Not sure if this fits here…

An OPSEC community would probably say no, so I probably don’t need to ask in those communities. But I’m curious about a (digital) pirate’s perspective on this issue…

I mean, the sources listed here are supposedly “safe” right? But honestly, how much would you trust these “safe” sources?

When doing sensitive tasks like banking or filing taxes, do you:

  • Use a different OS on the same machine? (Dualboot)
  • Or put the pirated content inside a virtual machine?
  • Or just use a completely separate computer?

And since PC is much different than a Smartphone:

  • Would the extra sandboxing on Smartphones make pirating games on a Smartphone much safer compared to on a PC? (Not that there are much mobile games worth playing, just curious)

(PC in this context referring to all personal computers, regardless of OS)

And last question:

  • Non-installed/non-executable files such as .mp4 .mkv .mp3 .pdf .epub, are mostly safe right? I mean, you are using another program to opening it, not executing a file, there aren’t much attack vectors as long as the video player / ebook viewer is up to date right? (Or am I understanding it wrong?)
    • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      81·
      22 hours ago

      Why is it always like this…

      Not everything and everyone is in the US.

      I also prefer Windows to Linux in the desktop environment. As for my server tasks, I mostly prefer Debian and if needed I’ll use Windows Server (obviously unlicensed/not activated).
      I’ll use what fits for the task. :)

      Edit: Also not a bad thing to separate a machine that holds sensitive data (even if they are encrypted) from another with a higher risk rating. Even if it’s Linux, Mac OS, Unix or whatever based.

      • Lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        4·
        21 hours ago

        My mistake. The concept of “doing taxes” is usually US-specific, I don’t really hear about that kind of thing from users in other, more civilized countries.

        Genuinely curious though… Why use a VM for taxes?

        • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          3·
          20 hours ago

          No worries.
          As for your questions:
          In Germany we can optionally file taxes. If we were overtaxed, we can claim the overcharged amount back.
          As for why not on my main PC: I don’t want that kind of software clogging up my main rig. Also helps keeping my digital mess a bit more organized ;)