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Using a pirated Asset CleanUp Pro “Nulled” WordPress plugin puts your WordPress website at extreme risk of being successfully hacked.
A “nulled” version of Asset CleanUp Pro is a version that has been modified from the original by unethical programmers and made available for free on websites that are not actively monitored for infected plugins. This is done to get around paying for the license of the plugin.
WordPress is the most widely hacked CMS on the internet. Every week, hackers try to infiltrate as many as 900,000 WordPress sites! According to WPScan, the largest source of successful WordPress hacks is faulty plugins.
A hacked website is very expensive
The reason people want to download a free Asset CleanUp Pro Nulled License version is to save money. Unfortunately, a hacked website is far more expensive. It is a matter of record that a hacked WordPress website can end up costing you anywhere between $300 to $10,000 to fix!
If you consider that hacked WordPress websites often get hacked multiple times before all the malware is finally found (if you’re lucky), a hacked website might very likely destroy your online business.
Asset CleanUp Pro Nulled versions often contain malware
Nulled WordPress plugins often contain malware. Backdoors are inserted so that hackers can steal the database contents or insert code to redirect visitors to another website.
The malware can be incredibly sophisticated and out of the reach of malware scanners. Just as cybersecurity professionals get smarter, so do hackers. Many hacks are successful because of what is called “zero-day vulnerabilities“—brand new vulnerabilities that security scanners didn’t know about.
You’re welcome to use malware scanners but using them in combination with nulled plugins is like letting the criminal into the house first and only then locking the door.
You might lose all your affiliate income
One of the tricks that hackers of Asset CleanUp Pro nulled plugins use is to insert code that will modify your affiliate links or advertising IDs. This means that the commission from any purchases made from your affiliate links or ads will go into the cybercriminals’ pocket instead of yours.
Nulled WordPress plugins can nuke your SEO
Nulled WordPress plugins can be catastrophic for SEO as a result of potential Google penalties.
In addition to adding malicious code to the plugin, creators of these plugins also often add secret links to your website. These links can point to sites with a low reputation such as gambling sites, pornographic sites, or even sites that deal in illegal activities.
The plugin could even do something called a “permanent redirect” of pages to another website. Once Google notices one of these “permanent redirects” it transfers all of the “SEO juice” from your site to the new site! It’s even possible to do this in a way that only certain traffic is redirected, making it extremely difficult for you to notice.
And, of course, if the site has malware, Google also puts a huge red warning for users in the search engine pages so they don’t visit the site.
Enormous fines for data leaks and privacy violations
Being hacked is not a small thing. And if your WordPress database or server contains any information of a personally identifiable nature—such as email addresses of registered users—you could be in for some serious fines as a result of the data breach.
If you have data from European users in your database and it was discovered you were using a nulled plugin such as Asset CleanUp Pro nulled, you would be in gross violation of Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the fines for that can go up to $10 million or 2% of your annual income, whichever is higher.
In California, you would be fined up to $7,500 for intentional violations of the state’s privacy laws. (Using pirated Asset CleanUp Pro nulled will likely not be viewed kindly by the courts.)
Data privacy is taken very seriously by the FTC and the subject gets tenser as privacy leaks start to severely impact people’s lives.
Open-source doesn’t mean stealing
Uninformed people who are trying to rationalize their use of Asset CleanUp Pro nulled sometimes say, “Oh, but it’s GPL so you shouldn’t be charging for it.”
But the GPL specifically allows this and even encourages it. Many successful businesses have been built around open-source and the world is a better place for it.
Behind the Asset CleanUp Pro plugin is a developer who works hard to keep that plugin’s code secure and has built a trustworthy business around it. So long as that developer can continue to make a living through the plugin, it remains secure.
The idea that people can unethically alter code so it works without a fee is really just a euphemism for stealing.
Yes, open-source means anyone can modify the code but there is also the matter of trademark law. Any modified version should be called by another name instead of Asset CleanUp Pro because using the same name might cause confusion in the minds of buyers.
This is a violation of trademark law regardless of whether the code is open-source or not. And it is theft of intellectual property.
Open-source code is wonderful and encourages innovation. And the company behind WordPress has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in funding through it. Matt Mullenweg, the creator of WordPress, is worth $400 million as a result of his open-source code.
Open-source is a great way to earn an honest living. And keeping the code open, vetted, and checked by many programmers is the best way to find potential zero-day vulnerabilities and make sure that the code is stable and secure. This is what makes open-source code so much better than closed, secretive code.
No updates = much higher chances of being hacked
A recent study discovered that 61% of hacked WordPress sites were out of date. And 52% of WordPress vulnerabilities come from badly programmed plugins.
Writing software that contains no bugs is virtually impossible. Reliable software companies are built around strong customer support, regular updates, and fast action when a bug is discovered.
Asset CleanUp Pro Nulled versions will receive no updates. If they do receive the occasional update, it will be from people who are not personally invested in creating a great plugin. That’s a huge risk to take for your website.
Additionally, by using pirated versions of plugins, the developers of those plugins will be less willing to offer updates to valid users because it becomes impossible when there are insufficient sales to support their development time. Everybody loses in the end.
Malware removal tools only add complications to your site
The beauty of WordPress is that there’s a tool for almost everything—malware scanners (which don’t always work, by the way), firewalls, security tools.
Some people think that they can get a free Asset CleanUp Pro nulled version and simply run a malware scan on it to see if it has any malware in it.
Considering that faulty plugins are the main way that WordPress sites are hacked, too many plugins can definitely be “too much of a good thing.”
The more plugins your site has—and especially unofficial plugins—the higher the risk of it being vulnerable to attacks.
Besides, many of these malware scanners and firewalls also require payment to run a proper scan. So people are just shooting themselves in the foot trying to get around the costs of a simple plugin.
Mathematically, it just makes no sense to use the free Asset CleanUp Pro nulled license version
Business is all about risk management. And the potential risks from using a pirated Asset CleanUp Pro nulled version instead of simply paying a reasonable price for it are staggering. No business person would ever make the choice to use a pirated version of this software. The financial risks are simply too high.
We totally understand that people need to build up their businesses and might not be able to afford the paid version right now. And that’s why we also offer a lite version of the plugin which does an excellent job of speeding up a website.
Then, when the site becomes more successful and starts earning money, people can choose to upgrade or not.
The great news is that even the lite version gets regular updates, and positive reviews of the lite version inspire confidence in other people who might choose to upgrade as a result of them. That means the developer can afford to continue developing better versions of both the lite and paid versions. And so everybody wins.
Just avoid nulled plugins at all costs, it will save you a lot of hassle when your website will be hacked and you won’t have a backup.