Don't download pirated software, your secrets will be stolen by hackers

If you download pirated software, your secret photos, banking accounts and other details will get stolen by hackers through trojans, malware and ransomware.

So, in effect, if you do download pirated software, it may come free or very cheap, but you will end up losing money and more to hackers due to trojans, malware and even ransomware. (Pixabay)

Nothing comes free, not even pirated software. Pirated software is one of the biggest problems of the modern world. While it makes expensive software available virtually for free to all those who find themselves unable to pay the full price of some of these products, it does impact software developers very badly as their work is stolen from them. However, even for those who download pirated software, there may be a big price to pay. The problem with carrying out a pirated software download is that it often comes with malware - malicious software. That means people who download pirated software also download malware on their computers and this allows hackers to steal their banking and other secret information easily. In short, installing the ‘cracked' version of a software is dangerous and can cause a huge loss of money and more. Yes, nothing on Earth comes free - there is always a cost to pay.

So, before you install pirated software, here are 3 reasons why you should not do so:

It is illegal

Piracy is illegal in almost every country around the globe. Not only is distributing pirated software a punishable offense but also using it is equally problematic and is considered a violation of software copyright law. Penalty for violating the local copyright laws depends on the country in which the people concerned are being charged.

You won't get updates

One of the biggest reasons why you should not download pirated software is for the lack of updates. For legitimate software, developers roll out timely updates not only to add new features but also to fix existing issues and bugs in the code of the software. However, this is not possible in the case of pirated software. So, using pirated software not only deprives you of new features and functionalities but it also leaves you vulnerable to hackers due to issues in existing codes.

There is a security risk

Lastly, there is a major security risk involved in using pirated software. Legitimate software is safe to use. However, with pirated software, there is always a risk of downloading a malicious piece of code containing trojans, malware and even ransomware. These malicious pieces of code can not only steal users' personal information but also their financial information, especially since people use their computers for shopping, banking and even submitting their health insurance claims.