“Bonus” episode of “House of the Dragon” has a nasty surprise in store for pirates * TorrentFreak
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“House of the Dragon” is one of the most watched television series, especially among pirates. The second season ended earlier this month after the eighth episode, although many fans were hoping for more. Pirates who downloaded the unexpected release of “House of the Dragon S02E09” got a surprise bonus, but not the one they were hoping for.
“Game of Thrones” and its prequel “House of the Dragon” are very popular in pirate circles.
The fact that individual episodes were repeatedly leaked before their official premiere made them even more attractive.
This summer, HBO released the second season of House of the Dragon and a third season of the series has already been confirmed. However, to the disappointment of some, there have been no leaks this year. Or have there?
After the eighth and final episode was released in early August, there was some speculation online about a ninth episode. Many people shared their ideas about a hypothetical follow-up episode, enough to confuse those who weren’t up to date on the inside jokes.
House of the Dragon S02E09
Confusion had also broken out on pirate sites. As it turned out, “House of the Dragon”, Season 2, Episode 9, had been uploaded to several reputable torrent sites. Disguised as the original, the episode had a nasty twist.
TorrentFreak spoke to a person who discovered the “episode” in their list of torrents. The publication “House of Dragons S02E09 1080p WEB h264-ETHEL mkv“ came from a torrent site and was added via an RSS feed monitored by FlexGet.
On the surface, the release mimics a real release. For example, the file size was as expected and since the torrent came from TorrentGalaxy, there were no red flags about the source either.
Of course, for diehard fans of House of the Dragon, the fact that there is no ninth episode is a clear indication. Others who aren’t quite up to speed on how long the season will be may simply not notice the glaring “mistake.” And it’s not hard to accept that some people might be inclined to download and open the release anyway, which contains something extra: a .LNK file.
Compromised LNK
Files with the LNK extension are pointers used by Windows to quickly open a file, folder, or application. When maliciously configured, which was indeed the case with this particular torrent, the .LNK extension triggered a Trojan disguised as Dragon. Nobody wants that on their computer.
Antivirus manufacturer McAfee has already warned that LNK files are increasingly being used to spread malware. The small files seem harmless, but can trigger the execution of other programs and invite malware to penetrate the operating system – with potentially devastating consequences.
A quick look at one of VirusTotal’s scans for fake TV show torrents explains it all. Antivirus vendors don’t all agree on what it is, but a “Fragtor” Trojan is mentioned over and over again.
The fake House of the Dragon torrent has been distributed through several websites, and there are also equally suspicious alternatives. These include:House of Dragons S02E09.720p WEB H264-NHTFS.mkv‘, which also comes with a LNK file.
Torrent sites and HBO react
The person who “caught” the torrent in their RSS feed did not fall for the scam. They also noticed that the fraudulent file had already been deleted by TorrentGalaxy. This is understandable, as the site usually deals with these malicious uploads relatively quickly.
In response to this and similar uploads, we were informed that TorrentGalaxy has banned the addition of LNK files to torrents. This should prevent this attack vector from being abused in the future, at least on this site.
Interestingly, HBO also became aware of this bonus episode through its anti-piracy partner Marketly and took appropriate action. A cease and desist letter published in the Lumen database shows that the company asked Google earlier this week to remove an “infringing” link to the nonexistent release.
HBO likely didn’t remove the torrent because it contained malware. The naming of the file must have triggered anti-piracy filters, even though there is no ninth episode.
Pirates are popular prey for malware
Such malware torrents disguised as pirated copies are not uncommon. In recent weeks, several more have appeared online that also target other series. This is understandable, because pirated copies are a popular target.
Popular TV shows are downloaded millions of times, and scammers take advantage of this by spreading malware disguised as new or nonexistent episodes in the hope that people will fall for it.
At the time of writing, the fake 1080p version of House of the Dragon S02E09 is still being actively shared by about two dozen people. In total, it has been downloaded many hundreds or even thousands of times.
While well-moderated torrent sites are usually quick to remove these files, they continue to circulate elsewhere. And indeed, the House of the Dragon malware copies mentioned above are still available on some sites today.
In the past, we have criticized some reports from rights holders that seemed to have exaggerated the malware problems on pirate sites. However, the fact that these threats are sometimes exaggerated does not mean that there are no problems at all. Pirates have always been a popular target for malware and viruses.
While hardcore pirates have probably learned to be cautious, anyone who indiscriminately searches the Internet for pirated software can easily fall into malware traps.
