is safe. Besides, it makes no sense for a gaming company to put malware in their games.

Norton, on the other hand? It's been known to flag ITSELF as malware.

[gpk99]

Just a small warning about Avast...after a while,it embeds itself so deeply into your operating system it can actually slow a system down.

[09]

I concur with majority view here.
Bought the game July 26th or 7th. Overload has taken ALL my game time since that purchase by my choice.
I've seen no sign of malware nor "viral" activity. No software detection "alerts", no odd behavior, no lockups.
Most AV software sux and alone cannot do the job assigned in the 21st century. IMHO.

But I must admit when I first read this I did go execute a [software AV] scan - a deeper scan than default with no 'detection".

The absence of all suspect performance/behavior pleased me.
Which is great in my view because I have missed Descent since about 2001 and beating D3 without "cheats".
Overload is Descent 4 in All But Name.
I would have given it up in a flat second IF I had experienced any negative crap after installing Overload.
FWIW
PS Overload will run without Steam "overlay" which may help some folks with fps issues or the like.

[Praxis]

I stopped using Norton more than a decade ago due to the same reasons you state OP.
I'd ditch that noise and use Kaspersky for virus/malware protection. There are other good ones too but you get what you pay for.
Descent aherm Overload isn't putting malware on your computer.

[Nathan]

Originally posted by Praxis:

Descent aherm Overload isn't putting malware on your computer.

I guess you could say that the only Trojan thing about Overload is that it is 'secretly' Descent 2018 in disguise :P