I have found some software on 1337 that a friend was asking for. It’s for Windows and I’m on Linux. Is test running the software inside a VM the only way to securely vet it (to see what connections it tries to make and what processes it starts)? On VirusTotal, I get one positive and 66 negatives. Preferably, I’d like to hand over the software without worrying about giving them malicious code…
You can also put it through sandboxes like joesandbox or cuckoo to try to trigger and detect a payload. But some malware will expect this and not execute.
Ultimately, judge your own risk tolerance by how much you trust the source, how much you want the software, what kind of systems protection you have in place (antivirus, antimalware, permissions control, backups), and how much you can afford to have your system compromised.