Even the site that considered safe in the megathread, there’s report of malware and trojan and I don’t know what site to use

  • phorq@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    95
    ·
    7 months ago

    Simple, trust no one. Get a no-reported-logs VPN, don’t download anything that has a strange file size or extension, look at comments, look at the number of seeders if it’s a torrent. If you can, join something like a private tracker where there’s moderation too. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck then it’s probably not the movie you were looking for and there might be a Trojan army inside waiting for you to let the duck enter your computer… That metaphor may have fallen apart on me…

      • phorq@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        7 months ago

        I was trying to give general advice, since it didn’t sound like they had a trusted private tracker already it’s a good idea to have a VPN to mask your IP. I agree, it probably won’t help against malware.

          • FutileRecipe@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            7 months ago

            It’s part of defense in depth. No single piece will protect you from everything, so you you use multiple layers of protection.

            • lukas@lemmy.haigner.me
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              0
              arrow-down
              2
              ·
              7 months ago

              I can’t call DNS blacklists part of defense in depth. DNS blacklists are a poor man’s version of existing and pre-installed anti-malware software.

              • DNS blacklists block only older known malware, similar to existing anti-malware, but less effective.
              • DNS blacklists block hijacked, but legit websites that host malware, contrary to existing anti-malware.
              • DNS blacklists? What is that? I use DoH, get fucked. Contrary to existing anti-malware.

              They’re completely bypassable, they boast a high false positive rate due to how threat actors host malware, and they don’t even block newer malware. Just use Windows Defender. It ain’t perfect, but it’s leagues better than any DNS blacklist.

      • twena@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        26
        ·
        7 months ago

        Piracy using TOR is extremely slow and not really anonymous

          • twena@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            10
            ·
            7 months ago

            Slowness and bandwith limitations are still an issue and it’s likely that they will always be. It’s already too slow to torrent large files over Tor and it also takes away the bandwith of other users. Tor also still doesn’t support UDP connections, which may cause data leaks.

            • nicman24@kbin.social
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              7 months ago

              you do not have to use exit nodes. you can p2p with other tor users. piracy imo is important due to the censorship that countries can have on legitimate content.

              • averyminya@beehaw.org
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                7 months ago

                Regarding your last point, I agree, however it is not as important and it does take up resources that could otherwise be used for the people who need it (journalists utilizing tor, victims trying to get away from abusers etc).

                Especially given that there are still alternatives to piracy without tor, whereas there are far fewer alternatives for these people.

                That said, you’re still right, it’s minimal. Overall though, options for piracy without tor are accessible and should still be used when possible. From my understanding, few circumstances arise where pirating over tor is a better method for you and for others

                Basically, use tor for legitimate content to help make tor safer for others using it.

      • phorq@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        7 months ago

        I added the word “reported” because I don’t trust VPN providers to not keep logs, but ideally they should report that they don’t keep logs and have an established history of not providing logs. Tor is really not ideal if you’re trying to download anything large and you’re still vulnerable depending on who controls the exit nodes.

      • lukas@lemmy.haigner.me
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        6
        ·
        edit-2
        7 months ago

        You can’t trust VPN providers to store no logs. It’s impossible to verify. I don’t get why people downvote this comment.

        • captain_samuel_brady@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          7 months ago

          From what are you protecting yourself? Piracy? Then go with a VPN that has been tested in court and didn’t turn over any logs. The second one of these providers turns over their logs in court they are out of business because no one will ever trust them again. That’s all you really need for the seven seas.

          Can the NSA see what you’re doing? Who cares. If they can, they aren’t revealing that to help anyone in a civil case.

          • lukas@lemmy.haigner.me
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            7 months ago

            You conflate VPN providers have an incentive to store no logs with it’s impossible to verify whether VPN providers store logs. It’s like trusting your friend to keep a secret. They promise not to write down what you say, but you can’t be sure. You accept that risk in your threat model, and that’s fine. But newcomers should judge that risk themselves. I feel like “Don’t worry bro, they don’t keep logs.” is an inappropriate response to people that’re about to commit a crime that can land them in jail.

  • SterbenDeathGun@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    13
    ·
    7 months ago

    Surface the Web with VPN, Ad blocker, Anti-Tracker, use Linux. In 5 years, I have never encountered a virus or a trojan. Following these 4 “rules” and you’ll be fine on any website.

  • rockhandle@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    7 months ago

    Depends on what you want. For games, find a trustworthy repacker (fitgirl and dodi are good in my experience) and only download from them. For software, again, it depends. For adobe products, M0nkrus is pretty good, but I’m unsure about other software. Movies and music are typically quite safe as long as you practice due diligence (basically dont open a file called song.mp3.exe).