Beware of malware in the Sims community

 

Update 21.02.24: Provided you have an updated ModGuard (see below) in your Mod-folder it should be safe to download CC again. However, here is an important advise from Kuttoe (SimsAfterDark Discord): "As a general safety reminder, DO NOT download pre-made Mods folders or CC dumps from any website. This was always a bad idea before, but now there is a concrete risk of viruses sneaking their way into those folders."

In all the years I've played the sims I've never had any problems with virus or similar problems with mods. It's been a safe and fun community, if you just follow some very basic rules. Unfortunately this has now changed, since malware have been added to some mods, and have even passed through the upload process of large sites like ModtheSims, CurseForge and TSR. The malware may also have infiltrated other, smaller sites.

This is what you should do

1. Get information - Read available, updated information. You can find it at for example at the Sims After Dark info, or on their Discord. Luth's Things, and other trusted, active modders on Tumblr also provide information.

2. Check if you could have been compromised - you can find information about this at the same places as mentioned above
   

3. Get the ModGuard - ModGuard is a Mod Malware Protection file made by TwistedMexi.
   

4. Be careful - You should always be cautious concerning what and from where you download. But at the moment I wouldn't download anything Sims-related anywhere (except for the ModGuard mentioned above). In a few days someone hopefully will know more, so just be a little patient. When things are a bit more clear: download only from the original creator. Don't put yourself at risk by installing shared folders, even from your friends. They might not know themselves that malware is amongst their files.
   

My own cc are just simple recolors and should be safe, but I still wouldn't download anything right now. Also, I have recommend some mods in my posts, for my saves, sims and builds. As far as I know they are in the clear, but since we don't know the full extent of the problem, please wait with downloads until the situation is more clarified.

Play safe and happy simming! 😀