A recent report from the Industry Trust for IP Awareness, the UK's film, TV and video industry's consumer education body, revealed the extent of online piracy when it came to major sporting events, with figures suggesting illegal streaming has hit "peak levels" in 2019.
Major boxing contests in recent months have seen free live streams spread across the internet in the build-up to the fight, with pirated links shared across social media platforms. Countless pirated streams also appear on major search engines.
June's heavyweight fight between Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz saw over 13 million people around the world use unauthorised channels to watch the upset, according to figures from digital piracy authority Muso.
The increased levels have led industry figures to warn of the "very real risks" to people seeking out pirated online streams of the fight.
While many pirate sites seek to generate revenue through their illegal streams by hosting numerous pop-up ads to their websites, some look to underhand methods of gaining even more illicit income.
These tactics range from malware that hijacks a person's computer in order to secretly mine cryptocurrency, to sophisticated phishing attacks designed to steal a person's credit card details.
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“Fake sites and redirects are a popular tactic used by cyber criminals and the fans paying to watch tonight’s match need to be aware of them, even if they look legitimate," Joseph Woodruff, a threat intelligence analyst at cyber security firm EclecticIQ, told The Independent.
"Cyber criminals use these sites to target users by telling them they have malware on their machine, recommending they call a support number and during the phone call, installing software which allows them into the system. It’s from here that other damage can be done, whether that is stealing payment details or installing ransomware."
Molina is dropped twice and somehow survives the round! I don't think he wanted to. It was a big overhand right that dropped him initially and the onslaught just continued from there, with Lopez dropping him again late in the round.
More of the same there. Lopez now fighting the smart fight, he knows he has this in the bag and he's not being wreckless with it. Molina will only be able to take this for so long, he's working nicely behind the jab and waiting to set something nice up for himself.
With around 30 seconds of the round left, Lopez puts in a good body combo to sustain the pressure.
A very quiet round there. Lopez is still winning it but has possibly begun to tire, his jab had less sting in that one and was even caught by a right which seemed to have impact.
