[Explained] Is Cheat Engine a Malware? How Is It?
The cheat engine allows a gamer to play computer games by customizing game data. It looks cool when you exploit the game by using the cheat engine, isn’t it? Of course, it looks cool when you are exploiting a computer game by using the cheat engine. In recent days, some cheat engine user has reported that some security utility tool is detecting it as malware or PUP (Potential Unwanted Programs). Is the cheat engine harmful to a device? Or, is it a kind of malicious program? Let’s find out.
What is Cheat Engine?
A cheat engine is a memory-scanning tool that allows the user to exploit some computer games. It allows the user to access the stored data of the device’s memory. Also, it allows a user to customize the store data. A gamer or user can modify or change the game information including health, ammunition, game score, lives, and other things in the game inventory.
Using the cheat engine, a user or gamer can exploit some computer games. Though, some other games don’t allow the gamer to use the cheat engine while playing. Still, cheat engine is being excessively used by gamers around the world. This program can analyze the physical memory of the device to find and edit the value of the user’s gaming server address.
Is Cheat Engine a Malware?
As you know, some security tools are started to flag cheat engines as a type of PUP, malware, virus, riskware, and other types of malicious programs. But the cheat engine is not a type of malicious program neither any type of PUP, malware, riskware, or virus. You can mark it as a false positive of the security tools. The cheat code is completely safe to use on any device.
Always download cheat engine from a trusted source or official site of cheat engine. That reduces the risk of being tricked by cyber attackers. It is possible to lead you to download a malicious code in the name of a cheat engine.
Now, let’s find out why does cheat engines are flagged as malicious programs by some security tools.
Why Is Cheat Engine Flagged as Malware?
Flagging cheat engines as a type of PUP (Potential Unwanted Programs), malware, virus, riskware, and other types of malicious programs is a false positive security tool. The cheat engine uses some techniques to gain access to the system memory. That technique is nearly similar to the techniques used by the Trojan rootkits. For which cheat engine is falsely flagged as a type of PUP, malware, virus, riskware, and other types of malicious programs by security tools. Especially the security tools that use the heuristic method for detecting generic threats.
So, the cheat engine is not malware. But there is no guarantee when you have downloaded the cheat engine from an unsecured website or domain. For your device’s safety, it is always recommended to download the cheat engine from the official site. Else, there is a risk to download harmful programs on your device instead of the cheat engine.
Can Cheat Engine Cause Harm to a Device?
No, the cheat engine causes no harm to a device. But there is no guarantee when you have downloaded the cheat engine from an unsecured website or domain. For your device’s safety, it is always recommended to download the cheat engine from the official site. Else, there is a risk to download harmful programs on your device instead of the cheat engine.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is a Riskware?
The riskware is any legitimate program that can potentially harm a device for some reason. These reasons could be conflict or compatibility of the applications, security vulnerability, and legal or license violations.
Is it Safe to Use Cheat Engine?
Yes, it is safe to use the cheat engine. Always make sure to download the cheat engine from the official site of the cheat engine. It will ensure safety and legitimacy.
Can Game Engine Detect Cheat Engines?
Most of the time, the game engines cannot detect cheat engines. But some game engines are able to detect cheat engines.
Aftermath
Now, you already know whether the cheat engine is a threat to your device system or not. It is recommended to use the official site of the cheat engine while downloading it on your device. That’s all for today, happy gaming.