Buzz
What should you be aware of before clicking that download button?
Hemera/ThinkstockUgh! The power cut off right in the middle of the new "Game of Thrones" episode, leaving just half of it on your DVR. With a viewing party planned at your place tomorrow, you opt to download the episode illegally — just this one time — to ensure your party is a success.
Everything seems fine until you try to use your computer after the download. Strange pop-ups appear; programs that usually open quickly now lag, and then your entire system crashes. You likely picked up malware — a computer virus, spyware, or some other harmful software — alongside Tyrion Lannister's latest antics.
How can you determine if you're accessing a legitimate download site or if the file you’ve grabbed is full of viruses? The quick answer is that it’s almost impossible to be 100 percent sure that any download is safe.
Think of peer-to-peer sites as large locker rooms: the site offers a space for users to share files, but the site administrators don’t oversee each file uploaded. Sure, the room might have some risks, but even at a trusted gym, the owner can’t control what's stored in every locker. If you're looking for a truly safe download, you must find a reliable site and remember that every file you download could harbor malware.
Downloading files isn’t the only way malware can infiltrate your system. Sometimes, just visiting a website can expose your computer to harmful software [source: Google]. This is known as a "drive-by download," as it happens simply by loading the website [source: Malware Prevention]. Before you download anything, always seek a trusted file-sharing site. Here are other signs that should make you hesitate before clicking download:
5: The Site is Overrun with Ads and Pop-Ups
A poorly designed site doesn’t automatically mean it’s dangerous, but there are signs that should make you rethink staying on the page. If you're overwhelmed by blinking ads and constant pop-ups, with the main focus being to advertise instead of offering content, proceed with caution!
Pop-up ads on a site can be irritating, but they’re usually harmless unless the site is filled with so many that it causes your computer to slow down from managing endless new browser windows. The kind of pop-up that should raise red flags is any dialog box that appears as soon as you load the site, before you’ve even tried to download anything. If a dialog box pops up — a window with a message or warning and options like "OK" or "cancel" — don’t click OK! You may unknowingly allow something to install, possibly malware. Close the site immediately [source: Malware Prevention].
Some pop-up ads can imitate dialog boxes, but these external ads don't always indicate the download site is unsafe. These ads resemble small browser windows without the address bar at the top. A genuine dialog box, on the other hand, will only display the message and the OK and Cancel buttons.
If you're planning to download from any file-sharing site, it's essential to regularly scan your computer for viruses using antivirus software like McAfee or Norton Anti-Virus. You should also scan your downloaded files to ensure they don’t carry any threats to your computer [source: University of Rochester].
4: It’s a Peer-to-Peer Site
Not all download sites are peer-to-peer sharing platforms. Peer-to-peer (P2P) sites, as mentioned earlier, act like the locker room example. They are simply platforms for users to upload and download files. Even if the site itself isn’t malicious, you're depending on hundreds or even thousands of strangers to share only what they claim to and nothing more.
There are more reputable peer-to-peer download sites, such as RapidShare and MediaFire. Visiting these sites doesn’t automatically endanger your computer, but much of the content there can be illegal, like pirated TV shows, movies, and software. There’s nothing preventing users from sharing infected files, sometimes without realizing it. For instance, if a user downloads a pirated episode of "Weeds" infected with malware, they might share that file on a peer-to-peer site, unknowingly spreading the infection.
If you’re looking to download music from your favorite band, you might want to visit their official website before resorting to illegal downloading. Platforms like Bandcamp let bands offer their music to fans for free, at a fixed price, or using a "pay what you want" model [source: Bandcamp]. However, Bandcamp itself isn’t a file-sharing site, but rather a tool that musicians can use to sell or share their music with fans.
3: The URL Appears Suspicious
Sometimes, just by looking at a website's URL, you can tell if it’s harmful: A site like BitTorrent.com is typically more reliable than something like free-movie-downloads-for-you.com.bz. A study in 2009 examined the properties of URLs that could indicate malicious websites and identified several naming patterns that should raise red flags [source: Ma].
- Is the .com (or .net or .org) in the wrong spot? For example, is the URL ebay.com or ebay.com.phishy.biz? In the second case, the .com isn’t the main part of the URL, it’s a subdomain designed to mislead you.
- Is the domain name too long? Research has shown that overly long domain names, like freedownloadsforyouandyourfriends.com, pose a higher risk than shorter, clearer names like rapidshare.com.
- Does the domain name have too many delimiters? A delimiter is a symbol like a dash, underscore, or even a question mark used to split words. This often goes hand in hand with long domain names, so avoid sites with names like download_your-favorite?movies.com.
Another warning sign is "keyword stuffing," a search engine optimization technique used by shady web designers to boost their site’s ranking on search engines like Google [source: Emisoft]. A trustworthy site doesn’t need to call itself free-music-downloads.com and repeat "free music downloads" in every sentence on the homepage to show up at the top of Google search results for "free music downloads."
It happens to the best of us. If you suspect you've downloaded malware, the first step is to run an antivirus or malware removal program, like Avast or Malwarebytes [source: Geier]. If your computer continues to act up after that, you may need to consult a professional for further assistance.
2: Your Browser Gives a Warning
Modern browsers like Firefox, Google Chrome, and Safari have built-in security measures that protect you from malicious websites by warning you before opening harmful pages. Browser developers work continuously to keep lists of blacklisted sites up-to-date and integrated within the browser's defenses.
A great example of this is Chrome's Safe Browsing feature. Thanks to Google's web indexing, Chrome checks each website you visit against a list of flagged sites for malware or phishing scams. If you try to visit a suspicious site, Chrome will present a warning page first, before taking you to the site itself [source: Provos]. You still have the option to proceed, but if you see the red warning window when visiting a new download site, it's best to steer clear.
For users of Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, or Opera, there’s a useful free extension called Web of Trust (WOT). This plugin works alongside your search engine results to notify you if a site is safe to visit. Sites are ranked using a traffic light system: green for safe, yellow for uncertain, and red for dangerous. These color-coded icons appear directly next to your search results, making it easy to spot which download sites you can trust at a glance.
Malicious websites are constantly emerging, which makes it crucial to keep your browser updated. When you perform a browser update, you're not just gaining new features, you're also receiving an updated list of known dangerous sites.
1: It Fails the Professional Tests
There are services available that can evaluate whether a website is trustworthy before you download anything from it.
Hemera/ThinkstockStill unsure about the safety of the download site you're looking at? You can take action in advance! Research that website before you click.
There are several services that will check a URL to see if it's been blacklisted or contains harmful content. These services operate in two main ways: some analyze past data about the website, such as whether it appears on any blacklists, while others scan the website in real-time to check for malware. IT professional Lenny Zeltser provides a list of tools you can use to verify any website's legitimacy. Just visit one of the tools from his list, enter the URL of the download site, and see the results.
You can also check what others are saying about the download site you're thinking of using. Popular and trusted sites like BitTorrent and Usenet will have plenty of reviews and discussions, but a shady site like totallyawesomedownloads.biz probably won't show up in those conversations. The key here is to rely on credible sources like PC Magazine, Mac World, CNET, ZDNET, and Tech Crunch. If you can't find any information about the site you're considering from these well-known tech platforms, it may be wise to do more research before proceeding with the download.
While download sites may pose a higher risk of malware, almost any site on the internet can potentially harm your computer. While you should be extra cautious when visiting download sites, the same level of caution should apply to any unfamiliar website you visit for the first time.
