Bitcoin Forum

Specially for crypto users, reasons not to used or download pirated or bootleg softwares


- almost all pirated software copies are bundled with trojans/malwares/ransomware, your machine could get infected and cyber criminals stealing your crypto.

- the bundled software could also include crypto mining. You can read a recent exploit CoinMiner exploits Apple APSDaemon vulnerability to evade detection (https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/coinminer-exploits-apple-apsdaemon-vulnerability-to-evade-detection/). And it can damage your PC/desktop.

And remember this? Kaspersky Security Bulletin 2018. Story of the year: miners (https://securelist.com/kaspersky-security-bulletin-2018-story-of-the-year-miners/89096//)?

- You think you get away because it's free, you're wrong, in the long run it won't work as crack softwares disables the auto update. And software companies now are implementing solutions to stop piracy itself.

- Others could also get infected, just like the current pandemic, you can transmit it, the trojans/malwares/ransomware can get into your email list then it can send it out to those people.

- Anti-piracy law, almost all countries have this law now, so if you are caught, hmmm, legal woes for you.

Rule of thumb:

- Always buy legit softwares (OS and Anti-virus)

- Stay away from torrent sites

How can this easily be solved?
Scan files with virustotal.com first. It's a legit site and it will always tell you if there is a virus. However, sometimes it will give you something called a false positive, where virustotal thinks there is a virus but there isn't.
Another way to do it is by buying a VPS (virtual private server). You can download things on there without harm because it's not on your computer.
Don't know what a VPS is or does? Here are some explanations:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_private_server
- https://www.dreamhost.com/blog/beginners-guide-vps/
- https://www.namecheap.com/hosting/what-is-vps-hosting-definition/

Never download unknown softwares ;) (unless it's from verified companies of course)

Unfortunately many people prefer a crack software than a legit one, some of them are given free, people are not educated that these software can harm them than benefit them, if you cannot stop yourself from using these crack software use this on a computer where you don't have important files on it especially wallets where you keep your coins.

The problem with Virustotal is you need to download the file first and upload it to the site before it can scan the actual file; in which case, you can be infected by downloading the file.
Scanning the URL of the direct download link will only trigger a scan to that URL's source/connections, not the file to be downloaded.

Example: If you scan https://download.electrum.org/3.3.8/electrum-3.3.8.exe you'll 1 "Malicious" result by SophosAV.
But if download the actual file and upload it, you'll get six totally different results - for Electrum, bunch of false positives.

People who uses pirated software can't afford to pay for it which literally means they are not much rich to lose their money but if someone having lot of money but still downloading from random sites then they are the one who is going to suffer.

Atleast people should avoid using their crypto wallet installed device for such kind of activities so they won't lose their few hundred or thousand dollars.

This article points to some interesting facts concerning pirated software:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/pirated-software-is-all-fun-and-games-until-your-data-s-stolen/

To point out some if the statements made within:

The article goes on with further details, but it’s pretty clear that pirated software can leave you exposed to almost anything, and your crypto is certainly not going to safe.

No.
No AV will detect properly written malware.
They can just detect already publicly known malware by checking the signatures.

Another approach would be to use runtime analysis, which also can be circumvented.

Do never trust an AV to determine whether a file is malicious or not. You can never be sure.




You can't run resource heavy software on a cheap VPS.
Additionally, if the VPS is compromised your PC can easily get compromised to by logging into it using ssh.

So that's not an option either.

Virustotal though is not enough and it's not 100%, you can get a lot of false positives. And as per Theymos himself:

Nope, that's one bad advice, virustotal will tell you a lot of times that there is a virus when there is none and fail when there is one.

There is no antivirus that can detect everything and protect you from all the viruses and there will never be as long as you try to use random cracks from shady websites. The best way of avoiding is either paying for the legit software, try to find an opensource alternative or, change the OS, relying completely on your antivirus is like wearing a bulletproof vest in a war, sooner or later you will get shot where you're not protected.


Hihi, there is one saying, "too poor to buy cheap things", it works for pirated software too.
Some 50$ saved with a cracked version might cost you twice or 10 times more, imagine getting a crypto locker and having months of worked destroyed.

Isn't this why most people separate the PC's used for work/job stuff and personal usage? I mean, even if you don't want to, as long as you're dealing with money, then you basically have no choice. Especially if you are one of the others that use pirated software for literally everything.

Buying a PC is mostly chosen as a second option though, it's a lot better to just buy legit software. They get updated permanently when you buy them anyway, and even if the software gets updated to a better separate version, you can still use the old one AFAIK.

If users are tempted to download something from pirated sites, simply out of curiosity or, as described above, due to lack of money, this can seriously harm them.
To satisfy your curiosity, you can recommend using virtual machines. Download all programs there. Although this does not guarantee security.
And if we talk about cryptocurrencies, then for such purposes it is good to have a separate computer that either does not have access to the Internet, or has access to a minimum of needs.

In some countries, people use cracked softwares that contains risks for their computers.

My message are:
- Don't use cracked softwares.
- Don't click on any links you receive on any channels: emails, Telegram, Discord, facebook, twitter, etc.
- Don't visit dark or strange sites.

A better advice is to use free and open source alternatives to paid software. If you're not a professional and only use the software occasionally, a free alternative will cover all your needs. Security-wise it's even better than paid software, because even those are known to sometimes sneak spyware on user's machine.

Torrent sites aren't inherently malicious, they are just file sharing platforms. Not every torrent has malware.


It can work, but it's still risky, if you share files between computers in some way, you can infect your work computer, or your router can be hacked. It's better to make an isolated vm on your piracy-dedicated machine and never let it interact with other devices. And if you decide to pirate, do it smart - don't click on the first link, but do research about cracking groups with good reputation, and make sure you download their release.

