Why It's Not a Good Idea to Download Pirated Games | Free Antivirus

The story of the guy who downloaded malware, just because he wanted to have access to a pirated copy. This is more and more frequent and we explain why.

Bruno wanted to play a computer game without paying. Nothing silly, he knows where to download games for free (without SMS or registration). The internet is full of sites with titles like "Download free games without viruses."

Of course, game developers are also smart, and they have discovered several methods to combat piracy. However, for every shrewd developer, there is a hacker who manages to get around the situation, through a crack, which when shared online allows others to play for free.

The story of a guy who downloaded malware while looking for the pirated copy of a game. This is happening more often and we explain why

 

In this case, Bruno even knew the name of the crack needed for the game he wanted to play, so he went straight to the game and crack names on Google. The search service did not disappoint. Among the various search results, Bruno did not see any of the family sites offering pirated games and cracks. No problem - he just wanted to play.

All types of sites with discussion forums - Google Groups, Zendesk, Yahoo! Answers, among others - are useful in these cases, and Google tends to show them above the search results, as they usually have answers to questions. After all, someone before Bruno must have already looked for the same crack, and a helpful user provided a website link with the game and the crack.

Bruno mentally thanked the user and went to the site. You certainly found the link to download the game and the associated crack. He downloaded everything, installed the downloaded image game, and ran the crack as indicated in the instructions.

The crack seemed to work, but for some reason, the game continued to demand activation. Upset, Bruno started looking for a new crack for the game. In the meantime, the ransomware that was downloaded under the guise of crack stealthily encrypted the files at strict risk and prepared to deliver the ransom request.

Viruses Increasingly Present in Cracks

There is nothing new about running into malware when using pirated products. Those who avoided paying for software in the past will remember when protection was weakest, as the resident antivirus would come across a Trojan when trying to run a crack.

Hackers who create cracks also have slips to pay, so they earn more by turning users' computers into bots for banking Trojans. The chances of downloading a free game without viruses have always been low. But recently, they have fallen further.

According to a Torrentfreak article, scammers recently launched a campaign to promote sites with malware.

It happens as follows: scammers actively distribute links to their malicious sites through sites known as Google Groups, Facebook Events Calendar, Zendesk, among others. The download links would theoretically be for pirated cracks or games, and they also come with instructions on how to use them.

The link points to a file storage site, however, a malware installer is downloaded instead of the promised one. And the user, accustomed to the identification of a Trojan by the antivirus when installing a game, ignores or disables the protection to complete the download or install the file in peace.

The "Bad" Pirates Beat the "Good" Ones on Google Games

What is even more curious, scammers pose as famous game companies like Valve or Ubisoft and start bombarding Google with complaints under the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) against (relatively) reputable piracy sites that hosted games - those that do not distribute malware.

In addition, common complaints are not copyright infringement; extend to the fact that sites go through DRM protection. The DMCA dedicates a separate paragraph to these complaints, and unlike the common ones, the accused sites cannot contest the decision.

Following the rules, Google removes the “good” pirate site from its results and leaves space for the “bad” ones to distribute malware under the guise of cracked games in the highest organic position in the results list. This means that those looking for this content are more likely to download viruses as a result.

How Not to Infect Your Device?

The advice above any other:

Do not use pirated software. Buy games and software only from official stores. If you really want to save, wait for the next promotion - discounts reach 90%.

But something tells me that the Brunos of the world will not follow this advice, so let's leave some tips for those who can't give up on pirate searches:

Avoid suspicious websites. A famous torrent site with several moderators is less likely to offer infections than a less famous feature with only six months since its creation.

Install an antivirus solution and never (never) turn it off. They don't scream "malware" for no reason - no pirated resources, not even one of the "good" ones, can offer a 100% guarantee that the game will come free of viruses.

You don't have to break your piggy bank to get quality antivirus protection - we offer an excellent one for free: Protegent360's Free Antivirus. And whatever you do, don't be one of those geniuses who download pirated antivirus software and get a Trojan instead - the irony is clear.