The majority of online piracy websites visited in the United Kingdom spread some type of malware or other computer bug, according to research

Research indicates a whopping 90 percent of the top 30 most visited Internet piracy websites in the United Kingdom contained some form of malware or "Potentially Unwanted Programs" (PUPs) to compromise user systems.

The piracy sites often rely on social engineering techniques to trick users into clicking fraudulent links: "These fake play buttons, and that sort of thing, are very much driven by the desire of people to download content," said according to the group. "We view it as a kind of social engineering attack on the users who are tricked into downloading stuff."

In an ongoing effort to combat piracy, copyright holders might have more success trying to inform users of the security threats they open themselves up to when downloading content - it would be a unique twist on sometimes rudimentary scare tactics.

Regardless, cybercriminals will continue to use piracy - and online pornography sites - as effective methods to compromise website visitors and users downloading content.

Yeah , beware of some shitty ads which are no way related to the file you are downloading ... i suggest using Adblock Plus ...

^I concur. Using adblock+ combined with malwarebytes blocks almost all ads and even sites with a "potential" malware. Can't live without abp

and don't click on the big DOWNLOAD button. that is not the torrent download link. the torrent link is usually above or below that big button.

Originally Posted by chucknorris

and don't click on the big DOWNLOAD button. that is not the torrent download link. the torrent link is usually above or below that big button.

Yep, seems like most free download sites have download buttons all over the page. When you click on them it actually downloads another file unrelated to the original file that you were looking for. This happens a lot of the file sharing sites.

Originally Posted by fakeharuhi

Yep, seems like most free download sites have download buttons all over the page. When you click on them it actually downloads another file unrelated to the original file that you were looking for. This happens a lot of the file sharing sites.

they try to fool you to download exe file which install all kinds of malware and adware. stay away from public trackers and try to get into some good private trackers.
in private tracker you have verified torrents and no ads.

Didnt even need to read this to know this is the case. Some sites go as far as even auto downloading a file. But they will always find a way to trick people into downloading that garbage.