File sharing sites, viruses and pop-ups - Oh My !!

[Lumos]

So many times here I see folks posting stuff just like this:

(05-18-2017 06:05 AM)bluefeb Wrote:  imglad I got it but zippy share at the same time tried to install a virus. NO reps for you sorry

And I just shake my head because it is so sad how such responses point to a lack of some very simple things.

FACTS:

1. ALL file sharing sites attempt bad stuff.
2. ALL of them have pop-ups and other bad krap
3. Avoiding the bad krap is mostly quite simple

The BEST protection against the bad stuff is just to use one's brain; being ready for it also helps as it comes with the territory !!

Suggestions:

1. Get Ad Block Plus or uBlock Origin
2. Find IDM here and install it properly
3. Learn how to stop crummy site's loading at the right times
4. Use copy and paste to y9our advantages
5. Learn WHICH BUTTONS are the right ones, vs...
6. Which buttons are ALWAYS the wrong ones !!!

All that having been said - there are some file sharing sites which crash all of my browsers reliably.
There are some which seem to be ISP blocked here;
Worst of all there is Mega - which seems to be set up to quit and close when it reaches 1/2 way through any giant d/l - even on the good days when it works at all - some days it does not even work here.

Seems to me that anyone who has found their way here should be able to handle such simple stuff already rather than flaming or beating other users for sharing stuff at the sites everyone uses - it ain't their fault that all the free file sharing sites do that stuff !!!

Peace Out.

[Lumos]

Here are some parts from a recent thread that has been closed when the OP was offended by folks' replies because his share set off VT in a rather scary way:

There are several problems with using/reading VT scans when it is stuff like this inside a single compressed file...
The biggest of the lot is that it does not tell you exactly WHAT of the lot may be a problem INSIDE a RAR or ZIP file.

So, after file extraction, I checked the individual files, and here is that result, sanitized so as not to offend:
1.
39 engines detected this file
SHA-256 <snipped>
File name blah.v.4.5.11.x32-patch.exe
Last analysis 2017-08-28
39 / 65

2.
36 engines detected this file
SHA-256 <snipped>
File name blah.v.4.5.11.x64-patch.exe
Last analysis 2017-08-28
36 / 63

3.
One engine detected this file
SHA-256 <snipped>
File name blah_setup_4.5.11.exe
Last analysis 2017-08-28
1 / 65

4.
One engine detected this file
SHA-256 <snipped>
File name blah_setup_4.5.11_x64.exe
Last analysis 2017-08-23
1 / 64

There's a little something for everyone there - the installers got a positive on Baidu - but none of the better AVs found anything bad in those;
The patches were loaded with bad stuff according to some of the most reliable AVs in existence today.

This baffles me as I've used plenty of tools by the URET group and most of the time they are good and clean.

My best guess is that this stuff all passed through someplace which rubbed off on it AS WELL as the common FPs that come just from being patches.

My personal-use conclusion:
Even if it were used in SBIE, with such a list of detections I would not trust it.

I'd like to see scans for the installers that come directly bought and if those are 100% clean then I'd say that IF this is the very best choice for an app of its type - it would also be worth having a 100% clean installer and/or fix for it.
(I have no strong need for the app in question and had already deleted the whole thing from my PC right after scanning it...)

I would actually buy the doggone thing myself, just out of curiosity IF there was any $ for me to spare right now, but there ain't.

Something important (at least to me) to add to all of this:
The OP of that thread snapped at all the 'safety experts' (his words) who did not wish to take chances with this possibly harmful stuff.

As it happens, before illness messed my life up - my career happened to be a speciality in network privacy and data integrity for small networks.
I did quite well at it too - until I was unable to work and lost it all.

So, I am sorry to say that yes - I do qualify as an 'expert' when it comes to certain things as my learning has not stopped like my work did; but I do not accept the label of 'guru' and never have, simply because nobody can EVER know it all - and any such claim is naturally false.

Having said all that in my sideways sort of reply - I still admit that in the MMO realm I am a total newbie in most ways and have yet to make even 5 cents from it !!