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The story of a Vietnamese business using "cracked" software (pirated software), resulting in losses of assets, important social media accounts, and even the company's brand, is sparking much debate in the community.
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| Cracked software is always an easy target for cybercriminals. |
A business owner posted on Facebook about how their company's computers had been infected with a "botnet," and how hackers exploited the vulnerabilities for profit, causing significant losses to the business. The post quickly garnered thousands of shares, comments, and reactions, including both praise and criticism.
“Mr. T.’s computer was infected with a type of malware, not a botnet as the article called it. Malware, in general, comes in many forms, from trojans, rootkits, keyloggers, to the most common ransomware. A botnet is a network of “zombie” computers manipulated by hackers through vulnerabilities or malware hidden within the computer,” said Mr. Ngo Tran Vu, Director of NTS Security.
"With the current popularity of the Internet, malicious actors have many ways to spread malware to new users or those who are indifferent to device security. Popular channels for criminals to find victims are blogs, forums, and social networks that share pirated free resources. And of course, nothing is truly free; they always offer unexpected gifts that victims are unaware of," Mr. Vu commented.
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A screenshot of a post about the security incident has attracted a lot of attention. |
In Mr. T's story, downloading pirated (cracked, pirated) graphics software created a risk to his property, including issues of software copyright and security.
Small businesses often disregard software licensing issues, preferring to use "premium" software for free. They freely download specialized software for daily work, ranging from pre-packaged versions of Windows operating systems (Ghost or ISO format), the Office suite, or popular high-end graphics and multimedia software like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, AutoCAD, Vegas Pro… or even smaller tools like WinZip, WinRAR, and download managers like IDM.
In fact, malware embedded in pirated software is becoming increasingly sophisticated and harder to detect for average users. A new variant of the HotRat malware, detected in August, continues to wreak havoc in Southeast Asia through widespread downloading and use of pirated software in the region.
According to Mr. Ngo Tran Vu, comprehensive protection solutions like Kaspersky Total Security are very useful for individual users or small businesses, as they help protect themselves from cyberspace.
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