One thing I haven't seen mentioned.. The reason that I pay for all software I can afford, and run the REALLY expensive stuff in an isolated VM, is ransomware.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned.. The reason that I pay for all software I can afford, and run the REALLY expensive stuff in an isolated VM, is ransomware. If I were to search for the latest version of a program on torrent sites and forums, and I found it and installed it, and then +1 day + the next time I opened it, it "updated" with ransomware that the cracker included... well, I'd be real unhappy and make sure to warn people with negative reviews on the crack sites. There are ransomware as a service providers now that pay a large percentage of any payments... It's everywhere!