Steam could become incredibly busy this week as it was previously rumored that the Steam Summer Sale will begin very soon, possibly even today. Anyone planning to use Steam in any meaningful capacity, however, will to be particularly cautious thanks to a malware threat that has reportedly sprung up over the last month. Specifically, this kind of malware is hidden with profile pictures.

According to G Data, the malware in question is named SteamHide. G Data has a much deeper breakdown but what users are essentially doing is integrating the malware into the metadata of profile pictures on Steam. This isn't a new method in the slightest, but this is apparently the first time a gaming platform like Steam has been used.

RELATED: Rumored Steam Console is Like the Switch, Will Run Linux

The malware also can't be detected by anti-virus software and, what's more, even someone who hasn't even installed Steam can be targeted. That's because the platform merely serves as a host for the malware. At the time of its reporting, G Data believed that the malware was still being developed and had yet to be finalized, meaning it wasn't being used in a wider scale yet.

It's not all bad news, however. In response to worried users, G Data has assured that those who actively use Steam aren't at any greater risk of being affected by the malware. What's more, it's relatively easy to avoid, provided users don't incessantly download random profile pics they find on Steam. Plus, the malware can't actually do anything on its own and requires another piece of malware to be activated. Basically, in order for someone to be affected by SteamHide, they would've had to have already received malware by clicking on sketchy emails or websites.

Provided everyone remains sensible, this hopefully won't become too widespread of a problem, although it wouldn't hurt to be a little extra cautious than usual, especially with the aforementioned Steam sale possibly on the horizon. At the time of writing, Valve has yet to actually confirm when the summer sale is starting, meaning which games will be included and at what sort of discount is also unknown.

Valve is also possibly busy dealing with the bot problem plaguing Team Fortress 2 as of late. Valve released a new patch that was meant to improve the game's security, and it did seem to put an end to the rampant bot accounts. Unfortunately, the accounts very quickly found a way to come back, practically rendering the patch null and void.

MORE: Steam Getting More Aggressive With Free Games Would Be A Good Strategy Against Epic Games Store

Source: G Data