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There's MacUpdate which you can use, and you can see the number of downloads too for that app which offers confidence that it's safe. Apply a little common sense and you can download 3rd party apps safely.

Not apps can be offered on MAS due to Apple's restrictions, and it may not be possible for developers to change their apps accordingly.

Good advice. I was only suggesting that if you don’t know what you are doing, don’t do it.
 
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You just defined a class of people who you are OK to see blackmailed. Re-read what you just typed.

Blackmailed for $50. Big deal. They software they stole is $45. Now the blackmailer does not deserve to earn that $50, but the pirate sure deserves to lose it.
 
I cannot speak for everyone here but I think the general consensus was anti-pirate, not pro-ransomware. Speaking for myself you can reference my post #54 where I expressed sympathy for individuals and towns etc that have been victimized in this way by clicking a link or some other means that didn't involve theft. As for the 'reinstall' post, at least someone was trying to present a solution in case it does happen to anyone here, now they have something to try.
Oh, I got all that and we're basically on the same page. What I found really irritating is this sanctimonious attitude towards people affected by this thing. You don't know their stories, background, why they did what they did... all the time missing the point that the real 'bad guys' in this are those that created the ransomware in the first place! Ransomware! The name speaks for itself! Who knows who's really behind it... organised crime? Drugs/weapons dealers? Russian bot farms? It's certainly not some righteous anti-piracy group out to teach those darn pirates a lesson!
 
Oh, I got all that and we're basically on the same page. What I found really irritating is this sanctimonious attitude towards people affected by this thing. You don't know their stories, background, why they did what they did... all the time missing the point that the real 'bad guys' in this are those that created the ransomware in the first place! Ransomware! The name speaks for itself! Who knows who's really behind it... organised crime? Drugs/weapons dealers? Russian bot farms? It's certainly not some righteous anti-piracy group out to teach those darn pirates a lesson!
Obviously the people creating the ransomware are in the wrong, but so are the people pirating software. It doesn’t matter what your story is, if you’re stealing software you’re taking income away from the developer who built and maintains it. What makes that any less of a scummy thing to do or any less deserving of condemnation?
 
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As this originated from a Russian forum, I thought I should provide my 2 cents as someone with inside perspective. In Russia and many CIS countries, piracy is not only common, it is sometimes the only means to access software at a reasonable price, or even at all. In every household of my extended family whom I've visited (I do not reside in Russia/CIS but most of my extended family is there) and did not set up their computer myself, you will find a pirated copy of Windows. This isn't because most of these people are breaking the law at will, but rather that it's very difficult to find retail copies of Windows in a lot of stores (especially in more rural regions), and due to median incomes being significantly lower than those in the west, many simply can't allow themselves to spend over $100 on a retail copy of Windows. This applies for macs as well, since there is often no way any local provincial store could carry specialized software, and with exchange rates and sanctions being prevalent nowadays, it is most likely even more inaccessible than it would be to a western consumer. In terms of hardware, most people will run machines for significantly longer than what is considered "normal" in the west, by using outdated operating systems (as in running a 7-8 year old machine in daily use) or hackintoshing if they can't afford a mac at all. Piracy allows these people to use important software that they might not be able to access at all. Also, I don't think that it matters whether it's a PC or Mac in whether one is more "wrong" compared to the other. Considering that buying any computer is expensive for most people, they feel that saving money on software will allow them to focus more on hardware which they will be able to use for longer. I feel the issue of software piracy is very polarizing, especially for those who have reliable access and he means to purchase software. I feel that many of us in the west take this for granted, whereas there are many living in places that simply don't have that opportunity. I do not condone piracy, however we need to consider all perspectives before immediately pass judgement.
 
Risky to use pirated apps. Even more risky and outright stupid to use pirated security app. Just dumb!
 
