Malware and pirated ebooks

[jackm8]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Being able to see the file extension doesn't matter in this case - people don't see kamasutra.epub.exe (it's hidden), they're seeing 'this opens the ebook.lnk.'

Yeah, this makes the most sense to me.

[MrSlow&Steady]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Seems to me that the ebooks themselves don't contain malware, the archives do. Why should anyone want to run an unknown executable from a random rar archive when they actually wanted an ebook is beyond me, but people are capable of doing some very stupid things.

This makes me worried if sites like Library Genesis could be impacted by this.

[Quoth]

I can't imagine why Library Genesis, Z library and others aren't taken down.
They are cheating authors.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by MrSlow&Steady

This makes me worried if sites like Library Genesis could be impacted by this.

Not unless they're uploading RAR files.

Originally Posted by Quoth

I can't imagine why Library Genesis, Z library and others aren't taken down.
They are cheating authors.

Hosted in Russia, I think. I think ZLib's domain got seized a few years back but that didn't do much.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by MrSlow&Steady

This makes me worried if sites like <site name deleted>s could be impacted by this.

It's not an issue as those are illegal eBooks anyway. YOu should not be mentioned sites to download illegal eBooks.

[JSWolf]

All of the posts with the names of these illegal sites should be edited to remove the site names.

[DiapDealer]

Relax, Jon. No links have been posted. It's not against the rules to mention things like Pirate Bay (yeah, I'm showing my age!).

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Relax, Jon. No links have been posted. It's not against the rules to mention things like Pirate Bay (yeah, I'm showing my age!).

You and me both. I thought that was the site everyone was hinting about

[nabsltd]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Hosted in Russia, I think. I think ZLib's domain got seized a few years back but that didn't do much.

There are a couple of other Russian-hosted sites with pirate ebooks that do takedowns when requested...booksee comes to mind. I don't know if Library Genesis honors takedowns, but if it does, that might be why it's still up.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Relax, Jon. No links have been posted. It's not against the rules to mention things like Pirate Bay (yeah, I'm showing my age!).

I know no links have been posted, but these sites can be looked up based on the names.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I know no links have been posted, but these sites can be looked up based on the names.

And I explained why we don't care. We can't stop people from looking up sites they shouldn't, and we're not going to try (so long as they're not posting direct links to them).

Now advocating that people should visit and use such sites?? THAT will get you dinged.

Moderator Notice
Please don't reply to my explanation. This is the end of it.

[MrSlow&Steady]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Not unless they're uploading RAR files.

I looked up what that is but I really don't get the purpose of them.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by MrSlow&Steady

I looked up what that is but I really don't get the purpose of them.

Archive format, like ZIP and 7z.

[MrSlow&Steady]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Archive format, like ZIP and 7z.

I still don't get it.

[Kindleing]

Originally Posted by MrSlow&Steady

I still don't get it.

Like a Zip file a rar file can contain multiple files. A poisoned rar file can contain a script which, when extracted, can infect a vulnerable computer. So someone thinks they are downloading an ebook but they are actually downloading malicious software. Many people aren't famiiar with rar files so it is easier to fool them.