Leaked versions of Windows 7 appeared on the internet last week
Security experts warn against pirated Windows 7
/v3-uk/news/1991850/security-experts-warn-pirated-windows
06 Jan 2009, Phil Muncaster , V3
Security experts have urged users to be wary of pirated early versions of Microsoft's forthcoming Windows 7 operating system because they may contain malware.
An early build of Windows 7, labelled 'Windows 7 Ultimate Build 7000', was leaked onto the internet last week, and made widely available for download via several peer-to-peer networks.
Rob Rachwald, director of product marketing at security vendor Fortify, highlighted an increase in software infected with malware being posted on the internet, and warned that users should only download software from a trusted source.
"The whole idea is to exploit something popular, whether it's getting users to download porn or popular software. It's just a clever way to spread malware, " he said.
Rik Ferguson, solutions architect at content security vendor Trend Micro, echoed these sentiments.
"We would definitely discourage people from downloading and installing any software where they cannot be sure of the reliability of the content, or the trustworthiness of the source," he said.
"Pirated software distributed over peer-to-peer communities ranks pretty low on the credibility scale."
It is widely expected that Microsoft will make some significant Windows 7 announcements at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.
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Do you agree?
Let's get this out of the way
On nearly half of the downloads one gets from Bittorrents, there is a virus found related to the activation hack. It is because certain anti-virals like Avast and Avira (specifically) view hack code as viruses, not because they really are viruses. The way to assuage your paranoia over this is to run the authoritative master Spybot by rightclicking the file (ISO fine, but better if u parse the actual files) and it will settle the issue with pure moxie and not old-lady cluelessness.
Posted by greg, 07 Jan 2009
Credability?
The crediability of so called security experts, who's cannot prevent the piracy of their own software, ranks fairly low in the p2p world. This is little more than scaremongering propaganda by vendors, or by experts paid by software vendors. Those of us who live in the real world are well aware of the risks, and are also aware of the appropriate steps to take to avoid malware, not just from p2p, but from any source.
Posted by realist, 06 Jan 2009
So True
Quote
"We would definitely discourage people from downloading and installing any software where they cannot be sure of the reliability of the content, or the trustworthiness of the source,"
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That is so True!
Thats why you should never use Microsoft products in the first place.
Posted by Whatever, 17 Feb 2009