The manufacturer Symantec, responsible for antivirus software, warns about bots and add-ons related to Hearthstone.
Booted by the Bot
Anyone who regularly engages with streams of Hearthstone will surely have encountered various add-ons that overlay the game. Some streamers use a deck tracker that keeps track of which cards have been played or calculates the probability of drawing card X exactly in the next turn. While such tools remain in a gray area, other programs clearly violate the terms of use.
Bots that fully automate arena matches or even “cheat programs” that claim to generate a lot of arcane dust out of nothing. Surely, some of these promises sound too good to be true, but if even one in 1000 people falls for it, the developers of the supposed helper programs have achieved their goal.
The manufacturer Symantec, which sells Norton AntiVirus among other products, has now warned against the use of such add-ons. Many of them would infect the PC with viruses upon installation, read passwords, and capture several online accounts. There have been reports specifically about a program “Hearthstone Hack Tool v 2.1.” It’s a complete scam. Instead of generating more dust and gold as promised, it installs malware that steals the user’s Bitcoins.
The blog post drew special attention as it was adorned with a screenshot of “Hearthbuddy,” a program that is popular among professionals and in the streaming scene. Meanwhile, Symantec has issued a new statement regarding the report and emphasized that they are not aware of any malware associated with Hearthbuddy. They merely wanted to present a well-known bot program. Nonetheless, they continue to warn against the use of any third-party software.
For more news about the game, you can find it on our Hearthstone topic page.
