Unauthorized copying, as Stallman would call it rather than the purposefully scary, deceitful p-word is one way to avoid things such as this, via blocking remote manipulation and removal of features from your licensed software and thus being able to stick with a fully functioning version without cloud fuss. But I would not consider using them for anything but learning and just exporting STLs in this case. Products in the field are well known to embed and encode identifying information to determine misuse, besides being filled with private info (example below). Some can be edited out of the files, some others may exist that aren't so obvious. I remember Solidworks embedding the MAC address somewhere in some formats. Small companies doing business get the middle finger the most, I suppose.
I was referring to the old Autodesk software which was dongled but offline-only. That won't ever lose features (but of course the marketing spin is that it won't gain any either, nevermind the fact that it was the software used to successfully create many designs...)
First, the whole purpose of a crack is to remove malicious code. So you're likely coming out ahead.
Second, you shouldn't be running any proprietary binaries unsandboxed with Internet access. My standard use of Windows is to install a fresh VM, install whatever software(s) I want, kill all network access but for my local Samba server, and then do my work. Lack of updates that pull the rug out from under me is a feature, and when there are features I want it's easy enough to repeat the installation process while watching TV or whatever.
I dug around a little bit and couldn't find a source supporting either of our claims. I did find verified examples of crypto miners in cracked software[0]. I think the threat landscape for cracks has probably changed with the rise of crypto mining.
That's "precracked" software, which is big enough to disguise the presence of malware. I was talking more about patches/keygens to be applied, which are relatively tiny compared to a cryptominer (and, although I'm not sure about recent times since I've been out of the scene for over a decade, crackers used to be quite skilled and proud of making their releases tiny.)
There are plenty of trusted places that you can get clean cracks and keygens that have been thoroughly tested.
That being said, a small file size doesn't mean anything in the case of most cracks/keygens because you have to give them admin access to your system. Which means it can download and install anything it wants in the background.
It is possible. But there are respectable websites with cracked software which generally does not allow for malware. If you would be a little bit picky and careful, the chances are not that high.
I am reminded of the classic "if you are a pirate this is what you get, if you are a paying customer this is what you get" meme.