this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2025
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Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ
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A serious question: what's wrong with pirate bay? I have been using it to download movies, shows and language learning content for over a decade, and I never had any problems.
Those aren't typically risky media. When you're downloading games though, you're downloading executable programs. You can do some serious damage if you execute the wrong things. You're not executing a mkv or a pdf, you're only reading it.
You're half wrong and half right, .mkv files are completely safe but the same can't be said about .pdf files, attackers can embed malicious code, such as JavaScript or hidden executables, within a PDF file.
People really underestimate the capabilities of this .pdf file format. I remember some time ago, someone managed to run doom inside a .pdf file.
Theoretically, there could also be a MKV file that exploits a bug in the video player to get execution.
Far less likely, but definitely possible.
There's a difference between exploiting bugs that haven't even been found and spreading malware through a method that's known by pretty much everyone and is still used to spread malware today.
It's also theoretically possible that your system is already infected by some Advanced Persistent Threats but does that happen that often, No, and have people been infected by running random pdfs they found online, Yes.
Ah, so that's what apt stands for. Gives a new meaning to apt-get!
You can embed 3d models in PDF.
You shouldn't but you can!
Tell that to circuit board designers. It's horrible every time a 3d model of a circuit board is added. The component height gives no visual advantage, and it's slow as shit on corporate computers.
My first job was extracting text from pdfs, in the end OCR was the most reasonable way. This was back in like 2010 when it was waaaaay harder.
Everyone who enjoys cosmic horror should read the PDF spec. https://pdfa.org/resource/pdf-specification-archive/
The worst pdf file is epsteins best friend
Don't download games and software from it and always check the file extensions and make sure they're not something like Movie.mp4.exe or Movie.mkv.exe, other than that you're good.
But I want to see the funny colours
Also watch out for any link files, .com files and .bat files.
I think you meant .lnk files instead of link files.
.scr and .uue are also becoming popular means to spread malware through torrents.
I like how Microsoft came up with an obscure extension for screensavers, which is just an .exe in disguise.
Nothing is wrong with it. I imagine you'd be the type to survive in the wild west because you're equipped to do so while people around you die of dysentery.
it's just guilty of being around for so long so it's popular which attracts a lot of attention.