[GeneralQuestions]How safe are pdf's from darknet?

Was browsing tutorials/guides section in one of the markets, and found some interesting things to read, but I'm concerned about safety. Would anyone know how safe or malware free could those guides be? Is there a possibility that those books could be infected with anything that could harm my laptop? If yes, what would you suggest to use to read them, or is it better to stay away from them? Any replies would help, thanks.


Comments


[1 Points] MLP_is_my_OPSEC:

It's impossible to tell without downloading them first. If you're curious, you can set up a sandboxed environment and take a look.


[1 Points] Hank_Vendor:

zero. zero safe


[1 Points] BrianWorthington:

It's possible to embed malicious code into pdfs and word documents. If that code is custom made or even if it's obfuscated by running it through multiple compilers, it can slip past all virus scans.

So I would avoid opening any file from untrusted individuals period. If you need to open it, or feel the risk is worth it, you could open it in a virtual environment that you've configured to have zero access to the host system. Or use some other computer that has zero valuable data by carrying the file on a USB stick. You could use a public computer for this.

As far as I know, there is no danger in downloading the file, only in opening it.


[1 Points] negate8:

no pdf


[1 Points] hksupport:

In general, 100% of things you download from Tor should be considered suspicious at best. That's why having a separate OS like Tails just makes things easier. As far as PDFs go, they can and do contain javascript and other things that allow code to be executed, so you definitely need to be careful. There are open source PDF reader programs (Foxit for example) that allow you to open the PDF in "safe" mode with scripting disabled, but even so, I personally would feel better being sandboxed in an entirely different OS. Better to have too much security than not enough.


[1 Points] earthmoonsun:

so, id i open them in tails, could the virus infect my usb stick or somehow "jump" into my harddisk?