Windows defender claimed they're bad because they are cracks, and doesn't mention any reason it thinks that would be a virus/trojan or something I dont want

"HackTool:Win32/crack" from games downloaded on fitgirl repacks site (the correct one)

[–] elfpie@beehaw.org 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Isn't that a matter of behavior? The crack is doing something expected from a crack and the system warns you because most wouldn't use it without being aware. If you really trust the file, add it as an exception.

Or do you want a software that can vet good cracks from bad cracks?

[–] dactylotheca@suppo.fi 0 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I think the point is that it's a bit silly to classify cracks as malware

[–] 0xtero@beehaw.org 12 points 1 year ago

Enterprise antivirus products have had PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program) category forever. Seems its categorized as "HackTool" so not malware.

[–] BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 12 points 1 year ago

Cracks modify executables...classic malware/virus behaviour. Almost the definition of malware.

Which is why windows uses a file protection system since at least XP

[–] MrAlternateTape@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not at all, a crack does something to an executable file that you use. Malware would do the exact same thing.

[–] dactylotheca@suppo.fi -1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

But you generally want that crack to do something to an executable. Do antivirus etc. tools just heuristically flag everything that looks like it modifies an executable? Lots of legitimate dev tools do that too, so it seems like it'd give a lot of false positives, but I haven't used Windows in ages so 🤷

[–] MrAlternateTape@lemm.ee 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Well, how is the system supposed to know that you want the crack to do something to that executable? The anti virus just sees something is happening and flags it. It does not see a difference.

[–] dactylotheca@suppo.fi 1 points 1 year ago

I definitely get what you mean, I just have no idea if antivirus tools flag anything that looks like it modifies executables. My edit to the comment you're replying to may not have propagated to your instance yet, so here's what I added:

Do antivirus etc. tools just heuristically flag everything that looks like it modifies an executable? Lots of legitimate dev tools do that too, so it seems like it'd give a lot of false positives, but I haven't used Windows in ages so 🤷

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 10 points 1 year ago

Windows defender only lets you whitelist by file, folder, or process. You could whitelist a specific folder, but if you want to whitelist by category you'll have to use a different antivirus product.