Okay Sup Forums, I have some questions for the warez enthusiasts out there

Okay Sup Forums, I have some questions for the warez enthusiasts out there.
I've done some casual pirating over the years myself, but wanna get even more into it, because $ are a bit tight right now. However, I'm one of those paranoid fucks.

>How do you handle .exe files, so that you run the smallest possible risk, when installing them?

>If you have an extra computer, would it make sense to install the .exe on that, let it sit for some days, scan for virus, and then install on your main PC?

Also, general torrent thread, if there is any audience for that.

Just don't download shady shit. The people in the comments will most likely tell you if the exe is shit

Thank you a lot for the answer. I thought about this too, but can you trust that? Couldn't the program just contain something that that they didn't notice? I know that probably nobody can answer this surely, but I'm really not good with these things, and I'm looking for enlightment.

I guess what I'm asking here is, how stealthy can these viruses be? If the .exe is sitting for a couple of days before install, what are the risks that a good AV won't notice?

Shameless

Use WINE on Linux for that

Thank you a lot! I never heard about this before, since my knowledge with Linux is very limited. I read a bit about WINE now.

>What would you say is the benefit of using WINE in this case?

I used to torrent like so many gigs of shit of Piratebay and Kickass. As long as the seeds heavily outweigh the leech it should be gucci. Also particular up loaders kinda gain a following you can trust. I remember Jonnybeans was some dude with quality music rips. Then he ended up working at Sumerian?? Crazy. Add in the comment section and its relatively safe.

Just noticed .exe as your interest so idk if my advice is relative but w/e

Yeah, that's the thing. I try to use these guidelines too, but I also only feel relatively safe. I'm too paranoid for that. However, I guess that you can never be really safe with these things?

>What are your experiences with Virus and stuff when downloading?

That's completely okay, it doesn't have to be .exe specifically, even thought that is my main concern right now. Which one was your other comment?

I've never gotten any virus' except from lime wire back in the day, and I only had like a cheesy Norton scanner run every now and then. I use Bitcoin and onion and just safeorscam sources and stuff before any downloads of anything.

The main comment was the one above it but my phone is being annoying and not selecting multiple replies haha

don't do it, just purchase software where you can, use free alternative, or don't use the software

even the most careful users will have some sort of spyware. look up '0-day', that's an exploit that can be used to create undetectable viruses. There are thousands.

the WINE suggestion is pretty interesting, you could achieve a similar result by running dodgy programs in a Virtual Machine (look up VMware) to isolate them from your personal data.

Just make sure you download a legit copy of VMware from their website, and run the keygen on a computer you don't care about :) IIRC vmware doesn't require a crack

Yeah, I heard about the Lime Wire stuff! Okay, you seem to know a bit about how to do this stuff. So, how safe would you say that someone is, if they only download from trusted uploaders, check comments, and have a good AV program?

Haha! Fucking phones. Okay, well, the WINE suggestion was definitely not useless. It's always nice to expand knowledge!

Okay, I just read a bit about "0-day", and will read on after posting this comment.
As far as I can see, can't "0-day" viruses be largely avoided by letting the downloaded .exe "dry" a bit? That's also why I suggested downloading on another PC, letting it sit for some time, install, and then scan. Shouldn't the "0-day" be detected, then? Depending on how much time you give it, of course?

Sorry, if I completely misunderstood.

Also, would the virtual machine be enough to keep your computer safe?
Could you, in theory, buy a 1TB HDD, install a bootable OS, and then run all your cracked software on this HDD? Would that make sense?

that is a good point. it's cool that you're doing research

but if there are unknown viruses in the wild that nobody knows about, even today

take the Stuxnet virus - it was discovered in 2010, but had been circulated as early as 2005, maybe even earlier

that's 5 years of infection without knowledge - would you risk it for some pirated software?

i guess if you don't do anything important on your PC maybe

Thanks, I'm doing my best to learn more about this! And thank you a lot for helping out with that!

You're right, from what I can read, this is some dangerous stuff! I guess you could get rid of many "0-day" exploits if you let it stay a bit before installing, since, as far as I understood, most of them are fixed pretty quickly. However, the risk of getting something on your PC that won't be discovered for weeks, months or years, is kinda shitty.

But what do you think about ?