I registered here to speak. you are all hypocrites and selfish. I am against piracy. but I understand the side of the pirates and I am a pirate. you are probably buying apple products with money and opportunities. in the overwhelming majority of countries (except the United States), people use the second-hand equipment. or bought in a gray pattern. you are bourgeois. you're used to paying for everything. In some countries, Apple does not even offer insurance. now the numbers. I am a resident of the United States. but i'm an immigrant. I see my people coming here. I see software pricing. most of the developments in bay aria belong to other countries. it’s just got money. therefore, the programmer is selling their programs here in Silicon Valley. but brains remain in another country. why are people pirates? I will give an example. what can you buy for 1 dollar? nothing in the usa. in my country I can buy bread. Let's say the program costs $ 50. Yes. I live here and I can pay. I make good money here. How much does utilities cost in the usa per month? $ 200-400. so in my country utilities cost $ 50. you must be ashamed. You sell software at the same price to the whole world. but the whole world has less money, less salary and less selfishness.
 
Blackmailed for $50. Big deal. They software they stole is $45. Now the blackmailer does not deserve to earn that $50, but the pirate sure deserves to lose it.
On the plus side, you don’t ever have to worry about serving jury duty.
 
I registered here to speak. you are all hypocrites and selfish. I am against piracy. but I understand the side of the pirates and I am a pirate. you are probably buying apple products with money and opportunities. in the overwhelming majority of countries (except the United States), people use the second-hand equipment. or bought in a gray pattern. you are bourgeois. you're used to paying for everything. In some countries, Apple does not even offer insurance. now the numbers. I am a resident of the United States. but i'm an immigrant. I see my people coming here. I see software pricing. most of the developments in bay aria belong to other countries. it’s just got money. therefore, the programmer is selling their programs here in Silicon Valley. but brains remain in another country. why are people pirates? I will give an example. what can you buy for 1 dollar? nothing in the usa. in my country I can buy bread. Let's say the program costs $ 50. Yes. I live here and I can pay. I make good money here. How much does utilities cost in the usa per month? $ 200-400. so in my country utilities cost $ 50. you must be ashamed. You sell software at the same price to the whole world. but the whole world has less money, less salary and less selfishness.

As a non-American, your argument is very flawed.

For a start, just because people pirating software make less money or have less spending power doesn't mean developers can afford to miss out on that income. Development costs money, servers cost money, food costs money. They have their own bills to pay, it's not their responsibility to give software away for free just because others can't afford to pay their own way.

Just so you know my perspective on things, I grew up in third-world Africa. I'm typing this on a used Macbook Pro. My iPhone is used. My watch is used. I still pay for software. I need it for my job and I know that if no one pays for development, development stops. Obviously some countries have weaker economies and less spending power per capita, that's not something a small dev shop or solo dev can always account for. If they feel their price is fair, they're free to set it as such. Competitors are free to enter the market and compete at a lower cost, but the fact that this basically never happens is a good indicator that it's not sustainable. So again, you're just asking someone else to foot the bill so people can use tools they can't afford.

Piracy is still theft no matter what you earn. It sucks that some people don't have the same opportunities and spending power as others, but that's hardly the fault of developers, and they shouldn't be expected to be punished for it.
 
I registered here to speak. you are all hypocrites and selfish. I am against piracy. but I understand the side of the pirates and I am a pirate. you are probably buying apple products with money and opportunities. in the overwhelming majority of countries (except the United States), people use the second-hand equipment. or bought in a gray pattern. you are bourgeois. you're used to paying for everything. In some countries, Apple does not even offer insurance. now the numbers. I am a resident of the United States. but i'm an immigrant. I see my people coming here. I see software pricing. most of the developments in bay aria belong to other countries. it’s just got money. therefore, the programmer is selling their programs here in Silicon Valley. but brains remain in another country. why are people pirates? I will give an example. what can you buy for 1 dollar? nothing in the usa. in my country I can buy bread. Let's say the program costs $ 50. Yes. I live here and I can pay. I make good money here. How much does utilities cost in the usa per month? $ 200-400. so in my country utilities cost $ 50. you must be ashamed. You sell software at the same price to the whole world. but the whole world has less money, less salary and less selfishness.

