Attorney General Marty Jackley said in a release Wednesday that hackers are now using pirate websites to infect people’s computers, leading to identity theft and other serious financial and privacy harms.
“Pirated websites are both wrong and dangerously risk identity theft and financial loss,” Jackely said in a release. “This includes ‘ransomware,’ a malicious software that threatens to publish its victim’s data or block access unless a ransom is paid.”
A recent study found that one in three of these pirate websites exposed users to malware exploitable by criminals, and that almost half of the malware was “drive-by,” meaning it was delivered without a user even having to click on the link.
To avoid being compromised, avoid pirate websites and install and update anti-virus programs, the release said.
