A third of pirated movie sites spread malicious software, report says

Poetic justice.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pirated-movie-video-download-sites-spread-malicious-malware/

By Amy Kraft CBS News December 14, 2015,
You might want to think twice before you try to watch a pirated copy of of the new Star Wars movie online. Aside from the fact that the film will probably be way better on a big screen with surround sound, a new report finds that many websites set up to distribute pirated movies and TV shows spread malicious malware.

Cybersecurity firm RiskIQ probed a sample of 800 piracy websites and found that one in three contain malware that can expose a user to identity theft, financial loss, and hackers taking control of their computer. Internet users who visited piracy sites were 28 times more likely to get malware from so-called torrent sites than from licensed or mainstream media websites.

Almost half the time, the malware was delivered by "drive-by downloads," meaning the malicious software was triggered just by visiting a site -- users did not have to click again or actually download a video to get infected.

Once hackers gain access into a computer, they can steal bank and credit card data or personal information, which can be sold in an underground market. Another tactic some hackers use is to lock a person out of their computer and demand a ransom.

•••••