The story received thousands of shares and comments, containing both compliments and criticisms.

“In fact, his computer was infected with a type of malware, not a ‘botnet’ as he called. There are different forms of malware, from Trojan, rootkit, keylogger to ransomware, which is the most commonly seen nowadays,” said Ngo Tran Vu, CEO of NTS Security.

“Botnet is a network of 'ghost computers' known as zombies which are manipulated by hackers through vulnerabilities or malicious codes hidden in computers,” he explained.

With the popularity of internet in modern days, scams have many methods to scatter malware to new users, or people indifferent to security measures. In general, the popular channels where scammers mostly find victims are blogs, forums and social networks sharing pirated free resources. 

“As you know, there is no such thing as a free lunch. They always include surprising gifts that victims do not know,” Vu said. 

For T, the download of pirated, or cracked graphics software created risks for his assets, including software copyright and security,” he said.

Analysts say that the story often occurs, especially with small businesses which don’t attach much importance to software copyright. They download popular software, including pre-packaged Windows operating systems (Ghost, Iso format), Office tools, and high-end graphics and multimedia software such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, AutoCAD and Vegas Pro, or even small items such as WinZip, WinRAR, IDM download.

Most of them are present on ‘underground’ webs, torrents, and free-shared social networks. Users are asked to turn off security tools on their computers (anti-virus or Internet Security) to download the software. This is because the anti-virus tools can detect malware hidden in cracking tools such as Keygen, Patch, Crack, or the already-infected files.

When infected with malware, businesses cannot do anything to protect themselves. They cannot receive support from software developers, and they are sanctioned by agencies. They face security risks when malware and hackers penetrate systems and equipment to steal information or even try to blackmail.

Experts have warned that malware embedded in pirated software is getting more and more complicated, and is difficult to be discovered by ordinary users. HotRat’s variant, discovered last August, is still raging in Southeast Asia.

Using security solutions combined with data backup is needed.

Trong Dat