How Safe are really Games from Goat Websites? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 6 months ago by gemew26@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com

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I recently created a post talking about antimalware software but after reading most comments I'm wondering am I really safe downloading games from Goat websites (of the megathread)...?

Studying is taking a toll on my savings so even though I haven't pirated anything for years and years, I'd love to get back at it.

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[-] Detheroth@lemmynsfw.com 10 points 6 months ago

You are only as safe as you let yourself be.

I've had no issues with most of the sites in the mega thread, and if you utilise a bit of common sense you should be fine.

Get a VPN, download Malwarebytes and check the torrent comments before you download anything. New torrent with zero comments and no way for you to verify? If it's not a site you have grown to trust, give it a miss for a week. Even if you do trust the site, if something in your head says "this isn't right", just wait or find an alternative.

Most other content is easy because hiding malware inside of a movie torrent is more difficult and easier to detect. Games require you to pay a bit of attention because I can name any malware I want "setup.exe" and a lot of people will mindlessly open it expecting a game to install.

For what it's worth, I used FitGirl when I was a student and didn't have any troubles with her packs. Not sure if anything has changed in the last ~4 years though.

[-] gemew26@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 6 months ago

VPN is not important where I live, Malwarebytes absolutely, if the game is small I'd even upload it to Virus Total but I doubt I can in most cases.

Regarding torrents, seems solid. The only thing I would like to note is there are only two goat websites in the torrent section, there are more in the direct download section. I'm generally very careful, I doubt I got a virus when I was a teen. FitGirl is still a Goat source.

[-] viking@infosec.pub 9 points 6 months ago

Forget about Virus Total, most sophisticated viruses are no longer hidden in the main .exe but in some random .dll in some subfolder that's being called at some point throughout the game. You'd have to upload every single file to be sure, and that really isn't feasible in modern games.

[-] gemew26@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 6 months ago

indeed when they talked about virus total in my antivirus post, I thought what am I not understanding because I wouldn't consider it viable for games. I don't mind installing malwarebytes or kaspersky

[-] DavLemmyHav@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 6 months ago

Theres always a risk, but the megathread just gives sites that are known to be safe. The goat ones are simply the ones that offer better range of products or services.