New research by Kaspersky Lab highlights the risks involved in downloading pirated TV shows using a BitTorrent client. Many files that are illegally marketed on torrent platforms as episodes of TV shows actually contain malware. The most common types of malware embedded in torrent files are Trojans (33%), adware (28%) and downloaders (21%) and the most popular TV shows used in this type of attack are Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead and Arrow.
However, the study does show that this type of attack is on the decline because users are increasingly switching from torrents to illegal streaming sites. Last year, the number of users who downloaded infected torrent files declined by 33%, while the number of torrent-related malware attacks decreased by 22%.
Read more: Torrent Malware Goes Down as Pirated Streaming Usage Increases
