![]() This started way back when McAffee would say that anything named keygen.exe was infected, and was uncleanable so it had to be deleted. by checking known virtual device names/IDs) and not do anything to make them look safe - something much harder to accomplish on bare metal with real devices.ġ) antiviruses have been intentionally flagging cracks and keygens for ages. Lastly, if you still want to go through the analyzing process yourself then you could use a VM/sandboxing software but I'd highly recommend getting a cheap junker PC to test your stuff on: not only you won't have to worry about the malware escaping the sandboxing environment anymore (as long as you keep that PC offline and be very mindful about handling USB drives you plug into it) but some badware could detect whether if they're inside a VM (ex. Finally, if you're downloading from public sources, check if there's a SFV or other types of hashes available for whatever you've downloaded to see if it's been tampered with (and don't just trust the one that was bundled with your files, check on Pastebin and Google around so you have more than one source just to be safe). If possible, get an invite to private trackers/servers as they usually require users to keep a good upload quota in order to download files so everyone is incentivized to share good stuff. Stick to the well-known sources and websites. Try to avoid direct downloads and stick to P2P networks (it's easy for someone to infect an executable to redestribute malware using a centralized network, while unless the file was already bad to begin with, multiple sources with hash checking as well as other measures will prevent a malicious user from modifying files on P2P ones). Repeat after me, don't download warez from Youtube videos. Don't download warez from Youtube videos. Avoid blogs and channels offering cracked software. If for whatever reason you still want to do so, follow the internet's golden rule: trust your gut. In the end, if you want to stay safe then the best possible thing you can do is to not use cracks or keygens at all. Online scanners such as VirusTotal and heuristics can sometimes give you an idea if what you're using is good or not but most times they're misleading. There is still a (smaller) risk of infecting your main computer when transferring files with USB devices from the dummy PC.Īs said, there's no real answer other than getting your hands dirty with a lengthy and difficult analysis of the executable and/or watching its behaivor in a contained environment. Create a backup image for the case some malware infects the system and makes it unusable. Second best idea: Use a permanently offline secondary computer. This only adds to the uncertainty and is – in my opinion – a try to discourage people from using “pirating tools”. You get heuristic hits often (“heu-”, “gen-”, “generic-” in the name). ![]() On the other side: Many scanners treat keygens/cracks… cross-the-board as malicious. Automated software can’t reliably detect unknown malware.It may wait for X minutes/hours/days or only start if certain condition(s) is/are met. Running the file on a test computer → You may not see the malicious behavior at first.Simply running the file on a VM → (unlikely for malware in the wild, but possible) Malware might infect the host system with a VM-escape exploit. ![]() ![]()
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