Live data from Hacker News

Hackers breach JDownloader's website to serve malware-laced downloads

neowin.net

21–30 of 34 posts

Re: Hackers breach JDownloader's website to serve malware-laced downloads

#21

I remember using download managers back in the day, and by "back in the day" I mean dial-up (and maybe early DSL). I liked being able to pause downloads and possibly split them up using multiple connections. Nowadays, are download managers even needed anymore? At least for me, the internet is fast enough that I don't need a separate download manager, plus browsers support the pausing (and maybe multiple connections?)…

Used it once to pirate Infinity Train because someone put the episodes on MEGA.

Re: Hackers breach JDownloader's website to serve malware-laced downloads

#22

I remember using download managers back in the day, and by "back in the day" I mean dial-up (and maybe early DSL). I liked being able to pause downloads and possibly split them up using multiple connections. Nowadays, are download managers even needed anymore? At least for me, the internet is fast enough that I don't need a separate download manager, plus browsers support the pausing (and maybe multiple connections?)…

There are still warez sites that upload content in RAR archives, which are then split into individual parts. A download manager can then download them all one after another instead of having to do it manually. There are also hosting sites with weird CAPTCHAs or various waiting times.

Dealing with all kinds of weird download sites is the main selling point for me. It's not just warez, you run into them in all kinds of weird places where a nontechnical person needs to share files with a larger audience (google drive etc only works for small audiences), or where somebody decides to monetize by making a couple cents off your download.

With JDownloader you just throw the link in there, and the software deals with mandatory wait times, captchas, throttled downloads, "you exceeded your downloads for today, come back in 24 hours", etc. JDownloader makes sure it eventually succeeds without me having to baby-sit the process

Re: Hackers breach JDownloader's website to serve malware-laced downloads

#24

I remember using download managers back in the day, and by "back in the day" I mean dial-up (and maybe early DSL). I liked being able to pause downloads and possibly split them up using multiple connections. Nowadays, are download managers even needed anymore? At least for me, the internet is fast enough that I don't need a separate download manager, plus browsers support the pausing (and maybe multiple connections?)…

There's quite a lot of legit uses still. And also, it's not about speed, if I'm on a hotel wifi I don't want firefox giving up if I have multiple files queued up from my file server. Sure, browsers support pause/resume but they also fail pretty hard on spotty connections. With jdownloader you just set it and it'll do it's thing.

Also nice if you're manually downloading game mods, some are hosted on file lockers that make you wait so many minutes. Again, jdownloader was built for that.

I also say that as someone that really can't stand jdownloader, but the alternatives are... not great. Surge, the tui, is nice if you're just doing regular ol' http downloads.

Re: Hackers breach JDownloader's website to serve malware-laced downloads

#25

I wish there was finally a decent alternative to this junk. JDownloader pretends to be GPL, but parts of it are closed source. Plus, the Windows installer on the official site is a gamble, and you can only find a clean installer in the forum. The developers claim it’s "just adware", but since it’s a web-based installer, different things are offered depending on your IP address. Some of these install themselves even i…

Protip, modern browsers (IE6 and later) have a built-in parallel download feature!

Re: Hackers breach JDownloader's website to serve malware-laced downloads

#26

I wish there was finally a decent alternative to this junk. JDownloader pretends to be GPL, but parts of it are closed source. Plus, the Windows installer on the official site is a gamble, and you can only find a clean installer in the forum. The developers claim it’s "just adware", but since it’s a web-based installer, different things are offered depending on your IP address. Some of these install themselves even i…

> you can only find a clean installer in the forum

`winget install AppWork.JDownloader`

Built in to Windows since Windows 10 v1809 :)

Re: Hackers breach JDownloader's website to serve malware-laced downloads

#27

I wish there was finally a decent alternative to this junk. JDownloader pretends to be GPL, but parts of it are closed source. Plus, the Windows installer on the official site is a gamble, and you can only find a clean installer in the forum. The developers claim it’s "just adware", but since it’s a web-based installer, different things are offered depending on your IP address. Some of these install themselves even i…

Protip, modern browsers (IE6 and later) have a built-in parallel download feature!

That's not why people use JDownloader. There are plugins for every popular file-sharing site that automate navigating download pages, handling countdown timers, and pausing for ratelimits.

Re: Hackers breach JDownloader's website to serve malware-laced downloads

#28

I remember using download managers back in the day, and by "back in the day" I mean dial-up (and maybe early DSL). I liked being able to pause downloads and possibly split them up using multiple connections. Nowadays, are download managers even needed anymore? At least for me, the internet is fast enough that I don't need a separate download manager, plus browsers support the pausing (and maybe multiple connections?)…

The ‘scene’ or warez sites are still up and running. Sharing cracked softwares, movies shows etc. through file hosting services. If say you wanted a Blu-ray movie with Dolby atmos sizing near 10 gig. Then you’d queue the file sharing site download links in jdownloader and let it automatically manage these downloads for you.

[dead]

Re: Hackers breach JDownloader's website to serve malware-laced downloads

#29

I wish there was finally a decent alternative to this junk. JDownloader pretends to be GPL, but parts of it are closed source. Plus, the Windows installer on the official site is a gamble, and you can only find a clean installer in the forum. The developers claim it’s "just adware", but since it’s a web-based installer, different things are offered depending on your IP address. Some of these install themselves even i…

Were’s the AI rewrite when you need it.

Re: Hackers breach JDownloader's website to serve malware-laced downloads

#30
I am always worried that popular software like this is getting compromised. But what about all the smaller stuff? I download and run a bunch of small programs, especially for game modding. Do the small tools not have the same risk because of their smaller scale invites less dedicated attacks? or do they get compromised and fly completely under the radar?
Post reply on HN