August 17, 2018, nola family staff

If you haven’t heard of Fortnite, the wildly popular survival action video game, you’re either living in a bubble (good for you) or you don’t have kids between ages 10 and 50. ;). But now that this popular game is available on Android devises, it’s creating a whole new world of trouble- it’s a security risk for whatever Android devise you download it on.

Why? Because The Epic Games, the makers of Fortnite, decided to bypass the Google Play store and make the game a direct (free) download from their site– and to download it you must disable your phone’s security features (This hold true for any updates, as well). 

Scammers are prolific, and can make it difficult to find the correct download to the store’s site by making apps that look legitimate and are barely recognizable from the real ones. 

“There’s quite a high chance that Android users will not go directly to the official Epic Games website, but instead will find downloadable apps using search terms ‘how to install Fortnite’ or ‘Android Fortnite download’,” says Daniel Markuson, NordVPN Digital Privacy Expert. This puts you at big risk for Malware– short for malicious software– which is software that is intended to damage or disable computers and computer systems (such as a smart phone).

Tips on how to stay safe

• If you are an Android user, be 100% sure you download Fortnite only from the official website of the developers: epicgames.com/fortnite.
• To download the game, you will need to disable the default security settings on your device. After completing the download, be sure to turn the security settings back on. You will need to do that for every update as well.
• Get a reliable anti-malware app. NordVPN offers them, as do other companies. 
• Pay attention to the app permissions. If some of the required permissions seem unrelated or excessive, it might be an alarming signal of a copycat app.

Do you want to know more about Fortnite? We found that the Parents Ultimate guide to Fortnite from Common Sense Media is very helpful!