What are the risks of downloading copyrighted files

So the user feels compelled to install the Codec Pack. In reality, it is a well-known bot linked to a botnet already analyzed by security experts at ESET Researchers. Another category of interest for common users is commercial software. Many users search for them in the hope of downloading a pirated copy.

This is the easiest method for installing malware, because the user has to install a patch is used to replace the paid license but also installs malware on the machine. Nero is the most famous program for making optical authoring software and is a leader in the market. Figure 16 shows the description of the torrent. In the area reserved for the details of the software, there is a minimal guide to install it. However, it is immediately visible that something is suspicious: the dimension of the file is quite small.

So after downloading the file, we have the following folder on the computer:. The file size is about 15MB, and it is not much for a complex program like Nero. In fact, the installation file of the software is about hundreds of megabytes or even in the order of gigabytes. To settle any doubts about the untrustworthiness of the program, we executed it and were shown the following window:.

It is very suspicious that a Nero installer asks for the credentials of a Pirate Bay account, pretending to be an anti-bot check. The reality is that it is a phishing program developed to steal user credentials.

Indeed, uploading the file on VirusTotal platform, we have the following results:. VirusTotal also confirms that it is a form of Trojan malware. A real Nero installation asks for an installation path, key activation key and other legit information, not for the credential of an illegal service. Another widely used program is Adobe Photoshop. Created in , this software has become the de facto industry standard for image editing and post-processing. In fact, everyone who wants to share image processing work uses the file formats defined by Adobe.

For this reason, it is another attractive means to spread malware, so we decided to search for Photoshop on LimeTorrents:. We downloaded the third result. The small size led us to think to something malicious was hidden in the files. This is just an indicator used to rapidly identify malicious files; we cannot exclude the possibility that even files with a bigger dimension could hide a tainted version of legitimate software. The executable is once again a classical Trojan, as reported in the VirusTotal report.

The good news is that the majority of antimalware solutions listed in VirusTotal are able to detect the file as malicious software. Another popular software downloaded by many users is, curiously, the popular antivirus software Malwarebytes. However, we found a cracked version of Malwarebytes Premium online; it promises to implement all the functionalities included in the paid version. So we searched for it on LimeTorrents, obtaining a huge amount of results:.

We uploaded it on VirusTotal and discovered that it is detected as malicious adware by most antivirus solutions. All this information is necessary to customize the advertisements and consequently to allow the adware to become more pervasive. While we were analyzing the Torrent network, we decided to dissect an interesting sample of malware related to a huge botnet spreading in the wild.

This has been dubbed Sathurbot. This malicious code was one of the numerous types of malware distributed through torrents, pretending to be a Codec Pack necessary to display the video just downloaded by the victims. An older version of it had already been analyzed by ESET researchers in The new malware variant shows some different behavior from the older one.

The main purpose of the bot is to compromise as many machines as possible. In order to do this, it leverages vulnerable WordPress websites to spread online. There are both civil and criminal penalties for illegal downloading and file sharing: In a civil suit, an infringer may be liable for a copyright owner's actual damages plus any profits made from the infringement.

The actual amount will be based upon what the court in its discretion considers just. See 17 U. Penalties to be applied in cases of criminal copyright infringement i. Congress has increased these penalties substantially in recent years, and has broadened the scope of behaviors to which they can apply. Statutory penalties are found at 18 U. There is no other provision in the Copyright Act that specifically authorizes the making of backup copies of works other than computer programs even if those works are distributed as digital copies.

The Copyright Act does not permit anyone to sell backup copies to third parties separately from the original copy of the software. If you lawfully own a computer program, you may sell or transfer that lawful copy together with a lawfully made backup copy of the software, but you may not sell the backup copy alone. Section does NOT permit the sale of backup copies. Again, section does not allow you to sell backup copies to someone else except when such backup copies are sold together with the original lawfully owned copy.

In addition to being a violation of the exclusive right of distribution, such activity is also likely to be a violation of the terms of the license to the software. In many cases these sites appear to be a front for distribution of illegal copies, which is copyright infringement. You should be wary of sites that offer to sell you a backup copy. And if you do buy an illegal backup copy, you will be engaging in copyright infringement if you load that illegal copy onto your computer, i.