Good-Bye Mr.Lonelyness

Know that this issue is seemingly a big issue in The sims 4 community! While the other communities are certainly not ruled out to be able to have malware in them, it seems this group of hackers are really focused on The Sims 4 community as a whole.

What files are the issue?

ts4script files. Because it's raw python AND TS4 doesn't have great restrictions for script mods in place, these people can modify the python file to create a .dll file on running the game. That's how they get information if they're lucky.

.exe files or files that look like another file type but are an .exe file. (or some executable file like a bash script, etc). MTS does check these things before approving, but do be careful when downloading these things from tumblr or github. Make sure to check the comments there instead.

What files CANNOT ever get malware in them?

Simply said: .Package files. Exception for maybe the .package files that are actually ts4script files, but that's really from the ancient TS4 days.

With other words, your: CasParts, Lots, Cosmetics, Hair, Sims, Recolours, Objects CANNOT have malware in them

The only "kind of" malware we saw back in the days in Package files was the infamous TS3 Doll corruption bug. But that didn't collect your data, just corrupted your save/game 😉

What ways can I detect if something is malware at first sight?

99% of script modders, when updating their mods, WILL add WHY they updated their mod in the first place. If you do NOT see any update reasons in the description, it's probably malware.

Check the comments! If you're not sure, always check if someone left a comment (or in Tumblr's case, a Reblog).

Trust your gut feeling! Does something seem strange? A bit out of place from the usual? Give it a few days before you download the mod.

Package files SHOULD NEVER have a way of "installing your content" through an .exe file "For simplicity", because 99% of the cases, it's malware to trick you. Unless there is a excellent reason for it (and I mean REALLY good reason).

More or less a download site related thing: If a download site has a billion buttons saying "Download". Please don't press these. They are most likely Malware too, but definitely shady ads. For those pages, it would be best to leave the item alone, unless you really know what you're doing!

Conclusion

While these discord server announcements mean well, it frustrates me to see that they mention that EVERYTHING is compromised. Whereas in reality it's only TS4Scripts and .exe files that can do harm.

I know they mean well! And wanting to protect people! But at the same time, it also spreads a sense of misinformation that can harm creators, websites, you name it.

So, instead, I would love to advise them to educate their members instead on what files can be the problem! And how to detect them. The more we get this into the world, the better we will be able to protect one another from downloading bad things!

And of course, websites that share CC, should make an effort to prevent this in the future. I'm happy MTS is doing this at the moment.