For a second, nothing happened. Then, a small window popped up: “License Activated. Enjoy!”
The "crack" wasn't a tool to unlock the software; it was a Trojan horse for ransomware. By disabling his antivirus to install the "free" key, Leo had opened the front door for hackers. They hadn't just locked his computer; they had used the very backup software he installed to find his external drive and encrypt those files, too. For a second, nothing happened
Two days later, Leo woke up to a screen he’d only seen in news articles. His desktop wallpaper was gone, replaced by a black screen with bright red text: For a second