Flag suspicious games

[Wyz]

In relation to this thread I was thinking: It might be a good idea to include the option to flag a game in the games database when its content is dubious. And then I don't mean if the game's content is found offensive by someone; no rather if it's though to contain a virus. It would be great to have an automated system that checks games for malicious content but I can see how that is a daunting task. Plan B would be a button users can press to mark suspicion. It would then thank them for their effort and report it to the moderation team. In turn they can check the game's content and mark it as safe (a good idea to also show this on the game page) or remove it from the database, or maybe include a warning when the file hosting site offers malicious downloads.

Other then malicious content it might also be an idea to flag wrongfully categorized games: maybe a game contains harsh language but it wasn't marked as such or the other way around.

I know it brings more work but it might be worth it, I don't know really. Just my two cents.

[Stupot]

When we were fixing thescreenshots and broken links, I came across quite a few links that gave me virus warnings, some based on the fact that it hadn't been downloaded much lately.  I was wary at first, but in the end I downloaded most of them anyway and they were fine.

I think people should be encouraged not to upload their games to sites that are full of dubious adverts anyway. Even well-known sites like Mediafire are riddled with them.

[LimpingFish]

I've been downloading games by the dozen lately, and I've never once had a virus warning. The files go through Windows Defender, Avira, and Malwarebytes, and nothing I've downloaded has ever set them off. I'm sure that some installers might trigger false-positives in some cases, but the odds of actually contracting a virus from a zip file (unless somebody has purposely put a trojan, or some such, posing as a legitimate .exe within the file itself) is relatively slim.

As for malicious code embedded in a download site, I suggest (if you're using Firefox) you install Ad Block and NoScript. NoScript will block all page scripts, legit or otherwise, from running until you choose to authorize them.

Flagging files is something to consider, but false-positives and problems with upload sites would probably be the bulk of any reported cases, which would be unfortunate to have to deal with.

Instead, I would suggest users make sure they are browsing in a secure enviroment, and to check all files they download before opening them. In those cases where a file is found to be malicious, then a comment on the game page and a pm to a moderator should take care of it.