BATON ROUGE, LA – Online operators have found a new way to target our State’s citizens by infecting visitors to so-called pirate websites, and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry is issuing an alert to warn consumers.

“People should avoid pirate websites for multiple reasons, but protection from malware is a critical one,” said General Landry. “It is crucial that Louisiana’s consumers are aware of the dangers associated with visiting content theft websites.”

Content theft websites which illegally distribute movies, music, books, and other copyrighted content have become a major source to those looking to infect computers with dangerous malware. Malware can lead to financial loss, identify theft, loss of privacy, ransomware that freezes access to a computer until the user makes a payment, and spyware downloads that grants hackers the access to a computer’s camera without the user’s knowledge.

To help consumers avoid having their information compromised, Attorney General Jeff Landry offered the following tips:

-Avoid pirate websites and only visit legal, legitimate websites.

-Install anti-virus programs and keep them updated.

-If a computer may have been compromised, alert a computer specialist to analyze it.

-If targeted by criminals, contact local law enforcement.

A recent study found that one in three pirate websites exposed users to malware exploitable by criminals and that almost half of the malware was drive-by (delivered without the user having to click on a link).

For more information on these or other consumer-related tips, call Attorney General Jeff Landry’s Consumer Protection Hotline at 800-351-4889

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