Givewp nulled software is unsupported

Many sites on the internet offer “nulled” GiveWP Add-ons for free. But GiveWP is not alone. There are an immeasurable amount of websites offering nulled software for a variety of different WordPress plugins and themes.

As the WordPress space grows, so too do those who want to take advantage of what GiveWP offers in our add-ons. So, we thought we would publish this PSA about nulled plugins. It’s important to know the risks of using unofficial GiveWP versions so you can protect yourself. 

In a word, if you are looking for a nulled, cracked or warez version of GiveWP Add-ons in order to save money, you are putting your site and your domain reputation at risk.

What is a nulled plugin or theme?

Sometimes a hacker gets a copy of a pro-only plugin or theme. Usually these come from a hacked WordPress site with poor security or vulnerable credentials.

Then, these hackers add backdoors to these pro plugins with methods that “phone home,” or essentially leave vulnerabilities in your own website. Then, they place them on nulled or warez sites for free so that WordPress users looking for a cheaper way to get started use them. Unsuspecting users download the infected zip files from the hackers’ site and then upload and install the infected files onto their own site. In so doing, these hackers are tricking WordPress users into unknowingly infecting their sites with malware.

What ends up happening next is ugly. The hacker gets notified that their bait has been taken, and they use the backdoor on the infected WordPress site to take over the site for a variety of reasons. They might host malware for other infections, infect the site visitors’ computers, send out spam, or even completely deface the site.

Namely, infected sites may look and work entirely fine. The hacker may simply be quietly stealing data from the website. So installing a nulled plugin and thinking “well, it looks fine”, is not at all a safe mentality.

If this happens, the entire site becomes polluted with malware. The site owner then either needs to rebuild the site or have it repaired by a professional. (We highly recommend backups to make the process of recovering from a hack easier, using a solution like Backup Buddy.)

The probability of a serious malware infection using nulled plugins or themes is significant, and an analysis of the WP-VCD nulled plugin malware shows that these types of hackers have been successful in tricking new WordPress users to infect their own sites with malware using this method.

Additionally, these nulled plugins won’t come with updates from the original developer, which is another security risk as you won’t get security patches or bug fixes.

Nulled GiveWP ZIP files Exist

In doing some recent searches, it’s apparent that there are quite a few hackers who are offering nulled plugins and using the Give brand to trick users into infecting their sites. While we aren’t doing a detailed malware analysis on what we’ve seen, we don’t want this to happen to you.

As such, if you find this page in searching for nulled GiveWP Add-ons, we’d like to point you to some experts who have researched this phenomenon.

Our friends at iThemes did a deep dive on nulled themes and plugins, and they’ve got a number of details on how and why this problem exists and how to protect yourself.

Our friend Robert Rowley at Patchstack did a podcast last year about nulled themes and plugins that is worth a listen. Robert has been in the security field for a long time and has great depth and authority in the space.

This problem isn’t just about GiveWP products. It is an industry-wide issue, and numerous WordPress users have been affected by this scammers and tricksters.

What to do if you’ve used a nulled plugin or theme

If you’ve used a nulled theme or plugin, the first step would be to uninstall it.

Next, we recommend doing a quick malware scan on your site. Using a tool like Solid Security, you can be notified if there have been file changes on your site that might be suspicious.

A nulled theme or plugin with a backdoor may have exposed credentials such as your administrative passwords. It would make sense to change these passwords, and even your database password in your wp-config.php file. By installing a nulled theme or plugin, you give access to your site’s file system and database to the malicious developer who offered the nulled theme or plugin.

Next, take a look at your Google Search Console. Because nulled themes and plugins can cause reputation damage to a site that uses them, you want to make sure you haven’t caused your site any harm with Google or any of the other search engines. You’ll see evidence of reputation damage first with Google search console.

Then, we recommend looking for an alternative. If you really don’t have budget for a premium plugin, there may even be a free version in the WordPress repository that does close to what the premium plugin does. With over 50,000 free plugins on the WordPress plugin repository, there is likely something that works for you.

GiveWP has a free version available with everything you need to start raising money online right now. 

Software is about trust

In our experience working with thousands of WordPress users, we have found that software is about trust. It’s important to develop relationships with your software providers and know them. 

After all, you’re inviting the plugin or theme code of your developer into your digital home on the web. As well, there might be issues with using software, and the software developers you trust are the ones who can help solve those problems. We adhere to rigorous quality and support standards so that you can rest assured that your digital home is made better by the software we provide. 

If you look at our reviews on WordPress.org, Google, or G2, you’ll see that we stand behind the plugins we provide, both free and premium.

Our support team is here to answer questions you might have about nulled plugins as well as how to get what you need for the greatest value. We’re here to support our free users as well as premium customers.

GiveWP Pricing Philosophy

GiveWP’s pricing philosophy reflects those standards. We strive to give you the best value for your dollars and the best support that you deserve. When you get to know Team Give, you’ll see that we truly believe in helping our customers raise more money. Our pricing structure helps us support this goal. 

Keep Your Website Safe

Above all, make good decisions with your site. We’re here to help you create something amazing and effective for your business or nonprofit, and we’re providing this PSA about nulled plugins to help you make good decisions about the assets you’re creating.