Is Softonic Safe to Download? Pros And Cons

Softonic is a Catalonia-based Spanish company got founded in 1997 with the sole intention of providing users free of cost content.  Initially, it started as a file hosting service called Shareware Intercom.

They developed Softonic for Windows and DOS-based Operating Systems. But as per the demands of the time, this is now available for Mac, iOS, and Android. Softonic is safe and free of third-party apps. You can download the games your need without worrying, as it is free of malware.

The website started in Spanish for obvious reasons and is currently available in nine languages, including English, French, and Japanese.

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Why The Question?

Initially, Softonic was initially a nice place to visit for getting the files you desire in the simplest way possible. There were no registrations, no checks, and no caps either. At first, it seemed to be an excellent idea, and Softonic, at a point, reached around one hundred million visitors per month with an equal number of downloads. But over time, Repeated complaints about the websites on various platforms attracted some suspicion to the site.

The discussion regarding the safety of Softonic as a website makes sense because, Under the name of providing a free file, it might be invading the personal space of the users, which is potentially very harmful in the modern era where there is already a risk of data theft.

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3 Reasons Why Softonic is Safe

Over time, as the reports regarding the content provided by Softonic being malicious emerged, Softonic came out quickly to inform its users that the platform they were using was safe from all attacks. One of the employees has even revealed the check process that the company followed to prevent any malicious software from creeping in.

According to some of the employees at the company, the company conducts a three-phase test for the content hosted by the website before it is available to its users.

This rule has no exceptions, and every file that Softonic hosts is through the three-phase process. This process involves the following phases:

1. Manual Testing

The software company says that in this stage, the files uploaded to the website will manually screen according to their titles. If any files are suspected to be suspicious or are expected to contain malware, they are removed straightaway. But this is not the only screening the files have to go through. The sources from where the files have been uploaded will also get the scan for potentially harmful content. Thus, it becomes challenging for malware to creep in.

2. Scanning using Anti Virus Software

After the files have been screened for harmful content manually. They are put to scanning through the best antivirus programs available. The number of times we scanned the files for malware and explicit content is at least 50. Thus, the chances of getting malware on the website reduce drastically since all the antivirus programs cannot fail simultaneously. Most malware at this screening stage is deleted, and only the harmless content gets to the website.

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3. Using Google Safe Check

Once the antivirus programs have scanned the files, they check it for security via Google.

In this stage, they check if the source of the files is somewhere which is notorious for sending malware. If such is the case, the files will not be on the website. After all, in the modern era, no one knows more than Google itself.

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Why is Softonic Not Safe?

In its initial days, Softonic was a great website for downloading content. It received various types of positive reviews from users and was growing quickly. But over the years, the company changed its policies and Terms of Use, which have created a lot of security flaws in the content they put on the website.

Many users have reported that the company has embedded various malware and adware. This is to increase its revenue without making proper checks. This has led to data theft, continuous ads, and redirection to harmful websites. A user went on the report that the files downloaded from the website contained so much explicit content that he had to degrade his operating system to enable the smooth running of his system. If such are instances of malware distribution, how can someone trust the content on the website?

Reports have stated that the files downloaded from Softonic contained some zombie viruses that had infected their computer. The antivirus checks were not at all useful.

They had to change their computer to return to its normal functioning. Not only that, but some files are also able to make changes to the registry of various programs and also to that of Windows. When the registry gets corrupt, you can render the program useless. Thus, Softonic cannot regard safe as before.

One of the primary reasons that the content on Softonic is too vulnerable to tamper with is that the users do not need to register themselves. Any person can show up and upload content on the website and get away without getting the book for his actions. This way, even if you know that the material is harmful, you cannot do much to prevent it. You can find more information here.

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FAQs

Conclusion

Now that we know how Softonic distributes the content free of cost. We also know how it is open to approach if one wants to upload malicious files. At one point, Softonic seems to be trying too hard to prevent the malware from infecting its users. One who works for it makes these claims.

Who knows if the company is doing such things to prevent malware? If they were trying to clean up their services, why have the complaints increased over time and not declined? Thus, it is not safe to say that Softonic is safe. It might improve the quality, but it still has a long way to go.

Garvit Sinha

Gravit Sinha: Founder of ValidEdge, a problem-solving website, driven by his lifelong passion for fixing issues.