Is This Safe To Download

Author: Published August 15, 2013 12:12 pm in, A lot of people, it seems, are keen to download videos from YouTube so that they can view them without the need to be online. Of course, YouTube doesn’t give you the option to download the movies it hosts - so it’s not an enormous surprise that all manner of tools and browser plugins have been created over the years to help you do it. Sadly, online criminals and fraudsters are only too aware of this trend - and have created YouTube video downloading plugins for your browser which can lead to your computer being infected with malware, or help them earn money by messing with your browser’s search results or displaying irritating adverts.

1. Is Wondershare Safe To Download
2. Safest Site To Download Software

Spider.io has published a looking at two plugins designed to let you download YouTube videos: Easy YouTube Video Downloader plugin and Best Video Downloader. You may see plugins like these associated with companies named Yontoo, Alactro and Sambreel. Don’t be confused - they’re all the same bunch of people. What Spider.io discovered was that the two plugins display ads on the YouTube website when it is viewed by affected PCs, a breach of YouTube’s rules. Furthermore, some of the ads displayed direct users to malware.

What’s perhaps surprising to many is that legitimate brands can often appear in these injected adverts on YouTube. Here, for instance, is an advert from Sprint which the Easy YouTube Video Downloader plugin has injected into a YouTube page: And here are more adverts from Amazon, Toyota and Norton (yes, Norton!): Spider.io says that the display ad slots are being bought by premium advertisers such as Amazon Local, American Airlines, AT&T, BlackBerry, Cadillac, Domino’s, Ford, Kellogg’s, Marriott, Norton, Toyota, Sprint, Walgreens and Western Union. The good news is that they are legitimate brands. They are probably unaware of how their adverts are appearing, having purchased slots on advertising exchange networks. But advertising slots are also being purchased by criminals, with the intention of infecting computers with malware.

Microsoft offers a decent selection of free wallpapers. Find options for holidays, animals, art, and even community submitted wallpapers. Microsoft even provides instructions for how to download the images. Screenshot of Microsoft’s Wallpapers. Desktop Nexus. Desktop Nexus has a desktop wallpaper for every occasion and interest. Original Title: Avery Labels I have a new computer with windows 10. So I lost my problem for letters, envelopes etc. But I had downloaded Avery labels unto my.

Here, for instance, is a bogus security warning about Java - distributed via a malicious advert, inserted into YouTube by the Easy YouTube Video Downloader plugin. Your Java Version is outdated, have Security Risks.

Apple launcher apk. Please Update Now! If you are tricked by the warning message, you might find yourself downloading a bogus security update for java, designed to install malware onto your computer. Google, who owns YouTube, are almost certainly doing a much better job of policing adverts on their network than the networks being used by these third-party plugins.

And yet, any users who become infected are likely to blame YouTube for the problem, not realising that it was the software they installed to download videos that introduced the increased threat. At the time of writing, the two YouTube downloading plugins mentioned by Spider.io appear to have been removed from distribution.

However, don’t be surprised if more pop up with different names, and bear in mind the risks that you could be taking if you trust running them on your computer.

Bittorrent is a powerful technology that can give users virtually unlimited access to content, but is it safe? The reality is, torrent users face multiple security threats every time they share or download a file. This guide will cover the most important aspects of bittorrent safety, and give you easy steps to follow to help you download torrents and safely as possible. In this guide, you'll learn about:. Legal aspects of file-sharing.

Blocking malware on torrent sites. Identifying safe/unsafe torrent files.

Viruses, rootkits, hackers, and other risks of downloading software. Torrent monitoring, and what you should do about it.

How to hide your identity/location when downloading torrents Legality of Torrents. The torrent p2p protocol (bittorrent) is a fully legal file-sharing technology. It's important to understand the distinction between the legality of the technology itself and how you choose to use it. Whether your own torrent downloads are legal vs. Illegal depends entirely on what files you're torrenting, who owns the rights (or if they're ), and where you're located.

When it comes to filesharing/copyright issues. In simple terms: Bittorrent itself is a legal technology.

If you choose to download torrent files that are owned by someone else and protected under copyright, doing so may still be illegal, depending on the laws of your country. How to find legal torrents: ​There are dozens of sites online that index/host 100% legal torrent files.

Most legal torrents are either files who's copyright has expired (and are now public domain) or files that have been released with a license that permits free and open sharing/distribution. Here are resources to find the best legal torrent sites:. ​ Torrent Monitoring/ Blocking/ IP-Logging (Threat #1). This is the most common threat to your torrent security/privacy. Whether you realize it or not, most torrent swarms are being actively monitored by specialized software operated by 3rd-party monitoring companies, research institutions, and internet providers. In fact, it's the main reason this website exists. You see, when you connect to a torrent swarm, every peer (computer) sharing that file is able to see the IP address of every other computer in the swarm.

This IP address is publicly visible, and can usually be traced directly back a specific computer or internet service account. Fortunately there's an to this privacy risk, and popular services like, and can easily hide your IP address while torrenting. We'll go in-depth into the solutions in a minute, but first let's look at the 3 groups that monitor torrents. Group #1 - Your Internet Provider Most ISP's are aware of which subscribers are downloading torrents, and even what specific files you download. Many ISP's will, to prevent seeding and excessive bandwidth usage.

