Do cracked games contain viruses?

The utmost concern and likelihood are that cracked games commonly have viruses packed with the download file . Maliciously installing a virus as part of game software makes it very difficult for antivirus software to detect and remove the malicious software. Viruses could include spyware, malware, and worse, ransomware.

Do cracked files have viruses?

No, it's not safe to use cracked software on your computer. Cracked software often contains malware that can harm your computer, steal your personal information, or allow unauthorized access to your system.

Is it safe to download cracked games?

No, cracked games are illegal as they modify the game letting the player have privileges over fights or skipping levels with high scores. But . Malware, Trojans, and adware aren't the only dangers lurking on video game pirating sites. While we understand the temptation of illegally downloading the..

Why are cracks false positives?

The reason the false positives show up is because of the packers used to make the executable files . Cracks in particular show as infected . It depends: cracks are usually not infected by the developers of the cracks (the crackers). Sometimes, however, the people who make cracks .

Is cracked games org A virus?

Yes, it is safe as long as you're downloading from trusted sites .

Is it illegal to install cracked games?

Video game piracy is the unauthorized copying and distributing of video game software, and is a form of copyright infringement. It is often cited as a major . Installing or using it as software (as opposed to as a coaster) is illegal . Installing it, even if you don't know that the copy is pirated, is .

Can you go to jail for downloading pirated games?

The 2nd reason is, piracy is stealing, and stealing is a crime. Not only can you get thrown a incredibly large Fine, but you can also do serious Jail time for it .

Is it illegal to download a game for free?

If you don't have permission from the owner, downloading music, games, movies or TV shows for free that you would normally pay for can break the law – it is illegal downloading .

Is it illegal to download cracked games in Germany?

Pirated games are illegal in Germany like almost every country so can potentially open you up to civil and criminal legal action.

Are cracked apps safe?

You could face fines or even criminal charges for using software without a valid license. Security risks: Cracked software often contains viruses, malware, or other malicious code that can harm your device and steal your personal information .

Does VirusTotal give false positives?

VirusTotal simply aggregates the output of different antivirus vendors and URL scanners, it does not produce any verdicts of its own . As such, if you are experiencing a false positive issue, you should notify the problem to the company producing the erroneous detection, they are the only ones that can fix the issue.

Do pirated sites have viruses?

Additionally, there is the possibility of prison time associated with these crimes. Besides being illegal, pirating comes with other significant risks and downsides. Many of the sites and applications that host pirated content are rife with malware and spyware .

Is it safe to use cracked version?

Is using “cracked” programs risky? There is no rule or confirmation that the crack is dangerous or not because it is a program that was produced by mostly unknown parties. Entities can include a malicious file or code inside the crack so the virus will be activated by clicking the crack.

Is it bad to play pirated games?

Security Risks for Users: Pirated games often contain malware or other harmful software . Users who download and install these games risk compromising their computer's security, leading to potential data theft, loss, or other cyber threats.

I remember most if not all cracked games used to have virus on their executables... (2024)

mikaelsouza on Jan 7, 2022 | parent | context | favorite | on: A curated list of warez and piracy links

I remember most if not all cracked games used to have virus on their executables. People always said that you shouldn’t care about what the antivirus said, but now I am wondering, why the antivirus alerted about viruses? Does anyone know? Were they really safe or not?

I remember most if not all cracked games used to have virus on their executables... (2)

ratww on Jan 7, 2022 | next [–]

Cracking tools often compress their code for whatever reason. Some antivirus apps often report every compressed executable, such as anything using UPX, as being infected. That also happens with demoscene-style code, like MOD players that tend to be included in cracking tools.

The reason for that is that once upon a time some virus used UPX (or some demoscene tool), and the antivirus associated that with the virus. But some antiviruses also often detect cracked stuff and report it as being virus, purely because they're killjoys.

Commercial antiviruses are a plague as bad as virus themselves, unfortunately.

I remember most if not all cracked games used to have virus on their executables... (3)

anakaine on Jan 7, 2022 | prev | next [–]

They generally were false positives if you were getting the downloads from decent release channels. The reason the false positives show up is because of the packers used to make the executable files. Cracks in particular show as infected because they are both packed, but also attempt to access other files with executable code at specific byte locations and modify them.

I remember most if not all cracked games used to have virus on their executables... (4)

vukgr on Jan 7, 2022 | prev | next [–]

As someone who works on mods for games with no mod api, so using dll injection, hooking, code editing, etc... (basically very similar to what cracks do),it's very easy to get flagged for doing stuff like that.

But even doing simple stuff like compiling with winsock, or with the wrong(!?) compile flags will trigger most AV.We almost always have to just report the dlls as false positive and pray microsoft actually adds them to the whitelist, and I'm guessing that's not really an option for cracks.

I remember most if not all cracked games used to have virus on their executables... (5)

TheFreim on Jan 7, 2022 | parent | next [–]

How would you suggest someone get started modding games that don't have an api? What background knowledge should I develop?

I remember most if not all cracked games used to have virus on their executables... (6)

vukgr on Jan 7, 2022 | root | parent | next [–]

It really depends on the game/platform, but getting used to using a reverse engineering tool and a debugger is a must.If you can, use IDA, I'm stuck with Ghidra for now but most of the time I have to work against it to get stuff done.Even with C output you'll still need to get used to working with assembly to hook stuff, and do other code modifications. (You can use a library like detours, but when things start crashing it really helps to know exactly what every piece of your code is doing.)Also imgui/nuklear really help with getting a nice GUI for your mods early on.

Though tbh the best thing you can do is just pick up a game you like and just have a go at reversing it, it'll be a bit slow but the more you reverse the easier it gets.After you reverse it it's just a matter of looking up each topic (ie dll injection, hooking, etc) as you need them.None of them are that hard, they just seem overwhelming if you try doing them all at once.

I remember most if not all cracked games used to have virus on their executables... (7)

CyberShadow on Jan 7, 2022 | prev | next [–]

Word of warning - I noticed that frequently enough, antivirus alerts from pirated software were true positives. Repackaging warez with a malicious payload and then using a botnet to boost its seed count and place it at the top of listings was apparently lucrative, and I've had to deal with one instance of a user's account and website compromised due to what was most likely an infected keygen.

I remember most if not all cracked games used to have virus on their executables... (8)

PeterisP on Jan 7, 2022 | prev | next [–]

An antivirus telling that something is malware does not necessarily mean that it is malicious. For example, they will often report that a keygen - which I've checked that literally does nothing else than display the generated key - is malicious because it can be used for piracy.

I remember most if not all cracked games used to have virus on their executables... (9)

Asooka on Jan 7, 2022 | prev | next [–]

I never ran into that. In fact, I never got a virus from any pirate website or pirated software. I know that you can get infected, but it always seemed obvious when you're offered an actual release or one that has been tampered with.

I remember most if not all cracked games used to have virus on their executables... (10)

whywhywhywhy on Jan 7, 2022 | prev | next [–]

How often did you encounter "false positives" downloading normal shareware applications?

There's your answer.

I remember most if not all cracked games used to have virus on their executables... (11)

Bjartr on Jan 7, 2022 | prev | next [–]

Often, the alert you get is about a "keygen" or "crack" tool, which is exactly what you wanted in the first place.

I remember most if not all cracked games used to have virus on their executables... (12)

throwaway64643 on Jan 7, 2022 | prev [–]

"Cracked" softwares/games for myself and can confirm that modifying .exe can lead to false positivity from antivirus.

I remember most if not all cracked games used to have virus on their executables... (13)

I remember most if not all cracked games used to have virus on their executables... (2024)

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