How do you validate that what you torrented is clean/no malware/spyware? Specifically, I torrented two things:
- Astute Graphics Plug-ins Elite Bundle 3.9.1.7z from teamos. *It is 678MB so I can’t upload to Virustotal
- Master Collection 2025 from uztracker (which is listed on monkrus’s website’s list of trackers). It is 37.5GB so I can’t upload to Virustotal.
I’m not sure what I should to do to be honest.
Edit: Would splitting the 37.5GB file into 650MB pieces and then scanning with virustotal help? Not sure if downloaded files need to be whole for it to work properly.
This is the results from virustotal (I could only scan 4 files in the master collection without running the iso)
Thank you.
Lick it.
You again? GET OUT OF MY CAR!
AFAIK, you don’t. You might be able to validate the actual software package’s hash against official sources, but the crack won’t validate because it’s different from the unedited files.
That’s why picking a site and uploader you know is important. You’re kind of just hoping for the best.
I mean, is it safe to assume that the torrent from megathread > monkrus > uztracker is safe? I’ve read that you either go genp or monkrus for less chance of malware.
Alternatively, do you think splitting the 37.5GB file into 650MB pieces and then scanning with virustotal would do much good?
M0nkrus is probably safe, that’s why people recommend them so frequently.
I lack the technical knowledge to say whether splitting the file to scan would work or not, but I suspect not.
Validate the checksum against the official sources.
Wouldn’t it be different since non-official versions are cracked? I’m also not really sure how I would even do so for that plugin since it is a subscription, nor how to do so for the master collection, because it technically does not exist officially.
Honestly, the safest move is to keep these files totally separate from your personal stuff. Running them in a VM or dedicated hardware is really the only way to avoid getting hacked.
What about installing some antivirus than can scan on demand?
I don’t know how’s the “market” right now, but a few years ago Malwarebytes was good for Windows, and ClamAV in Linux
That’s what https://virustotal.com/ is for.
This was the result: https://imgur.com/a/5rEpIga I’m not sure if that means that it is safe/unsafe, but it seems extremely suspicious.
I ran my antivirus on the plugins.zip folder and it didn’t detect anything. Then I ran it on the master collection folder, and it also didn’t detect anything, but it suspiciously finished almost immediately although it does only contain the iso (37.5GB), .info file (2.46KB), .sha (85B), .md5 (77B), so I’m not sure. Also, I just posted the virustotal results in this thread.
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If I use the VM with no network connections, is there any way for me to manually find malware hidden in the files? I’m not really sure what to look for specifically. I definitely want to try using a VM to more closely inspect the files
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It it incredibly difficult to vet with 100% certainty that a binary you run it safe. If you have the source code, its so much easier. As others have said, the best way in piracy to be safe is downloading from a reputable source. Monkrus is pretty good. I am assuming you’re referring to the Adobe master collection? If so, GenP is excellent (and open source).
If you are on windows, one thing you can do is run any programs in sandboxie and see what it writes to the disc. If it tries to edit things that it shouldn’t like the registry or parts of the os that would be a red flag.
You could also setup firewall rules to block the application from accessing the internet. I am on macOS so I use a program called little snitch (lulu by objective see is also good). I am not familiar with the windows side of things. But essentially what I do is block the program and any processes it starts.
If you want to learn more about malware, https://objective-see.org/ is a great resource. It’s macOS focused however but I’ve learned a ton from it. In particular their book on mac malware teaches a lot of analysis techniques.
