She lost only the two hours of work she had done after midnight. It was a painful setback, but not a disaster.

Her professor, Dr. Mehta, calmly talked her through it. "First, disconnect from Wi-Fi immediately," he said. "Second, never pay. Third, restore from backup."

Anjali knew better. Her professor had warned the class: “If a deal looks too good to be true, it’s a Trojan horse.”

Anjali now keeps a sticky note on her laptop: “If it’s not from the official site, it’s not worth your degree.” She also learned to use free, legal alternatives for her work. And she never, ever searches for "cracked 2017 downloads" again.