Pirated or Cracked software is easily available on the internet. It is software that has been modified to remove some of its undesirable features which mainly include getting rid of copy protection features. While getting using a cracked copy of a software may seem like an economically feasible solution, it exposes you to a number of serious harmful factors that come into play when you choose to cheat the law and download pirated software. The simplest of these may be just reducing software and system performance while the most harmful include gaining access to your personal information related to your bank and social accounts and then transmitting it over the internet to hackers without your knowledge. Here are five of the most prominent problems you could run into by using an unauthorized and unverified software copy.
Cracked Software: Invisible Viruses and Malware
When you use pirated activators to crack or activate your copy of a software you also expose yourself to invisible viruses and malware. Upon downloading, these are installed on your system without your knowledge. Their activities on your system could range from annoying advertising to gaining access to your credit card and e wallet information.
Harmful Web Content
Websites you visit to get access to cracked or pirated content doesn’t care about the safety of their visitors. They more than often knowingly redirect their visitors to nonsecure sites having malicious content which can infect your system with adware, bots, and even a ransomware.
Software Instability
In order to use the maximum capabilities your system and software efficiently, you should stay away from pirated software as they are cracked versions. Their usage affects not only the program but your system itself by reducing performance and causing instability. With unlicensed software, you also miss out on regular updates which are important as they contain fixes, new features, and security updates.
Legal Implications
By installing unlicensed software, you break the law. This can have a number of serious legal repercussions, the smallest of which is the authorized software vendor blocking your unlicensed copy to taking legal action against you.
Manually Modified Software
When cracked software is infected with viruses they are sometimes detectable by antivirus. However, if a software has been modified manually to perform a specific function it may continue to do so without being detected by either you or your system. Example, a cracked MS Office could be programmed to send each document you open to a disposable email address without your knowledge or being detected by the antivirus as it is not a suspicious activity.
Polina works as marketing manager for a year now and loves searching for interesting topics for you:)
Very good post. I’m facing a few of these issues as well..