Winrar converter free download. The best way to prevent monitoring by your ISP is to. ​Group #2 - Research Institutions/Companies Nonprofit companies/organizations and research institutions (like universities) monitor torrent swarms for research purposes. The purpose of this data collection may range from generalized data traffic patterns, to building new algorithms or software for tracking file-sharing users. Though this group usually doesn't pose an immediate security threat, your IP address may still end up in their database along with associated file downloads.

Group #3 - Monitoring companies agencies (For Profit) This group of companies is the most active and may pose the greatest security risk to bittorrent users. It has been estimated that over 70% of torrent downloads (and the associated IP address) may be logged into a database within 60 seconds of initiating the download. These databases may be sold for a profit to interested parties, or used for. The easiest way to avoid monitoring by these companies is:.

Only download. Anonymize your torrent traffic using a (read the next section for full details) ​ How to Make your TOrrent DOwnloads COmpletely Anonymous. This site is dedicated to educating readers like you how to protect your privacy while torrenting, and how to make your torrent activity/history virtually untraceable. This is powerful information,and it's reaching the mainstream torrent users., now I would estimate that number at 50-70%. In fact, if you don't take steps to, you're probably in the minority. Follow these steps, and you'll be able to:.

hide your real IP address from all torrent swarms and peers. Encrypt your downloads and web history, so even your ISP can't see what you do online. A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is the most powerful anonymity tool in the file-sharing arsenal. Most come with easy-to-use software allowing you to hide your IP address and encrypt 100% of your internet traffic with a single mouse click. Here are our top recommended VPN's (These providers keep no). ($3.33/m) - 2014,2015. Best value, period.

($6.59/m) - Fastest option. Good software/support. ($4.99/m) - VPN/Proxy service. Torrent focused, auto installer for uTorrent, Vuze, Deluge. These are the 3 most popular options among this sites' visitors.

But if I was going to recommend a single choice to you? It's the cheapest, easy to use, excellent security, and allows torrents on all servers. PIA also has a 7-day 100% refund policy, so you can try their service virtually risk-free. Even better, we've got a, which will show you how to use their service with uTorrent, Vuze, Deluge, or QBittorrent. VPN Setup: If you're using the VPN-only option, then you're good to go. Connect to a VPN server in a torrent-friendly location (like Canada, Switzerland, or the Netherlands), open your torrent client, and begin torrenting. Detective conan watch cartoon online. You may also want to the first time you use the VPN, just to make sure everything's working properly.

​Proxy Setup: Setting up your takes an extra 5 minutes (once) but then your torrent client will save the proxy settings and auto-connect every time you open your torrent software. Using a VPN + Proxy together gives you the best of both worlds, and is great option if you're very privacy conscious. We have proxy/vpn setup guides for:. If you chose Private Internet Access as your Proxy/VPN service (they include both in every VPN package) then you should definitely check out our. It has step by step instructions for all your favorite software, as well showing you how to generate a SOCKS login/password for their Netherlands proxy server (different than your VPN login info). Torrent Encryption: If you aren't using a VPN, we still recommend you encrypt your torrents using the built-in encryption function in your torrent software. This will help prevent your ISP from monitoring/throttling your torrent traffic.

Most traditional torrent sites are littered with ads, and users are constantly bombarded with links to questionable or downright dangerous sites. Some of the ads may even contain executable scripts that can exploit browser vulnerabilities even without you actually clicking the banner.

Is Wondershare Safe To Download

Because most mainstream advertisers don't want to be associated with torrent sites, torrent trackers are forced to turn to shady/questionable advertisers as a source of revenue to pay their server costs. As a result, there is often very little vetting or security screening of advertisers. Many banner ads link directly to pages that will instantly try to install software on your computer, or capture personal information about you or your browsing habits. Here are some easy rules to follow to prevent accidentally installing malicious software/code on your computer via shady advertising links: Rule #1 - Don't click ad banners. Yes, this seems obvious, but people fall for the interactive/gamified banners all the time ('click the bunny and win!' ) Rule #2 - Use an ad-blocker so you don't even see the ads is an amazing free browser extension that will completely remove adds from all websites you visit. Instead of replacing the ads with blank space, it actually reformats the space, so it's as if the ads were never there in the first place.

Once you use it, you'll wonder how you lived so long without it. Rule #3 - Disable Flash/Require manual approval to run flash Most of the auto-executing scripts in shady ads is designed to execute flash vulnerabilities (especially older/outdated versions). If you can't live without flash content in your daily life, then choose a separate browser just for torrent sites, and disable flash in that browser instead. Alternatively, you can require manual approval to run/display flash content. To access that feature in Firefox go to Menu Addons Plugins. Rule #4 - Make sure you have a good antivirus with live monitoring An antivirus is a failsafe to catch malicious scripts if you do happen to land on a dangerous site.