You need to understand that people mostly download pirated software because they can’t afford to buy the original version. This is especially pronounced in some parts of the world, and companies that sell software should adjust the price to the markets, because for some $50 is just pocket money, while someone else has to work for that amount for a whole month.

But I completely agree that anyone who uses crypto should avoid pirated software, because nothing is free and the risk is simply too great. Although I used to use a lot of pirated software before, today I can say that I am 100% legalized for that - but only because I buy licenses from resellers who sell them at extremely affordable prices.


For some, this is still the main choice when it comes to movies or series, and if the content is downloaded from already verified users, then there should be no problems. I have never had a problem with such an approach, although I have even left torrents because I have another access to media content that eliminates any risk of downloading content.

This is true, especially applying it to this:


because there are people from very poor countries who save $100-200 to buy a new PC, so paying even $10-50 is out of the question for them. For them the best advice would be to research how to minimize the risks of pirated software by utilizing virtualization and checking reputation of crackers/repackers.

Torrents are fine. A lot of software is distributed this way.
You just have to make sure to verify the signature.




There are free alternative available for almost any software.
You don't need to pay if you don't want to. There are only very few software where you actually can't find a free alternative which is as good as the paid version.
But this mostly is some statistics and business software. And if you are actually working with that, you should have the money to buy it. For anything else (especially not work related), free software is just as good as the paid one.

This does pack a punch with what you are trying to tell people but it is inaccurate and I'm not sure where you are getting your data from to back this up but I highly doubt that *most* pirated software contains malware or trojans. Most pirated software is used to distribute overpriced software by activists which don't believe in charging for software and believe in the freedom of everything. There is other reasons for downloading pirated software too which are legal. If you own Windows 7 and you have lost the installation media it is perfectly legal for you to pirate the software as you already own it.

I get what you mean though but pushing out this motive is misinformation the most important thing is you should not be downloading pirated software if its against the law and some pirated software has the potential to be compromised via viruses.

In poor countries or developing countries and even developed countries, pirated software is still popular and has many users. The use of pirated software has become common throughout the world, even many groups are focused on piracy software every day and continue to make updates. Minimizing the risk of using pirated software might be the solution. Knowing the cracker / repacker used and see how many user recommendations.

Buying original software with an official license is the best and safer advice. But using pirated software is only as an alternative for those who do not want to spend money or just for learning.

I was such an ignorant way before joining this forum. Nowadays, I don't use pirated software from torrent anymore.
But how about movies? I still use torrent sites to download free videos. Any harm to doing that?

I have already answered your question, the topic does not have many posts and it would certainly be desirable to read it first and then ask a question ;)

In essence, any download of copyrighted content without paying for it is a not in accordance with the law, and that applies to all paid software, movie, and music. As for the danger that such downloads pose to your PC and the crypto on it, there is always a risk if you blindly believe that you really downloaded the movie and run it without checking what it really is. The malware can be disguised as a legitimate movie, but instead of the normal movie formats (avi/mkv/mp4) it has a completely different extension. As you can see, sometimes you can get clipboard malware instead of a movie.

But I'd like to read more than just this common sense ;)

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This what I need.

Thanks!

After reading a few posts above, I would like to say that you are a little off-topic. By itself, pirated software for some people are possible and will be useful. Especially when you consider that the necessary software is expensive, and people do not have enough money.
But here it is important to understand for wallet owners themselves that if you are working with cryptocurrency, the risk of losing your money is very high. Another thing is when a pirate toy is downloaded to a computer designed for entertainment.
Do not blame anyone after data theft.
"Cheapest is the dearest"

I think for majority, specially for beginners, this is not a choice. This is not new, even prior the crypto downloading pirated software is a 'thing' because you can get everything you want.

But if we really wanted to be on the safe side, there are still options like using Unix flavoured OS. And as we grow a lot, many having a separate PC will do the trick and not to fall for this malicious softwares out there.

Pirated software is dangerous not only for cryptocurrency users, but also for absolutely everyone. In addition, if you violate copyright,you yourself become a criminal, for which there is responsibility. Therefore, in addition to losing your personal data, you may also be penalized for using pirated software.

Nothing is 100% free, lol no one works for free without taking something back, I don't use cracked software on my PC with wallets, I even find mobile phones more secured than PC because installing softwares, downloading stuffs and using browsers on PC can easily make your computer vunerable to different types of attacks

It is really prohibited especially if you have important information on your PC, pirated software can cause malicious software or virus that can delete your important data, the worst thing here is it may be made by the hackers and once you installed it on your device he or she can access some of your information including your wallet, which is so terrible because he can hack your account.

To avoid such things:
1. You should check the software, you should compare it to the original software if there is any difference between both things then it can be fake.
2. You can do some research, just read some reviews about the prohibited

Software cannot run for a long time without a bug and an update, it will render the software obsolete and a lot of  error if it stopped updating, this is one of the perks of buying a licensed one, you are eligible for an update, you can have a support, something that crack software cannot, it's not worth using a crack, you can still avail of software that you want or need there store that offer great discounts on these softwares.

Not only software, games are also an indispensable part for many users. I'm sure most of us are willing to download crack games, because they're free. I think it will one day affect crypto users.

A licensed OS is the minimum everyone should have. Unfortunately even that is not possible in many part of the world. For those who use pirated software and torrents, at least use that on a different machine that doesn't hold your crypto, wallets, financials, etc.
I have licensed OSs on both of my computers and laptops. But on one of them I use torrents for TV Shows and Movies. I've never had any problems. I never download anything that wasn't uploaded by VIPs, Premium, or Trusted uploaders. The file goes onto a USB stick and into the TV.
This of course is not a guarantee of anything, but it's safer than just downloading and running anything you find.