According to security vendor DriveSentry, about half of downloads claiming to be free versions of Microsoft Windows Vista are in fact malicious Trojan horses. With Vista's consumer launch just days away, discussion boards and peer-to-peer networks are full of offers of "cracked" versions of Windows Vista. The downloaded programs claim to skip Vista's activation process but are in fact malicious key-logging software and spyware. This isn’t anything new though, the same deal occurred with Windows XP. Pirated versions of Vista have been in circulation for several months now, and one called "Windows Vista All Versions Activation 21.11.06" has already been identified as a Trojan. It's an effective technique, said John Lynch, vice president of sales and marketing for DriveSentry. "Someone that's stealing the software to begin with is not going to raise a fuss if the software turns out to be malicious."
News source: InfoWorld
News source: InfoWorld
omgomg lol jk lol omg
QFT!
take it back!!!!
Exactly!
Exactly!
Must be the vLite version... Damn that program is good!
Exactly!
Must be the vLite version... Damn that program is good!
It's not THAT good.
good i hope it was by them. show the broke pirates to get a job and buy the software.
2. Spread uncertainty
3. Spread doubt
4. Reduced "piracy"
5. Profit!!
??????????
??????????
But this is my new, improved, patented business model ... model - Bifidus modelum!
i bet Microsoft is behind the stories that downloaded versions of Windows have viruses and trojans.
as MANY people have found out, the downloaded versions of a lot of Microsoft software are usually less hassle than the "legit" versions.
stories like these are made to try to scare some people away from downloading Windows. anyone that knows what they are doing will have no trouble downloading Vista, and may even find the downloaded copy BETTER than the store purchased version that requires activation.
if the hash is correct, there is no fear. With a little common sense, you'll be fine.
Half of pirated software available for download is malware
it also depends on your sources. no one downloads software via websites and forums anymore. everything is torrents or newsgroup now.... everything.... and 99% of the stuff on newsgroups is real and working (in some form).
in fact. saying half of all pirated software is malware is being generous. its probably much higher, especially if your source is a friggin P2P app. i bet a search for Vista on a P2P network would net you roughly 123897612391624308 Vista Ultimate.iso.exe = >1MB files.
silly...
/scene fades to flashback
"dude that is the best warez site evah!"
Next time I'll think twice before trying to download Vista off Kazaa.
micro$oft.vista.rtm.ultimate.iso.exe that's 1 mb in size, it's windows vista?
:rolls eyes:
Half of Pirated versions of Vista are the real deal? Ooo...
There's currently a Windows XP SP1 Pro ISO out there on thepiratebay that looks authentic and like the real thing. There's a trojan in the I386 folder that becomes part of your installation. Removing it from your computer means removing XP. It's one of the most genius things I've ever seen.
// cheap shot
I'd suggest VMware player or VMware server which are both free. You could also install free zonealarm in the virtual machine to watch for and block outgoing connection attempts.
M$ Virtual PC is another free alternative but knowing M$ I wouldn't be surprised if it could detect and possibly report non-genuine guest operating systems.
Ok, all together now:
M-I-C-R-O-S-O-F-T
It's not as hard as you might think.
you have my
of disapproval, Neowin.
but if you are dumb enough to download 1mb files then yes, you deserve what you get
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