Theonlygames.com website. Is it safe and legit?

Theonlygames.com is a browser game that suddenly appears in your web browser. It is unwanted to be redirected on this page, but theonlygames.com page is also full of pornographic pics and gifs. The explicit content which appears spontaneously may spoil your reputation significantly. The sudden appearance of that web page is a clear sign of virus activity.

Why is theonlygames.com malicious?

Game developers often choose unusual promotion methods for their products. Some of them start a massive offline marketing campaign, others place their promotions on the bottles of popular drinks. Thirds decide to use old and proven methods, such as advertising and paid YouTube videos. But one category of the developers decided to use malware to promote their products. People who design theonlygames.com are one of this group.

The exact game may be legit and safe to play. You can find a lot of similar browser games through the web. However, only theonlygames.com is promoted in such a sly way. Of course, the majority of users ignore the disruptive ads and browser tabs with this game, but some of the victims stay on page. Since malware distributors receive their money for each view, they may make money on you even if you have never opened the malicious page.

theonlygames.com landing page

It is obvious that legitimate games will not be promoted in such a way. You can see the opinions like “there is just a game, the ads with it may appear everywhere”. I can barely imagine that some legit and trusted site, like Yahoo Finance, for example, would publish an ad with naked women. This game is definitely untrustworthy, and even if you keep playing it after removing the virus, you will likely be diddled one day.

How can I know this page is opened by a virus?

theonlygames.com error 403

You will see each time when trying to connect to the theonlygames.com website

Viruses record your external IP-address, and send it to the developer of this “game”. Then, your IP is added to whitelist, so adware or spyware is able to redirect you to theonlygames.com page, or even load this page in a separate browser window. This will happen again and again, until you remove the virus.

Do I need to worry about theonlygames.com virus?

Malware injection

Malware injection scheme

Spyware is dangerous because of its ability to steal the data about your system and activities. Everything about your activity hours, PC configuration, antivirus tool and other details will be received by virus maintainers. Meanwhile, virus can also change your system settings for their own reasons. For example, certain spyware examples had the strict signs of downloader – virus that makes the system protection more weak or even disable it, and then injects various malware. No one knows which one you have, until you scan your device with an antivirus program.

Adware carries much less danger itself, compared to spyware. Nonetheless, you may easily make things worse – just by clicking the ad shown to you by adware. It is very easy to misclick the “Close” button on the banner, especially when they are designed to prevent victims from closing the ad. After clicking on such an ad, you will likely see the redirect to a malicious page, or file downloading. No one can say, what is this file – PUP installation file, ransomware executable file or just a random spam picture.

Is it possible to avoid virus injection?

Of course, but it is not an easy practise. You need to understand that cybersecurity is conducted with specialized software, or not conducted at all. Modern operating systems became too complex to control all security breaches they have. Hence, the user is physically unable to check all possible malware injection ways. However, several simple rules will help you to safeguard your system from spyware, adware, and different other viruses.

Do not click dubious banners on the Web. Wherever you see the advertisements, it is a bad idea to check where the banner leads. The only exception is a banner from a well-known and trusted online retailer that offers some goods through context advertising.

Malvertising example

Example of malvertising

Stop using unlicensed software. Almost all people had the temptation to use a hacked version of a paid program, which can be used without any payments. Such “hacks” are created by certain users, who are free to make any changes to the program code. In particular, they may easily add spyware, backdoor or stealer functionality to the hacked program version. Cost of the lifetime license is generally lower than the fine you will receive for unlicensed software usage and the cost of file recovery procedures.

Of course, the most useful solution is to use anti-malware software. Acting this way, you will surely prevent the malware injection, as well as will be able to remove the viruses in case they have already been injected into your system.

How to remove theonlygames.com and wipe out the viruses?

    Gridinsoft Anti-Malware during the scan process
  • Standard scan checks the logical disk where the system files are stored, together with the files of programs you have already installed. The scan lasts up to 6 minutes.
  • GridinSoft Anti-Malware scan results
  • When the scan is over, you may choose the action for each detected virus. For all files of Hsmvem malware the default option is “Delete”. Press “Apply” to finish the malware removal.
  • GridinSoft Anti-Malware - After Cleaning

References

    About the author

    Wilbur Woodham

    Technical writer covering malware detections, unwanted programs, and browser-based threats. Wilbur turns research notes into step-by-step guides that Windows users can follow safely.

    Leave a Comment