“I am against piracy... and I am a pirate.”

Ok.

What makes you think you are entitled to have software you can’t afford? I can’t afford a Ferrari, but I don’t break into the dealership and steal one.

You are entitled to equal opportunities. You are not entitled to equal stuff.
 
Can someone recommend a good network (WiFi) attached home backup solution that works for several accounts/computers running both Mac and Windows?
 
You don't expect someone on the level to be caught by this to actually be making backups, do you?
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Have you never before met one of the Entitled? "Afford" doesn't have anything to do with it.
Can’t afford apps because they’re broke now.
 
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Wondering how long will it take a developer to create malware on the new Mac ARM platform once it is mainstream.
Hopefully Avast and Symantec are already on it with the dev kit, unless of course Apple closes access to root level for good and Antivirus apps can't protect any longer.
 
I am very curious what pirated websites it came from... ya know...curious

I wouldn't pirate any apple apps...maybe adobe :D
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Can someone recommend a good network (WiFi) attached home backup solution that works for several accounts/computers running both Mac and Windows?

I believe you can run a time machine via networking as long as the source partition is APFS/HFS+
 
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A pirated app that carries a virus? YOU DONT SAY!?
This is a known feature of pirated apps. There is no longer a need to use pirated apps, gone are the days of the $200 software and now we have open-source, cheap software, free software(Pages), and even expensive software like Adobe Photoshop can be obtained for the very cheap price of $10/M.

As for those who have no sympathy for pirated software users, please have some because I bet a lot of them are early teenagers who $10 sounds like $10K to them and other might be from extremely poor countries that really is in need of that $2.
 
I registered here to speak. you are all hypocrites and selfish. I am against piracy. but I understand the side of the pirates and I am a pirate.

You have some nerve! You register here to call some of us names and attempt to shame us all the while admitting you are a thief and that you steal from others!

I work hard for what I have and I will not be "ashamed" of the fact that I pay for what I have. There are definitely things I want but cannot afford so I either come to terms with that or I work harder to get those things, I don't make excuses to justify stealing from others!
 
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Can someone recommend a good network (WiFi) attached home backup solution that works for several accounts/computers running both Mac and Windows?

Synology makes good stuff. Mounts as SMB for windows, and macs can time machine to it. I have 5 macs backing up to two different synology nas’s (alternating), and while the first backup takes a long time, after that it works pretty well. Every 6 months or so a mac decides the backup is corrupted and needs to restart, but I’ve seen that with direct-connected drives, too.
 
Little Snitch has never been available in the Apple App Store.
It is not eligible.

Because Little Snitch need additional settings which is free from sandboxing restriction. Sandboxed is very good for security but sometimes it hampers functionality.

In other case related sandbox policy, I find DaVinci resolved downloaded from App Store have some quirks compared with direct download from BlackMagic website which work as expected.

Also watch out, even eligible source can be hijacked by bad guys for spreading malware. HandBrake is one of example, thankfully they pulled out malice version ASAP.
 
Reminds me of the wannacry garbage from before. except that one asked for a much larger amount of money
A key difference is that Wannacry spread through Windows vulnerabilities, not software.
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Wondering how long will it take a developer to create malware on the new Mac ARM platform once it is mainstream.
Hopefully Avast and Symantec are already on it with the dev kit, unless of course Apple closes access to root level for good and Antivirus apps can't protect any longer.
I'm sure the malware isn't written in assembly, so probably just a matter of rebuilding.
 
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I know everyone starts life being poor, but please use a little bit of logic. Downloading executables from random sites is just dumb.
 
Stick to legit apps from legit services and you'll be fine. Also keep an eye to make sure the apps are properly signed.

To have this happen you have to bypass macOS security and allow the non-signed installer run. It's like giving the keys to your house to some questionable person on the street and then being surprised when they take your stuff.
Drake & Josh episode anyone?
 
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