Many, like Avast, Mcafee, and AVG will warn you before you access a known/suspected dangerous website. Rule #5 - Never, ever EVER install a plugin or software after clicking a banner add, no matter how excited you were to watch the video they promised you. Backdoors/Trojans/Rootkits in Executable Files (Threat #3). You love bittorrent, but hackers love bittorrent more.

Because there's almost no oversight or security analysis of the files that are distributed via torrents, a popular blackhat technique to is to embed malicious scripts/viruses in popular software and then share it via bittorrent. When a user unsuspectingly runs the.exe or.bat file to install the software, the malicious script may install dangerous software like a, or virus.

Other example of incredibly dangerous software widely found in executable torrents is a rootkit that turns your PC into a zombie/slave computer, which can broadcast a live stream from your webcam/microphone, or even cause your computer to participate in a or DDOS attack without your knowledge. Here are some good rules to follow, to help minimize your exposure to these types of torrent security risks. Rule #1 - Don't download executable/installable files By far the most dangerous torrent files are those that actually install software on your computer (usually with an.exe or.bat file). If you never install software downloaded from a torrent site, your infection risk probably drops by 90%. It is sometimes possible to embed scripts in other types of non-installable files (such as PDF's, and certain video formats) but in generally it's alot rarer and these file types tend to less dangerous, even if they are malicious. (It's hard to install a rootkit from a PDF without directing you to download a file from a 3rd-party website).

Safest Site To Download Software

It's also a good idea to avoid.FLV (flash video files). Rule #2 - Don't run your computer in Administrator mode Instead of always running in admin mode like most users do, create a separate 'low-level' account on your computer and only use administrator privileges when changing system settings or installing trusted software. Rootkits, trojans, and other dangerous software need 'Administrator Rights' to make changes to your system settings that pose a security threat. If you're in administrator mode already, they already have the admin rights they need. If you're in a low-level account (without administrator rights) you'll get a popup notification requesting admin rights, which will alert you that something is wrong and your software is trying to do something dangerous. Rule #3 - Always use an antivirus If you're going to be downloading torrent files frequently, you should definitely have a high quality antivirus + firewall software to instantly detect and prevent threats from exploiting your system.

Run automatic system scans weekly, and set your antivirus to scan every executable file before running it the first time. If you download a piece of software from an untrusted/unknown source, run it in a ' which is a virtual environment that prevents any embedded viruses from infecting your system. Rule #4 - Read the comments If a torrent file contains a virus, odds are it's already infected other people before you downloaded the file. That's why you should ALWAYS ALWAYS read the comments before downloading software. If anybody mentions a virus or questionable code, don't take a chance. Do not download, do not pass go.

Choosing a Torrent Client. There are some incredibly powerful torrent clients out there (like Vuze) with all kinds of bells and whistles, plugins, addons, and extra functionality.

All those features come at a cost however, usually in the form of performance, and security. Mainstream closed source torrent clients (uTorrent, Bittorrent, Vuze) are increasingly trying to monetize their software, which may mean more advertisements, embedded software/adware, and 'pro' upgrades to get more features. UTorrent notoriously received bad PR and outrage across the internet when one of their release versions was without users' permission. It's worth deciding whether or not you really need all the extra features these programs contain, or whether you'd be perfectly happy with a lightweight, secure, and open-source torrent client that performs all of the essential security functions (proxy support, encryption, etc) with none of the bloat. All of these clients support magnet links, dht, port-mapping, etc.

Here are our favorite lightweight, open-source Bittorrent clients:. Lightweight, fast, yet powerful. Can be run in seedbox mode on a remote server. easy to setup and use. Proxy support, Encryption. Uses very few system resources. another popular ultra-light client Other Torrent Safety Tips. Many people think that if they just switch on Private Browsing mode (Firefox) or Incognito Mode (Chrome), then their web history is private.

This is simply NOT TRUE. Google can still track your search history, even if you're using a VPN (they can track you with cookies, or if you're logged into your google account like most users are 24/7). Your ISP can track your web history if your connection still uses their DNS servers to lookup web addresses. Here's how to prevent these leaks: Use Tor is a great, free option for browsing the internet anonymously.

Use it for all your sensitive websites and searches that want stored in googles database, or your internet history. Use an anonymous search engine Google tracks every search you ever make, and they attempt to track you through browser cookies, even if you're not signed into your account. Use an anonymous search engine like for private searches. This article covered alot of ground.

Let's summarize what we learned:. Bittorrent is a 100% legal technology (but not all torrent files are legal). Download responsibly. Torrent swarms and downloads are monitored on a massive scale.

You can easily hide your IP address & Torrent traffic by using a. Ads on torrent sites may contain/link to malware.

Disable flash and to minimize the risk. Installable/Executable torrent files are the most dangerous by far. Avoid altogether or use extreme caution. A quality Antivirus is your 2nd best friend (the first, should be your VPN).

Consider an open-source lightweight torrent client to avoid malware/ads (like deluge, Tixati, or QBittorrent). Check for IP-leaks, and to verify your VPN/Proxy is working correctly. Thanks for reading, please feel free to share this article with friends or followers using the sharebar to the left!