Comment by p-e-w
2 years ago
So people just download .exe files that they see in those forum posts and run them on their machines?
New world indeed...
2 years ago
So people just download .exe files that they see in those forum posts and run them on their machines?
New world indeed...
That's an old world, for me. It's how the Windows software ecosystem worked and works to this day.
My goal is to try to do something practical just on data compression. I have neither knowledge nor experience about malicious software mentioned. You may be comfortable about this. https://www.linkedin.com/in/hakan-abbas-178b5852/
I was referring to the practice of downloading executables from such forums in general, not to your post specifically. I have no reason to suspect that this particular post contains any malware. But in most parts of the software world, Open Source has been the standard for experimental publications for a long, long time, and seeing a forum depart so strongly from that standard is certainly surprising, and does of course have security implications when this practice is used at scale.
You can always use a sandbox if that's the most concern. A bigger issue is that, as like other established forums, enough many people don't know much about data compression and contribute to the noise.
There are open source developers out there who literally write installation instructions like these in their READMEs:
[flagged]
Hey, could you please edit out swipes and/or name-calling from your HN posts? This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.
Your comment would be just fine without the (first clause of the) second sentence.
Yeah, I too was using the web in the late 90s. I remember countless programming and "hacking" forums where .exes were shared, and I downloaded and ran anything and everything that had a download link.
It was a fun time, and I do harbor some nostalgia for it. But I can't imagine going back.
it was okay back then though, because the cracked copy of NOD32 on your system would totally protect you =)
Corporate? That's not a sound way to describe the totality of the world of programmers that lean towards free/open and beyond.
Sure, closed-source communities exist and have for a long age, but many folk have grown beyond the ethos or tradition of closed releases for reasons like, IDK, competitive individualism for clout or potential code quality shame that AFAICT drive such corners of the software world, especially at the level of freeware, not just for business. It's certainly a new world for younger people who skipped the era when that was more prevalent.
If people don't like corporate, there are newer source available licence options that folk to the left of free/open have been advocating more recently.
Tell us more about "I don't aee anything suspicious". How exactly do you know it's not a binary that hashes all your files using a key and asks for btc to revert?
Open in hex/text editor, scroll through and look for anything suspicious like network, crypto, obfuscated sections (major red flag), strange strings, etc. The #1 most reliable sign of malware is if it's unusually large and packed/obfuscated, but this isn't.
The guy even has his full name and contact info in there.
This is harmless.
If you don't trust me you could upload to an online malware multiscanner (which tends to invite false positives, but better than nothing).
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There are libraries that would be useful for cryptography that you wouldn’t likely need in an audio codec. If the binary imports those libraries, it may be visible with a bit of prodding.
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