this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2023
101 points (83.9% liked)

Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ

54565 readers
558 users here now

⚓ Dedicated to the discussion of digital piracy, including ethical problems and legal advancements.

Rules • Full Version

1. Posts must be related to the discussion of digital piracy

2. Don't request invites, trade, sell, or self-promote

3. Don't request or link to specific pirated titles, including DMs

4. Don't submit low-quality posts, be entitled, or harass others



Loot, Pillage, & Plunder

📜 c/Piracy Wiki (Community Edition):


💰 Please help cover server costs.

Ko-Fi Liberapay
Ko-fi Liberapay

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

I understand that sharing video, photos, documents etc. is relatively safe because the data is not executed in the processor as instructions. How come people are willing to download and install pirated software though? How can one be confident that it does not contain malicious addons? Are people just don't know the risks? Or are there protection mechanisms that I am missing? I mean since the software is usually cracked there is not much use in comparing checksums with the originals, is it?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 139 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Worth noting that paying for a license for software doesn't stop it being spying malware either. In fact the pirate versions often take out the spying and the reporting-to-homebase that proprietary software does.

The photoshop that phones home to check a license is arguably more malicious than the pirate version that has been cracked so it doesn't do that.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Good and valid point. I use opensource software wherever I can.

Though paid software is not going to encrypt your data for ransom or use a keylogger to steal bitcoin (yet).

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

There was an antivirus that was caught running a bitcoin miner in the background tbf. If memory serves it was Norton?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

atleast they admitted it, still don't trust mcafee though...

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)